Dark Side Of The Moon

Chapter 2: Red Crossroads

Written By Illuminet

Disclaimer: The Guilty Gear series is the rightful property of Arc System Works. Some characters are simply being borrowed for non-profit purposes.

"..."-Indicate Speech

'...'-Indicate Thought

:xXx:

For how long Sol ran, he could not be sure. One thing he did know was that the fatigue with the battle against Dizzy had worn him out greatly and was now starting to catch up with him.

'She may only be a child, but her power has surpassed even Justice's. Not by much, but still a noticeable margin. If I hadn't been the stronger one, I would not be able to still move as I am now. I've saved her life, but that's far from going to be enough to get on her nice side. I'd better expect some verbal hell once she awakens.'

The Gear thought wryly to himself, taking a moment to peer down at the Half-Gear in his arms. Her azure hair was longer than his own and much better cared for from what he could feel of the silky strands bobbing against his arm from his movements. Her wings and tail had also retracted and shrunk to minimum size from having exhausted their power, and Sol could only assume they were sleeping to recover their former strength. Her normally healthy peach colored skin was a bit pale, and he knew he would need to find shelter for her to rest a bit. He also needed some rest.

'I'd give her about a week before her power is fully recovered. I'll only need a couple of days. Damn...I need to create another seal. If not, I'll be completely taken over by my true self in two or three weeks from now. Guess it's a good thing she knocked down enough power in me to exhaust it into submission for now.'

Sol thought grimly, speeding up even more. He found himself close to a mountain trail. His eyes darted sharply around for any signs of foot prints, and his nose sniffed out any finer details that might tell him more about his location. Satisfied that it was abandoned, the Gear went deeper within, eyes ever vigilant to finding a cave to shelter himself and Dizzy. He would need to act quickly, because the dark clouds above him held the promise of a coming rain. The air was filled with the scent of rain too. Thunder boomed in the distance soon after, followed by a flash of lightning over one of the peaks. A big storm was coming.

"Fucking great...the last thing I needed."

Sol muttered as he picked up the pace greatly. He found the trail to be heading downward now and proceeded to leap all the way to the very bottom to cut down on running time. The first few drops of rain began to fall when Sol finally eyed a small cave only a few feet off the trail. He proceeded inward as quickly as possible, barely evading the showering droplets falling from the clouds. The Gear let his eyes adjust to the darkness, satisfied that nothing else was living here. He gently placed Dizzy near the back of the cave before heading for the entrance.

'She should be able to stay alive until I get some wood for burning...too bad there weren't that many trees along the way, and they all must be soaked by now. Oh well...'

He shrugged, exiting with his sword slung over his shoulder.

:xXx:

"Another path has been paved within the fabric of time. How interesting..."

A tall middle aged looking man said to himself. His brown hair was combed forward and elegantly trimmed as with his moustache and beard. He wore an expensive looking dark green suit, a red cape hanging over the side of his right shoulder. He took a red handkerchief from the side pocket of his suit, using it to clean off his eyepiece. He placed the eyepiece back over his left eye before folding up the handkerchief neatly and placing it back in his pocket. He let his crimson colored eyes scan the remains of the field that surrounded the Gear Plant, finding nothing but Gear corpses.

"Hmmm...those Humans clean up their own side of the mess quite quickly. Don't you agree, Sharon?"

He spoke smoothly, looking to his side where a young woman with long dark blue hair stood, dressed in a simple but tight fitting red dress. She spoke not a word, her nodding head being her only confirmation of agreeing with him. The man turned away, walking further towards the actual plant itself.

"That musician in red leather has quite a nifty little power, to alter time as she did. I wonder what changes may occur, but I can only wait to see the altered future with my own two eyes. For now, it's best to see what becomes of Sol in this original time. Especially now..."

The man's voice became softer now as he kneeled to the blood soaked earth, catching a red metal fragment in between his fingers. He stood back up, inspecting the piece of metal. It had a large hollow in it as well as a broken leather strap and buckle. It was a part of Sol's headpiece that had been destroyed in the final battle.

"...that he has no choice but keep the beast within him unrestrained. It won't be long before he goes berserk once his power is restored. I wonder if I, the honorable Slayer, should interfere with him again? Hmmm...I suppose there is no rush to do anything at the moment but observe how he and the Half-Gear get along."

Slayer murmured to himself. He extended his hand out in front of him, opening a coffin shaped portal. He turned to Sharon.

"Come along Sharon, let us be off."

He said briskly, allowing Sharon to enter first. He stood there for a moment, looking out to the distance where the clouds were black and overtook most of the night sky in that area.

"I wonder...are they still the hope of the world on this side now that you've been taken to that other time by the red musician?"

He pondered to himself as he turned and walked into the portal.

:xXx:

'Where...?'

Dizzy's eyes opened sluggishly, seeing nothing but a bright red blur. Her eyes took a few seconds before they finally adjusted, noting that the red blur had been a small fire. Her movement was equally sluggish, as she tried get up but only succeeding in crawling away from the fire since her body felt too warm now. She groaned all the way while going to the cave wall, her body feeling sore all over. She sighed in contentment as she felt the cool surface against her skin.

'I'm alive...but...'

She eyed the large piece of cloth she had dragged along her way to the wall, noticing it to be a greatly tattered cape. Her eyes widened in remembrance of the earlier events after she had clashed with Sol. The Gear made his presence known, walking into the light cast by the fire.

"Don't move much. You'll only aggravate that body of your's more."

He said simply. Dizzy's eyes flashed with anger and pure hatred for his being.

"You!"

Before she could say more, he interrupted.

"Don't talk much either. Sleep."

He commanded with a lazy drawl. This only angered Dizzy further, making her forget about her weakened state and the pain that followed. She stood up quickly, headache pounding into her skull.

"Filthy Traitor! How dare you save me from my fate to die amongst my fellow Gears! To be with Mother!"

She spat out, voice echoing off the cave walls, making her voice sound more threatening. Not that Sol was phased by this in the slightest as he already was expecting a verbal hell once she woke up.

"Kill yourself then."

He responded lazily with a small shrug of his shoulders.

"Not before I kill you first for your insolence!"

She spat out, taking a shaky step towards his direction. She already knew, however, that she wasn't fooling anyone. Without her former power regained yet, she did not stand even a ghost of a chance at all against him. He still had enough strength to move more than a couple of steps after all.

"Plenty of time for that later if you can stay alive."

He spoke calmly before turning away, enshrouded in darkness when he left the radius of the fire's light. This signaled the conversation, if one could really call it that, to be concluded. His words made Dizzy simply crumple to the ground.

'Damn him...but there is no denying his words. I swear I will regain the strength I once had and even surpass his own. Only then can I kill him.'

She vowed to herself. Swallowing her pride, she grabbed his tattered cape and used it as a blanket as she kneeled against the cave wall, glaring at the fire. The only comfort of knowing that his helping her was only going to lead to his own downfall.

:ToBeContinued:

Note-It's probably already well known that I'm a fan of Slayer just as much as Sol. The pre battle animations between Order-Sol and Slayer in Guilty Gear XX Slash: The Midnight Carnival also hint that they truly did know about each other even as far back as the Crusades anyway.