Entry 4: Lights Back On
"How are we looking, people?" Murrue called out to the workers in the engine room. "Think we can get the lights on now?"
"Well, most of us ain't experts on engines like this," Nitori shouted back, "but this is the best we've got! How're things on your end, Murdock?"
"All clear!" Murdock responded. "Mu! What about you?"
"All valves are tightened on my end!" Mu yelled. "Flip the switch at your go-ahead, captain!"
Murrue Ramius took a steady, even breath, as she moved over to the (comically large) lever that the Kappa's installed. She really did wonder why they had to make it look like the sort of think you'd find in the lab of a mad scientist, but she'd be lying if she said she never had the desire to flip a switch like that.
"Okay, I'm gonna pull it!" she called out, as the trio cleared away from the engine. "Three... Two... One!"
The lever was pulled with a resounding 'crank'. In the corner of her eye, Murrue could see that Mu was repressing the urge to make a joke. She imagined it involved falling over and yelling 'wrong lever'. She had to admit, the mental image was rather funny.
The engine slowly sputtered, whirred, and finally roared to life. The lights briefly flickered, before coming on in full.
All throughout the ship, crew members, Kappa, and Yamawaro alike cheered in celebration of this accomplishment.
If anything, at least this meant they didn't have to wash themselves in the river.
One person who was not celebrating at this moment, however (not for any displeasure in the improvement of the situation, mind you), was Flay Allster. Currently, she found herself alone outside the ship, while the others celebrated this new milestone.
A thousand thoughts ran through her head, many of which pertained to matters of personal philosophy in regards to non-Natural individuals and her ever-changing outlook on them. It was the sort of thoughts that a person would most prefer to be along with while dealing with them.
Of course, this was real life, and real life was never that convenient.
"There ya are!" the voice of that Coordinator, Dearka, called out. "We finally got the plumbing back online! No more having to crap in the woods!" Flay fixed him with an unimpressed glare. "Okay, bad joke. I get it," Dearka back pedalled. "Just thought I'd try lightening the mood. You still look quite pissy, is all."
"You really have no filter, do you?" Flay asked. "And here I thought Coordinators were suppose to be cut from a finer cloth."
"Hey, most of you Naturals act way too high and mighty for your own good," Dearka shot back. "Ain't no-one out there like me, 'cept me. Got a problem with that?" Flay gave him another flat look, before turning away. "Christ, I'm going to have to do this entire conversation, aren't I?" Dearka muttered. "Your ex told me all about your hatred of Coordinators, you know. And that you dated Strike's pilot, who was also a Coordinator."
Flay felt a sort of fury build up inside of her. "What are you getting at?" she asked.
"What I'm 'getting at', is whether you're going to make your bigotry everyone elses problem," Dearka said plainly. "I'll be the first to admit I never had the greatest view on Naturals in the beginning, but almost getting stabbed to death by you very upset friend put some things into perspective for me."
"Oh, so what? Miri almost killing you means you've had a heel turn?" Flay asked incredulously.
"Perhaps it did!" Dearka yelled. "You've lost people you care about. She's lost people she cares about. I'VE lost people I care about! They way I see it now, this whole 'war' is a crock of bullshit that needs to at least be put on hold! I can already tell you tried to play with Strike's heart just by looking at ya!"
"Don't act like you know me!" Flay yelled back. "You don't even know his name!"
"Kira Yamato!" Dearka answered. "Tell me, do you know who was piloting the Blitz when it went down?!" Flay hesitated noticeably. "Of course you wouldn't," Dearka continued, voice softening somewhat. "Why would you? Wars ain't won by knowing the names of every guy you've killed."
Flay locked eyes with Dearka, and finally noticed the familiar look in them. Pain. The same sort of pain that Miriallia was going through right now. The same pain that she herself felt when her father died.
In the depths of her mind, Flay Allster 'the girl who hates Coordinators' and Flay Allster 'the girl who understands pain' duelled, and in the end, later managed to win out.
"What was it?" she asked. "What was his name?"
Dearka looked mildly surprised, yet still reached into his pocket and pulled out a photograph, which he handed to Flay. "His name was Nicol Amalfi," he said. "He was a kind-hearted kid, and above all else, he loved to play the piano."
From around a tree in the distance, Natarle and Takane spied on the two as they talked.
"Looks like things are going smoothly," Natarle said quietly. "That's certainly a relief."
"And you were worried about Mu's hands on approach," Takane commented.
"Of course I was worried, this is Flay we're talking about," Natarle responded. "And Mu's approach to all this was to tell Elsman what not to do, and expected him to do the exact opposite."
"If it's a stupid idea, but it works, is it really stupid?"
Natarle fixed a glare at the Yamawaro. "Yes, it is still stupid."
After roughly two days of heavy lifting, Kira and the rest of Team Nine had managed to move the wreckage of the Strike from the shallows of the lake and closer to the treeline. From there, Kira Yamato got into a new rhythm for his life.
Mornings: Wake up, wash up, and forage for something to eat. The water of the Misty Lake certainly helped for those first two, and thanks to a hand-crafted fishing rod and some guidance from the smarter members of his new circle of friends, living out in the wild had never been easier. Never in his life did Kira imagine he'd be able to add forest survival to his resume.
Late morning: Tinker around with the Strike. If anything, he wanted to see if he could get some form of beacon going, assuming the Archangel was in Gensokyo as well.
After lunch: Playing with Team Nine. Cirno, Daiyousei, and Wriggle all seemed to make a point out of hanging around Kira all day, but once the rest of the youkai and fairies showed up, Kira took it as a sign to step away from the work and try to relax.
All in all, it was very nice. The games he'd play with them reminded him greatly of those simpler, peaceful days, both with Athrun, and back in Heliopolis.
Then, on this particular afternoon...
"Go to the human village?" Kira repeated. "What for?"
"What else?" Cirno asked rhetorically (as if she knew what 'rhetoric' was). "To visit the school!"
That... wasn't exactly the answer he was expecting. He had honestly thought she'd say something about 'playing pranks'. "Okay, then. Why?" he asked.
"Well..." Cirno looked away sheepishly. "Really, it's just because if we don't show up a few days a week, Keine-sensei gets... mad."
Kira tilted his head in confusion. "Trust me, Kira; you don't want to see an angry Keine-sensei," Wriggle said. "It's absolutely terrifying."
"I'll take your word for it," Kira muttered. "I guess I could do for a change of pace myself. I am curious about what life in the village is like, and I didn't exactly get a good look at it last time I went through." Of course, 'last time' involved being carried on the back of someone half his size to meet an immortal to guide them through a bamboo maze to see a moon doctor that ran a place inhabitted by rabbit people... When did his life take such a turn that just thinking that was normal?
"Actually, come to think of it," Mystia spoke up. "Eternity, isn't tomorrow that thing that you and Dai-chan were talking about?"
"That thing?" Kira asked.
"Yeah, it's gonna go down tomorrow," Eternity responded, sounding surprisingly dark. "Hopefully, the protests don't go too badly."
Kira tilted his head once more. "Remember what we discussed the other day?" Wriggle spoke up. "About the Moriya Shrine?"
He quickly connected the two dots. "Oh. So it's about that issue," he said. "Do you want the rest of us to come with? I'd imagine a protest would work better with more people present, right?"
"You might think that, but for youkai and fairies, it'd actually be a detriment," Mystia answered. "If too many of us gather at the shrine, then they'd have grounds to exterminate us."
"So, in this case, it'd work better as an inverse to the Outside world," Kira noted. "Alright, then. I can understand that."
"So, you'll be gone for the rest of today and all of tomorrow, then?" Sunny asked. "Come to think of it, Lily White will be there as well, right?"
"That's right," Daiyousei answered. "So will many of the smaller gods and youkai from the base of the mountain. I... feel like we're pushing the numbers a bit high, personally."
"You'll be fine!" Cirno stated. "Just go out there and show those two gods what for!"
For his first time properly exploring the village, Kira had to say it was a very nice place. Rustic, old-school, yet somehow still welcoming to someone from a futuristic setting.
Strangely enough, Kira felt partly like a parent dropping their kids off at school, as he walked his new friends (sans Daiyousei and Eternity) to the villages school.
The teacher at this school, Kamishirasawa Keine (seeing as Kira probably wasn't going to be able to remember that, he decided to stick to calling her Keine-sensei like the others), was a very nice person to interact with. Perhaps that was why he realised why Cirno and the others were afraid of angering her.
Still, now that the fairies and youkai were in the care of the school, Kira was, for the first time since he met Wriggle, on his own. What was there to do here, anyway?
From the main square, he could see many options, ranging from the temple up the long flight of stairs, to the many different stores that sold many different things.
Remembering that he technically didn't have much in the way of money, he decided to go to the temple for now. He didn't know much about the perspective of the religious folk, so it might serve as an interesting study.
Within the confides of Myouren Temple, Athrun meditated in the company of its usual residents. The silence wasn't deafening, nor was it lonely. It was, by and large, rather pleasant.
While his injuries had managed to heal to the point of not needing splints or crutches, and his mental well-being was far better than it was a week ago, it would be a pretty big lie if he said he no longer had a chip on his shoulder. But then again, that was what the whole meditation thing was suppose to help.
When the hour passed, everyone left the room, with Athrun and Byakuren last of all.
"I am glad to see your recovery is going smoothly, Athrun-san," Byakuren said. "To think that, only a week ago, you were struggling to walk on your own."
"I wouldn't say 'struggling'," Athrun responded sheepishly. "I may have needed a crutch, but it wasn't like I couldn't move at all."
"That is true," she continued, as her expression turned slightly sad, "but that's not quite what I meant."
Athrun didn't pretend to be surprised. "I know," he said. "I won't pretend like it's not still affecting me. The weight of it is... immense. Even after finding I could confide in Kosuzu and Mamizou, I still wake up feeling like it might crush me."
Byakuren nodded sagely. "I am all too familiar with the feeling," she said. "Tell me, do you know why I named this temple 'Myouren'?"
"I don't think I've heard the story behind it, no."
Byakuren smiled sadly, as her mind waxed and waned in recollection. "Hijiri Myouren... he was my younger brother. Back when I was human, over a thousand years ago, we practised Buddhism together into our twilight years. He... died first. Old age gets the best of us, after all."
"I'm... sorry to hear that," Athrun muttered.
"It was that moment that made me afraid of death," she continued. "Ironic, isn't it? That a monk such as myself would abandon my humanity in fear of nature. Somehow, I can't help but wonder what he'd think if he saw me now."
Athrun found himself wondering what to say to that, yet somehow, his mouth got ahead of his brain. "I'm sure he'd be happy," he blurted out. "Happy that you were helping others, even if it meant going against certain tenants."
Byakuren was slightly caught off guard, but smiled none-the-less. "Thank you, Athrun-san," she said.
Before the conversation could continue further, a very, very loud 'good afternoon' echoed through the temple, followed by a not so loud 'Ow, my ears!'.
"Oh my," Byakuren said. "Sounds like Kyouko-chan's caught someone off guard again."
"She is remarkably loud, I'll agree," Athrun muttered. "Yamabiko are quite strong against the unprepared."
As the two moved towards the temple entrance, they could see the Yamabiko in question, Kasodani Kyouko, fretting and panicking in the presence of a young man in red and white clothing that seemed to not 100% fit him.
Yet, as he looked, Athrun couldn't shake this strange, foreboding feeling that wormed its way into his heart.
"Is everything alright?" Byakuren called out.
"Ah! Hijiri-sama!" Kyouko stuttered out in a hushed voice, fearful of reprimand. "I... I was too loud again!"
Byakuren jogged over, and gently pat the panicking girl on the head. "There there, Kyouko-chan," she said soothingly. "I'm sure you didn't mean it." She then turned to the new guest. "I apologise for my disciples actions, young man. Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I think so," the man said, voice immediately recognisable to Athrun, much to his shock. "Ears are gonna be ringing for a while, though."
"I... I'm sorry!" Kyouko said in a loud whisper (equivalent to a normal persons speaking voice). "I... I can't help but try to sound like an echo!"
"It's fine, really!" the man said, probably louder than he intended. "I just need a... moment to..."
Then, violet eyes finally met with green, and familiar faces finally registered who was present.
Byakuren and Kyouko looked between the two. "Is... everything alright?" Byakuren asked.
There was a long, heavy silence, until...
"Kira?" Athrun muttered in disbelief. That alone answer so much for Byakuren.
"Athrun?" Kira Yamato asked, slightly louder.
The tension was think enough to cut with the blunt side of a knife. The two residents of the temple were not sure how they should address the situation.
That was, until they saw the looks in their eyes.
They had expected anger. Rage. They expected one of the two to lose themselves in their emotions and lash out. But right now, the only thing between them, aside from the shock, was sorrow. Regret.
"How..?" Athrun said quietly. "I thought... you would have died in that explosion... How did you..?"
"Nothing short of a miracle," Kira answered, voice gradually lowering to normal. "I..."
Knowing all too well just how awkward things would stay, Byakuren intervened. "How about some tea, then?"
It did not work. The tea did not smooth out the situation, so much as just moved it elsewhere.
They both looked like they wanted to say something, but at the same time, were aware enough to know that the other person wanted to say something, and politely waited for the other to start.
This was uncommonly referred to as the 'nice guy conundrum'.
Byakuren would be rather remiss to not admit to sharing this nervous feeling. What more was she to do to help this situation? She made sure to give them the privacy of the room and waited outside, she'd provided them with drinks and snacks, so what else was there to do but pace outside and look at the stone garden for guidance.
Inside the room, while still tense and awkward, was a slightly different feeling. Inside, Kira and Athrun watched the shadow of Byakuren pacing back and forth behind the door.
Quite evidently, Hijiri Byakuren did not have much exprerience when it came to dealing with teenage boys.
"She's... fretting quite a bit about this," Kira said.
"Byakuren's... quite like a mother, I think," Athrun agreed. "It's nice that she cares so much, but I feel as though she... overextends at times."
Kira tilted his head quizzingly. "How do you mean?"
"This is a temple founded by and for youkai," Athrun answered. "Even long before it was set up, Byakuren was trying to close the gap between humans and youkai. I can't imagine how tough that must be."
Kira gave a small laugh. "Given what I've experienced, you'd think that gap was already bridged."
"Where have you been, anyway?" Athrun asked. "I've been all over the village in the past week, and haven't... seen you at all."
Kira let out a sigh, exasperated sigh. "Well, it all began when I fell in a lake..." For the next ten or so minutes, Kira recounted the events of the past week and a half. "... which leads us to today, where I'm living out of the wreckage of the Strike by the side of the Misty Lake alongside a bunch of fairies."
Athrun had quite the disbelieving look on his face. "That's... wow," he said. "If I wasn't already use to Gensokyo, I'd think you hit your head on something sharp."
"It definitely felt like that at times," Kira admitted. "I'm wondering if you got lucky, ending up here."
"It hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows," Athrun said. "I've been regularing this book rental place down in the village, and I've been talking to the girl that runs the place about how she's been misinterpreting a lot of articles she's been reading about the Outside World."
"Misinterpreting?"
"You know, thinking the Berlin Wall fell because of poor structural integrity. Same with the Soviet Union."
Kira had an expression that said 'ah' when he realised what Athrun meant. There was a brief pause, before, for the first time in a while, they shared a laugh. The first honest, shared laugh between the two in a long time.
"What the hell happened to us?" Kira asked sadly. "Why did things... turn out the way they did?"
There it was. The question that had been preying on their minds. "I... I don't know," Athrun said. "You had something you believed in, as did I. I wonder... is it human nature to clash like that?"
"I wish I knew," Kira added. "I... you... WE were just so... angry. Blinded by their deaths, that..."
"I know," Athrun interrupted. "God, do I know." The silence hung for another moment, before... "Nicol Amalfi," he said. "The Blitz's pilot... his name was Nicol Amalfi."
Realising what Athrun was trying to do, Kira smiled. "I see... and the Skygrasper pilots name... it was Tolle Koenig."
Moving away from the room, Byakuren let out a sigh of relief. It would seem that, at the very least, they were on track to repairing their relationship.
"So, things work out between then?" the sudden, yet not unexpected voice of Mamizou said, as the bake-danuki appeared beside her.
"It would seem so," Byakuren answered. "It would also seem your prediction was spot on, too."
"I told ya, it's not a prediction," Mamizou said. "This was preordained."
"Because of this 'anime' thing you mentioned, I recall," Byakuren continued. "But, seeing them, I can't believe they are part of some... grand fiction. They're boys, nothing more, and nothing less."
"Hey, I ain't arguing that," Mamizou said. "After all, what would that mean for us youkai if we wrote them off as purely fiction?"
"We'd be hypocrites, that's for sure," Byakuren admitted. "Thank you for telling me ahead of time, Mamizou-san."
"Gotta do what ya gotta do," Mamizou shrugged. "'sides, I was taking a rather big gamble myself. How was I suppose to know how you'd react to the news?"
"Fair point," Byakuren admitted.
While it may be a slow, arduous process, Byakuren could at least take solace in the fact that those two were on the road to recovery.
Sai Argyle sat alone on the bridge of the Archangel, typing away at the keyboard in front of him. It was a little bit lonely, admittedly, but someone had to keep some kind of record of their stay in Gensokyo, and make sure it was properly transcribed into the database.
It's all just been a bit much for him, so doing something so simple and monotonous was rather therapeutic.
"You've really missed out on quite the adventure, Kuzzey," he muttered to himself. "I wonder, how are you holding up back in Orb? Are things still peaceful there, after you stepped down from here?"
Shaking his head, Sai stood up from his seat and walked over to the window. When Kuzzey Buskirk had decided to stay in Orb instead of the Archangel, he had been rather... cryptic about his reasoning. Sai assumed he was trying to hide whatever guilt he was harbouring about splitting off from his friends, and he understood why he'd feel that way.
"Well, at the very least, you don't have to worry about hearing what happened to Kira," Sai said.
Then, for barely a second, he though he saw something moving in the far off treeline.
"What was that?" Sai squinted to get a closer look, but considering the bridge was located more towards the back of the Archangel, was 240 metres long, and in a clearing that made the treeline half that away from the bow, he couldn't really see all that much.
"Maybe my eyes are just playing tricks on me," Sai decided. Of course, the moment he decided to turn away, the movement caught his eye again. The phrase 'fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me' popped into his head briefly. Was someone or something trying to get his attention?
He weighed his options: Ignore it and focus on his work, ask someone to investigate, or look into it himself.
Ignoring it might end up being dangerous, and he wasn't sure who was free to investigate for him if he ask, assuming they believed him and didn't think he was going a little stir crazy. Heck in as little as the last few hours, Flay had managed to convince Mu to let her try becoming a Skygrasper pilot, for whatever reason. Sai wanted to say that it was, objectively, a very bad idea, especially since they'd just lost Tolle to that same idea not long ago, but the look in her eyes silenced his argument before it left his mouth.
Those were the eyes of a grieving determinator. Someone wanting to set things right. Who was he to deny that?
Miriallia was still trying to cope with the loss of both Tolle and Kira, so he couldn't ask her. Mu was otherwise occupied with training Flay. Captain Ramius and Natarle were basically the backbone of the ship. Nitori was no doubt working out some of the other kinks in the Archangel alongside Murdock and the rest of engineering. That really only left two options if he wanted to outsource this job: Dearka and Takane. It wasn't that he didn't trust the two, but they, and Nitori for that matter, were too much like strangers to him. There needed to be a few more metaphorical 'friendship points' before he could reasonably ask them to investigate strange happenings in the treeline, even if they were more qualified.
That meant it was either himself, or nothing.
"Well, nothing venture, nothing gained," Sai muttered, as he left the bridge.
Leaving the ship was remarkably uneventful for him. In fact, he was fairly certain no one actually noticed him leaving. At the very least, Sai remembered to leave a note at his station, just to be safe.
This was... objectively a stupid idea. Going into an a largely unexplored forest alone, filled with inhuman beings, at the foot of a mountain that might as well be called 'monster hill'. Sai wouldn't be too surprised if this was how he died.
After a few minutes of walking, however, Sai came across a river. This in and of itself wasn't too strange, since the crew had been living mainly off of fish for the past week, but what struck him as odd was the direction the water travelled.
If he recalled correctly, the river that was previously found was a bit closer to the mountain, and travelled away from it. That, and it was in the other direction from the ship. This one, on the other hand, seemed to travel towards the mountain, and fortunately for Sai's sanity, didn't lead into a waterfall that went up the mountainside.
That still begged the question of how they missed this second river, though. Sai had only been walking for about fifteen minutes, for crying out loud.
He decided to write it up as just failing a spot-check.
Still, it was a rather pleasant place, all things considered. The sounds of nature were soothing to the soul.
A sound akin to rolling thunder echoed overhead. Sai looked up, and contradictory, saw nothing but clear blue skies.
"What was that?" he asked. "It's way too close to be a foreboding storm, but there's not a cloud in the sky."
The sound of something going 'tok' against the stone shore took his attention away, however. Two items had washed ashore. The first to catch his eyes was a small wooden raft of sorts with a hand-crafted doll in it; something he recognised from his studies as a nagashibina. What was strange, though, was that it seemed to be tied to the second item by a length of string.
This one, though, took less effort for Sai to recognise. After all, it was the same white and blue helmet used by pilots on the Archangel. Out of all the helmets onboard, only two were not accounted for right now: the one Tolle was wearing when he died, and the one Kira had.
A sense of hope welled up inside him, as Sai hastily picked up the helmet. Inside it, he noticed another one of those dolls sat comfortably, safe from the water it previously travelled down.
Before he could so much as question what was going on, the faint sound of humming echoed from the treeline on the opposite shore. Sai looked up, and what he saw took his breath away.
A green haired girl, who physically looked to be around his age, if not a little older, dressed in red and black, spinning around happily with nary a care in the world, as a strange black miasma seemed to get pulled from the river and into her being.
Sai's mind took two separate thoughts at that moment: The first was that this girl might be just a bit dangerous, in the same way a dragon might be considered a fire hazard. That part of his brain, the logical, 'tread carefully' part, told him to hightail it back to the Archangel with the helmet.
The other part, though, was completely and utterly enamoured by her.
Before long, the girl had stopped spinning, and the miasma dissipated. Then, she looked at him, as if she'd known he was there the whole time.
"Good day, sir," she said kindly. "This isn't the sort of place a human should be, you know?"
Sai stammered a bit, trying to find something to say. "Well, the thing is... My friends! And I! We were stranded!"
The girl look slightly surprised by the sudden yelling, but giggled all the same. By God, did Sai think that giggle was positively angelic.
"Well, I suppose circumstances for Outsiders can vary," she said. "You should probably get back to them soon, or they'll start to worry."
"Right!" he yell. He turned to leave, but stopped in his pace. "Um!" he shouted. "My name! Is Sai Argyle!"
It was a horribly awkward way to introduce himself, but the girl still found some sort of amusement in it.
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Argyle-san," she responded. "My name is Kagiyama Hina."
By the time Kira and Athrun left the room, the sun was just about to set. One of the changes faced by not having a clock on hand was that you never quite realise how long you've been at something until it's over and you look outside.
What they found waiting for them was quite the crowd. Not only were Byakuren and Mamizou waiting on them, but they had, at some point, been joined by Cirno and company.
Said company of fairies and youkai, upon seeing Kira, immediately dog-piled onto him.
"You're late, Yamatomato!" Cirno shouted.
"Sorry, Cirno," Kira apologised. "It was only meant to be a bit of sightseeing, but... well, I ran into an old friend."
Wriggle broke off from the group, and hovered around Athrun. "This him, then?" she asked. "The guy that almost blew you up?"
"I... guess that's one way to remember me," Athrun said, slightly bewildered. "I'm Athrun Zala. It's nice to meet you all."
The members of Team Nine looked Athrun up and down, before all turning to face Kira. "We thought he'd look more evil," Mystia said, "but he's surprisingly normal."
"Somehow, that cuts deeper," Athrun muttered, much to the amusement of everyone else.
The laughter, however, was cut of by a loud thundering. "What was that?" Kira asked. "It sounded like a storm, but..."
"Not a cloud in the sky," Byakuren said. "It came from over Youkai Mountain, too. I can't help but wonder if this is a bad omen." She turned to face Wriggle. "Tell me, Nightbug-san. How much have you taught Yamato-kun about using magic?"
"The basics," Wriggle answered, unfazed that Byakuren chose to ask her about it rather than Cirno. "We're still working on flying, but he can at least float slightly."
"So, more progress than with me," Athrun muttered. "Still can't quite get my feet off the ground with this whole 'flying' business."
"They make it sound easier than it is," Kira said. "It's not quite a 'clap your hands if you believe' thing."
"Well, I say that we should get some last minute training in for you two," Byakuren continued. "I feel we'd all rest easy if you two were prepared."
"You're saying that as if you expect us to get in trouble as early as tomorrow," Athrun said.
Kira looked away slightly sheepishly, as did the rest of Team Nine. "Well, I don't know about you," he said, "but if something's going on up there, I want to head up to the shrine to make sure those protests still go smoothly."
Athrun suppressed an exasperated sigh. "Only you, Kira."
Mamizou moved next to Byakuren. "You sure about this, Hijiri?" she asked. "Don't you think you're jumping at shadows?"
"Perhaps I might be, Mamizou," Byakuren responded. "But, I'd rather be overly cautious, than not cautious at all."
High above Youkai Mountain, far beyond the scope of the clouds, laid the land of Tenkai, the Celestial World. Otherwise known as Heaven.
Usually, it was a grand, peaceful place, filled with lush flora, clean air, clear skies, and peace. It was generally the picturesque definition of what one would think Heaven to be.
Note the use of the word 'usually', as right now, that place was currently aflame.
A young Celestial with blue hair stood with her back to the edge. Her clothes, usually pristine white and blue with rainbow details, were marred with cuts, mud, and blood. In her shaky hands, she gripped the translucent Sword of Hisou.
"What... the hell is going on?" she muttered defiantly. "How could some... metal doll do this?!"
From the raging inferno, a large figure strode forward. It was large; too be to be called mortal, with heavy plates of armour all over, and covered in what could only be described as cannons. The light of the flames shrouded its colour, but the shape of its head, with those v-shaped horns and glowing emerald eyes, would forever be scorched into her mind.
"You..." the Celestial, Hinanawi Tenshi, spat. "Who the hell do you think you are?!"
A/N:
I'm... gonna be honest about something. I completely forgot about Kuzzey when I started this. I just couldn't recall if he got off the Archangel before of after the big Kira VS Athrun fight.
So, in a blatant attempt to save face, I'm going with 'before', and if I'm wrong, then to hell with it. After all, I do have a way to fit him in later if I want. But that's for then.
Well, I think I'm getting rather good at this whole 'cliffhanger' thing. It's becoming rather fun to tease the future.
Well, let's leave it at that, and press on!
