Entry 2: The Glory for Others


Mu La Flaga, the ace pilot onboard the Archangel, moved around the ship with a mixture of determination and bewilderment, as the last two days played back in his mind.

An awful lot had happened following the destruction of both the Strike and Aegis. First and most peculiarly, despite the fact that had, undoubtedly, exploded, a strange light had enveloped everything they could see. Second, the engines failed, and the Archangel had to make a not so smooth landing, otherwise known as 'crashing'.

Finally, when the light died down, and things were... 'calm', so to speak, they learnt about problem three: They had no idea where they were now.

It wasn't a simple matter of being blown away to a different part of the ocean, either. At some point, they had somehow found themselves stranded inland, and through use of the tried and true 'navigating by stars' method of locating, they could safely confirm they had not bloody idea where they were.

Mu leaned against the wall, and let out an irritated sigh. While generally, he tried to keep a positive outlook on things, he couldn't deny the fact that team morale was at an all time low. The captain, Murrue Ramius, was doing what she could to keep the metaphorical ship afloat, but considering they'd just lost two members of the team - two young members, at that, even she was struggling.

"And as if that wasn't bad enough," he muttered, "our techs are working around the clock to get the engines back up and running with minimal resources. On top of our busted generators, things are pretty grim for us." He chuckled darkly. "Seems our 'angel' has turned into an iron coffin."

"Try not to sound too dark, Mu La Flaga," spoke the professionally even voice of Natarle Badgiruel as she approached down the corridor. "Otherwise, the rest will start losing hope as well."

"A pep-talk from Natarle? Guess hell really has frozen over," Mu laughed, before noticing the young man in ZAFT colours standing behind her. "And you... Finally agreed to help us?"

"Well, if I'm stuck with you Natural folk, I might as well do what I can to survive," the youth responded. "Name's Dearka Elsman, by the way."

"Mu La Flaga. Good to have you on board," Mu said, holding out a hand to shake. "You were a damn scary shot with the Buster, I have to say."

Dearka shook the hand. "And I know all about you, Hawk of Endymion. I'm just gonna hope you won't try to kill me like that brown haired chick before."

Mu raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Should I ask?"

"Miriallia happened," Natarle answered. "She went at him with a knife."

Mu let out a low whistle. "Hey, let's not pretend I didn't stick my foot in my mouth, yeah?" Dearka said. "It's just what I get for trying to be a sassy bastard."

"Made a comment on Tolle, got it," Mu said. "Just as a heads up, best to not mention either him or Kira Yamato, alright?"

"I'll... keep that in mind," Dearka responded, noticing the slight hesitantion in Mu saying those names.

Natarle let out a mournful sigh. "Well, I'll leave Elsman to you, then," she said. "I still need to do the rounds and make sure no one's gone and gotten themselves killed."

"I'd image you'd kill them first if that were the case," Mu laughed, which only earned the ire of the black haired woman as she left.

"Well," Dearka spoke. "At least things won't be too boring around here."

"If we can't get things working, you won't have long to worry about it," Mu said. "Come on, let's get you introduced to everyone, and see what needs to be done."


Murrue Ramius slumped into the captain's chair, letting out an exhausted sigh. The stress of not only two days ago, when Kira and Tolle went KIA, but now the added stresses of being marooned with little to no power to the ship, and dwindling resources, made for far too much for one woman to handle alone.

"If I knew my military career was going to lead me to a situation like this," she muttered, "I'd have stayed on Earth and studied law or something. Perhaps become a teacher."

"I could see that, honestly," spoke one Sai Argyle as he entered the bridge with two cups in hand. "I imagine you'd be quite good with the younger ones."

"Sai," Murrue greeted. "Please tell me you have some good news."

"The patrols have managed to find a river not too far from where we've landed," he answered, handing one of the cups over. "Not only that, but it's got quite the selection of fish flowing through it, so it's two birds with one stone."

Murrue sighed once more, taking the cup. "Thank God," she said. "At least we won't starve to death." There was a brief pause, before she spoke again. "Sai, how are you holding up? I can't imagine everything that's happened recently has been easy on you."

"I..." Sai hesitated. "It has been hard. Especially for Miri and Flay. It's honestly taking all I've got not to snap and start throwing things, but... someone has to keep it together. Even then, I just... can't shake the hope that Kira's still out there."

"I hear you," Murrue said. "The G-Project MS' do have blast shutters in their cockpits, but at that range, and the size of the blast... The odds aren't zero, but they're very close to it."

The silence held, until a series of footsteps was heard. "Hey, boss. You got a minute?"

"What is it, Murdoch?" Murrue asked. Kojiro Murdoch was heavily built chief mechanic aboard the Archangel, and thus was currently in charge of repairing the ship. For him to be here meant something must be going on.

"Well, we got some strange girls in blue showing up and checking out the ship," he said. "Think they might be locals or something."

"Locals?"


When Murrue finally got the the hanger and stepped outside the ship, she looked around and found that she couldn't see those 'locals' Murdoch had mentioned. At least, until she looked up.

She blinked once, twice, rubbed her eyes, and blinked again. No matter how she looked at it, there were indeed floating humanoids examining her ship.

"What... the fuck?" she asked the expanding universe. "There are flying people. What is my life now?"

Among the flying people in blue, one of them seemed to notice her. This girl, who wore a green hat, carried a crowbar (of all things) and had a ludicrously large bag on her back, quickly decended, landing in front of Murrue.

"Hey," she greeted. "You the captain of this thing?"

"... I am, yes," Murrue answered hesitantly. "Sorry, but who and what are you? And, why are your friends looking over our ship like it's a wounded buffalo?"

"Kinda rude, that," the blue haired girl said. "Name's Nitori. Kawashiro Nitori. In case you can't tell, we're Kappa type youkai."

Murrue blinked. "I'm sorry, Kappa?" she asked. "As in, Japanese river monsters? The same thing?"

"Yeah? Why?"

The captain let out another sigh. "When did my life get so damn weird," she muttered. "So, what do man-eating youkai want with my ship, and I swear, if you say anything remotely along the lines of 'eating my men', I will see you lot shot."

"Harsh, much?" Nitori commented. "I mean, geez! This is only the first time ever that Outsiders like yourself have shown up with something like this! Why wouldn't we be interested?"

"Okay, fair enough," Murrue admitted. "However, that doesn't change the fact that that very ship is currently broken down. If you're expecting it to do anything other than just sit there, you'll be sorely disappointed."

"It's broken?" Nitori asked. "What the heck happened to this baby?"

'Did she just call the Archangel a baby?' Murrue thought. "I don't know. Whatever brought us to... wherever the hell we are, seemed to not want us to have a working engine."

"The engine, eh?" Nitori said with a smirk. "Then, perhaps we can strike up a deal?"

"A deal?" the captain asked. "What could you possibly have that we'd want?"

"We Kappa are tinkerers by nature. Trust me, we'd love nothing more than to get inside this bad boy and see how it ticks. Plus, you need resources, right? Food, water, and the likes?" Murrue reacted surprised, to which Nitori chuckled. "Don't worry. I only overheard some of your others grumbling about it. So, here's what I'm thinking: You let us help with repairs, and we help you with food and shelter. How's that?"

Murrue looked quite sceptical. "So, in return for helping us, you want... to help us more?" she asked. "... You know what? You do you. Far be it for me to judge your values."

"Glad to hear it," Nitori exclaimed, before holding her hand out. "Shake on it?"

"Only if you promise you're not using this as an opportunity to build one of your own."

"I'll only promise not to build one for the sake of conquest. Is that enough?"

Murrue pondered for a moment, then with a sigh, she took Nitori's hand. "Very well. Can't afford to be picky at this point in time."

"Pleasure to make the deal, Captain," Nitori said, before rushing (read; flying) to the rest of the Kappa.

From behind, Natarle approached. "You sure this was a good idea?" she asked.

"Honestly? I have no idea," Murrue answered. "At this point, as long as we're making progress to getting back on our feet, I don't particularly care what they do with the things they learn about the Archangel."

"Well, you're the captain," Natarle shrugged. "Let's just hope it doesn't come back to bite us on the ass."

Murrue only hummed in response. Not because she had nothing to say, but because what she would have said fell into lines of 'it couldn't get any worse, could it', and she was at least self-aware enough to know that saying that was a bad idea.


Myouren Temple, located in the human village, was one of the few locations where youkai could live close to humans peacefully. Run by the youkai magician Byakuren Hijiri, it is widely considered to be the most calming place in all of Gensokyo.

It was also where the young man known as Athrun Zala was currently staying.

When he first came to two days ago, he had quickly found himself in possession of one broken arm and one fractured leg. His own limbs, of course, otherwise that would be cause for serious concern, and probably a good therapist.

During that time, he had become acquainted with the residents of the temple, and taking their advice, attempted some simple meditation.

"ATHRUN!"
"KIRA!"

Suffice it to say, it was not helping.

Athrun snapped out of his trance in a cold sweat, panting heavily. The memories of that day refused to let him rest. He could barely recall the last time he'd gotten a decent night sleep.

"Damn it, I..." he muttered, biting back tears. "I had to... He..."

Athrun could barely state his justification to the world. He knew, deep down, that it all turned out the way it did because, at the end of it, they were human, and humans were prone to making arguably stupid, catastrophic choices when their lives were on the line.

Kira killed Nicol because he himself didn't want to die. Athrun had fought and tried to kill Kira because he was angry, vengeful. Kira had tried to kill Athrun because, during their fight, Athrun killed one of Kira's allies.

It was just a never ending spiral of hatred and revenge, which eventually culminated in Athrun self-destructing the Aegis on Kira, with little hope of him surviving.

He tried to convince himself that he had come to terms with it, but every time he closed his eyes...

He saw Kira Yamato, the young boy he called his best friend, smiling happily.

"Damn it..." he croaked out between tears and sobs. "Why? Why did it have to be this way?"

From the other side of one of the doors in that room, the yellow haired tiger youkai Toramaru Shou, and the black haired ghost sailor Murasa Minamitsu, leaned against opposing walls with crossed arms.

"We really should be doing more for this kid," Minamitsu said bluntly. "I get that none of us are experienced in this area, but we can't just leave him alone like this."

"I understand what you're saying, captain," Shou responded. "I do agree, but we're a treasure hunter and a shipwreck causer between the two of us alone. I worry we'd only serve to make things worse for the young man."

"So we should just not try?" Minamitsu asked. "I don't like it, Tora. Not one bit."

"Nor do I."

Through the door, they heard Arthun get to his feet and step outside.

"Still, what should we do?" Shou asked.

"I really don't know," Minamitsu admitted. "Perhaps get him to make friends in the village? He needs a shoulder to lean on, at the very least."


Athrun sat on the edge of the garden, overlooking the intricately laid rocks. The warm spring breeze swept through, carrying with it a scent largely unfamiliar to him.

"Ah. It's you, then?" a mildly unfamiliar voice spoke. Athrun turned, to see a grey haired girl with, of all things, a pair of mice ears and tail.

"Nazrin, right?" Athrun asked cautiously. "Did you need something?"

"Not particularly," Nazrin shrugged, "but you look like you need to get a load off."

Athrun gave a dry, sarcastic chuckle. "Well, what do you suggest?" he asked. "I've tried meditation, like Byakuren said, but I worry that it's only making me dwell on... those moments more."

Nazrin let out an irritated sigh. "Buddy, you need to get a friend," she said bluntly. "Meditation's all well and good for things like mindfulness, but trauma needs a buddy."

"I know that," Athrun replied, "but..."

"Wait. Let me guess," Nazrin cut in. "Because the last person you called a friend died at your hands, you're hesitant to try again. Am I wrong?"

Athrun looked surprised, if not mildly hurt. "You don't pull your punches, do you?"

"I'm not exactly known for my tact," Nazrin shrugged. "I have to deal with a clumsy avatar of Bishamonten as a master, after all. She can't keep track of that pagoda for more than two days before I have to search for it."

"That... sounds rough."

"Eh. It's not the worst. Good exercise, at the least." Then, Nazrin flicked Athrun in the forehead. "Now, what you're gonna want to do, is go down to the village, and look for either the school or the book rental shop. I'd suggest the later, as the owner's more around your age. You go down there, and just talk to people, alright?"

Athrun stuttered a bit, before properly answering. "Al... alright?" he said. "I... guess I'll do that? But, where is this 'book rental' place?"

"It's a bit of a walk, but you can make it on one leg," Nazrin answered. "The place is called Suzunaan, and you can't really miss it. It's the only other place in the village the smells of youkai."

"O...kay then. I can't say I'm too familiar with the scent, but... I guess I'll check it out?" he said hesitantly, slowly standing up and balancing himself on his crutch.

"Just doin' my job," Nazrin waved, watching at the young human left. "'Cause lord knows someone has to step up to the plate for ya."

The door behind her slip open, and a woman in black with multi-toned hair stepped out. "Oh? I could have sworn I just heard Arthun here."

"Just missed him, Hijiri," Nazrin said. "I sent him down to the village to try and make some friends. It took master and the captain all of two days to come to that conclusion, by the by."

"Is that so?" Hijiri Byakuren asked. "Well, I'm glad you're looking out for him, Nazrin."

"Eh. His mood was a bit much, even for me," the mouse youkai shrugged. "Humans have such short lives, so why leave them to wallow in it for its span?"

Byakuren smiled warmly. "You have a habit of pretending you don't care, Nazrin, but you think about others quite a bit, don't you?"

In response, Nazrin blushed quite fiercely. "D... don't be ridiculous," she stuttered out.

Byakuren merely chuckled lightly, patting Nazrin on the head.


The village, as Athrun quickly found out, was much larger than he anticipated. Not to mention, it had the most authentic old-school Japanese feeling he'd seen since the festivals he use to attend as a kid.

Fortunately, the people at the temple had lent him more appropriate clothing, so he wasn't standing out like a sore thumb in his pilot suit. That, and it gave more room for the splints.

Before too long, however, he finally came across one of the places he was looking for; a small book store with the name Suzunaan written on its banner.

"'Make it on one leg' my foot," Athrun muttered. "That was a good half-hour walk, even without my injuries."

At the very least, on a subconscious level, grumbling about the walk was enough to take his mind off things, if only temporarily.

Entering the store, Athrun's senses were awash with the scent of old books; another curiosity that was lost when humanity turned to digitally storing everything. Even though the young Coordinator had never experienced it before, he still felt nostalgia wash over him.

"Oh! A customer!" he heard someone exclaim. From the sole desk between the book shelves, he saw a young girl with brown hair and almost red eyes. Her attire consisted of a check-pattered kimono, topped off with a yellow apron. "Welcome to Suzunaan! I don't think I've seen you before."

"Ah, I suppose not," Athrun responded politely. "I'm... new in town, let's say. The people at the Buddhist temple said I should start here for getting to know people, alongside... other things."

"New in town?" the girl repeated, before beaming a bright smile. "Ah! Then you're an Outsider! We don't get many of you down here! And you said the Buddhist temple, right?! Does that mean Byakuren-san's taken you in?!"

… By the Gods, could this girl talk. "Pl... please slow down!" Athrun said. "I can't answer all those questions at once!"

The girl quickly let out a sound of exclamation. "Oh! I'm so sorry!" she said loudly. "We don't usually get people from the Outside world visiting our store!"

"It's fine, really," he replied, smiling warmly. "I'm not exactly well versed in how Gensokyo works anyway. My name is Athrun Zala. What's yours?"

"Ahf...run?" the girl sounded out. "Well, it's nice to meet you, anyway! I'm Motoori Kosuzu!"

"The feeling is mutual, Motoori."

There was a brief pause, in which Athrun wondered if he had somehow said something wrong. Then, she laughed lightly. "You don't have to call me by my family name, you know."

"Family name?" he asked. Then, it finally clicked. "Oh, right! Japanese names have put the family name first. God, it's stupid of me to forget that."

The two shared a brief, heart-felt laugh between them. "I suppose you don't come from Japan, then?" Kosuzu asked. "Where do you come from, then?"

"It's... hard to explain," Athrun admitted. "I think the best way I can explain it is that I come from somewhere far above the clouds."

"Above the clouds?" Kosuzu asked. "You mean, you're a celestial?"

"Celestial?" he asked. "Those exist here?" He shook his head in response. "No. It's a bit higher than that, I reckon."

"The moon?"

Athrun briefly pondered that one. "Not quite. A bit more between Earth and the moon."

"But... how can anyone live there?" she asked. "Isn't that just a great big track of... nothing?"

Athrun chuckled at that statement. "Well, that's not inaccurate," he said. "From what I've been told of Gensokyo, the PLANTs I come from aren't that much different. It's just... more scientific, I guess."

Instincts took over for the briefest of moments, as Athrun stepped back from Kosuzu, whom seemed to have stars in her eyes. "The Outside world has managed to create artificial Gensokyo's?!" she exclaimed. "How did they do it? What do they do about the air? Gravity? Please, you have to tell me!"

Athrun took another step back, before tripping on himself, and almost falling over. It was only 'almost', as he was safely caught by someone remarkably tall.

"Easy there, lass," a mature woman's voice said. "You're giving the poor boy no room to breath."

As Kosuzu stuttered around the act of apologising, Athrun glanced up to look at the one who just saved him. There was something... recently familiar about her. Brown hair and similarly coloured eyes that hid behind a pair of round glasses, and dressed in rather heavy clothing for the weather. What caught his eye most of all, though, was the leaf-shaped hairclip she wore.

"Do I... know you?" he asked hesitantly.

"What, ya don't remember little old me?" the woman asked, smiling whimsically. "I was the one who dragged you to the temple in the sorry state you were in."

At that point, he connected the dots, even if he still had one burning question. "But... didn't you have a ta..."

"Ips-nay on the ail-tay, laddie," the woman, Futatsuiwa Mamizou, replied with a sly smile. "Us youkai have to keep a low profile in the village, no matter who knows what."

Athrun couldn't say he completely understood what she was talking about, but knew when a secret was suppose to be kept. "So, you two know each other, then?" Kosuzu spoke up. "That's great! It's always nice to see newcomers making friends!"

There it was; that word. "Friends, huh?" he said, smiling sadly. "I... guess so."

The two noticed Athrun's hesitation. "Is everything alright?" Kosuzu asked. "Did... did I say something bad?"

"No, it's not that," Athrun responded. "It's... a bit more complicated than I know how to explain."

"Well, ya'd probably feel better if you did anyway," Mamizou said. "You can omit things if ya think they'll leave us confused, but if you keep the bulk of what's troubling you bottled up, they'll eat away at you like a tumour."

The description hit hard and true, so much so that Athrun was briefly lost for words. "Then, where should I begin?" he asked. "There's... a lot to unpack if I go down this route. If I start, then... then I can't promise I'll be done for a while."

Mamizou and Kosuzu shared a quick look. "Then take all the time you need, lad," Mamizou said. "I ain't got anywhere to be."

"Mami-san's right!" Kosuzu exclaimed. "It'll just be worse if you keep it all in!"

Athrun let out a ragged breath. "I... Alright," he said. "But, you two might want to get something to drink first. If I'm going to tell you, I... can't afford to skim any details, no matter how bad."

And so, Athrun Zala, for the first time since he came to Gensokyo, and even far before then, spoke of what happened. From the Bloody Valentine tragedy, to the PLANT-Alliance war, to all the friends and comrades he'd lost. In particular, he talked in detail about Nicol Amalfi and Kira Yamato; one who died trying to protect him, and the other who died by his own hands. He spoke of Nicol's love of piano, and Kira's kind heart, and how, if the situation had been different, they would have almost certainly been the best of friends, yet never had the chance to know each others names.

By the end of his story, there were more than a few tears. 90% of which came from Kosuzu.

Kosuzu failed to suppress a sniff. "It's... it's just so sad!" she wailed. "Why'd it have to end like that?!"

"Aye. It's quite the sad tale," Mamizou said sombrely. "But, just one last question?" She leaned forward, staring into Athrun's eyes. "Do you think yourself in the right for it? For killing him?"

"Mami-chan!" Kosuzu exclaimed. "You can't just say that! He's clearly torn up about it!"

"Oh, there's no doubt about that," Mamizou said. "But what I'm askin' is; do you still think it was a necessary evil? Or, if you had the power, would you turn time back and spare 'im?"

Athrun was briefly at a loss of words. A part of him wanted to defend his actions, claim that he was justified, and that this wouldn't have happened if Kira had just seen it his way. But then, he'd be lying to himself.

Of course he couldn't have convinced Kira; Kira Yamato just cares that much about everybody. He'd give away his portion of rations if it meant feeding someone else.

That only left one answer for him, as much as he'd hate himself for saying it.

"Of course I wasn't justified," he said bitterly. "I was angry. Irrational. Hurt. God knows I'd go back and stop myself if I could!" Once more, the tears began to fall from his eyes. "I was... so, SO damn blinded by being a damn soldier! I... I couldn't..." Several sobs broke through his words. "I... killed the person I wanted to save most of all from that damn war! How... how the hell can I justify still living after all that?"

Mamizou stared long and hard at the boy, before her gaze softened. "I get ya," she said, placing a hand on the top of his head. "Sorry for all that. Just had ta know if you were more soldier than human."

"I get that. Truly, I get that," Athrun sniffled. "Mamizou, are these sins... ever forgiven?"

In response, Mamizou could only shrug. "All depends on who's doing the forgiving. The question you should be asking is 'does the weight get lighter', and to answer that... It all depends on you," she poked him in the forehead. "Are you willing to put in the effort to play both your role and Kira's? That's the sort of question you should be asking yourself from now, Athrun."

Biting his lower lip, Athrun nodded. Before he could say another word, Kosuzu had all but leapt out of her seat, and wrapped her arms around him.

Mamizou let out a rather dry chuckle. "Well, I'll probably leave you kids to it, then," she said. "Wouldn't want to be the third wheel in the misery-fest. I'll be at the temple if you need me for anything, alright?"

"Un... understood," Athrun stuttered out. "And... thank you."

"Don't go thanking me, kid," Mamizou said. "People usually shouldn't thank those that make 'em cry, after all."


As she walked up the stairs to the temple, Mamizou let his disguise slip as she contemplated many things.

"I'd have accepted if it was just coincidence," she mumbled. "Maybe his parents were just weird or something. Big fans, I'd buy; humans can be remarkably odd in the Outside world. But after that story, he's got to be the real deal." Taking her tobacco pipe out of her sleeve, Mamizou gave it a few drags. "Good thing I kept up to date with the internet before comin' here, but how's this possible? How could someone like Athrun Zala end up in Gensokyo, even with Yakumo's influence?"

From the treeline off to her right, a tanuki leapt out and landed beside her. Kneeling down, Mamizou listened to what the tanuki had to say. "Eientei and the foot of Youkai Mountain? You're sure?" she asked, to which the tanuki nodded. "So, it's more than just a one-off, then. Damn it, what the heck's going on?" She rubbed the top of her head in irritation. "Sorry to have to do this, kid. Generally, I don't like acting like a spy for someone else's agenda, but at this point, this is gonna be something Hijiri'll want to know."

As the tanuki scampered off into the bushes, Mamizou decanted her pipe and put it away. "Still, how the hell am I gonna explain the concept of anime to her, let alone giant robots?"


A/N:

Now, this will be interesting.

The Archangel crew teaming up with the Kappa, and Athrun with the Myouren Temple. Right now, I can only hope I did Athrun justice (hah).

Also, yes, I did skip over Miriallia and Dearka's first meeting, if only because it wouldn't be that different from canon. No need to go over that one, I'd say.

So, that just leaves one question: what of Yzak?

Well, spoilers, of course.

Now, let's press on.