Dreams, Memories and Visions Long Gone

By Cordelia Yang

Part III: Tomorrow's Promise

The room was deathly silent, broken only by the labored breathing of Abel. D, Aria and Astha had carried the two AX members back to the ship to give them emergency treatment, but nothing had worked for Abel. Cain's poison was indeed lethal. His breath became ever shorter and shorter, and he asked that he should die in Esther's Tomb.

That was where the two gravely injured parties now were laid. The three unharmed ones sat beside them quietly, with Aria and Astha shedding occasional quiet tears.

"D," Abel said in a hoarse, shallow, voice. D moved beside him and took his hand.

"I'm here."

"D, I'm dying. I can no longer… purge my sins, the last part of my sins." He stopped and breathed in painfully. "D, can you promise me…to finish what I started? To…make every Methuselah on this wretched planet… leave? Our time here… is over. It is the turn of the Terrans… to rebuild their wrecked planets… in their own vision."

D nodded his head once. "I promise."

Abel smiled weakly. "Good." He turned his head. "Astha—Tovarisch—when I die, please put me beside Esther's remains."

Tears streaming down her proud face, Astha nodded, "Yes, I will."

"Goodbye, my friends." Abel smiled again, and this time, it was a smile of pure radiance. Then slowly, his eyes faded and closed, although his gentle face was still wreathed in a peaceful smile.

Tears wracked Astha's body and Aria sobbed silently into her hand. D stood, his head bowed, in quiet reverence. There was a series of slow, pulsing bleeps behind them.

"Do not repair me." They turned to face Tres.

"What?" Aria asked, her eyes bright with tears.

"Do not repair me. I do not wish to exist any longer. All my companions are now dead, and I know nothing of this world."

"But then…" Astha said, "You will die."

"Negative. I am not a man, but a machine. I will merely…break down. I have little time left before my cranial system shuts down. Please do not attempt to reactivate me. It is…. time for me to break down."

"I understand." D said. They nodded at each other, and Tres faced the ceiling again, waiting for the final darkness to envelop him. It didn't take long. There was a brief, electrical sizzle, and then dead silence.

"It is over." D said again, in a faint, soft echo of Abel's words. Astha closed her eyes and turned her head away from the two motionless bodies.

"Let them be at peace." She whispered.

As the moon rose gently, Aria hugged herself in the cold evening air. "I wonder if they found what they were looking for when they died."

Turning half towards her, D replied, "I hope so." They stared at dark night sky for a few moments more.

"You're going to leave, aren't you?"

D looked away silently, his quiet action saying volumes.

Aria nodded to herself, her beautiful golden eyes filling with tears again, "You have to fulfill your promise to Abel."

"Yes."

"But one day…One day, the last Noble will leave this place, either by ship or by death…."Aria turned towards him, eyes silently questioning. Their eyes met in the misty light.

"I will come back." D said, his eyes intense.

She smiled then, tearfully. "Then we will go to the stars together. Tovarisch." Their two pale hands entwined under the star-lit sky.

END

Broken wings, still strong enough to cross the ocean with;

Broken wings, how long must I go drifting in the wind?