Kira is Kage
Lacus is Hikari
Except when they're together.
NOTE:
"Doryaaaaaaaaaa!": normal talking
"Charge!": special case
'Darn!': thoughts
GWA HA HA HA! : Giant creature speech
DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING!
Please… read and review
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10:15 AM
"Hiraishin no Jutsu? (Flying Thunder God technique)"
"Yep." Mwu nodded as he lifted his so called special Fuuma Shuriken, showing, in particular, a series of unique jutsu seals that Mwu had carved upon the unique Shuriken. And then, Mwu showed Kage his back. Encircling the kanji of 9 of his haori is another printed seals of the same scriptures to that found on the Shuriken. "That's the jutsu I've been using to move around in between myself and the Shurikens instantaneously. In the Shinobi Jutsu Research facility in Orb, it's an experimental space-time ninjutsu used to transport matter and object between two places that have been marked with these seals at instantaneous speed and cover distance far greater than that of simple Shunshin or Shukuchi."
Kage rubbed the seals inscription on Mwu's back. "How far are we talking about here?"
"Theoretically? Cross continent."
'Sweet mother of God… a jutsu like that actually exist?' Kage's eyes widened. In his mind he counted no less than several dozen uses of such jutsu. Logistics? Supply lines? Messengers? Travel time? All that will be rendered completely obsolete! Orb can even reduce its currently standing army by a wide margin. Nations with large swathes of land require huge amount of army stretched thin in order to defend their borders. But with this jutsu, all they need is a spotter to report back, a seal mark on strategic location and poof: say hello to express and fresh army; and by fresh means completely fresh-not one that has been corroded by long travels; but one at full power that come straight from the barrack into the battlefield, anywhere, anyplace, anytime all in a blink of an eye! Naval transportation will no longer be needed with the ability to move cross continent instantaneously. "A jutsu like this… it's actually too good to be true! There's gotta be a catch!"
"Hey, I did say this thing is experimental right?" Mwu understood Kage's disbelief. "The problem is, they just can't do it properly yet for long distances. I mean… they tried to teleport a dog from one end of a city to the end of another and… well… it was messy. The upper half went to one end of the narrows, the other half ended on the end of another…. Sheesh!"
"But if you say it's unstable and experimental, what makes you think it'll work now?"
"Because you delivered the final components that perfected it kiddo." Mwu pointed at Kage, whose eyes widened in realization. "That's right. Before you discovered the four cardinal seals, the issue with Hiraishin no Jutsu is control. They just can't control the jutsu properly enough for safe travel. I experimented and experimented… and finally I was able to find the proper adjustment to it. The seals I've inscribed and marked on my back and my Fuuma Shurikens are usable for short distance jumps. The one I'm going to put into you is a long distance teleportation seals… well… what we're about to do is really wasn't that long of a distance but… I'm trying to reduce the risk here."
As he began to grasp Mwu's plan, Kage felt really suspicious. "What exactly are you going to teleport… to me?"
Mwu pointed a finger at Archangel… "That."
Specifically: the Lohengrin cannon.
And now Kage began to understand how his men feel every time they heard one of his crazy ideas.
Flashback ends…
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10:20 AM
Aboard Archangel…
Setsuna and Neil were on the lookout. Neil, with his sharp eagle eye can see far, all the way to the insides of Marco, where a fading red glint that is their captain lay. "Setsuna, what do you hear?"
Setsuna frowned as his ears fidgeted. "Bad. Kage-taichou's heartbeat is pacing. He's very tense; as he should be… but… it's slowing down… more like fading. He's weakening."
"Okay… that's bad…"
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Now…
10:20 AM
"MURRUE!" Mwu yelled one final time.
Up on the gunner's room, Murrue just know that Mwu is screaming at her, even though she can't hear him. Murrue finally closed her eyes, clenched her teeth, squeezed the trigger, and hope to God for the best.
Safeties off, the hammer-like firing pin clashed with the primer and ignited the cannon. In a deafening roar, the Lohengrin exploded full force and fired its last shell.
Mwu briefly saw a corona of fire lit up at the opposite end of where he was standing, specifically at the mouth of the Lohengrin cannon barrel. Mwu made a series of handseals faster than anything he had ever done before. By the time he was done, the bullet, enveloped with firestorm is right in front of his nose. "HIRAISHIN NO JUTSU!"
The seals he had drawn into the cannon barrel lit up with power.
At about the same time, the last of Kage's Kurenai Shiki protection dispersed into a greyed out Shiki. But at the same time, Kage also felt something is coming. Grabbing his black clothing, Kage tore it away, revealing a bare chest… and the Hiraishin jutsus seals that had been painted on his entire body.
Inside the barrel, the Hiraishin no jutsu unraveled, covering the cannonshell, just moments away from pulverizing Mwu, with seal markings… and then it vanished. Cannon combustive fire and all.
Kage screamed out loud as the jutsu seals on his entire body finally reacted, and 100 tons of Lohengrin Cannonshell erupted from his entire being.
The first that Marco felt was a small nudge when something he inadvertently swallowed disagreed with him…
…before the 100 ton solid tungsten tipped cannonshell go up from his belly to his throat and then pulverized his head and blow up most of the upper portion of his body to tiny snow flake croutons, inside out.
Mwu, flooded in his own sweat, collapsed on his back, laughing. "Ahaha! Ahahahahaha! I can't believe I survived that… Ahahahahaha!" But nevertheless, Mwu was so drained, he felt like he just finished a crash course of 30 rounds of marathon at full speed while doing full course heavy weight loss gymnastics, all in a span of 30 seconds. He's definitely out for the count at this point.
And then he heard the sound of the Lohengrin bullet chamber room being opened, and as expected, Murrue's angry and worried but distant howls reverberated across the gun barrel. "MWU! MWU ARE YOU ALRIGHT!?"
"…I think… my ass… is about… to catch on fire…" The gun barrel area where he was laying is starting to warm up…
"Oh my God you're crazy son of a gun… AAARGHH! MAY YOU ROAST IN HELL YOU STUPID SON OF A-!" Murrue was obviously slightly hysterical.
Meanwhile, on the outside, things weren't looking up for Kage either.
After seeing his body materialized the Lohengrin cannonshell right in front of his chest and sent it up, Kage had completely used up what little remained of not only his stamina, but also Kurenai Shiki's power reserves. Kage looked at all this shards of ice and devastation around him and smirked as he knew what it meant. 'Aha… we won…' Kage almost lost consciousness and helplessly plummet down uncontrollably across the collapsing iceberg that was once Marco. Alas, Kage's fall was neither pleasant nor straight forward. He began crashing into things. And one particular huge shard was in his way.
CRACK!
"GAAAAAAAAAARGHH!" Kage was sent into screaming agony and blessed consciousness.
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"The Captain got hit!" Neil saw and Setsuna also heard the scream.
But Setsuna was not the only sharp eared sensor in the field.
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The sound of his scream also reached Hikari's ears aboard the Lear. Realizing something was wrong she too screeched in panic to the direction of the scream. "KAGE!"
"NUOOOHHH!" Fuji rushed in to the rescue and managed to spot Kage at a critical moment. He extended his arm and managed to catch the falling Kage right on time before pulling him back to safety. Kage gasped and groaned in Fuji's palm.
"Kage, are you alright?"
"My leg… my… leg…" Kage lifted his right leg, revealing a sizable shard of ice was lodged to the said leg, and it was bent the wrong way.
"Oh god…" Even Fuji can see that a leg was not meant to bend that way! "We need a medic… MEDIC!" Fuji yelled. But before Fuji can worry about his charge, Kage had something else in mind. "Fuji! Get away from here!"
"What?"
"What goes up MUST come down! RUN!" at first Fuji didn't understand a thing. But then he looked up and saw Lohengrin's bullet had reached its maximum altitude… and now it's falling back down. "Oh." Fuji ran for all his life's worth as the giant bullet descended upon him full force. "Oh craaaapppp!" Fuji jumped just as the bullet crashed right behind him. When it does, the bullet exploded full force, vaporizing a large portion of the sea water at the center of the blast while generating a towering burst of mushroom cloud explosion and equally massive water splash. The shockwave of the explosion pushed Fuji forward a step, as well as blowing away whatever's left of Marco's crumbling ice body. Fuji protected Kage in the safety of his hand.
Once the blast died down, everyone looked at the spot where the explosion just occurred. There's nothing left. Not of the arena, not of the sinking barge, not even single piece of the wreckage or a smallest chunk of ice can be found. Everything at ground zero of the blast was wiped out.
With the danger finally passed, everyone quickly took the chance to observe their own condition. Kage in particular, quickly check on his being. One look at his ravaged leg and Kage knew right away. Normal doctors can't handle this. Only one can. "Take… take me to Lear."
"Kage?"
"Hikari… she's a doctor… she's the only one who can do this… she's in the Lear… take me there! Grgh!"
Fuji quickly approached Lear, carrying the wounded Kage in his hand. When Fuji gently placed the black clad shinobi on deck, Hikari quickly saw his mangled leg. Seeing that, and Hikari quickly understood why Kage asked to be brought here. Only she can handle this case. "Is there a medical emergency ward aboard this ship? (koff)"
"Why, of course!" George immediately instructed the troopers to bring the doctor and her patient to the ward.
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Neil sighed in relief. "They brought the captain back into Lear's Ward. The Doctor's there."
Setsuna however, thought differently. His ears caught something… really weird…
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10:25 AM
Momentarily, the ward was made ready and the surgeons were prepared to aid Hikari. Except…
"Out. (koff)"
"Excuse me?" The Surgeons looked at each other.
"I said out! (koff) I need to work alone on this one! (koff)" Except that Hikari demand that they all leave her alone with her patient. George's eyes widened and Sai blinked in shock, realizing what it meant.
"But… ma'am. We need to amputate the captain's leg! It's the only way! You need men's help to restrain the good captain." One of the surgeon can't seem to see any other way to help the captain other than amputation, seeing the horrible wound in Kage's leg.
"Are you trying to kill my Boyfriend? (koff)" The other surgeon gasped upon hearing Hikari's dark tone. "Look at the place where the leg was mangled. (koff) the ice shard is lodged right below his thigh. (koff) Amputation became more dangerous the closer you get to the waist area. (koff) the risk of dying due to amputation at that location… is over 90%. (koff) Amputate him? (koff) You'll kill him the moment you do that (koff)."
The Surgeons paled. "B…But… then… what would you do?"
"Bones are the support structure of the body. (koff)" Hikari cracked her neck. Her haros gathering around her, preparing for a hard surgery ahead. "Likened it to a house, and the bones are the foundation pillars of a body. (koff) Its function is to keep the flesh stuck on something, (koff) to prevent a human to collapse altogether. (koff) And the reason above knee amputation is extremely risky; (koff) is because there's a massive hemorrhage due to the large number of blood vein being cut off during amputation. (koff) That's why I'm not going to amputate his leg. (koff)" Hikari simply stated. "I'm going to reconnect it. (koff)"
The surgeons jawdropped, some were so shocked they dropped the knife they're about to use to amputate Kage. Reconnect that kind of injury? Kage's leg was dangling on a single lump of muscle strands with 2.5 feet long ice shard lodged into it, and it was bent the wrong way… and she's going to reconnect that?
Finally the skeptical surgeons retreated and left the room, into the observation room, right next to the operation room. All of them didn't believe for a second there's any hope for the Captain. All but one particular part time surgeon. Sai held his breath and pressed his eyes in anticipation against the window.
George was bewildered when he looked at this peculiar behavior. "Sai-kun?"
"This is it… this is her true skills. Whatever you do, guys… don't blink." Sai muttered under his breath.
True to what Sai had expected, Hikari realized she needed her full range of skills to heal Kage's wound. And so, she unlatched her gloves and removed it, revealing her perfect petite hands. As soon as she did though, her miasma went into full spread. A flower in a pot nearby withered instantly, to everyone's great alarm. Water bugs on the ground rolled up and died. Everything alive within 10 feet radius of the doctor died instantly as soon as her miasma exposed. Everything except the patient.
"What was that?" All this doesn't go unnoticed by George and the other surgeons.
Only Kira was unaffected, as expected. Lacus smiled bitterly at another few people in this world that can become her patient. "Alright… let's do this. First… let's remove this damn ice shard." Lacus grabbed the ice shard. "This is going to hurt."
"Try me." Kage grinned.
Snikt!
Kage gritted his teeth, holding back a scream. 'God that hurts!'
"You could've screamed you know. That'll make you feel better." Muttering something about man and pride, Lacus put the ice away.
"I… still… don't get… what you're trying to do…"
"…the bones on your thigh is broken, but not into smithereens. It's quite clean cut. But not entirely. Do you know how bone heals? Bone heals when blood gather around the fractures and form fibrin mesh. The mesh will gradually harden and connected the smaller bones shards, forming a new bone. The larger pieces of the bone… I can realign and fixed the bone with pins. But there are also shards of your bones… this is how we're going to do it. Krona." The Silver Haro understood and spit out something that looked like… four sets of metallic frames? "This is a technique called External Fixator. And I'm going to use this as replacements for your bones. I said bones are supports for the body, but the said support doesn't have to be inside you. Simply put… I'm going to make a bone outside your body. But that was just to fix your bone. As for the muscles and others… I had to reconnect them all individually, and they'll be extremely painful. That's why… Ghienny! Asta!"
The blue haro and the green haro connects and before Kage can stop her, Hikari smacked a face mask on top of Kage's mouth, pumping him full with morphine and anesthetic. The shinobi lost unconsciousness soon after. "Ghienny, Asta, keep him sedated and fed intravenously. (koff) Update me on his vitals. (koff)"
"Haro. Yes ma'am. Haro!"
"Crona, scalpel and hook. (koff) Everybody… here we go."
10:28 AM Surgery started
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10:35 AM
The Lear slowly began to sail back to Archangel.
Meanwhile, in Archangel, the medics had also carried Mwu away from the smoking hot cannon barrel of the Lohengrin into the ward. His only complaint is that his entire backside felt like they were on fire. But apparently, considering Mwu lined his coat with lead chain mail, he's fine. Though he still get berated by a shouting Murrue.
"Oh come on… shooting a big gun… that should be fun for the captain of the 12th artillery specialist division, right?" Mwu moaned in his bed.
"Don't you dare… DON'T YOU EVER DARE TO ASK ME TO DO THAT, EVER AGAIN! YOU HEAR ME MWU LA FLAGGA!?" Murrue was not happy.
"You're the one and only most reliable person I can entrust with the job. What am I supposed do?"
"You could just shoot the Water knight straight on." Natarle answered sternly. "All this recklessness really isn't necessary!"
"Is it? Not according to our analysis." Mwu answered back. "The kid and I thought that too. But we agreed, the guy's too tough on the outside and he's just too damn powerful. He'll just block or even worse, dodge the shot. It was our last shot, and we just can't risk that. We had to make sure it hit him harder than usual. A LOT harder."
Murrue and Natarle looked at each other and then shook their heads, still in disapproval, but they just can't file any further complaints on that. Mwu's recklessness is really a bad influence to Kage and vice versa.
"Speaking of which… where's the kid?"
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10:50 AM
By that time, the Lear had docked at Archangel, welcomed by Setsuna and Neil, with Setsuna being a bit edgy. He was almost too eager to immediately board the Lear as soon as it made port.
"What's the rush, Setsuna?"
"Lockon-senpai… I had a favor to ask."
10:53 AM
Meanwhile, almost everyone on board Lear seems to have flocked into the medical ward.
Lacus really DO live up to her words. At first, they watched in horror at how Lacus cleaned up all the blood, all the mess, revealing a virtually broken bone and its pieces, its severed muscles encircling the broken bone. And then, one bone piece at a time, like assembling a puzzle, Lacus put the bones back together. In nary half an hour, the said bone had been largely sutured back and then, slowly, one by one, she reconnected Kage's muscle mass, one strand at a time, enclosing the reconnected bone, one muscle slab at a time. All this was done with incredible speed that even the eager Sai had trouble jotting notes, while the other surgeons tried their very best to keep up… and yet they failed miserably. Her petite hands had been reduced to nothing but blurs. One second she was suturing muscle strands, another second she was managing intravenous drips. She practically managed the work of several surgeons all by herself… well… not entirely. Her Haros, now it was obvious to unknowing eyes that they were more than just toys. Moving around the room so fast, they became little more than multicolored blurs, they moved here and there, seemingly rampantly, but each with a purpose of its own, turning into tools, spitting out bandages and strings, etc, etc.
"Right… keep pressure on the artery with a finger, don't suture it. Connect it. Many blood vessels, many nerve stem, muscle strands, close up each individual minuscule injury and then reconnect it all. Keep the wound area stimulated so that they remain active and heal naturally!"
Not long after and now Lacus had already nearly finished reconnecting the last muscle, with the others had already been reconnected. Moments later, the muscle had covered the bone nicely. "Okay, muscle suturing complete. (koff) Now, begin suturing the skin. (koff) Ready the remaining external fixator, (koff) we'll let Kage's body to fix the fragmented bones on its own. (koff) Administer more nutrients and don't reduce the anesthetic. (koff) We're nearly done. (koff)"
"Yes ma'am. Haro."
Pretty soon, Lacus grafted a frame ringing Kage's thigh and then she sutured the skin back. Covered it with some medicinal bandages and then she was done. "Yosh. (koff) Operation, complete. (Koff)" Lacus put back her gloves and waited a few more minutes for the miasma to die out before she allowed people to come in and admire her work if they want to.
11:30 AM surgery complete
And when the surgeon looked at the way Hikari had stitched Kage's thigh back together, apart from the external metallic frame literally stapling Kage's leg, it was practically seamless. As if said leg had never been cut off before. "Extraordinary. I can barely see the stitches… are you sure it'll hold?" One of the surgeons fixed his glasses, as if to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.
"It's okay. (Koff) the strings are made of catgut. (koff) After 90 days the proteolytic enzymes of Kage's own body will finish processing and assimilate the strings. (Koff)"
George was at a complete loss for words. He never even heard the word Proteolytic Enzymes. And what is this about catgut suture!? He told Sai there are many doctors in this world of great skills. He'll have to take that back. Those doctors looked like children playing around with human body compared to this one doctor.
One curious surgeon asked. "Excuse me… you made strings used to suture humans… from a cat's gut!?"
"Cat's intestines to be exact. (koff)" Hikari sighed as she stretched her fingers, cracking her fingers. "It's an absorbable organic material suture made by twisting together strands of purified collagen taken from bovine intestines. (koff) It'll be absorbed by Enzymatic Degradation from human body in 90 days. (koff) and it still has enough tensile strength to last for 7 days even after that. (koff) Very little risk of bodily rejection since it was made from organic material and all. (koff)"
"Enzyme… you're saying human body will eventually… absorb the catgut suture. With no rejection, whatsoever?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying, yes." Suddenly, the surgeons began asking Lacus questions while furiously taking notes. "And what about the bone? What did you use to suture the bone?" "What's the material for the external fixator that won't cause any rejection from the body?" Lacus flabbergasted at the barrage of questions, but the surgeons were really excited. They may have learned more about surgery in that one operation than they ever did in their entire lifetime.
Meanwhile, away from this entire medical hullabaloo, Artes approached Kage on the medical table. Looking at his masked unconscious figure, his curiosity peaked. And slowly, surely, his hand approached Kage's face mask… his fingers were but a millimeter away…
…until suddenly, with an iron clad grip, Kage grabbed hold of his hand and stopped him. "What do you think you're doing?"
"AArgh!" Artes gasped and unwittingly squeaked, attracting everyone's attention.
"I suppose the curiosity is quite overwhelming eh?" Kage glared at the unnerved Artes.
"I… I'm just…"
"Yep, yep… we've heard it all." Tolle shook his head as he immediately move to Kage's side as a Shadowguard should. And then he turned to Hikari. "Oi, doc. Can we move the captain to a new location or must he stay here for a while? The atmosphere here is pretty thick with out of place curiosity…" Kage snarled. With Tolle and Milly's aid, he managed to sit on the stretcher, but then he looked at his leg, with metal frames bracketing his thigh. His feet touch the ground. His left feet can feel the floor, the other couldn't even wriggle his toes. But, though it feels numb, he can see his legs are trembling.
"Oh no, no. (koff) Don't you dare try to stand up, mister! (koff)" Hikari came straight at Kage and pushed him back to the bed roughly, to the surprise of Tolle and Milly. "And will you please, (koff) for the love of god, (koff) STOP fighting so recklessly!? (koff) I'm like a maid here, I haven't cleaned up this mess and you already made another. (koff) Can't you take it easy for 5 minutes!? (koff) PLEASE!?" Hikari suddenly banged her operating table in obvious frustration, shocking everyone while revealing that said doctor was very, VERY angry. "Will you stop being such an ass? (koff) who do you think you are, Superman? (koff) Who do you think I am!? (koff) I can patch you up now, I can patch you up later… who knows what comes next? (koff) You think I can fix you every time you get torn apart? (koff) There are three things a doctor can't cure: Love Sickness, Stupidity, and Death! (koff) And you sir, are seriously terminally ill with the second, and very nearly reaching to the third! (koff) I CAN'T fix STUPID! (KOFF!) And I sure as hell can't fix a CORPSE! (koff)" Hikari's final scream howled across the ward, startling everyone. And after that, she just heaved up and down, staring angrily at her rebellious patient, and finally, having finished her latest bouts of explosive rants, she finally fell slump into another seat, her hands aching after that vicious surgery.
Kage silently looked at Hikari. Kira looked at himself. His leg and all. Then he looked at Sai, Tolle, and Milly. Call it a sudden much needed epiphany: the more he endangers himself in the long run, the more he will endanger his friends. He will fight, he must fight. That's a given. But, fighting while he's still injured badly is like putting himself and his friends to further unnecessary risk. And so Kira made a decision. "Hikari."
"What?" She spat.
Kage suddenly handed her Shiki, much to her surprise. And as if that weren't surprise enough, what Kage said next really caught her off guard. "You're right. You were always right. I can't fight yet. Not like this. I gotta recover first. I'm sorry it took you another emergency surgery for me to get it."
Lacus looked at Kage, and then she let out a tired but satisfied smile. Finally he gets it through that thick skull of his. Taking Shiki into her arms, she took a liberty of slapping Kage's head lightly. "Why is it for someone so smart, (koff) you're so slow on the uptake? (koff)"
"Well… everybody has their problems." Kage chuckled.
Hikari also chuckled.
But no sooner than the chuckle ended, a surgeon suddenly came barging in. "WE GOT EMERGENCY HERE! A LOT OF GUYS ARE IN CRITICAL, AND WE'RE SHORT ON MEDICS! CAN YOU HELP!?"
All surgeons, almost ceremoniously, looked at Hikari. The armored doctor jerked at the attention.
"Please! We got a lot of people screaming here! Can anybody help!?"
Kage looked at Hikari. She's a bit… shaken at the attention.
"How many people are there?" Kage suddenly asked.
"A lot. Like, half the people on this ship! That giant walrus rained icicles on us and many of us were skewered dead! We need every help we can get!" The surgeons wasted no time and immediately ran out of the emergency room, following the distressed surgeon.
At this, Hikari visibly tensed. One look and Kage clearly understood all was not well with the doctor.
"Doctor Hikari, could you help us?" The Surgeons looked at the female doctor. Hikari became even more unnerved. "I… I…" Hikari can just about picture the situation all too well in her mind. Bloodied bodies piled atop another, the moaning, the screaming… Suddenly, she began trembling. This doesn't go unnoticed by Kage and Sai.
The Surgeon looked a bit uncertain, first to Hikari, then to Kage, as if needing his permission to borrow his medical savant girlfriend. Kage sighed. "Urm… I think Dr. Hikari is a bit worn out after my surgery. It is quite a difficult and exhaustive surgery and she's still a woman."
For that disparaging sexist comment, Hikari slapped Kage's head with a harisen.
'Trying to help you here…' Kage glanced a nervous smile at Hikari.
"Let's try to… uh… stabilize some of the more critical ones first? Then, maybe Dr. Hikari can take a look at them later." Sai added nervously.
The surgeon nodded and left at that.
Hikari understood of course, Kage and Sai just helped her. Still shaky at the sudden event though, Hikari stood up. "Thank you." She muttered quietly, and then, before anyone can stop her, quickly left the ward without another word.
Kage, Sai, Shadowguards and George looked at this. At this point, George finally voiced the question that has been bothering him for a while. "Kira-kun… that armor that Lacus wears… it serves more than just to protect her identity, is it not?"
"She called it artificial immunization process." Kage explained. "Ingesting a weakened version of a poison in a controlled and precise amount, she forced her body to adapt, to react, to generate the antidote of said poison, and then in the process she became immune."
"You can do that?" Sai's eyes widened.
"She did something that was way over her head though. Advanced can handle more poison in their body compared to Naturals… but she went overboard. Antidote at wrong dosage can became poison, and that's what happened to her. All the antidotes, all the diseases, and poisons, they all merge together, they mutate into a deadly disease. A deadly disease that now she spread uncontrollably… and unwillingly."
"She can't control it?"
"If she can, we wouldn't need to cover her in armor and we wouldn't be in this mess." Kage groaned. "However… there are a few things… her reason of not wanting to be a doctor anymore… the reason is more than just her miasma. What we saw just now… Sai? You're pretty learned in psychology. What do you think?" Obviously, it was clear her aversion to practicing her medical talent was more than just her physical condition.
"My diagnosis? She has a mental trauma. Something bad… REALLY bad happened to her." Sai looked at Kage. "You know anything of this?"
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Walking out of the Emergency room into Lear's medical ward, and everything that Lacus can imagine of how bad the situation would be is pretty much in full display.
"Oh god! My legs! My legs! That god damn ice took my leg!" "Give me something please! Somebody!" "AaAAhh!" "Argh… Arghh…" "Help! Somebody help!"
Wherever she looked, wherever she turned her head, she saw carnage and bloodbath. And that wasn't even the worst of it. She's a Clyne, her bloodline limit deals with sound. And she hears EVERYTHING. From every drop of blood dripping from every severed veins, to the grating of broken splintered bones, every whimper, every scream… all are transferred flawlessly into her ears. This was the result of just one skirmish. As a doctor, she should've gotten used to this scenery. Fact is she is used to it. But now, she was.
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"She told me of this one case of kidney removal of a kid that gone bad. Very bad. It's kinda related to her miasma, I'll leave the rest to your imagination."
Putting 'Miasma', 'Kidney removal', and 'kid' together and Sai instantly get a gist of the situation. But something's still a bit off… "I can imagine how something like that can cause mental trauma… but…"
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Her breathings grew visibly erratic and paced. Her eyes widened, she felt like she can swoon at any moment. Seeing bloodied bodies everywhere…
Suddenly, a hand grabbed her leg. Lacus turned and saw a trooper, lying down on the floor, holding on to his bloodied belly, he lost one of his legs. "Help… me…"
The trooper was alive, but in Lacus' eyes, she saw a pile of corpses, moaning, screaming at her…
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"But…?"
"I don't know. The case that you speak of… I imagine if I get traumatized due to accidentally killing a child patient of mine, I would be very uncomfortable near children. But…"
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That was too much.
Lacus finally cracked and rushed out of the operating room, her hands trembling uncontrollably. She accidentally knocked several people on her way out.
Hyperventilating, the mask in her face suddenly felt so suffocating. She fervently and impatiently unlatched the mask as she run and finally, upon reaching some deck she removed it from her face, not caring if there's anyone looking. But the fresh air was no better, and soon, she finally hurled unto the wooden floor. As she coughed, looking at her muck on the floor, she noticed her hands just couldn't stop trembling.
'No… No… I can't… ever… no… never again…'
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"Ms. Anna and Elle." Kage immediately grasped the inconsistency of the first child trauma theory.
"Exactly." Sai pointed a finger. "She was able to handle Ms. Anna's childbirth… she can get close to Elle without hesitation… that doesn't match the child death trauma theory symptoms… so… there's something else nagging her…"
"Or." Kage spoke up. "There's something else she didn't told me. Something WAY bigger than just a child and its mother."
Sai looked at Kage. He rubbed his chin, his temple frowning, trying to figure the missing piece of her story. "…Sai… escort Mr. George to the Archangel, take him to see his daughter, I'm sure he's…erm… I mean she is worried sick." George smiled kindly and nodded in gratitude, while waiting for the catch that Kage surely has. "And while you're at it… stop by at the Archangel's medical ward… find Mikhail Koast." There goes the catch.
"Koast? That crazy doctor?" Tolle blinked, smiling nervously.
"Yep. Try to ask him if he knew anything about Lacus… ask him, in particular, of her last medical proceedings."
Sai nodded in understanding and smiled wide. Of course. The best way you can ask the knowledge about an Advanced Doctor is from another Advanced Doctor.
000000
11:45 AM
Lacus was quickly reminded of her circumstances and put her mask back on. When she get back up, she came face to face with none other than Setsuna, standing just outside the perimeter of her miasma.
At first, Lacus gaped. 'Oh no… did he saw… eh?' as she gathered her wits, that's when she saw the bandages on Setsuna's eyes. The white haired man is blind. Nevertheless she quickly put back her helmet.
"Are you alright, Doctor Hikari?" Setsuna frowned. "Your heart-rate spiked for a moment there."
"Yes. (Koff) I'm okay. (Koff) And you are…? (koff)"
"Setsuna. The Blind Sword. One of the Juppongatana." Setsuna introduce himself with a nod. "Is the captain alright?"
Hikari calmed down a bit. "Yes. (Koff) He will be fine. (koff) But please inform Mr. Canard that the Good Captain will not be able to participate in life battle for a while. (koff) And I mean a while."
"I'll be sure to pass the word. In the mean time…" Setsuna moved near Hikari, and then whispered on the spot where her ear would lay. "…please do not lightly take off your mask in places like this, Princess. You are not safe here. Captain Kira and his Shadowguards won't always be there to protect you."
Lacus' eyes widened. She looked in s hock and horror at Setsuna. Did he just…!? "Who… Who are you?"
"Who am I are not important, at this moment." Setsuna whispered back. "There are greater concerns which may require your attention."
A few whispers from Setsuna and Lacus' frown grew. When she finally turned to confront the blind warrior, he was gone.
000000000000
10 minutes earlier…
11:35 AM
Meanwhile, ignored by everyone, the icicles that punctured Lear began to melt due to the warming temperature. But one ice shard in particular was not like the rest. It was the shard that punctured and nearly tore Kage's leg off. It melted unnaturally fast, and it seeped through the seams of the Lear's medical ward floor. The seeping water began to gather on the floor, slowly and finally merged together in a single puddle. The puddle began to expand and grow, finally forming a figure of a very emaciated man. All that was left of Marco. Skeletal and almost nothing but skin and bone, but still alive, somehow.
Crawling on the floor, Marco quickly looked around, there was nobody there to see his unsightly state. Good. Now, he must get to the very important matter at hand. Lacus Clyne… he could hardly believe this. There he was, stuck on Kage's thigh by some dumb luck or astounding coincidence. He thought he might've at least deprive Kage by at least a limb… but then… that crazy doctor showed up and put him back together just like that, even undoing all the damage he had done to him in a breath. It was unbelievable. 'Who is this doctor?' But then, when the accursed Doctor left, leaving only Kage, his bodyguards, and George Allister… it's like having your fishes in a silver platter.
But he can't. He knows his body. When he launched countless shards of icicles, he shot hundreds of his body pieces to Lear. That is Frostheart Hydromorphosis. It was a large scale magical spell that transformed its user to the closest thing you can get to a Logia of Ice and Water. Invented by Lord Goud Veia, a logia of water himself. The idea was to give non logia unit with the benefits of logia using ether magic… regeneration, near immortality and all… It was close to a practical, working prototype stage and Veia was ready to introduce it to his Bladebanes and Water Knights… it got everyone very excited. Imagine an army of artificial Logia! But a trip to Lacus Clyne's quarters for consultation and then he cancelled the whole deal, locked the spell away and threw the key to the maelstrom for all he care, branding it forbidden spell, no reason or explanation was given. Luckily, Marco held the spare key, being part of the team that developed the spell.
Lacus Clyne. That's just unbelievable. The idea was to wait and see what will happen. But then they start conversing with each other, and then referring the gas masked Doctor as Lacus Clyne. That was the bomb. Lacus Clyne? The daughter of the Clyne family, the forefront for peace summit between Zaft and the Alliance. She just healed Kage… She just healed a Blacklist Captain of the Alliance! That's a capital offense, treason!
Even in his weakened state, Marco can feel his heart beat a pace faster in excitement. That extra pace perhaps, what gave his frail limbs the strength needed to crawl his way to the nearest big hunk of icicle he fired earlier. As soon as his finger touches the ice, his body rejuvenated greatly. When the ice had become nothing but puddle, Marco had recovered enough, that he could stand on his two legs.
Naked, lean, and wet, but enough that he can move… but still weak. Not enough that he can fight even a single Trooper, but if he can move, he can start doing something. Gather what strength he had left. One icicle at a time.
There will be a devil to pay when he's done.
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11:55 AM
Aboard Archangel's Medical Ward, Mikhail's Cubicle…
Many times Sai had consulted with Mikhail Koast. Forget the notion of Advanced and Naturals. From what Sai learned, his motivation to enter the war was because he found the medical art of human body as fascinating.
With a bloodline limit that gave him a hyper sensitive sense of touch in his hands, he can tell the condition of a body he touched to the smallest detail. He joined Zaft and the Swordmasters of the Bladebanes simply because he felt only in the battlefield will he find the most interesting of medical cases. And more than the art of cutting people up, he found the act of healing them to be more captivating. Koast never cared whether his patient an Advanced or Naturals. Both are interesting 'specimen' for him either way, and, to the good fortunes of his patients, he will do his very best to heal them, one way or another. Fact is, it would seem that Koast had truly made himself at home in that small cubicle of a clinic in Archangel and he had no intention of trying to leave. In his opinion, Archangel Medical ward had given him some of the most interesting medical cases he had seen in years. He called himself a medical nut. And any self respecting medical nut would definitely know a thing or two about a particular pink haired medical savant whiz girl.
"Do I know one Lacus Clyne? What kind of question is that? Of course I do. Everyone knows the tragic genius doctor of the Clyne family."
'Bull's-eye, Kira.' Sai smiled inwardly. "Can you tell me?"
"Why the sudden interest in the female doctor?"
"I've been reading some medical books… written by an advanced? Some of the newest books… mentioned her name at least twice. Called her… a pioneer of some highly advanced medical techniques?"
"And indeed she was." Mikhail smiled, swaying his hand, offering Sai and George seats and some cups of tea. "Among the ranks of Zaft's medical community, she's at the forefront of the medical advancement. At the age of 10, she already gave lectures to surgeons vastly older than her about small pox immunizations. I mean… using the weakened version of the disease itself to force human body to develop immunity? Genius. The thing is… we have no idea where she learnt it from. Zaft Medical University held no record of her graduating, she was never schooled there. She just suddenly showed up as a medical whiz girl with highly advanced medical knowledge. We asked where she gets it, and she never said a word."
Sai nodded. Of course. Kira told him that Lacus was taught by a Shinobi sensei. A medic nin from orb. And like all aspect of Orb military, even medical knowledge is top secret information. "Why do you call her tragic?"
"Well… she had plenty of other nicknames. None are very pleasing to the ear I assure you. Renegade Surgeon, White Reaper, Heretic Doctor…"
"Excuse me? Heretic doctor?" Sai choked at his tea.
"Yeah, this is something very interesting. The most known story about Lacus' career as a doctor is her one woman war with the church."
"One woman war with the church?" Even George was interested. That's something he had never heard before.
"The Church of Fire is a very conventional church. Problem is, in the Empire, the Church has a very strong hold on many aspects of the empire. Military, social, politics, and… science. Now with the science department, there's some kind of cold war going on between us men of science and men of church. Scientist of Zaft, medical or otherwise, are always limited by what the Church allow. You can imagine my frustration, how someone like me, scientists so driven to further test the limits of human body and mind, the universe and all… and we are limited by what the Church allow and disallow, based on their superstitious beliefs. Sai Argyle, you are an Orb citizen, I think you would like to know… why there are sometimes an influx of Advanced Scientists moving into your country. They're just fed up with the church trying to meddle and micromanage their work."
"And what did Lacus Clyne do?"
"She practically fired the opening salvo to a full all out war with the most powerful organization in the entire Empire. She started by demanding an audience of doctors, witnessed by the clergymen and priest for a real life demonstration. What she did, was that she brought up 6 people in near death critical condition: a guy with 7 bullets on his face, a child with 90 percent of his body burnt… the other 4 people are just the same. Critical cases that conventional doctors would've given up. And then she operated on them right in front hundreds of shocked surgeon… and half a dozen disgusted clergymen and several priests. She cut open their body, showed how she do it to every injured organ… it was bold, it was radical, it was too much… Needless to say they were horrified. They shouted her out, ordering her to stop operating."
"And what happened?"
"Well… she's a Clyne." Koast chuckled. "Her bloodline limit is a master of the sound. She simply outshouted them all. But… the Church then demanded she answers for her heretical actions. They demanded her to apologize and forbid her from practicing. But as you might have guessed, she ignored their ban, and continued practicing anyway. The Medical Community unanimously agreed… that when a church asked her to stop healing people just because they were disgusted by her radical method… they were going too far. Ever since then, it's like a cat and mouse fight between her and the church. The church trying to catch her, and she kept healing sick people under cover."
"Very interesting…" Sai easily felt entranced, even enamored with Lacus' struggle. It was epic… in a way. "I mean wow… she really did all that?"
"Damn straight she did." Koast sipped his tea. "She became some kind of symbol… a symbol of medical scientific resistance, of reason and rationality against the Church's suppressive and superstitious tyranny. All doctors in Zaft medical community truly look up to her. And she also used every chance she get to spread what she knows to all doctors she can contact in the 1 year she practiced."
"She… 1 year? She only practiced for 1 year?" Now comes the tricky part.
"Well, yeah. I mean… we all thought that perhaps the pressure war between her and church finally get to her. I'm not really surprised. I mean… come on. She was only 11, 12… There's only so much psychological stress such a young child could endure."
But Sai was not convinced. There's something else. "Was she involved in some kind of… viral breakout? Some epidemic that went… disastrously wrong?" In fact, Sai became more anxious. He really needed to know more. "Something that had something to do with uhh… a child Kidney removal?"
"Kidney removal?" And now it's Mikhail's turn to be caught off guard. "I don't know anything about Kidney removal, but if we're talking about viral pandemic breakouts, she had handled half a dozen such cases across countries throughout her one year career. Saved more lives faster than the plague killed them. Quite in fact, I never heard anything that went disastrously wrong that year. Except…"
"Except?" Sai pushed it.
000000000000
12:55
Back aboard Lear's Medical Ward…
Sometime later, Sai debriefed everything he learned from Koast to Kira.
"Well… that was very… very fruitful, Sai. I'm glad you spend a lot of time with Koast, this explains a LOT of things." Kira's eyes widened in delight. He get more than he bargained for, a lot of things make sense now.
"Uhh… Kira, I still don't understand."
"Sai, I saw what happened in Junius, she nearly DIED for purifying just one sanctuary. Her own sister claimed that as a priestess, she was mediocre. She was unqualified, in every way, to serve for Junius pilgrimage, and yet they sent her anyway." Kira explained.
Sai blinked. "You're saying the Church sent her there with the specific purpose to actually kill her. Just because she thought too far ahead of the other doctors and illegally performed surgeries in front of them. Surgeries that saved hundreds of lives." Kira gave a look saying how obvious it was. Sai nodded, though he was nonetheless bewildered. "Damn… no wonder many Advanced scientist migrated to Orb."
Kira chuckled. "Yeah, well bad for them, good for us. Now… let's continue where we left off… you tell me again about that last city? What's it called? Copernicus?"
But before Sai can continue, a knock on the door distracted everyone. Everyone turned and saw it was Setsuna at the door. "Captain?"
Kira almost regretted taking his mask off for some fresh air time… but then he remembered Setsuna was blind. Nevertheless, Kira put his mask back on anyway. "Can I help you Setsuna?"
"Sai… Mr. George… Excuse me for interrupting. Captain… I think we have a problem."
000000000000
13:35 PM
Two hours and eight icicles later, and Marco had recovered enough to crack a soldier's neck with a single snap and stole his clothes, disguising himself as one of them. He was still pale and wan, and he's still wet. The sweat just kept pouring out of his pores. That was when he passed by some troopers. "Hey, what are you doing here?"
At first, Marco couldn't answer.
The Troopers approached him, trying to get a better look at him. Experience made Marco stayed his legs. If he ran, they'll be suspicious and then they'll open fire. They looked at his bearded face. "Damn… shouldn't you be retired old timer?"
"I can still walk I can still serve." Marco growled. "They killed my folks in Edgertown. Those damn Knights deserve to die." A practiced lie flew seamlessly from an aged tongue.
The Trooper chuckled. "Yeah… but if you walk too quickly you might pass out on the field. Hehe." Marco's face began to frown, but one of the troopers seems to sympathize with him and reprimand the other trooper. "Can it, Jack. Leave the old timer alone." The trooper observed Marco's pale complexion. "My God, you look pale. Are you alright old timer?"
It seems, despite his look, he's still passable as a Militia Soldier. After all they came in all ages and sizes. Marco quickly made up another excuse. "Actually I'm not. Sorry, son… where's the ward? I don't feel so good."
"No shit. You sweat more than a sheep in slaughterhouse. Second deck, third turn to your right, be careful old timer."
"Thank you my boy." Marco groaned. Following the trooper's direction, he arrived back to the still chaotic clinic. There's plenty of wounded there. With his current strength, it'll be easy to put them all out of their misery. But his main target is Lacus Clyne, at the moment anyway. "Excuse… me…? Has anybody seen Dr. La… I mean…. Dr. Hikari?" Yes, Hikari, that's what other people called her here. He's not going to reveal her identity just yet…
The Surgeon looked at Marco's pale, sweating complexion and frowned. "Well… she's upstairs. You better go see her fast, old timer. You look like shit."
"That's the idea." Marco climbed the stairs impatiently.
But at roughly the same time, Lacus also had her own problems. She scoured the Lear's entire upper deck, looking for that white haired blind man who was able to see through her disguise, he even know that Kage and Kira are one and the same. Kira did tell her that only few people are aware of his identity. But… did he know that there's one other person who know? And how many more that knew the truth but Kira didn't know it? 'If he knew about Kira… has he told anyone about it? Did he know about what Kira is? If these people knew… Kira will… Kira will…' and after half a dozen thoughts involving the brunette haired shinobi, Lacus is in a state of complete panic to say the least, combined with her earlier foray, her mind is anything but calm, and it's a really big ship.
When Marco ascended to the top deck, the armored princess in disguise is right before his nose. He slowly and calmly approached the princess from behind. His hands stretched out, ready to grab and gag the-
"Please stay that hand, (koff) Marco Morassim. (koff)"
Foiled. Marco retracted his hand as Hikari turned around, her glaring but calm baby blue eyes penetrated her visor and looked straight at his unnerved being.
"And let us both have a nice little chat, (koff) shall we? (Koff)"
000000000000
13:20 PM
"So let me get this straight." Sai reiterated. "You can tell someone's identity… just by listening to their heartbeats?"
"When you're blind, Mr. Sai… you learn to see things using other senses. Ears are one good substitute to one's eyes." Setsuna chuckled. And then he began speaking in a more audible volume, as his ears caught the sound he was looking for. "I don't… recognize people… by their faces, as you can imagine. Which is good. Human's heartbeat… is their fingerprints. Even if you wear a mask… you can't change your heartbeat. And every human has a unique tone of their own heartbeat. Unless you can control your heart-rate, no one can lie to me."
And that's when Kira understand. "So you knew… all along?"
"Kage… Kira… on mask, off mask… your heartbeat can't lie." Setsuna smiled gently. "One human, one unique heartbeat… which is I find it kinda odd. You see, when you went into combat, you went with one heartbeat… And then you came back… with two heartbeats. Pretty funny, wouldn't you say?" Kage frowned. Setsuna can seem to feel the stare from Kage. "I suppose you should've seen it coming? You can mask your face but you can't mask your heartbeat. And your heartbeat tells me everything, even… your true nature."
"But… if you already knew, why?"
"Why didn't I tell anyone?" Setsuna smiled. "Damn if I know."
"Eh?" Kage and Sai gaped.
"Using only my ears, I can always sort out the liars from the truthful. The things you've done… they would've given lesser man pauses, and yet… there's no lie in everything you've done. No hesitation, no underlying purpose… And that's why I trust you to make the right decision. Of course the subject of planning your crazy strategies is a different story entirely and I just couldn't figure you out on that department. Ha ha…" Setsuna trailed off to a laugh at that last part.
Sai and George looked at each other, completely confused. Kira on the other hand, is still trying to figure out whether did he just gained a new unexpected ally, or someone he really should dealt with ASAP. However, that can come later. "Setsuna, this intruder… can you track that person?"
"One moment." Setsuna tilted his head, directing his ears. "Oh no… he's heading up… towards the deck… he went straight at the good doctor."
"Doctor…oh no."
000000000000
"You know who I am?"
Having been told about the intruder by Setsuna, Lacus had indeed shifted her search to find the unwanted guest. "Who do you think I am? (koff) Ages past during the foundation war, the Clynes made their career in military as the greatest sensor Logias of the Empire. (koff) We can tell a man's intention by the slightest shift of their muscle strand. (koff)" Lacus eyes curved as she tilted her head to the side. "Centuries later, (koff) even if there's so few of us left taking the path of the sword, (koff) you can't throw away skills that has been perfected for generations. (koff) Much as I want to. (koff) I hate eavesdropping. (koff) But when you can listen to everything, (koff) it's bloody hard not to. (Koff)"
"Then you know why I'm here!" Marco readied a small blade he had acquired later. "Why did you betray the Empire?"
"Me? (koff) Betray the empire? (koff) What are you talking about? (koff)"
"That man you healed just now. That man is responsible for the deaths of over 100,000 knights, in 5 days if reports to be believed. Why did you heal him!? He's a blacklist captain! Why did you heal your enemies!?"
"Why? (Koff) Why indeed… (Koff)" Lacus chuckled sadly. "…when I first completed my training as a medic (Koff) I took an oath (koff) to save as many people as this hand will allow (Koff) but not long after (koff) I've turned myself into a creature that can kill people just by being close to them. (koff) After that I vowed to never heal people again. (koff) And yet here I am… healing a person. (koff)"
"What the hell are you blathering about?"
"…there aren't many people in this world that can be my patient. (koff) My sister, my father, and your old leader, Goud Veia. (koff) Ironically, the latest to enter that short list is the very same person who had killed the man I loved. (Koff) The very same person who had 'kidnapped' me from Junius. (koff)" Lacus even made a quotation mark with her fingers when she mentioned kidnapped.
"What are you trying to-"
"I'm saying that I have more than enough reason to hate him to the bone… hatred that runs deeper in my veins… deeper than even a man's petty grudge over being outsmarted by a boy barely a quarter your age." Lacus glared at him. "Kage is very weak right now. And as you have well known, he was at my mercy until a moment ago. I could kill him with a single flick of my scalpel, and I could still get away from it as 'Oops I messed up'… and his men, loyal to him unto death, wouldn't dare to harm me."
Marco gasped and for a moment, he shivered in fright. Given to certain circumstances, a single doctor can become more terrifying than an army of executioners. "Then why don't you take your revenge? He's done you so much wrong, why…?"
"I won't do it." Lacus chuckled gleefully. "…he was the first person in the long years that I've actually managed to heal… I'm not going to kill him just like that."
Marco grunted. "But he's-"
"-My patient. And you will leave it at that." Lacus glared at the sweating Marco.
Marco glared back, but Lacus was undaunted. "So I guess I had to deal with you first before I deal with Kage, is that what you want?"
Lacus shook her head. "Do all warriors have this 'kill everything in my way' mentality? Seriously, I see more common sense in a rampaging bull. I told you: I just want to have a chat with you." Lacus whimsically turn around, showing her back to Marco, seemingly unafraid of Marco's death threat. "Let's say… you did what you want to do with me. You killed me, for all the betrayal and stuff… and then what's the plan? You're going to march across this ship, single handedly killing everyone off one by one? And then what? You'll become the only lone king of a mountain on top of a gigantic iron ship weighing hundreds and thousands of tons filled with nothing but dead bodies, stuck in the middle of nowhere?"
"That's the plan if I had to."
"You will never make it. Given your current condition… your aged constitution… you will die before you could even land a first stroke. Quite frankly… seeing you standing alive right in front of me after the beating Kage gave you is quite a miracle in itself. In this era of fierce warfare, men, the main participants to war, had a very short life expectancy. Probably only 10% percent of the world's population can reach the age of 20 without a scratch. And you're 90 years old, you say?"
"So what of it?"
"You have any idea how lucky you are? You have any idea how many people would want to be in your position right now? How many people want to live to reach your age?"
"Lucky? Luck has nothing to do with it! I survived on my wits! My discipline! My strength!"
"Don't get me wrong. I heard so much about you from Lord Veia. You were one of his best warriors." Lacus frowned at Marco. "Stubborn, brunt, uncompromising… but a better… wiser advisor… there's none. He still defer to your judgment from time to time, does he not?"
"And yet he completely ignored me on his most recent undertaking, relying the advice of some half baked zoan brat in jail!" Marco roared his frustration. "End result: he's dead. And following suit, his entire Bladebanes now stand on a brink of extinction. All when being led by another snot-nosed brat!"
"Oh, for Pete's sake, failure aside, what's so wrong with that? I mean…tch… I'm neither strategist nor a warfare expert… but taking advices from multiple sources of wisdom should be basic, no? My sister took lessons from Emerald Knights, Forge Corps, Exorcists, even Fangriders… and she's not even a Zoan!" Lacus further added. "And why are you so negative about the young? Because of their relative ineptitude in comparison to your experience? Are you not once like them too? Lord Veia once told me when you were 17, you used to drool during sword practice in half beast form, and when you're nervous you'll trip on nothing, He mentioned the one time you were in half zoan form, and you tripped, causing your saber-tooth to sink into the floor! TeeHee… that one never fails to make me laugh my brains out."
Lacus chuckled, but Marco was not amused. "You think that's funny? Their ineptitude, their lack of discipline had cost the Empire lives! Thousands! Hundreds of thousands! Able knights died at the whim of those children!"
"Children… Says the old man who led his entire team to be slaughtered in one morning?"
"Wha…" Marco's face reddened in anger.
"Lord Marco… like it or not… even the most gifted… the most powerful of warriors will always be overtaken by the young eventually. There are many factors contributing to it. Including this one factor that seems to nag you the most… age." Now that Lacus actually converse with Marco, she got a good grasp on Marco's issues. Kira was right in some way. Marco had reached that non-productive age… and he couldn't cope with that. "But old age is something that comes to us all, Advanced and Naturals alike. I mean… they call me the prettiest princess in Zaft and all that… but give me 40 years… and then I'm all wrinkles and shriveled skin of an ugly hag… and then they'll give the crown and title to someone else younger and prettier."
"So are you saying I should just… what? Retire and tend to kittens!?"
"Lord Morassim, you're missing my point-"
"DO I NOW!? Centuries ago, our great Founder, George of Glenn, created the Codex for the sake of preserving our race from the extinction brought about by the Holocaust. A set of norms and codes that was built for the sake of protecting not just the lives of the Advanced, but also the continuation of the Empire as a whole. But now… now those values has become lost! Forgotten! The virtues of our ancestors lie in ruin! Nothing more! Have you ever saw boys and girls like you, younger than you even, get blown apart right in front of you? Overeager, undisciplined, and inexperienced, they ignored the system, ignored the rules made to protect them, ignored the sacrifices of those who came before them by recklessly marched forward, hungry for glory only to die in vain!"
"Lord Morassim-"
"I know people who deserve more to live than some stuck up over-glorified noble's son who looked good in the reviewing stand and had his parents paid his promotion, and yet, every time those brats mess up, it is these people, these true heroes who took responsibility for those brats' ineptitudes with their lives and dignity! Not a day goes by their senseless deaths were not seared into my brain every god damn day I spend in the office, receiving reports after reports of their incompetence!"
"My Lord-"
"And when everything is said and done, they all end up in one thing: headcount. People die when you ignore the system, ignore the rules and just go with guts instinct and just charge blind. They do what they want, and people got hurt, killed! People who got a lot to live for!"
"…"
"Tch, I don't know why I'm talking this with you. You're a singer of peace! You wouldn't even know what's it's like to watch hundreds die right in front of you-"
"MARCO MORASSIM!" Suddenly Lacus snapped, unwittingly unleashing her bloodline limit in full.
And suddenly Marco collapsed on his knees as he felt a crushing feeling upon his entire being. It was as if his entire body is about to be crunched by one giant invisible hand.
"Who are you?" Lacus' voice distorted by the mask was terrifying enough… but now… her reverberating voice was like a chorus of the darkest demons from the abyss, screaming and wailing to form the words she speaks, at that point her voice was too terrifying to be distorted. "Who are you to decide who deserves to live and who do not? Do not come groveling in your grievances when the one greater than you is younger than you!"
Marco continued to gasp and choke as he fell on all fours. Lacus terrifying imperious voice was booming inside his head, and ONLY inside his head. 'This is… the bloodline limit of the Clynes… the logia of sound?'
"90 years, Marco Morassim. For 90 years you have lived your life as a warrior. 90 years you have fought and killed. Have you forgotten what it's like when you first started? Do you remember Marco? When you were young, when you took your first kill in the field of battle? Do you still remember the sheer horror of doing it? The suffering you went through in the early days of your bloodletting. The nightmares of seeing the faces of those whom you have killed in your sleep. The sheer agony of losing your humanity with every life you take? Do you still remember THAT?"
Lacus knelt and held Marco's sweating face. Marco gasped in horror seeing Lacus blue eyes, shining with cold fury through the dark visor of her mask.
"All this talk, you're using your dead comrades as an excuse to justify yourself, blaming the less inexperienced. However… what about the one doing the killing? What about the killer? Have you ever think about them?" Lacus' grip on Marco's throat tightened. As her emotion continue to spill, her voice grew louder… and more monstrous. "Have you ever thought, for one second, that those children, those inept boys and girls you looked down so much cry in their beds, screaming, hoping to die, begging forgiveness for the deaths they've caused. 1 deaths, 2 deaths, 10 deaths, 10,000 deaths! DO YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND THAT FEELING!?"
At that last, horrid scream, Marco could've sworn he had never seen anything as terrifying as this little girl choking his neck, and her voice is just… beyond human.
Lacus sniffed the air, and smell something stink from Marco's lower area. Seeing how terrified the old man is, Lacus finally let go and spoke in her normal voice. "Enough. Marco Morassim. Stop blaming others… and face the music." And Lacus finally lifted her hand, giving the hand signal.
The hand signal that Lockon, parched at a vantage spot as a favor to Setsuna immediately reacted upon, as agreed. Of course, when he spot the Tango right next to their resident doctor, and the doctor gave the signal instead of Setsuna, he was originally a bit confused.
Just a bit though.
7 Bender type spear arrows flew across the air as ordered and accurately encircling and caged the intruder. Marco gasped when he was suddenly caged in an impromptu prison made by spears. 'What…'
Hikari get back up and took a few steps back. Marco looked at her in horror… and more than anything else… fury. "How could you… how could you…!"
Hikari's silence was all that she gave. At about the same time, troopers and soldiers poured in from every nook and cranny from every hidden position, surrounding the captive intruder, guns and spears pointing at the captive. Among them are Sai, George, Setsuna and Kage, the latter was limping as he walk using a cane.
Hikari scoffed and quickly approached him and before he can say anything, first thing she did was giving her wayward patient a light knock on his head. "Didn't I tell you (koff) to NOT leave your bed? (koff)"
"And what do you think you're doing, being in such close proximity with that guy?" Kage retorted.
Hikari blinked, and then she giggled. "I can take care of myself (koff). Were you… (koff) worried?"
"Not a bit." Kage looked at the caged Marco, who kept glaring murderously at Hikari. He didn't remember him to be this… slim. "So… what are we going to do with Mr. Skinny here?"
"Whatever you do… (koff)" Hikari suddenly spoke up. "Don't kill him. (koff)"
Almost everyone looked questioningly at Hikari.
"Just don't. (koff)" She repeated.
Kage looked at Hikari. At normal circumstances, he would just kill the man outright, but, given the circumstances, Hikari was the one who 'brought him down'. Whatever happened to him is well within her rights to decide. "As she says. Take him to the brig."
The soldiers approached the trapped Zoan with the intention to do as Kage ordered. Meanwhile, Marco was so consumed by disbelief and anger, he practically lost sense of everything that is happening around him. His ears gone deaf to everything else, his eyes bulged, glaring furiously at Hikari. His blood boiled furiously. His hand gripped the spear cage that entrapped him so tight, when the soldiers finally unpluck some of the other spears and tried to drag him away, they had some difficulty doing it. 4 soldiers tried to wrestle and drag the stunned Marco but he just won't budge an inch.
"Hey! Stop resisting and come with us!" "Nnngghh! Wow… what is it with this old man… he just won't budge?"
"Grrr…"
"Hmh?" The Soldiers blinked. Was that growling?
"Grrrrr…"
Kage was the first one to notice something was off. "GET BACK!"
As if on cue, Marco suddenly unleashed one loud inhuman howl. With a yank, he pulled out two of Lockon's bender spears that caged him, and then, wielding it like a clubbing weapon instead of spears, he violently trashed around and smashed the four soldiers around him. 2 were bashed and died instantly when their heads were bent the wrong way, the remaining two were slightly luckier, with one got slammed off the deck by the stomach, and the other screamed when his leg was twisted by a strike from the spear.
"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHH!" The enraged Marco charged at Hikari in blind fury, swinging his spears madly.
Lockon gasped, but quickly overcome his shock and fired the blunt but powerful Destroyer from his hiding spot. The Destroyer penetrated Marco by the chest, but instead of burst entrails, the arrow passed through his body harmlessly. "What!?" Lockon gaped. His arrow went through the man's body like it was made of water? 'He's supposed to be Zoan right?'
Seeing Hikari was in danger, Kage quickly took action. In an instant, he pulled out Shiki from the scabbard held by a shocked Hikari and shunshin at Marco. With a blurring speed, Kage cut both of Marco's spear wielding arms. Alas, the injury on his leg suddenly bites his senses, Kage winced and upon landing behind Marco, collapsed to his knees with blood dripping from his stapled leg. Worse yet, the effectiveness of the slash were reduced greatly by half. Marco's arms are still partially attached, but they were cleaved quite deep. And yet, much to Kage's shock, there's no blood, and the wound closed extremely rapidly.
However, the attack did distract him from Hikari and soon he switched targets to the injured Kage. "GROAAAARGGGHHH!" Roaring madly, Marco lifted his spear and prepared to cleave the shinobi in twain. Sai who saw this panicked.
In contrast, Kage remained calm as he gritted his teeth in defiance, preparing a counter of his own.
Until suddenly…
"KAGEE!" Sai suddenly break ranks and charged forward towards Marco.
Kage was quickly distracted and saw in horror as Sai charged blindly towards Marco, distracting the Water Knight. "SAI! NO! GET BACK!" Kage tried to stand up to stop Sai, but his leg stings so much! 'GrgH!'
Too little too late, Sai entered within Marco's reach, and before anyone can stop him, Marco viciously slashed at Sai. Sai blocked the spear slash with his own, but Marco's rage enhanced brutish strength was beyond anything Sai had ever experienced. The spear cut both Sai's spear and chest. Blood burst out even as the bespectacled Shadowguard had barely comprehended the fact that his chest had just been cleaved open.
Upon seeing another one of his friends bathed in his own blood, Kage's eye widened in disbelief and utter shock… and at the moment, Kira's eyes became blank as he was unable to think of anything, still in a state of denial of what he just saw.
Contrary to the brutality of the scene, Sai was still very much alive and awake… albeit in extreme pain, massive loss of blood, and had some of his ribs cut. He fell in a puddle of his own blood, screaming and groaning in severe pain. But the worse injury was not his chest… it's his arm. In the process of blocking Marco's slash, the spear had also cut off one of his arm clean! 'My arm! Holy… shit!'
Marco on the other hand, had completely lost it. His rage, and the fact the Frostheart Hydromorphosis is still active, had completely overwhelmed his human intellect, and now he was reduced to nothing sort of an angry elemental beast that will attack everything in its sight. And the next thing he sees… was the completely unprotected George Allister.
"GROAAARGGHH!" Marco charged forward towards George. The troopers, realizing their charge is now out in the open quickly responded and opened fire. But like Lockon's spear, the bullets just went through his elemental body. He thrust his spear towards the shocked George.
Pale red blood burst out.
As Hikari suddenly moved between Marco and George and she took the stab meant for George from Marco straight into her torso!
George's eyes widened in horror. "DOCTOR!-"
The armor breached was bad enough, but now even her infectious blood is completely exposed to open air, even the miasma couldn't compare to this extremely potent, extremely lethal poison in her blood. Lacus quickly shoved her leg back, kicking George as hard as she could, and push him as far away from her as possible. The hard kick sent George flying and he landed 12 feet away from the stabbed doctor, but he was safe. "DOCTOR HIKARI!"
Lacus choked as she spurt her own blood inside her mask. "Ga… hak!" Said blood seeps through her mask and dripped on the floor. And yet, she tightly gripped the spear still stuck on her chest, not allowing Marco to pull it out.
Sai who saw this gasped in horror. His arm aside, the loss of a great doctor like Hikari is just… there's no word to describe this loss. "No… NOOOOOO!"
Sai's scream brought Kira out of his shocked daze. He saw Sai's severed arm, Sai's blood, Sai's cleaved torso, Sai's paced breathing, Sai's eyes, still miraculously alive, Thank God. But then, Sai was looking at something, and Kira quickly followed his gaze… and beheld the sight of what had happened to Lacus… and Kira snapped. This time… shock came… but was quickly followed… with a hysterical black rage. "MARCOOOOO!"
000000000000
Standing guard before the civilians, Toudou and his Shiseiken were meditating. But at that point, their meditation was interrupted when Toudou's meditation glass filled with water shattered violently and they felt a feeling that only a fully realized Samurais would recognize.
Chiba gaped. "W…What is this… what a powerful Kenki… (Sword Aura)"
"But… the only person I recall to possess a Kenki this powerful is…" Urabe can only think of one.
But Senba in particular, was more worried than the rest. "But this… feeling… it's so familiar… Kira-kun?"
Toudou frowned in great concern.
000000000000
Even at his thinned state, Marco weighs roughly 150 kg.
And Kira lifted said man with only one arm and hurled his body like a crumpled dish rag, and that is after he tore through his body apart like it was wet tissue with his bare hands. Marco was smashed into a wooden wall with force equal to a battering ram, breaking it apart. Kira screamed murderously in maddened fury. His mask was forcibly torn up as he roared. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHH!" In a berserk charge, Kira slammed at the still downed Marco with a splash from his wet body, and then he start tearing him apart, clawing, punching… even bashing his heads at Marco's body several times before biting him to pieces like some wild animal. Marco equally responded in his own animalistic fury, but it was obvious which one was the angrier animal of the two. However, Kira was still injured and it greatly affected his combat prowess. In contrast, Marco kept regenerating every injury Kira inflicted upon him, just like Veia.
The troopers… even the soldiers were all very horrified at this. "Oi… I thought your captain was supposed to be the genius strategist but… who… or what the fuck is that… thing?" A trooper was clearly unfamiliar with such a horrifying animalistic behavior.
The soldiers were quite familiar with it. "It's our captain when he's on a very… VERY bad day." They first saw it when Kuzzey died, after all. But that doesn't make them less scared at their Captain when he's like that.
Lacus, puking her blood, recognized that black fury. It's the same black berserker fury that once engulfed Kira back in Junius. Luckily for them, Kage did not use Shiki. God help them if he does.
Meanwhile, Sai looked in horror at the spear still stuck on Lacus' pink blood smeared chest. "Doctor! That… spear… you have to…"
"DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!" Lacus shrieked before she choked some more blood. 'I… have to… stop… the bleeding… isolate… infection…' "LILY!"
The Pink Haro appeared out of nowhere, and upon seeing Lacus condition, she quickly knew what she had to do. "INIIATE EMERGENCY QUARANTINE PROTOCOL! HARO! ALL HANDS PREPARE FOR SURGERY! HARO!"
All 12 Haros dashed and joined together around Lacus. Lily reacted quickly and set up a spherical barrier that completely covered Lacus's bleeding body. She also expanded her spherical protection and isolate every last drop of Lacus' blood, splattered allover the place, covered in individual pink spheres.
"Isolation complete! Haro. You better stop the bleeding now! Haro!"
"I'm doing it." Lacus weakly grasped the spear on her chest.
"DOCTOR!" Sai yelled. "DON'T! (Cough) DON'T REMOVE THE SPEAR! Ack!"
"SOMEONE! WE NEED A MEDIC HERE NOW!" George also desperately called for any medical help in the area.
"NO!" Lacus' scream was loud enough to silence everyone and stop them on their tracks bar the berserk captain. "Whatever… medical aid you have… concentrate that on Sai-san!" Lacus gasped. "And while you're at it… evacuate this ship, NOW!"
"Evacuate?"
Lacus looked at the droplets of her blood on the floor. "Even… in normal circumstances… my miasma can kill people… but that was after a prolonged albeit short exposure… But now… now… now we're dealing with my blood that has been directly exposed to open air… its lethality far surpassed my Miasma, in itself already the deadliest substance known to man, by at least a 100 times over, as is its infectiousness!"
Meanwhile, Lacus began to grasp on the condition of her own body. The stab from that spear arrow penetrated quite deep into her chest. Miraculously, no major organ was punctured. Her heart is safe, her lungs untouched. 'Okay… the most common cause from death by stabbing is the loss of blood due to severed arteries… I had to cut open into my body and suture the severed veins!' Lacus made preparation to pull out the spear. "As soon… as I remove this spear… I'll have 10 minutes… before I lost consciousness and die due to blood loss. After that… if you guys are still here… you're all dead men walking!"
The Troopers gaped, and the soldiers had begun to panic.
"Doctor…" George stared in disbelief at the woman who just saved his life, and she might die in front of him.
"Right now, the only reason you all still alive, is because Lily is isolating the infection. But a single drop of my blood in open air can infect an entire city block! Get the wounded out of here before my infection kills them all!"
Artes quickly reacted by following just what the doctor ordered. "ALL HANDS! ABANDON SHIP! NOW!" The troopers and soldiers quickly ran away, far way from the downed and blood-bathed doctor. Even with two berserk men beast fighting ferociously up on the deck, the evacuation was quite swift.
The surgeons quickly grabbed and brought Sai up on a stretcher. One even took the liberty and taking Sai's severed arm… just in case. As they carried the Shadowguards away from the danger area, Sai looked with great reluctance at the downed Lacus. He wasn't the only one. George also refused to budge from where he was standing.
"Sir!" Artes grabbed George's shoulder. "Sir, you heard her! We have to leave!"
"I'm not going to leave behind the woman who took a stab in the heart for me!" George barked at Artes with teary eyes.
"MR. GEORGE! PLEASE!" Lacus screamed. "LEAVE ME ALONE! DON'T WORRY!" As she said this, a large wooden shrapnel crashed right next to her. Kira and Marco's destructive battle began to spread as they began using their environment to attack their opponent.
"Doctor Hikari…" George looked at Hikari's lone figure, stuck in the middle of a clash between beasts.
"I WON'T DIE! GO! GET EVERYONE TO SAFETY! GO!" To encourage them, Hikari finally pulled out the spear out of her chest. As expected, blood burst out of the open wound. Seeing huge amount of infectious blood spurting out of the doctor's chest hastened everyone's pace. But without so much as a whimper or a pause, Lacus grabbed Krona, which has turned into a scalpel and forceps and began, quite unbelievably, operates on herself!
"H… Her own chest…" The surgeon gaped in disbelief.
"She stabbed her own chest with her own medical utensils?"
Every surgeon suddenly stopped evacuating. They watched in gaping awe as Lacus perform a surgery on herself. The difficulty is beyond impossible. A surgeon must work with his eyes. They have to see the parts they are operating so as to avoid unintended damage to the patient. But to perform surgery on oneself… if its one's own arms or one's own legs which the surgeons can see, that's a different story. But this is the insides of one's own chest! That's like operating in a dark room, blindfolded!
But Lacus was not blindfolded. She began whistling. Whistling inaudibly loud as she closed her eyes. The ultrasonic sound reverberated, and using her Sound mastery Logia bloodline limit, she redirected her whistling sound to reverberate inside her. The sound recoiled of the surfaces of her bones, organs, muscles, and arteries, and like sonar, mapped the condition of her insides. The reflected sound was caught by her sharp ears, and she get a good mental image of her body's map in her head. '5 veins were severed… alright… here we go!'
The forceps and the needle holder plunged deep into Lacus chest. The forceps quickly and accurately found the first blood vein and then using the thread, she began suturing the artery. 'Loosen the strings, make a half knot… and… tighten!' Lacus pulled the Forceps back and tied the veins shut, stopping it from spilling out more blood. Krona turned into a scissor and Lacus plunged the scissor into herself and cut the excess string. "First blood vessel, ligature complete." All that in less than a minute.
"What!?" The surgeon jaw-dropped. And she wasn't bluffing either. The bleeding from her chest had noticeably slowed. But Lacus are not stopping. She still got 4 more pairs of severed arteries to close!
CRASHH!
The Surgeon's entranced attention was quickly distracted by the sound of the berserk Kira and the maddened Marco still brawling with each other across the ship. Marco grabbed a wooden barrel and smashes it at Kage's head, but Kage just charged through it and punched his face through a wall.
"Get out of here… NOW!" Lacus screamed louder. "Getting killed by your crazed captain… or getting killed by my infection… none of them are a pretty fate!" Lacus barked. "There are only life-takers aboard this ship at the moment! YOU SCRAM FROM IT, YOU FOOLS!"
The surgeons finally accede and run.
Artes grabbed George's shoulder tighter. "Mr. George, please!" George also finally relented and run, leaving Lacus, Kage and Marco behind. 'Don't die, Lady Lacus! Please don't die!'
Artes sighed in relief as he saw his charge finally ran. He looked at the situation again and saw Kage and Marco is still at it… and the Doctor just knelt there, risking of being swept away by the battle. He make his judgment and retreated. But before he do so…
"Sergeant Artes?"
Artes stopped and looked at Hikari.
"If… if you don't see anyone alive leaving this ship after 12 minutes… everyone aboard this ship is dead. Don't bother looking for survivors, sterilize the ship! Burn it all down! Do you understand, Soldier!?"
The sergeant frowned… and then he nodded. "Yes Ma'am."
And now, the only living creatures aboard the Lear are Lacus, Kira and Marco. The previous occupants of the said ship waited on the Archangel's underside dock with held breath. It was quiet, and the only sound they hear is the sound of Kage and Marco still going at it.
Kage and Marco smashed through the upper decks and pounced around each other on the hulls of the ship. Meanwhile, up above, 8 minutes had passed, and Lacus had sutured 4 out of 5 severed artery pairs. But upon trying to reach the last vein, she gaped. 'Wha… what is this?'
Outside the ship, Artes kept counting the time. Lacus had 4 minutes left before he ordered both Destroyers to open fire at the Lear with their rocket payload.
On the deck, Lacus noticed that the wound left by Lockon's Bender spear is nothing like a normal wound. She looked at Lockon's spear tip and noticed it was bent in a wicked curve. That being said, the wound on her chest are curved as well. When she tried to reach the last severed vein with her forceps, her forceps couldn't reach it. It was blocked by one of her ribs. Worse, Lacus is starting to lose consciousness. 'The time… getting… dizzy… I had to…' Desperate, she turned Krona into a scalpel and then, without pausing, stabbed her own chest.
Moments later, she finished her surgery, with two scars now adorning her chest, just beneath her right breast. "Surgery… complete…" Lily opened her isolation barrier encasing her mistress. Lacus was finally relieved beyond belief. The bio hazard threat inside her has been contained. '…I… had to… warn Artes… the ship… must stop… Kira is still here!' Lacus got up, but as soon as she did, she collapsed on her knees… and lost consciousness just like that.
Meanwhile, Kage dragged Marco's face across the wall, smearing the wall with weird thick water. When he's through, nearly half of Marco's face was literally flattened. And yet they regenerate swiftly. But when Marco's head is back, so is his personality. And upon seeing a maddened beastial Kage lunging right at him, it was easy for him to find an opening and smashed Kage with a punch. The punch sent Kage cart wheeling out through the wall, leaving a trail of wooden smithereens that ended when Kage crashed right in front of Hikari.
Fortunately, this also brought Kira to his senses. Unfortunately, this brutally reopens his wounds, particularly his leg, and to compound it all, Kira's head finally reached the tolerance that was allowed by Lacus. "Gahk!" Kage collapsed to his knees, blood bursting through his nostrils and mouth. But upon seeing the unconscious figure of Lacus, still smeared in her own blood, it was easy for him to think she was dead. "YOU… You killed her… you killed HER! YOU KILLED HER! SHE… SHE'S… SHE'S MY… YOU… YOU… A THOUSAND DEATHS WON'T BE ENOUGH FOR YOU!" Once again consumed by an unbelievable blood thirst and uncharacteristic wrath, Kage forced himself up, holding the pain in his leg and ready to fight to the death.
Until suddenly, a petite gentle hand stretched out and grabbed Kira's leg at the last moment. Kira turned around and saw, to his great shock and relief, it was Lacus. Alive.
"L… Lacus… You're… you're still alive…"
"Kira… stop… please… stop… that creature is not you." Lacus pleaded weakly. "Don't turn into that thing again… please… that creature will only hurt you, him, and everyone else you cared about."
"You're… you're alive…"
Life and sanity returned to Kira's eyes. It was further solidified when Lacus quickly rose to her feet and hugged him with all the warmth she can spare. "Enough. It's over. There's no need to fight anymore… it is over."
Kira's tear fell, just as his murder lust and rage finally vanished. He slumped down and fell on his knees, still embraced by a bloodstained Lacus. And then, overwhelmed with relief, Kira returned the hug, much to Lacus initial surprise. "You're alive… you're alive… thank God… thank… God…"
Lacus also let out a kind smile. But then, her gaze landed on Marco.
Upon sensing the tenseness in Lacus, Kira also remembered there's one more problem he had to attend to. Marco! Kira quickly turned around and saw the old warrior, carrying sharpened wooden stick on his right hand. But something was seriously wrong. Throughout the battle, every time he regenerates, he has been growing progressively thinner and thinner… and he's still flooding with sweat! His skin was as pale as a corpse! Anyone can see he was not well. "Enough already, Marco Morassim! You can't fight with your body like that!"
"I will… not… stop! As long… as… there's… a breath… left in me…!"
Kira hugged Lacus, shielding her, but Lacus was not afraid in the least. Rather, instead of fear, her eyes shone with pity. "No. It's too late." Kira looked at Lacus. "At this point it's already much too late."
Kira frowned at Lacus comment, but then he looked at Marco's condition. The old man dragged himself forward, sweating more rapidly in the process… until suddenly, his right hand fell off his shoulder and splashed to droplets of water when it hit the floor. Marco looked in horror at the puddle of water that was his arm. "What… What!?"
"Marco Morassim… do you know why Lord Veia declared Frostheart Hydromorphosis a forbidden spell?" Lacus sighed.
Marco's eyes widened.
"When Lord Veia invented that spell, I was his health consultant. He was concerned about the side effects it may inflict to the body of the users of that spell, so he consulted me about its viability. Now I will give you the same answer I gave to Lord Veia." Lacus rose up and answered. "The Frostheart Hydromorphosis is indeed a powerful spell. The user will momentarily gain strength comparable, if not surpassing, that of a Hakutenkun… but at a terrifying price. As you continue to use that spell, you literally burn through your own lifespan, but that was not the worst part."
As Lacus explained this, Marco continues to diminish as the puddle around him began to grow.
"The more you use them, the more your bodily constitution changes. You became less and less of a human… more like an elemental, but this is nothing like the controlled and stable Logia. No. It's unstable. Eventually, excessive use will result in your body completely reduced into lifeless mass of element… in this case… water."
And Marco suddenly realized what is going on to his body. He looked in horror at his corroding body, sweating uncontrollably… that was not sweat!
"You've been sweating a lot, yes? That was no sweat. That was your own unstable body mass which has transformed into water, lost cohesion with your body, and it dripped away, bit by bit… at an increasingly rapid rate. Soon… you'll melt. Literally. You'll become nothing more but the elements that you have abused. But your consciousness… your existence… will be gone."
Marco was still in denial. "No… No… I can still deactivate the spell! I refuse to die like this!" But try as he might, the spell will not stop. It was permanent.
"Yes. You can still deactivate the spell." Lacus bent her head down. "That is… had you not glutted yourself on such a huge amount of Undines and Celcius, the Ether spirits that make up all Water and Ice spellcrafts, including this one."
"What?" Marco gasped.
"The original spell was to force and drain the power of Undines and Celcius to critical levels in mass quantities, condensing it into one's body. It was never meant to be consumed directly in such a way. The reason is so that when it needs be, the spell can still be deactivated at any time, at the user's discretion. But… you literally ate them. You make them a part of yourself… thusly the Hydromorphosis will remain active… forever. It'll keep corroding you… until your life… your very existence is spent."
Marco's expression becomes an image of sheer horror. "No… NoNonononono! This can't be! This can't be! No! My life… My life can't end like this!" Marco wanted to move forward, but when he tried, his legs gave in as it melted into a puddle of water on the floor.
"When Lacus asked me to spare your life…" Kira finally understand. "It's because… she realized you really don't have much time left to live… she wanted you to die in relative comfort. Marco Morassim… you are your own worst enemy…" And now, like Lacus, there's only pity in Kira's eyes.
"Had you not fight… had you stayed quietly… you might still have hours… maybe days…" Lacus shook her head, mourning the fate of the man who nearly killed her. "Now… you barely had seconds left to live."
As she said this, the melting process became more rapid. Marco was quickly reduced to a misshapen glob that looked barely human. "No… No…" he screamed desperately at Lacus, pleading. "No… please! Help me! I don't want to die like this… NO!" His scream was cut short as his mouth liquefied…
"I'm sorry… but this is already beyond my skill to heal." Lacus mournfully passed Marco's verdict. She turned away and buried her face on Kira's chest. She just couldn't bear to watch what will come next.
What's left of Marco's human form melted away, turning into a glob of crystal clear water, before it splashed like a water would, creating a puddle of water on the bloodstained floor that quickly receded down, absorbed by the wood, leaving only a stain of dampened wood… all that was left of Marco Morassim.
Kira hugged Lacus's sobbing figure. That was way too worse of a death for someone of Marco's stature.
"You're alright?" Kira asked the sobbing doctor. "You know… You look better when you look like shit." He chuckled.
Lacus replied back with a smile. "Look who's talking (koff). You've reopened your wound again (koff). Passed the time limit I allowed you. (koff) One of these days, I swear I'm gonna leave you to bleed to death (koff)."
The two chuckled as they embraced each other tightly, seemingly unwilling to let go one another…
Until suddenly, they can hear shouts from the decks…
"AIM THE HELLFIRE ROCKETS!"
"Wait Artes! You have to give them more time!"
"I'm sorry I can't, Mr. Allister sir. The Doctor himself had ordered me to purge this ship once the allotted time is spent… too much time has gone by and we don't even know if the captain's alive. We can't wait anymore, if we stay our hands now, the infection will spread and our losses will be worse!" Ignoring the protesting roars from the soldiers and crew, Artes gave the order: "FIRE!"
Kira and Lacus looked as they saw a dozen rockets flying out of nowhere, heading straight at the Lear.
"Lacus… what did you do?"
Lacus gaped. "I… (koff) ordered Sergeant Artes to burn this ship if no one alive walks out of this ship after 12 minutes. (koff)"
When the rockets are but scant microseconds away, Kira muttered: "I fucking hate you."
"Yeah, me too." Lacus replied happily.
With a thunderous explosion, the Lear was lit up by the weaponized fireworks. In an instant, the ship was engulfed in flames. The fire almost reached the ceilings of the Archangel underside dock.
Every onlookers looked in horror, wondering about the fate of the captain and his girlfriend. And then suddenly, from amidst the inferno, a green glowing ball burst out. The ball was the shape… of a haro.
And inside the green near transparent haro… was none other than the still alive and breathing Kira Yamato/Kage and Lacus Clyne/Hikari.
Once the audience realized who it was inside the sphere, everyone exploded into cheers and jubilation!
The sphere slowly landed on the docks and finally unraveled itself, revealing a bloodstained Hikari and Kage. It took every ounce of everyone's force of will not to just charge in and piled upon the two amazing couple out of sheer relief. Lacus is still covered in dried-albeit slightly potent toxic blood. Her blood. And some are still questioning their captain's mental stability.
But the surgeons quickly came before Hikari, and saw the wound on her chest, the spot where Lockon's bender arrow pierced her. "Your wound… oh my God… you really closed it." Another surgeon noticed a second set of stitches right above the larger main wound. "Doctor Hikari… what's with that scar above your main wound?"
"Oh this? The stab was quite deep, and it severed 5 of my arteries. The stab wound is kinda weird, it bend a bit upward at the inside."
At this, Lockon winced. His bender arrow must've caused that.
"The last edge of the severed vein was located right behind one of my ribs. I can't grab it with forceps, I can't suture it. So… I had to make a decision." Hikari smiled.
"A decision…?"
"I made another incision by stabbing myself with a scalpel right here, just above the main wound, right inbetween the gaps of my ribs to create a new route to the severed veins and my forceps reached the severed vein from there." Hikari pointed at the small scar just above the large chest wound. "…and that's how I can suture that last vein. That's also why it took me a longer while to finish the job."
The surgeons' jaw couldn't get lower. To be able to do that, thinking such a technique even when under a limited time constraint, even doing it while she was trapped right in the middle of a clash between monsters… It's official. They are now in the presence of the world's greatest Doctor.
Meanwhile, Hikari looked at Kage's own situation. He's covered in bruises and scars… and the blood on his leg is dripping. "Now… (koff) would somebody please hurry up and get this idiot resting on my shoulder treated? (koff) There's someone else with far more severe condition in need of my attention. (koff)"
"I'll be fine." Kage murmured. Hikari was right about one thing though: his condition is the least of her worries. "Sai… how is he?"
"We brought Sai to the Archangel's ward, to a doctor named… Mikhail Koast." The surgeon quickly reported. "He's alive… but… it's quite severe."
"Koast? (koff) Mikhail Koast is here?" Hikari blinked.
"Hikari before you go-"
"Chiba-san had a backup suit with her. (koff) Could anyone please tell her what happened? (koff) Tell her to meet me in the ward (koff)."
"I can do that. Torii!" A single call of the bird's name and that was all it took for the avian messenger to take flight.
Moments later, Hikari had rendezvoused with Chiba, and awkwardly, the rest of the Shiseiken including Toudou was there as well. She quickly handed her a spare suit and help her suit up. As soon as Hikari finished changing, Fllay showed up right in front of her. Judging by how hysterical she was, it seems she had been informed of Sai's critical state. She shook Hikari in panic. "Sai! What happened to Sai?" Hikari wasn't even sure what to tell her. It's like… she just got here and she didn't even know how bad it was.
George quickly grabbed her daughter and gently pulled her away from Hikari. "My dear, let Dr. Hikari take a look at him. I'm sure she will do her very best."
"Yes. (koff) I will do my very best. (koff)" Lacus nodded.
George smiled. "I will entrust this in your capable hands, Dr. Hikari."
Kage was quickly brought in and get his relatively minor injuries treated, along with Hikari and George. She was welcomed with another sight of a large gathering of wounded people. Just one look at this situation and Hikari suddenly lost her nerves. Kage noticed this. It's the same thing that happened back in Lear's medical ward. She started trembling again. But Kage gave a calm nudge at her back, grabbing her shoulder for some support. Hikari looked at Kage, who pushed her gently, encouraging her to go on. Somehow, that give her the courage she need to walk pass this carnage and go to where she's needed.
Inside the emergency room, Koast was pretty much bleached red, with a very weak Sai on the table. Kage winced at the carved open state of Sai's chest. "Doctor Koast? How is he?"
"Don't worry. It's not as bad as it looks. I managed to stabilize him, but four ribs are split open, but no injury to heart or lungs. Several bundles of muscle cut… and the arm… well… it was cut clean."
"If it's cut clean I can reconnect it (koff)." Hikari declared firmly.
"You can-?" Koast blinked. He looked at Kage, he nodded. And if even Kage believed it can be done to one of his best friends… "Okay… whatever you say. But I'm afraid that's not all there is."
"It gets worse?"
"Much worse." Koast pointed and traced the position of the scar. "See… he was cleaved open… from chest… all the way down to the waist area. Right here." Koast pointed specifically at the spot… where a human kidney would lay.
Lacus winced in fright. 'Kidney!?'
"Now this is where the situation worsened. One of his kidney was mangled beyond any functional level. That is to say, he just lost one of his kidneys, and I've already removed it. Now normally, a human has two kidneys, and you only need one to stay alive… but… here's the problem. Sai's remaining kidney… has also stopped working."
"What?" Kage blinked. "You mean he was also injured at that area?"
"No. I think this is something that has been going on for a while. Organ failure. It means the organ failed to function as it should be. It's progressive. Sai might not felt any detrimental effects in a year or two… but… give it time…"
"Excuse me!" George suddenly interrupted. "I'm sorry I'm a little bit confused… what exactly does Kidney do?"
"Kidney is an organ that's responsible for recycling the liquid in our body. You know 60 percent of human body is actually water. Now, sometimes, as we consumed, we breathe something, we eat something, we put anything into our body, we practically absorb foreign contaminants into ourselves. Now that foreign contaminants became poison in our blood. A kidney's job is to clean up all that poison in one's blood, and then disperse it through urine. That's why we pee." Koast explained.
"However… (koff) right now… there's something… evil… in Sai's remaining Kidney. (koff)" Hikari picked up where Koast left off. "That something caused his kidney to progressively failing. (koff) Causing it to stop performing the duties it supposed to do, (koff) which is to collect poison in his body and disperse it. (koff) Eventually the poison will mount up… dispersed into his entire body instead of being thrown away in urine and this cause death."
"But… if you already remove one, and the other one failing… and you said human need two…" Kage gasped.
"I don't think Sai can make it." Koast shook his head in remorse. "I'm sorry. He's a good kid but…"
Kage gritted his teeth. No… it can't be…
"There's… (koff) There's a way. (koff)" Hikari stuttered. "We have to… remove that failing Kidney… and transplant another person's kidney in place."
"Another person's kidney!?" George gulped. "Is that even possible?"
"Organ transplant… limb reconnection…" Koast's eyes gleamed as he finally recognized the female doctor. "I only know ONE doctor with that kind of skill."
"Dr. Koast. (koff)" Lacus giggled. "You look better without 7 bullets to your face. (koff)"
"It's an honor, Doctor." Koast eagerly shake hands with Lacus. "Truly an honor!"
"Wait… wait… back to the topic at hand. You're saying you can transplant another man's kidney into another person?" George gulped.
"It's possible. (koff)" Lacus nodded. "The tricky part… (koff) is finding the right match. (koff) We can't just transplant some kidney from some random guy. (koff)"
"Aye, that should be easy. We have 3000 people aboard this ship. At least one should be a match."
"If only it was so easy…" Lacus pulled out another haro, Belphy the bronze haro. "Belphy!"
Belphy reverted to her human form, the geeky scholar Lacus.
"Scour this place inside out, (koff) catalogue every kidney owned by every healthy adult aboard this ship. (koff) We're looking for one that match Sai-san's for transplant! (koff) Please be quick! (koff) Time is of the essence! (koff)"
"As you command, so shall it be done Milady!" Belphy grabbed her giant book, rubbed its hard cover several times, generating some magical runes, muttering incantations… and then she opened her book, and its pages burst out form the said book, turning into articulate bird origami that quickly dispersed and spread across the ship. The origami birds flew across the ship, searching for suitable candidate. The crew and the civilians were initially freaked seeing so many paper birds, but then the bird only looked at them, looked at their waist area, and then they were gone. Simple as that. "The task shall reach completion in a quarter hour."
"Wow." George blinked. "So those toys… aren't toys after all?"
Kage chuckled, knowing full well what those 'toys' really are. "You sir, have no idea."
15 minutes later, the paper birds returned back to Belphy's giant book. One bird checked even Koast before reporting back to Belphy. Belphy's book accumulated all information, but when she read the results… it was… bad. "Milady… failed thee I hath. Naught a soul was found that matched thy needs to safe this one poor soul."
"What? 3000 people and not one of them are compatible?" Koast gaped. "Not even me?"
"Forgive me my lord. There are those who had seen too many winters… and those who had seen too few… the rest are just… unsuited."
"Wait… there's one person you haven't checked." Kira noticed not a single one of those birds were looking at him. "What about mine? I'm of proper age! Or are you saying I'm incompatible?"
"You're out of the question! (koff)" Lacus screeched. "You're still wounded! (koff) You're still suffering from many massive injuries…! (koff)"
"On my head and my leg, NOT my kidneys!" Kira glared at Belphy. "Check it girl!"
Belphy at first looked at Lacus, who finally gave her a reluctant approval. She rubbed her swirly glasses and studied Kira's kidney. Her glasses can penetrate Kira's body, seeing his organs (AN: basically Rontgen X ray). And her answer was something Lacus had hoped she would not say. "It's a match. Unbelievably so, milady. It's a perfect match!"
Lacus frowned in pure disapproval.
Kira nodded. "Okay. Hikari… you heard her. I'm a match. Cut my kidney out and put it into Sai."
"Okay… that sounds pretty terrifying…" George felt a bit nauseous.
Problem is… Lacus clearly felt worse than nauseous. Ever since she heard the problem was with a kidney… again… her hands have been trembling non-stop. The image of that last surgery with the kid played again in her mind. "I… can't…" she murmured audible enough for everyone in the emergency room to hear.
Everyone looked at her.
"I'm sorry… I can't do it!" And she ran out of the emergency room.
George looked questioningly at Kira. "Oh no… that's right… her last failed surgery… was a kidney removal right?"
"Failed?" Koast looked incredulously at George. "I've never heard such a thing. I mean… I've heard other doctors failed… but she's the one doctor that I know for sure don't know how to fail."
"It wasn't a failure." Kage sighed. "It was a disaster."
Koast blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"I think I know why she quit." Kage's answer shocked all listeners. "Dr. Koast, how long does Sai have?"
"I can stabilize his condition, put him on constant medication… but… if you think you can do something… you better do it fast."
"Understood."
000000000000
For the second time that day, Lacus ran away from the clinic, her battlefield. She panicked. She was scared. She was hyperventilating, and her mask once again became suffocating. Searching for the nearest hidden place, she found a small observational balcony, facing open air, situated at the middle section of the ship's hull. She went there and took off her mask, breathe in fresh sea breeze. As the air filled her lungs, so is her calmness… and with it… came disgust. Disgust at herself. At her cowardice. She promised George Allister she will do her best… and she didn't deliver. Realizing what a wretch she had become, Lacus began sobbing.
"You know…"
Lacus's eyes widened and she glanced through her back, Kira stood there right behind her, crossing his arms, watching her.
"The way you speak with Marco back then… when you went into specifics about how first case murder dealt with their conscience problem. That doesn't look like something a singer of peace can say." Kira looked at Lacus with concern. "Lacus… that kid… you operated… the fateful Kidney operation… when did the operation happened?"
Lacus panted and frowned. "…it was 5 years ago. Why do you ask?"
"5 years ago, you say?" Kira's eyes gleamed with epiphany. This doesn't escape Lacus.
"Why… do you ask?" She repeated.
"I had Sai sniffin' around, asking to Mikhail about you. Turns out you were pretty well thought out in the medical community of the Advanced." Upon hearing the name Mikhail Koast, Lacus' eyes widened. "He didn't know anything about the Kidney removal… but he did told me about a great fire that consumed a city called Copernicus. That was also 5 years ago."
Upon hearing that, Lacus didn't say anything, realizing that a man as smart as Kira had clearly figured it all out.
"And a few days ago… I distinctly remember you once said that your Miasma fully developed when you were 12. That was also 5 years ago. And you quit being a doctor, 5 years ago." Lacus answered with silence and mortified stare into the ocean before her. That was all the confirmation Kira needed. "The boy… and his mother… were the first human victims of the Miasma. But… they were not the last, were they?"
Lacus balled her trembling fist in resignation. "I didn't know… at the time… I didn't realize just how bad the poison inside me had gotten. I thought I've kept myself sterile, I didn't touch him directly… I never touched anything directly anymore… I thought that was enough. I didn't know that I no longer had to touch my victims to infect them. Even my breath can infect." Lacus looked at Kira with sorrowful eyes. "Right now, my Miasma is incredibly lethal and deadly, killing and infecting at an incredibly fast rate but at the very least, its effect was felt immediately serving as a warning. But at that time… my Miasma was at its most insidious. The effect didn't reveal itself after it has inoculate itself in its victims for 20 days. During that time, it was extremely virulent. When the boy died, the unsuspecting populace buried him just like that on a normal graveyard. They just signed the death warrant of the entire city when they did that. Crops died… animals collapsed one after another… even the water was infected, and then the populace was finally struck ill. And that wasn't even the worst part."
Kira frowned.
"That city is also one of the central food distribution centers for Februarius, Marchus, and Septembrus. Thankfully, we managed to order a systematic quarantine of the town, preventing anything from getting out, and learning from our experience from Junius, the famine that occurred did not cause any disastrous damage. With a team of doctors at my back, I get in there, trying to fix the plague." Lacus gritted her teeth. "And at that time… I still fail to realize that I was the source of that disease. Try as I might, I just couldn't find a cure to fix it. Of course I can't!" In her frustration Lacus punched the muck with her fist with a bang. "I'm the one who spread the plague around! I realized too late. My team died one by one, I was the only one who was immune… and that's when I learnt the horrible truth… the monster that I've turned myself into! And then… and then…!" Lacus' gritted teeth clattered behind her lips. She couldn't bring herself to recount the last, brutal part that she had to do.
But Kira caught on. "Let me guess… you ordered a city wide sterilization. You purged the whole city… and its entire inhabitants were put to death. Am I correct?"
"Half correct." Lacus chuckled bitterly as she looked at her trembling hands. "I didn't order anything. I purged the city with my own hands." To her, her hands looked like they were bathed in blood. She remembered all too well what she did 5 years ago. Using Belphy to prevent anyone exiting the city in anyway, and then ordered Megi to go full Daemon and burn them all down, dead and alive, infected and not, down to the very last woman and child… "The bad thing of having a highly advanced hearing… is that you can hear everything… you can feel… every emotion in every decibel. From the tiniest whimper of deathly relief… to the loudest screams of horror… or fingers clawing at the unforgiving burning door that won't open… and even babies at the care center… crying of the heat as the fire reaches them."
Lacus bite her lips. "Seven-eight-three, five-six-nine. You know what that number is?" Kira's eyes widened. "783,569 people who lived in Copernicus. Their entire population… and the number of people I've infected and then burned to death. And I've watched and listened the process all the way through."
Kira frowned and finally closed his eyes in understanding. "So that's why you can't handle the crowd."
Lacus smiled sadly at Kira and nodded. "If it's… 1 or 2 patients… I'm fine… but… in a crowded noisy place… particularly like what I saw just now…" Lacus cupped her ears. "But… I'm a sensor. This might be weird coming from me, but my ears are just… too good. I can't help to listen to everything, even if I don't want to. Even when I'm this far away from the ward I can hear half a dozen soldiers muttering for some painkiller for their lost limbs."
"Okay… I've heard of this before…"
"Ok~ay?"
"My question is… if it really bothers you that much… how did you stay sane? I mean… it must be crazy for you, listening to everything unwillingly."
Lacus sighed. "My mom."
"Your mom?"
"She taught me. She taught me… to listen… to only what I want to hear." Lacus perked and shook her head. "But… Stay sane? I killed several hundred thousand people in a span of few days… and you said I'm not insane?"
"Look at me." Kira pointed at himself. "I graduated from working as a cook in a ramen bar to plotting mass genocide plans that butchered over 100,000 people in 5 days." Kira tilted his head. "And you know what makes you better than me? You stopped. Me… I probably will not stop before I hit a million plus."
"It's different Kira, and I'm not just talking about the killcount."
"Indeed it was different. There's the different reason as well. George called me a man who's more of 'end justifies the means'. I'm starting to think he was right." Kira's look gloomed.
And then it clicked on Lacus. "You think what I did was right?"
"You choose to kill 700,000 people to save the lives of 2.5 billion Advanced Population in this world PLUS 6.5 billion natural population, basically all the people that will suffer immensely… had your infection go out of control."
Lacus suddenly felt something is seriously messed up in this conversation. "Is that how we're going to justify ourselves? To go for the statistical logic?"
"I killed 100,000 people just to avenge 1 person. You think that's logical?" Kira's eyes narrowed into a pleading eyes. "I'm doing all this for my personal revenge. You did what you did, for the right reason. Maybe that much put God on your side."
Lacus spurt into a laugh at this. "God? Me? I mean… did I just hear that right? A guy like you talks about God?"
"Okay. What are the odds? 5 years you didn't practice, and you took a vow to never heal again, and then all the sudden, on your quest to die in the island of the dead, you met the one person you can actually heal." Kira smirked. "And then after that, you saved the life of a woman, and brought two new lives into the world. You stopped practicing because of a kidney accident. And then as if by coincidence, another Kidney related case just popped out of wazoo on your operating table. And if you want me to push it further… 3000 candidates, not a single one of them match, but one willing donor… one matching willing donor is standing right in front of you, just when you needed it the most. I don't take stock in coincidence but when something were so laid out in front of you in so neat of a way… either it's someone's idea of a master plan… or providence."
"Wowowowow. Okay… let's stop… I think we're sidestepping the matter here."
"Yes, I think we are." Kira looked at Lacus with confident eyes. "Okay, let's put aside that we're both bona fide mass murderers. Let's put aside the statistics and our logics for taking large amounts of lives in order to save an even larger number of lives or taking large number of lives to protect few cherished ones. Right now, this isn't about kill one save a thousand. Now, we're just talking about saving 1. Just 1."
Kira looked at Lacus, and she looked back. And it hit them. Two fellow mass murderers looking at each other, and both had serious issues of the morality of their actions. One knows he had become morally messed up… the other one is trying to find the morality in how she had messed up. And now, here they are. They've easily made decisions that condemn thousands of people to the deaths… and they are at loss on how to save just one life.
"I can reconnect severed limbs… But even if I want to help you with the kidney… I'm sorry to say… organ transplant is one of those operations that I will require the full use of my skills. Full use of my hands."
"What about other people's skills? We got Koast. He can be your hand."
"I know. He's good… but not that good. He wouldn't know what he had to do."
"He doesn't. But YOU do." Kira pointed at a startled Lacus. "Tell him what to do. You have to take the command and control bridge for this operation. You won't operate directly, you'll have to operate through other people's hands."
"But the chances of failure will be greater… if I entrust this to other people, they might-" Lacus gasped upon a realization and she stopped while Kira finished it for her. "They might fail and kill their patient. Lacus… you do realize who you sound like?"
"Merlin's beard… yeah… I do." Lacus cupped her lips. She sounded almost like Marco Morassim. Distrustful to other talents but his own, unwilling to give a chance to the new. Look how he ended up: nothing but a damp stain on the floor. Lacus flabbergasted. Finally the cat's out of the bag. All those 5 years she stopped practicing. Naturally, the mounting pressure from the church was hardly the reason. But after Copernicus… not only she had lost faith in herself… it seems she had lost faith in others as well. If she can't continue, it doesn't mean others can't carry the torch for her. When did she become like this? To become so… distrustful of others.
Lacus turned around and gaze mournfully at the ocean, her eyes filled with misery, and more than anything, regret. 5 years was spent in vain because of her self loathing and wallowing in fear. How many thousands, how many millions of people she had neglected during those times? Lacus took a deep breath… and then stated in a professional firm tone. "If I operate with my gloves, your chance of survival is roughly 30 percent, 25 for Sai. Entrusting this to others… and I can only add 5 percent to that odd. You ready to bet yours and Sai's life with that odd?"
Hearing the change in her tone, Kira realized Lacus no longer tried to discourage herself from doing her job… she simply asked of Kira's readiness to commit on this operation, at the risk of his life. Kira easily answered in a breath. "Do you even need to ask?"
000000000000
By the time Lacus and Kira returned to the ward, the audience has grown. Now they include Tolle, Milly, Mwu, Murrue and Natarle.
There, Koast and George had been waiting. Before they can say anything, Lacus started with: "I'm sorry Mr. George… I've been… well… I was wrong. I can't do my best. No. I won't do my best." George frowned slightly at that while the others gasped in shock. "I won't do my best. Because that would be my excuse if I fail. No. I will not fail. I won't do my best. I will save his life even if that's the last thing I'll do!"
George gasped in pleasant surprise. "Then. Do what you have to, doctor."
"Right… For obvious reasons, as you all know… I can't perform the surgery directly. That's why… I will take the supervising role." Lacus looked at Koast. "Koast. You'll have to take my place as the main surgeon."
"What!?" Koast gulped. "Milady… I wouldn't dare…"
"Yes, you can. You have steady hands. You know how to cut damaged organs out… now I'll teach you how to put one intact into a living human body."
"Uhh… but… milady, is this really a good time for testing my meager abilities? The boy's critical you now? I mean… I cannot work as fast as you are."
"I know. Which is why… I think we'll need a few sets of helping hands."
With that said, 8 extra surgeons were brought in. "Right… now… our two patients have not much time, so I'm going to be real quick. The operation is to cut out one of Kage's kidney, and then we'll transplant it in place of Sai's malfunctioning kidney. Dr. Koast here will be the lead surgeon. I cannot help, but I will supervise the surgery. Levi!" The blue haro turned into a privateer. Lacus handed Sai's severed arm and Levi took it. Moments later, the said arm has been enclosed in a block of ice, preserved against decay. "The reconnection of Sai's arm can come later. Ready?"
The surgeons nodded.
Lacus quickly assigned them to their respective task. They were divided into two teams for two phases of the task: the first team will aid in removing the kidney from Kage, the other will remove the malfunctioning kidney from Sai. Then the two teams will converge on Sai to place Kage's kidney into him, and to reconnect Sai's arm.
"Okay. Now, Dr. Koast, you possess the hypersensory touch on your hand. I need you to monitor Sai-san's vital signs. Administer the substances to keep those vital signs stable." Lacus also added. "And just in case… I'll also monitor their condition from here."
"Yes Ma'am."
"Right. Now, first things first. Gather your tools." The surgeons gather their tools and put them in one place. Likewise, lacus also pulled out something she had not used for years. Lily spit out all of her old conventional doctor tools. It's made of ceramic. Her doctor gear also included several tools that other doctors had never seen before. And then, Lacus pulled out a bottle from Ghienny and using fire from Megi, she warmed the content of that bottle. Its smell flow across the room. Everyone quickly recognize it as "Spirits? What's the alcohol for, Dr. Hikari?"
"In this world… there are many poisons. Even the very air that we breathe contains poisons. Tiny untraceable and weak poisons that we cannot see, feel, or smell. Problem is… that poison permeates everywhere, even our tools. During surgery when people are wounded and when you amputate human limbs… I bet there are many cases where they die after such surgery. This is due to that poison invading their exposed body… in this case… that poison came from our tools." Lacus motioned at the gathered scalpels and other surgery tools. "Therefore, I'm using alcohol to boil your tools." As she said this, Lacus poured the boiling spirits into the gathered tools. "I know you must've cared for your tools, and kept them as hygienic as possible. But I bet you clean them with normal water, yes? I'm afraid that won't do. Some of these poisons are resistant to water. You cannot get rid of it just by washing it. And sometimes, even the water also contains that poison (AN: bacteria). Using alcohol, I'm burning most of those poisons. This is called sterilization."
The surgeons nodded. "But what if we don't have alcohol?"
"If there's no alcohol, hot boiling water will do. Heat kills the poison." Lacus followed suit. "Alright, it's ready. Let's begin."
Kage and Sai was quickly sedated. Kage was laid on the bed facing left. Lacus draw a box with an ink around the area where the surgery will take place. "Right. You'll keep the surgery to this area. Cut the skin about this size, cut as deep as… roughly this deep."
The surgeons began working on Kage. At first, they were a bit reluctant. It's just… surgery no surgery, this is still about them cutting into a person's body! "Won't it hurt…? I mean… he might wake up…!"
"No, he won't wake up." Lacus pointed at hoses that are being, literally, stuffed and plastered on Kage's mouth. "Right now I'm pumping him full of a distilled mixture of Ethyl Alcohol and bleaching powder… we call it God's mist… or better known as Chloroform. It makes one completely unconscious, and they can no longer perceive pain. Here-" Lacus bluntly demonstrate this by taking a scalpel, and drove it right into Kage's skin, making the first stab. The unconscious captain didn't even let out a sound. Seeing that, the doctors gathered up their nerves, and began operating in the earnest. Slowly, gently, they began cutting Kage's waist under Hikari's strict supervision. "gently, gently… yes… that's good… kept watch on how deep you cut, we don't want the organ gets damaged."
And while team one concentrate on cutting Kage's kidney out, team two had a much harder task: cutting out Sai's kidney out while keeping the much more grievously injured boy alive. Lacus concentrated all her sensor hearings on Sai's vitals. "Her heartrate is decreasing. Inject adrenaline from bag no. 3." "Yes Ma'am." However, team two was also being partially supervised by Koast. And Koast proved to be an excellent choice for the head surgeon. His hypersensory hands are very steady, and her cutting of Sai's waist copied the approach done on team one. But it was clearly faster, smoother, and more precise. Chalk it up to the difference between Advanced and Naturals. "Cutting done."
"Once you cut open the skin, keep it open using these clamps." Lacus handed Koast the clamps. The surgeons used it to keep the cut section opened. Meanwhile, back on team one, the surgeons had pretty much reached that stage. But they concentrate too much on the cutting, some forgotten to keep watch on Kage's vital signs. When Lacus' ears caught sound of Kage's vitals dropping, she immediately barked angrily! "HEY! WATCH THE PATIENT'S VITALS! THEY'RE DROPPING!" The one managing the intravenous drips flabbergasted and for some moments, he wasn't sure which substances he need to administer. Lacus quickly take charge and administer the needed substances herself. She breathes again when she heard Kira's vital stabilize again. "Watch your sections! Just ignore what other people from other section were doing! Remember people! You maybe working on many different tasks, some look menial, but none of them are unimportant in keeping your patient alive! So focus!"
"Y… yes Ma'am!" the surgeons nodded nervously, and then he quickly added. "Eh… and… sorry… ma'am."
"Alright… alright. Let's continue."
As Lacus had suspected, without her direct handling, the progress is slow, but thankfully steady. After an hour of slow and careful surgery, team one finally managed to open up Kage's abdominal area, revealing the kidney inside. The head surgeon of team one swept his sweat and sighed in relief. "Dr. Hikari! Look!"
Lacus looked at Kira's kidney, rested beautifully on the opening of red flesh. "Well done gentlemen. That is one flawless kidney."
The surgeons also smiled in satisfaction.
"But I'm afraid this is just the easy part. Let's begin the kidney removal." Lacus also check up on the status of team two. "Team two? How's it going?"
"We're ready to remove the malfunctioning kidney, Dr. All vital signs are stable. We're waiting just on the kidney."
"Splendid."
And then, Lacus concentrated on team one. Lacus pulled Ms. Pink and brought her before Kira's opened abdomen. "Gently remove the kidney and put it into Ms. Pink here. Think of it like a gem. Or a pearl of an oyster. Gently, gently…" The surgeons did as she told. They slowly, gently, after cutting all arteries connected to the kidney, and they put it into Ms. Pink open mouth. Once they did, Ms. Pink closed her mouth, and Kira's kidney is now inside the pink shikigami ball.
"Umm… Dr. Hikari… what exactly are these things?" The surgeons looked curiously at Ms. Pink.
"Normally Ms. Pink is my main assistant. In times of need, she's will act as a life support system. Basically it kept the kidney fresh, as if it it was never been pulled out of the body, preventing the organ to die out before reaching the intended patient."
"Why not use the blue one to keep it preserved?" Come to think of it, those Haros are indeed very useful and they were helping Hikari doing all her healings. The red one for fire, the navy blue lets out all sorts of chemicals and water, the deep blue one is a preserving freezer, the bronze one is a cataloguer… "Is there a way we can learn that? We might need these girls. They're quite handy."
"I know, I know… but I'm afraid I can't teach you on that one. Oh no. They're a very different discipline altogether. You guys just had to be faster, I guess? Come. Ms. Pink will make your life so much easier when we put the kidney into Sai-san. You'll see. Now, Kage's kidney removal is done, follow the renal artery, and see the ureter. After that, suture all cut arteries, use string type 4, and close the the opening on Kage's using string no-"
"No. 3 strings ready!" One surgeon had gone ahead of Hikari's instructions and prepared the needed strings. "And… and… we're running short on… intravenous drip no 2, 3 and 6… I think the patient will need those soon."
Lacus looked with pleasant surprise at this. Now that she noticed it, this was the same surgeon who fumbled on his station of watching vitals a little earlier. And now he had learn to predict what the patient needs, based on his vitals. "You heard him." Lacus smiled. "Let's do it! Finish the suture on Kage, and then all teams must now concentrate on Sai!"
And now, both teams congregated on Sai. But… suddenly, Lacus began to notice something was different with these surgeons, compared to how they started. When they first begin, they were sloppy, clumsy, slow, and they need to be constantly reminded which is which. But… slowly… slowly… bit by bit… Lacus suddenly noticed that throughout the operation, their pace has grown faster and faster. And not only that… "Blood pressure dropping…" "Administer intravenous drip no 7!" "Check temperature… stable." Slowly, throughout the first two operations, the surgeons and Koast had also begun to grasp the concept of administering the needed substance to keep the patients vitals strong. Lacus barely needed to give them any order, they'll automatically prepare everything ahead. In fact, pretty soon, the surgeons no longer needed her supervisions regarding keeping the patient alive throughout the surgery, and they react even faster than even her verbal orders.
Lacus blinked in amazement. 'This is… this is…'
And then finally, the important kidney transplant. Fortunately for Lacus, by that time, keeping patient's vital strong is no longer her concern, thus she can concentrate on the supervising of the transplant. "Alright. Use string type 4, we'll suture this artery to her, this one goes there…" Now, Lacus took a supervising role, leaving the entire task to Koast and the team. An hour later, the new kidney has been safely transplanted into Sai's body. "Now close the abdominal opening." Lacus no longer need to give a blow by blow instructions. A simple order from her, and like a well oiled machine, each surgeon knew what they need to do.
"String type no 2 is here." "Vital signs all normal." "Blood pressure's a bit down…" "Administer intravenous drip no 7 by 2 mg…"
And finally, without a huff, once Koast cut the last string, Sai's kidney surgery was completed without any accident. "And with this, surgery complete!"
The surgeons cheered and laughed as the clapped their hands, congratulating each other on a job well done. But Koast quickly call down the revelry. "Hold it, hold it boys! The kidney transplant is done… but we still got the arm to reconnect!"
"Oh yeah, right! Right!" "Can it really be done?"
All eyes turned once again to Lacus, the one doctor who said it can be done. Lacus showed the severed hand of Sai. "See… unlike with kage earlier, the cut part is quite distant from the main body. It's beneath the elbow. Yes… it can be done… I can do it easily, even without removing my gloves. But…" Call it curiosity, suddenly Lacus wanted to see how far these surgeons can go. "You guys do it."
"EEERGH!?" Everyone gaped. "Are you serious!?"
"Very serious. I watched you guys work… and you guys improved greatly. Much greater than even I had suspected. So much so that… I think I can entrust you guys with this one task as well."
The surgeons looked at each other. Reconnecting a man's limb is something they've never done or even imagine can be done. But then again… they just succeeded transplanting an organ from one person to another person. That's also something they've never done before. They smiled at each other as confidence began to build inside them. "Will you… supervise us every step of the way?"
Lacus nodded kindly. "Naturally."
"Then… let's begin the surgery!"
000000000000
Hours passed…
George, Shadowguards, and Fllay were waiting outside the emergency room. Tolle paced back and forth, naturally worried sick. But then, sometime later, Hikari walked out of the door. They quickly gather around her. "Dr?" George started. "How did it go?"
"It's okay. (koff)" Lacus smiled. "They're fine now. (koff) Operation successful. (koff)" Lacus step aside and showed George and everyone the sight of Kage and Sai, unconscious in their beds… but alive and well. The shadowguards cheered and George shook Hikari's hands. "Oh Doctor… thank you… thank you very much!"
"Save your gratitude… (koff) for them. (koff)" Lacus presented the surgeon teams that had aided her. All of them sweating but with big smile plastered on their faces. "They're the one who committed the surgery. (koff)"
"With supervision from you, Dr. Hikari." Koast nodded.
But the cheer subsided immediately when another surgeon came. "I'm sorry… but… we still got a lot of criticals here! We need a hand!"
"Ah…" George momentarily reminded of Hikari's problems… "Ah… perhaps… the surgeons can…"
But Hikari… Lacus… had come to a decision earlier. She already made a resolve that she will never back down again from doing what she had to as a doctor. Trauma or no trauma, she'll heal as many people as she can, one way or another, no excuse. "No. Bring them here."
The surgeons and George looked at Hikari.
"The truth is… I have a bad experience… when dealing with the crowd. I won't go into details… but… particularly when there's a bunch of wounded people, gathered together… the noise is just… I just freaked out. That's why I ran back there. And for that I'm sorry for such unsightly behavior." Lacus finally admitted as she bowed down in apology to everyone. "In all honesty, that problem hasn't healed by the slightest. I'm still freaked out when dealing with multiple cases… BUT… if it's one by one… and if these surgeons can keep up with me like they did today…" Lacus blinked and turned with a slightly skeptical look, which more of a joking look really. "You guys can still go on, can't you?"
The surgeons looked at each other, they smiled at the challenge and then replied confidently. "Bring it, woman!"
George smiled. They might just as well witness the birth of a revolutionary surgical team. The businessman turned to the surgeon. "Alright doctor. You heard them. Bring them here, one by one… starting with the most critical of case."
"Sir, yes sir." The surgeon nodded and quickly did as told. Moments later, he brought in a wounded soldier. He had his cheek torn apart, a hole on his leg, and a bunch of burnt marks on some parts of his body, including a nose short. Before they began though… "By the way… Shadowguards, move Kage and Sai out of here. They're okay now, and we need the room!"
"You're the boss, ma'am!" Tolle, Milly, and reluctantly, Fllay, quickly pulled the gurney away carrying the still unconscious Kage and Sai out of the emergency room. George, out of curiosity, decided to stay there, wanting to watch the surgery procedure.
"Alright… we'll divide into teams again. One deal with that hole on leg and cheek, the other deal with the lacerations, and the last one get ready to fix that nose, we're gonna put a new one!"
This time none of them question if it can be done. If Lacus say it can be done, then it CAN be done!
The next hour saw Lacus conduct the surgeons in each of their jobs as George watched in awe. At first, what Lacus ordered seems horrid: for the cheek and leg, she ordered the muscle to be slowly reconnected, covering the third degree burnt skin with skin cut from other parts of the body. For the missing nose… he could hardly believe it, she ordered a new nose to be made from scratch out of an arm! At first… it looks messy, and bloody… what's with all the cutting and ripping… but the more he watched them, the more they work, one can feel a sense of… calmness. The surgeons, under orders from Lacus, were literally destroying, ripping apart a living breathing human body, keeping him alive as they did… but then they put him back together, reconstructing the poor soul on the operating table, bit by bit.
This case was completed with a huff, although the man still has an arm stuck to his face. Lacus claimed because the "nose isn't done yet." Nevertheless, the man's life is no longer in danger, and they're ready to receive the next patient.
New patient came, and this time, his stomach was split open, literally, and his insides are spilling! George clasped his mouth trying to hold back from hurling his roast dory steak yesterday's lunch out as he watched how Lacus and her team literally pull out the man's innards one by one… and putting it back together, also one by one.
But in the midst of dealing with this one patient, one panicking surgeon came barging in. "Sorry! But we got a patient here having seizures, and frothing! I don't know what to do!"
"We can only handle one at a time!"
Lacus looked at the current patient and this one. 'Seizures? Could it be he's having infection?' She can't handle a crowd… but two should be tolerable. "No… bring that one here. I'll check up on him!"
The patient was brought in, and this one was lacerated allover, and he's having seizures. Lacus check up on him with her ears. "I see… yes… okay… It's mild infection, explosive but not dangerous. Other than these lacerations, there's no serious threat. First we have to remove the shrapnels."
That being said, the patient was quickly taken care of. And Lacus quickly ask them to bring a pair of new patients in as she also put finishing touches on the other patient.
And then… slowly… progressively… without realizing, more and more patient were allowed entry into the emergency room. Lacus team of 7 grew to a team of 9. And when they originally can only handle at max 2 patients at a time, they soon handling 3 surgeries at a time, then 4, then 5… and finally… at some point, Lacus is supervising a 30 men surgeon team, handling 12 surgeries at a time with a finesse of a maestro conducting a symphony orchestra. Lacus used her sensory ear bloodline limit to her max. While Koast can sense a single patient's exact state of vital signs with a touch of his hands, Lacus can monitor multiple patients all at once at the exact same level of thoroughness with her ears.
Under her watch, no patient was left hanging between life and death. No patient was left bleeding out on the gurney waiting for doctors to come. The surgeons found their work increase in pace many times faster than usual under Lacus management. Sterilized tools are ready whenever they need them, intravenous drips were constantly refilled, and vital signs of every patient were maintained, and every surgeon were kept up to date of its status.
On that day, no wounded soldier of the Alliance died.
000000000000
Nightfall, 11:30 PM…
Lacus woke up… and couldn't believe her eyes.
What is this pile of people around her? She counted at least… 100 people sleeping soundly in their gurney on intravenous drips, and that was only so far as her eyes can see. Glancing left and right to other rooms, she can also see other gurneys in other rooms. "What… what…"
"Dr. Hikari?" One of the surgeons noticed she was awake. It was Koast! It seems he was having a night shift patrol on the patients.
"Koast? (koff)" Hikari easily recognized him. "What… happened here? (koff) I mean… what just happened? (koff)"
Mikhail Koast blinked in confusion. "What do you mean doctor? This is all your handiwork!"
"What? (koff)" Lacus gaped in disbelief. "No way. (koff) No freakin' way. (koff) There's no way I can handle that many people all at once! (koff)"
Koast chuckled mischievously. "But… milady… you're the one who ordered them all to be brought in."
"I did that!? (kosff!)" Lacus gasped. The pink haired princess is still in partial denial. She did remember allowing the entry of two patients all at once… but… "How can I handle this many people in a day when I allowed only like… one or two people at a time? (koff) How many people did we treat? (koff)"
Koast chuckled. "Well… you led a 30 surgeon team and you were managing 50 cases all at once!"
"(KOSFF!) WHAT!? (KOSFF!)"
To further his point, Koast handed her that day's medical record. "This is today's medical record. You wrote it yourself."
And when she saw, with her own eyes, her own handwriting describing every detail of what's going on throughout the mass surgery, even Lacus will have to accept she really did it. Just one question remain: "But… this number… this is not just the sick-list from Lear…" The record told her she had treated 1,232 cases in a single evening.
"Well, yeah, Kage think it'll be a good idea to include the sick list from Archangel crew as well… Ulp!" Koast closed his mouth when he realized he just uttered the name of Lacus most hated opponent.
"Kage did WHAT!? (koff)" Too little too late, the damage was done. Lacus furiously looked around, searching for a masked patient. "Tell me what happened!"
Koast nervously admitted to everything. "Okay-okay-okay… h-h-he's the one who told us to forcibly sent in critical patients in at an increased pace. First he told one to come in, then another, and another, and another… and he keep at it at an increased rate. Originally… I think he intended to stop at 12… any further and you might freak out… But then again to his surprise, and ours too, you managed to keep up and some! And thus he just keeps adding it up… until he practically emptied the sick list."
Lacus blinked and her eyes twitched in disbelief.
"But after a while you finally collapsed unconscious under the strain… he went panic and all that… I think he kinda regret it a bit…"
'Kira did?' "Where is he!? (koff)"
"He's somewhere outside I think…? I don't know. He walked out as soon as he caught you fainting due to exhaustion and put you to sleep in his gurney."
Without asking further details, Hikari stormed out of the overstuffed crowd, seemingly in seething rage. Once she disappeared, Koast thought to himself. 'Nicely done, Kage… a very nice rehabilitation session.'
Lacus zoomed across the corridors of the silent Archangel, her pace was quick, it was as if she was completely consumed in anger over being played by a fool by Kira. But in truth, it wasn't that. She was… confused. She was utterly and completely at lost. She thought she had made a resolve to never practice again. Then what the hell is this snowballing effect!? 1 becomes 2, 2 becomes 4, 4 becomes 8… and before she know it… a thousand!? Over a thousand patients in an evening!?
And then, she found him. Standing on the upper decks of the Archangel Starboard side amidst the ruins of the Superstructure, using railings as support was Kira, staring at the night sky.
Lacus quickly rushed at him, but then, as the distance between them grew closer and closer, Lacus pace decreased gradually. Until finally… she trailed to a full stop, right behind Kira.
Now normally, in the time it took for her to get there, she had literally thought up a thousand insults and mischief to throw at him. He's not even 1 meter away from her… and she's at lost.
"In my defense…"
Lacus blinked.
"If you think that… everything that has happened up until this point is some grand scheme of mine… well… sorry to disappoint, for the first time in my life, I really did lose control of that situation."
Lacus blinked and blushed. She did think that it was some scheme from Kira's part.
"The thing about Sai's kidneys… that was truly something I did not expect. But if you are here, I guess Koast had already told you about what I did? But… to be honest… I really did it based on what you said."
"What I said?" Lacus removed her helmet after sensing no one was around.
"Yes. You said your mom taught you to listen to only what you want to listen. That's what I did… I simply raised the difficulty level." Kira turned around and faced Lacus, smirking. "Back in the operating room, you concentrate on not what you want to hear, but what you NEED to hear. And in this case, what you need to hear was the vitals of the patients. Not their screams or moans. You concentrate on that, you ignore everything else, including that which makes you freaked out. I simply capitalize on that, and make you keep concentrating on that, and only that, as I kept adding more and more patients in. To put it bluntly… I made you so busy you even forget to freak out."
"Are you trying to turn me into a workaholic?"
"Seeing how you so readily share what you know to others around you, anybody would know that your days of fighting the church's oppression on your humanitarian work are far from behind you. You still got it. I just need to push you in the right direction. You just can't help NOT to help those who are in need of help."
Lacus wasn't sure whether that was a praise or a sarcasm.
"So sue me for making you realize that you ARE a workaholic, Ms. Doctor, Ma'am."
"You're the last person I wanna hear that from!" Lacus barked angrily… but then… that was it. Suddenly, Lacus felt not one jot of anger or confusion. She felt calm… and at peace. "Hey, Kira-kun."
"Hm?"
There's this something she was quite curious. "Dr. Koast said that I fainted."
"Yes you did. For some reason of exhaustion and adrenaline pumped out and… other bunch of stuffs I don't understand." Kira suddenly turned around, showing Lacus his back.
"Did you… caught me and put me in bed?" Lacus blushed at the boldness of her own question.
"What?" Kira winced. "W-w-who on earth gave you that idea?" The flabbergasting parts of his speech was barely audible.
"Eh?'
"That was Koast through and through. Why would I even want to catch you? I'd just sooner let you drop and watch you drool on the floor!" So Kira says… but he's practically blushing all the way to his ears, and Lacus can clearly hear his heart skipped a beat.
Lacus' gaze turned flat and then she purposefully and lightly poked Kira RIGHT where his surgical stitches are still around.
Kira bite his lips in sheer pain. "GRMM! #%^&*()M!" And in an instant, Kira collapsed on his knees. And when he does, the still bleeding staples on his thigh stings! "GA+_)(*&^%$# !=-0!" and finally he fell limp and his head tucked on the railing. And this time his head injury burst! And finally, at long last, Kira's resolve collapsed and…
"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHGH H! SHIT, IT HURTS!"
Kira collapsed on the floor, foaming, twitching.
"Ooii… still alive?" Lacus poked at Kira's butt.
"Everything… hurts…"
"And it serves you right."
And so she says, but Lacus treated him anyway. Anesthetics, pain killer, and muscle relaxant and all that. But once she was done, Lacus just left him there face down just like that while she sat on nearby rubble that made a nice comfy makeshift chair. While Kira can no longer stand up. He had no choice but to lie down there, face down, drooling on the floor while Lacus giddily watched him lose what dignity he had left.
"Oi… you're gonna leave me like this?" Kira mumbled rather audibly.
"Yeah… I think I will." Lacus nodded. "Payback. After all, you did watch me collapse and drool allover the floor, did you not?"
"Oohh… I hate you so much I wanna kill you."
"Yep, yep, yep. Don't be such an insect. I know, I know." Lacus nodded in an approving smile. Her enemy suffers greatly before her. All is well in this world. Yes.
Lacus turned her gaze for a moment and looked at the ocean. "You know… Mraco Morassim wasn't always like that."
Kira sighed and listened.
"Marco and Veia were comrade in arms. But both faced too many fighting… too many deaths… and both ended up with their own coping mechanisms. Veia cope by splitting his mind in half. Marco… well… turned into that insufferably stubborn old man that we met today."
"Obvious ain't it?" Kira replied in a muffled voice. "War was never a normal circumstance. Back in Sengoku Period, not just Samurais, everyone: civilian or warrior, are more or less insane to a greater or lesser degree. They say they were so insane, it was passed on to their descendants. I guess that makes me inherently insane."
"Insanely reckless." Lacus testified the cosmic truth based on what she had seen. Truly, Kira had absolutely no care of his life. He treated his body like a Barbie doll. Every part is there not to be protected but to be given away when needs be. Lacus looked at Kira's motionless figure. Is he asleep now? "Hey, Kira, you still there?"
"Still drowning in my drool, thank you."
"I'm gonna ask you something really weird. Ready?"
"Bring me up face to face."
"No."
"Fuck you."
"Do you wanna live forever?"
"No. Do you?"
"Kira, I'm serious."
"So am I."
Lacus shook her head. And as requested she lifted Kira's face by yanking him by the hair, his face is smeared with his own drool. Kinda cute though. 'Eh… what was I thinking about!?' "So… satisfied?"
"No."
"Oh, really? What, would you prefer a nice sleep on my lap?"
"I'd rather be dead… I mean… the answer to your previous question. Do I want to live forever? Hah… Now why would I want that?" Kira chuckled. "If we're meant to live forever, we wouldn't be able to worry about anything. But then… where's the meaning in that?"
Lacus blinked in surprise.
"I'm human, and I consider myself blessed that I can die. When you're a mortal with limited lifespan, everything you do will have a meaning. Why? Because you are doomed. Because you live only once, and so you'll never know what tomorrow will bring. When you had a once in a lifetime chance, you'll take it, because tomorrow you might never get that chance again. Because tomorrow you might be dead. That's what makes your achievements, whatever it is, big or small, it will meant something because you might not be able to do it again later. Rather than live an eternal but empty life… I would rather live a meaningful life just once."
Lacus looked at Kira with gleaming eyes.
"…to them, death is not something to be feared."
She remembered one of the conversations she had with Veia regarding a Japanese outlook on death.
"…to them, death is akin to an old friend they're ready to embrace as equals when the time comes."
Lacus smiled. "Thank you."
"? For what?"
Lacus chuckled. "This will be very strange coming from me, but… thank you… for killing Lord Goud Veia."
Kira blinked in bewilderment. So shocked he was his jaw hung in confusion. "What?"
"I know. It's weird… but… you're right. It's better live your life just once. A single happy life… rather suffer in the torment of eternity. Lord Veia's fondest wish was to finally live out his life to its end with honor and dignity. And if he had hoped that anyone would bring him that end, he would damn well be happy and content that the person is you."
Kira smiled.
"Oh well. Go back to sleep you big dummy." And Lacus let go of Kira's hair and let his face fell down smacked in the puddle of drool and foam again, face first.
"Imph! Mmmphh!" Kira gargled as his nose and mouth was squeezed.
"Ah, oopsie." Lacus turned the way Kira's face facing, this time allowing him to breathe.
With that said and done, Lacus was back to her star gazing. Her mood is better than ever. And when her mood improved… she expressed it in one way she likes the most.
konna ni tsumetai tobari no fukaku de
anata wa hitori de nemutteru
The soldiers aboard Archangel were asleep…
inori no utagoe sabishii nohara wo
chiisa na hikari ga terashiteta
They may not have much hearing at this point…
anata no yume wo miteta
kodomo no you ni waratteta
But Lacus' voice, bloodline or not…
natsukashiku mada tooku
sore wa mirai no yakusoku
…is magical in its own way.
itsuka midori no asa ni
itsuka tadoritsukeru to
Beautiful to every ear…
fuyugareta kono sora wo
shinjiteiru kara
Fields of hope
…whether they're awake or not.
umarete kita hi ni dakishimete kureta
yasashii ano te wo sagashiteru
Koast did his patrol pleasantly…
inori no utagoe hitotsu kiete mata hajimaru
tayorinaku setsunaku tsuzuku
Noting that all his patients had this happy upward curves at the corners of their lips
itsuka midori no asa e
subete no yoru wo koete
And to the battle weary crews of Archangel…
sore wa tada hitori zutsu
mitsukete yuku basho dakara
Hikari's off mask singing is always the perfect treat.
ima wa tada kono mune de
anata wo atatametai
And as for Lacus?
natsukashiku mada tooi
yasuragi no tame ni
Fields of hope
"Zz…" This could be the happiest day in her life, as her songs were filled with new emotions. New concept.
natsukashiku mada tooi
yakusoku no nohara
"Zzz…" A concept she never thought she'll feel.
Fields of hope
"Zzz… zzz…."
Fields of- Lacus stopped singing as soon as she realized there's an off tune snoring in the background. Lacus turned and saw Kira, snoring loudly, also with a smile on his face.
Lacus looked at Kira's sleeping figure on the floor and smiled kindly.
A moment later, and Kira was sleeping with his head resting on Lacus' lap. Lacus giddily played with Kira's hair, bundling it and rolling it up. She thought of messing with his hair… but it's already messed up.
'Thank you… Kira-kun.' And she finished the song.
"Fields of Hope…"
000000000000
The next morning, soldiers tasked to cleaning up the messed upper decks of the Archangel Starboard found themselves in a quandary. The reason was a ten feet radius of no approach zone, and two bodies piled on top of each other, sleeping soundly, snoring, one of them emitting a deathly poisonous gas that will knock everyone alive unconscious in 3, then kill them in 2.
But guess what?
Luck would have it, Kira got his face mashed up to the floor, Lacus' face glued on the back of his neck, said brunette is sleeping on her lap, drooling. And more importantly, her rich pink crown completely covered both of their faces. No one can see anything even if they want to.
Thusly, they brought the specialist bio hazard team: Toudou and his entire squad of gasmasked Rounins. Alas, everyone's curiosity of the true identity the world's deadliest couple was dashed when the Shiseiken made an impenetrable man wall around the two and Toudou woke them both up.
"Kira! Lacus! Wake up! You're making a scene!" Toudou shook them both up.
Lacus woke up first, followed shortly by Kira… and once they realized their circumstances…
"AAAAAAAAAAAAARGGHHH!"
Lacus was the first to noticed the worst part: her hair and legs are smeared with Kira's dried drool. "Oh my god!? Ki- KAGE! YOU GOT DROOLS ALLOVER MY… AAARGHH! MY HAIR!"
Kira… quickly noticed another fact… sometimes… just sometimes… there were those nights where Lacus drool in her sleep too. And it's… it's slightly acidic. Just Kira's luck… it spent all night burning through his clothes, and now it's eating his skin. "MY BACK! HOLY SHIT LADY, YOU GOT ACID FOR DROOL!?"
Acid drool? It's official. The boyfriend is a mass murdering mastermind genius; the girlfriend is a walking living bio weapon. Deadliest couple in history. In literal sense.
Lacus put her mask on, and Toudou handed Kira a new suit (a grey yukata) and a new mask.
Once they're done, Kage and Hikari got back up, fully suited.
Minutes later, the infection died down, and everyone can safely venture that area again.
Kage still groan. His whole backside hurts. 'I can't believe I French kissed her and I lived through it.' "Urghh…"
"Kira?" Toudou whispered as he removed his helmet.
"Yes?"
"Do you have time?"
"What do you want to talk about?"
"It's about you, really- your temper?"
Kira blinked in confusion. "My temper?"
"Yes, your explosive temper when you fight Marco yesterday afternoon-"
"Look… I'm in the heat of the moment. I mean… I fought beastly and I'm not proud of it… but…"
"Kira. I'm serious."
Kira blinked and he looked at Toudou eye to eye. This is the first time Toudou actually talk to him to talk about him, and him. He's here to talk about Kira… not Kage. And his temper, he say? "How concerned… I should be?"
"Right now, I can tell you're not concerned enough."
"You know what…" Kage rubbed his neck, cracking it. "How bout if you meet me later in my office at the bridge tower. Some… an hour or two?"
"Kage, please." Toudou firmly requested in a louder voice. "We're talking about your own well being."
At this, even Hikari was clearly concerned. "I… I appreciate it. But right now… I'm needed on this one matter… and it can't wait." Kage turned to Hikari for one moment. "Hikari… you think Sai would be awake by now?"
"Yeah… yeah he should be."
"Good." Kage quickly make his way to the ward as a man on a mission.
000000000000
In the ward, Sai's room, a cheerful atmosphere was quite evident. Sai is finally awake, with Fllay and George next to him. Mwu, Murrue and Natarle was also there. When Kage finally get there, his friends' warm smile welcomed him. As do Sai's smile. "Hey there, Kage." Sai's reconnected hand is casted, hung limp before him. "I'm in quite a mess."
Kage didn't reply.
And that was the direct indication for everyone that something… was off.
"Kage? Something wrong?"
"What did I told you to do when Mr. George first came here?" Kage's ice cold tone instantly erased all smile and cheer in the room.
And suddenly everyone realized… in stark contrast to the cheerful atmosphere: Kira was angry.
"Kage…" Tolle laughed nervously. "Come on ma-"
"Tolle, shut it." Kage snapped, and Tolle gaped at the fierce tone, and he was silenced.
Sai looked at Kage in confusion. "Kage… I… look, I did what I felt to be right!"
"What you FELT to be right!? YOU DISOBEYED MY ORDERS! CLEAN AND SIMPLE!" Kage snapped. "I gave you a simple task of protecting Mr. George!"
"I'm trying to save your life!"
"Fat lot of good it did, I'm a kidney short, you lost both, and you nearly lost an arm." Kage growled darkly. "And need I remind you, you even failed to save me, you nearly got yourself killed, and you put Fllay's father in danger and it still won't make any difference. What part of you were thinking at the moment!?"
"Kage-"
"SHUT IT, SAI!" Kage roared viciously, shutting him up. "You disobeyed a direct order. Period. End of story! By my own words, I'm well within my rights to kill you where you stand." Mwu gasped and Murrue also paled. Natarle frowned.
Everyone gulped. The Shadowguards know that Kira would never do that. But whatever decision, whatever punishment that Kage will think up for Sai, they're doubtful if it will be pleasant or light.
But Kage glared darkly at Sai. "But right now I need every able hand I can have, and I can't afford to kill any more of my own men right now. But that doesn't mean you won't go unpunished."
Sai swallowed a gulp as sweat covered his temple.
"Sai…"
Everyone held their breath…
"…take off your mask."
Sai blinked. "What?" Everyone from Shadowguard also gasped. Does that mean…
"You heard me." Kage confirmed it. "I hereby discharge you from duty on the charge of conduct unbecoming of a Shadowguard. You. Are. Dismissed."
Sai felt like his heart just stopped.
The other Shadowguards also gaped in surprise. They wanted to protest, but words won't come out of their mouth. Mwu jaw dropped, Murrue's eyes widened in disbelief… It seems Natarle was the only one who didn't seem to be surprised.
Sai looked at Kage in the eye, but all he found is that there's no shred of pity or mercy in them. Kage's decision was final. Sai wanted to say something… but his throat felt like it was petrified. And finally, he relented and tucked his head down in resignation. His remaining hand slowly move up to his collar and with a stroke, he tore the mask area off his collar of his Shadowguard suit. And after he handed the mask to Kage.
Kage took the mask, and then he ripped apart to pieces with his hands. "You're no longer Shadowguard. You're off the force."
And he left without another word or any sign of remorse and pity. Tolle tried to stop Kage in protest. But before he even took a step forward, Kage stopped him with a glare and let out a warning: "Anyone trying to defend him will be treated as equally guilty and will be punished the same way."
Tolle gasped and stopped. He gritted his teeth, unable to accept Kage's decision. But Sai replied with a weak smile. "…it's okay Tolle."
"Sai!?"
"Kage's right. That was stupid of me to just jump in, and I did so brazenly without thinking it through. Look what happened: Kage gave one of his kidney for me… and…" Sai looked at himself in sorrow and guilt. "I told George-san that I don't want to leave the ship because I told him this ship still need all the medical aid it can get, including mine… now look at me." Sai looked at his bandaged arm. "Now I can't even help as a doctor with my arm like this… Now… I'm useless."
"Sai…"
Kage turned around and walked out of the ward. George blinked several times and quickly chased after Kage and managed catch up with him at the corner. "Kage, Kage!"
Kage stopped, but didn't turn around as George stand behind him. "Kage… you…"
"That thing you said to me… about a whole new fresh army waiting in China… you still stand by it?"
Georged nodded. "Yes. Nearly half a million plus."
"Alright. I'll take you up on your offer, we'll set a course to China. But what I said earlier before still stands. Though in the end I did help you up some." Kage turned around and glanced at George. "It cost me a kidney, but… I think I've managed to secure a chance for one of my friends. The rest is up to you now. Sway them. You're both politicians. You know the drill."
'Both of us? Oh, he's referring to Hikari… Lacus… oh I see…' George nodded in understanding. "Yeah… I can think of something…"
"Push him in the right direction: away from me."
"I will." George nodded. "I will give him the push."
Kage nodded and walk away.
And George added with a smile and admiration, seeing the back of a man who was ready to give everything to protect his friends. "But not away from you. Now that's the right direction." So he said to himself with a smile.
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Back in the ward, the Shadowguards were still at an impasse over Kage's sudden decision: firing what everyone thought would be the last person to be kicked out of the elite team.
Tolle in particular is still strongly against it. "You know what, let me talk to Kage-"
"You do no such thing." Natarle sternly objected. "The captain's decision was final. And it was the right decision."
"Oh really? He fired one of his closest friends because he was trying to save his life!?" Tolle retorted.
"Sai's actions were completely against Kage's orders. It doesn't matter if he's acting in good faith, but Sai defied military chain of command; put a VIP on an unnecessary risk. On all accounts, Kage was right. That's court martial material." Natarle steadfastly maintain her rigid opinion. "You're part of the army now, Tolle Koenig. And more importantly than a friend right now, you are also Kage's subordinates. If all subordinates acted on their own, without regard to the authority of the superior officer, this battle will be in chaos."
"I don't care. I'm going to talk to Kage and knock some senses into him if I have to! And I won't stop until he get Sai back in the team!"
But before he did, George returned… with a practiced sorrowful face. "I was just done trying to convince him to change his mind. He said: over my dead body."
"Wh~at!?" Tolle gaped.
"Tolle… honestly, it's okay." Sai nodded. "Kage was well within his rights. I screwed up, and I screwed up bad. And it's not just Allister-san's life we're talking about here. Thanks to me, Dr. Hikari nearly lost her life as well. Had she died, 1200 people may not live today. Kage gave one of his kidney for me to keep me alive… It's like he just gave me half of his life. If I'm going to preserve this life… jumping left and right straight into danger area is out of the question."
And now, it's George time. "Sai… I think… you're looking at this in a… wrong angle." Tolle, Milly, and Sai looked at George questioningly. "Instead of questioning what would a captain of the 7th division do… try to think… what your friend would do? Stop seeing the captain. See him as the friend you've known for years."
"What… you mean… what would Ki… urh… I mean… what would Kage had done?" Tolle frowned.
Hikari suddenly butt in. "No, I think what Mr. Allister saying is… (koff) look beneath the underneath. (koff) As a Captain, firing one of his elite team for bad conduct is what he would do… from a military point of view. (koff)" Hikari nodded to a rather suspicious but consenting natarle. "But this is your friend who fired you… (koff) an angry friend, worried sick at you (koff). Sai, we're talking about a man who asked me to carve his kidney out FOR you, (koff) even when he was brain damaged and his leg was nearly cut off. (koff)"
"What are you trying to say?" Tolle blinked in confusion.
"Kage wants me to stop fighting." Sai caught on. "He wants me to concentrate on my medical studies."
George smiled and made a look saying: There you have it.
"But… look at me. One of my arms busted. I can't operate like this!"
"And I can't use both of my arms, (koff) even when they're intact. (koff)" And like a well oiled gear, Hikari came to play. "And yet, without my arms, I saved over 1000 people today. (koff) Including you. (koff) What I learnt from that is: Excuses are for losers. (koff) Losers whine about doing their best when they fail. (koff)" Hikari stomped forward and glared at Sai's shocked eyes. "Doctors get in the operating table and bring their patients back up on their feet. (koff)"
Sai blinked several times.
"I'm starting a class tomorrow. (koff) I've already talked with Koast and a couple surgeons. (koff) They'll arrange time, they're gonna be there. (koff)"
"Can I come!?" Sai couldn't hide his excitement.
"Are you kidding me!? (koff)" Hikari turned around and walk away, leaving a dejected Sai…
Only to turn around and said:
"You're my assistant now! (koff) If you don't show up tomorrow morning at 8:00 O'clock sharp, (koff) I'll drag you off the bed MYSELF! (koff)"
If Sai's smile gets any wider, he'll split his face in two.
George smiled in satisfaction. The kind of smile of someone who just got everything he wanted to happen exactly as he had played. The kind of smile that only a fellow politician, as in Lacus, can recognize.
Lacus shook her heads and quickly left.
"So~o… can anyone explain… what just happened?" Mwu felt a bit lost.
"To put it simply…" George explained with a big smile. "Kage just reassigned Sai to Hikari."
"And he won't hear me complaining. Not ever!" Sai grinned.
"Oh… okay." And that's good enough for Mwu.
George however, felt he owed the girl some explanation. "Well, this certainly calls for a celebration! I'll go check the destroyers, I think I still got a few spare treats that was not yet burned down along with the Lear." George happily left the Shadowguards… and hurries along catching up with Hikari, just outside the door. "Dr. Hikari! Dr. Hikari!"
Hikari stopped and turned to George.
"Dr. Hikari… Ms. Lacus… I don't want you to think I used you to get what I want. I'm very grateful that you changed your mind and accept Sai's request."
"Think nothing of it, Mr. George. (koff) We're both politicians, (koff) we negotiate and sweet talk our way to get what we want. (koff) It's all part of the gig. (koff) Just…" Lacus growled in annoyance. "…only a few days ago I rejected Sai's plea without a second thought and now… (koff) I get this strange yen… (koff) that I just got suckered by Kira. (koff)" She was playing in the palm of Kira's hand all along!? Could it be? While he denies it, seeing the cruel and ruthless genius Kira was capable off, Lacus would not dare to write him off putting his own friend at risk as well as risking his own death with a staged kidney transplant, all of that just to make a point.
And then George suddenly remembered how it was Kira's idea who forced that many patients to Lacus' care to bring back her confidence, then his subtle mention of Hikari's name to George that brought everything together into place, all the way up this moment where Lacus finally took Sai as her student. Not just Lacus… They're both had been playing in the palm of the ninja's hand all along. "If Kira ever decided to enter the political arena, we're both screwed… I think."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah… (koff) Lucky for us, Kira hates politics. (koff)" Lacus groaned as she shook her head.
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Meanwhile… back in the ward…
While everyone was pleased with this development, one shadowguard maintain a frown on his face.
"Tolle? What's wrong?" Milly asked.
"Milly… I have a bad feeling about this." Tolle turn away from the happy cheer of Sai and the others for a moment.
"Bad feeling?" Milly tilted her head.
"About Kage."
Milly blinked and nodded with a smile. "Come on Tolle. You heard Hikari-chan, you heard from George-san. Kage planned it all along! Now Sai is Hikari-chan's assistant! He was just pretending to kick Sai off the Shadowguard!"
"Why do I get the feeling he WASN'T pretending?" Tolle frowned. The way Kira behave just now, unilaterally, without even discussing this with either him or Milly and just fire Sai like that…
Tolle further added: "And why do I get this strange yen… that it won't end with just Sai?"
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In the Bridge Tower, Kage's office…
Kage was welcomed by Toudou and the Shiseiken.
"Okay. I'm here. So tell me what is this so important about my temper that you seem so concerned about?"
Toudou started. "There's no easy way to say this… so I'll just be blunt."
Kage awaited the verdict.
"I ask… no… I demand that you allow me to train you in Bushido."
Silence for a few seconds…
And Kage answered:
"No."
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Epilogue:
The short skirmish, where Kage, utilizing the Archangel's 'Firepower' to wipe out 12 Battle Barges and killed Marco Morassim, would later be known as the South China Sea Skirmish…
The significance of this skirmish was not fully understood at the present.
But…
Chapter 40:
Years later, historians tried to find the starting point of one of the greatest battles ever fought on the planet…
And they all agreed… that it was indeed this skirmish… was that starting point.
The Prelude
The South China Sea Skirmish was the prelude to the Great Battle for Central Plain.
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Till the next chapter!
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The Alliance
Part 3
After the fall of the Crimson Emperor's court, the Logos took control of the Empire, and thus began, what the people advanced known as the bloody days of the Holocaust. A systematic slaughter of all the Advanced across the globe. The army that was once trained to protect the people were now repurposed to hunt and kill every last one those whose veins flows the blood of the Onis. They were inquisitions in every city, in every town. Thousands were rounded, hundreds were either put to the torch or… executed in the concentration camps. At least millions of Advanced were killed in concentration camps during this time period, and many millions more were left to die in impoverished ghettos. Countless acts of brutality were carried out by the hands of the Regular Troopers under orders from their captains, which in turn follow instructions from their Chief Marshall. The Naturals military supremacy was at its zenith at this point, eclipsing all other military forces in the world, including the now long lost Samurais.
At first, all captains did their job with relish and optimism of professional warriors following their orders dutifully. But at some point, some of the Captains' optimism had shifted into zeal and lunacy found on psychopaths, growing a taste for bloodshed and carnage. Perhaps it was fortunate then, that some of the Captains had also become sickened by the amount of rivers of innocent blood flowing across the land. Discontent slowly turned into disagreement over both methods and ideology. However, these clashes never develop into something more than harmless profane verbal exchange and at worst a bitter rivalry between captains. This matter had reached the Chief Marshall's ears, but rather than stopping it, he encouraged such rivalry. On the outside, Calron was an efficient if not ruthless Chief Marshall who made use of the Captain's strengths while compensating their weakness. But in truth was far from it. Azrael also began to single out the captains who do not share his beliefs of hatred of the advanced race. Those who do were gathered together to form a secret group, Logos' personal military arms: The Order of Blue Cosmos. But he was careful not to let these preferences to show, or so he tries.
It became apparent though that those captains that are in the good graces of the Logos have a tendency of being more fortunate than those who do not. A captain who was known to be a close aide to the Ministers gained the latest weapons, and a captain who once offended a Logos Minister went missing due to unfortunate but will never be fully explained circumstances only to be replaced by a new, often less inept but more subservient, captain. Eventually, it became apparent to these minority group that Calron Azrael is, for the lack of better term, a genocidal mad man. The absolute power and control over all military and other aspects of the Empire had truly gone up his head. The rivalry between captains that Calron initially championed turned back against him in the worst possible way. He were slowly, steadily, consumed by excessive paranoid and delusional ranting, often ordering execution of entire towns on the slightest suspicion of even one of them are Advanced. Often times, this was proven untrue. He was also deluded into thinking that many captains are against him, even believed that those captains whom he had personally handpicked for the order of Blue Cosmos are what he called traitor captains who infiltrate the inner circle. While these delusions were kept in check at the moment, it was enough that he constantly second guess any military decision made by even his most loyal Captain.
The Captains… even those from the Order, had become steadily fed up by this constant interference and distrust. Worse, the Logos Minister did little to curb Azrael's descent to madness, being more concerned of the profit they gained from Calron's Holocaust campaign. It was when in this state of disharmony that a new champion of the Advanced Race rose up. George of Glenn, an Advanced Warlord ascended and lead his people in a series of raids that steadily escalates in both size and strength. Said warlord was an ingenious strategist who makes use of his people's special abilities in ways no one has ever seen before: the ways of war. One impoverished Ghetto to the next, and George's army grew. Soon, the Naturals Regular army was overrun, and even some of the Order's Captains can no longer handle it. George later established the Advanced Haven called Zaft, a giant metropolis and a new city nation unto itself. At that point, the Captains came to realize the sheer threat this army of brigand have become. Some of the Captains petitioned for additional men, as well as sending a letter describing the threat that George of Glenn pose. The letter couldn't have come at a better time. During the time of the letter's arrival, Calron was in his… sanest point, the first and regrettably the last in years. Calron immediately ordered a full blow invasion against the city state of Zaft.
4 separate invasions and none succeed, as the walls that protected the city were impenetrable. The last being the most disastrous – in particular to the Order of Blue Cosmos. The 4th invasion forced Calron to draw ranks from even from his Logos army. Other non-Order member Captains had expended all their resources and manpower in the first 3 assaults. Demoralized by the lack success in dealing any considerable damage to the wall, compounded by the worsening weather, and the dwindling supply, the troopers began to retreat. Enraged, the overzealous Captains, many which are part of Calron's inner circle, issued an order to charge up front the gates of Zaft and for Sergeants to execute any military personnel who retreated. It was no use, and sergeants were practically hip deep in the bodies of their own squad, executed by their very own hands for stating the truth: the 4th invasion was a massive failure as well. Between the weather, the starvation that follows, and the actual victims, Logos had lost ¾ of their entire military asset.
The disgraced Captains of the Order realized Calron will surely execute them for this massive loss, sane or not. To save themselves, they began spreading a false rumor to redirect the blame: Some of the disgruntled captains, those who are not members of the Order, were rumored to have been aware of George's insurgence for some time, and yet they had allowed it anyway out of spite of Calron. The rumor reached the distressed Chief Marshall, and thus Calron's sanity reached breaking point, as he became openly insane, started by killing his own father, and declared all captains not affiliated to the Order of Blue Cosmos to be traitors. When this happened, it was like a self fulfilled prophecy. Out of 12 'official' captains… 4 was quite fed up with Calron's madness and openly rebelled, while 3 deserted their post, and disappeared. In an ironic twist of fate, the Naturals collapsed into a civil war across the world, no more different then the Samurais they once fought.
The chain of command was all but lost, and each Captains, even their officers, and their respective divisions digressed into fighting for themselves in a Civil World War, akin to the Samurai's Meiji Restoration World War. This second world war was less destructive by far in comparison to the first honorably fought world war committed by Samurais, but it has a far higher civilian death toll. Samurai codes does not allow them to strike down non combatants, considering it dishonorable. Alas, the Captains were not limited to such code. There's no sides, no direction of where this is going. Worsening the situation, the disgruntled citizens of the Empire, long have been mistreated and suffer under the Logos misrule, took this chance and rebellion broke out all across the entire breadth of the world. Some rebellion was also led by the 'long lost captains' still nursing grudge against those who once discarded them. Some people even elected themselves 'Captain' of their respective rag tag army, be they formerly part of the regular army or not. So it was that in the chaos that follows, at least 20 'captains' were sighted fighting one another across the world.
The Captains and their divisions posted in America in North and South side respectively fell into a civil war with one another, three captains fought for dominance in China in a three way battle while struggling against the rampant opium war, the people of India rise up in open rebellion, Europe was ablaze with infighting across city states as the Captains of England and France were at each other's necks while simultaneously both were trying to one-up another to assault Jerusalem. England was also beset by an open rebellion occurring in Scotland while France was having their own revolution when the people rebelled. German was on a warpath. And Calron? He was too insane to even care that his 'empire' is falling apart and his entire army turned against each other. And the other Logos members were also too busy trying to protect themselves – while making profit by double dealing under the table with all sides of the conflict.
In stark contrast, news of this infighting had reached George of Glenn, and instead using this chaos as a chance for Zaft to win the battle with a decisive campaign, George opted to simply ignore the Naturals, and let them settle their own conflict. He concentrated all the effort on finding Regalias: powerful relic crafted by the Onis and possessed miraculous power to do things humans can barely imagine. With the chaos that ensues, no one really cared when a bunch of Advanced got away with trinkets of barely noticeable worth. George had intended to find just one Regalia. The Land Creator. Which he did. Using the Regalia, he crafted the Plant Continents, a manmade continents rose up on the Pacific Ocean. The shockwave of such grand act of terra-forming was enough to literally shake the whole world. When Calron and Logos realized what just happened, he immediately ordered his standing forces to also begun searching for Regalias as well. Alas, his personal army, though still formidable, had been thoroughly stretched thin and exhausted just trying to survive the chaotic world war. When what's left of his men returned empty handed, Calron reached the zenith of his insanity and finally took the last measure. An occult enthusiast, it's no secret that Calron are quite fond of gathering objects of dark and occultist nature. But now, Calron was insane enough to take that one step no mortal human should have taken: consorting with demonic powers.
At this point, all factions: Naturals and Advanced, the Order of the Blue Cosmos and the Logos, even Calron's own family, agreed, that Calron Azrael has gone too far. Realizing the danger of such folly, 6 Captains put aside all their differences and unite in an Alliance to topple Azrael. Soldiers, both from the Order and Non Order members deserted from Azrael's ranks in droves, and joined the rebellion, leaving Azrael with only the most loyal, and insane of followers. There are even rumors that some of the Logos members had also considered Calron too much, and secretly supported the rebel army, financially. On the Advanced side, George also realized consorting with demons is an affront not just to the Advanced, but also to humanity. Marching his army to war once again, George also reluctantly decided to use the Regalias they have collected so far to strengthen their army further. Both the Alliance and Zaft fought against the common foe, and yet they refuse to work side by side. Nevertheless, both understand that Calron was indeed a bigger threat, and will cooperate if they absolutely had to. Alas, even with the combined might of both sides of humanity, Calron has been partially successful in his occult research. He managed to awaken the Genma. A demonic undead race that was once sealed by the Onis. Supplementing his dwindling army of the living with the army of the dead, Calron easily even the odds. Things seem bleak for the unified army.
Everything changes when help came from an unexpected source: in an ironic twist, the Samurais, long thought extinct, finally returned once again to defend the world. With the aid of the legendary super soldiers, the allied army managed drove Calron's undead forces all the way back to his final stronghold: the fortress-like Manor of the Azrael family. There, Calron unleashed his final play: he attempted to literally open the demongate. Genmas are but servants of the larger daemon. And now, Calron intended wrench open the daemongate to call forth the daemon itself. In a desperate attack, while the Captains of the Alliance hold back the remnants of the Order and the Genma army, George, leading a squadron of his finest Regalia armed warriors, supported by a cadre of Samurais, pierced through the army of undead and personally confront Calron, who was killed immediately while he was in the middle of another one of his insane rantings. His last words were: "I'm too crazy to die!". Alas, the damage was done, and the daemongate was on the verge of opening completely, and the daemons were but a breath away. George, in an act of self sacrifice, plunged into the gate to close it from within. He succeeded, but the instability of the inter-dimensional gate caused it to implode and then explode violently, destabilizing the entire world, causing much damage. But all daemonic entity, all Genma fell dead on the spot as soon as the gate was closed and the connection was cut. Of George of Glenn, there was no sign.
With the conflict was over and Calron is dead, the Alliance forces and the Zaft Knights came close to turn on each other once again. Only the threat of Samurais cold steel managed to stop all forms of further bloodshed. Both Alliance and Zaft had suffered much in this conflict, and now is not the time for more combat, but to heal. On this account, both sides agreed, and returned to their respective homes. However, the destruction caused by the closing of the Daemongate pales in comparison to what comes next. Infuriated by the loss of their founder, George's lieutenants, the Clynes and Zalas, disregard their former master's warnings and recklessly used the Land Creator Regalia to raise 11 more Plant Continents, causing it to break. The breaking of the Land Creator unleashed a series of devastating natural catastrophes, such as continent scale violent earthquake, thunderstorm rains, and tidal wave that swallow down islands. A worldwide devastation ravaged across the globe, literally changing the face of the earth forever. This event was known forever more as the Collapsing Earth.
To be concluded…
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Trailer:
"So… tell me more about them."
"Well… okay. What would you like to know?"
"Wars are fought with weapons."
"They're the equivalent to your Shadowguards I suppose."
"But they are won by men."
General Patton
"Compare them to a weapons' system, and you won't be far off."
The greatest, deadliest weapons ever made by men…
"Each and every one of them is one man armies."
"Nothing new there."
…is…
"Just… one thing…"
"What?"
…NOT wielded by men.
"They're not even men."
Chapter 41:
Arsenal Five
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