The air was hot. The sky faded into an orange hue, setting the horizon on fire. It was the most prettiest sunset Ky had ever seen in his life, but his attention wasn't on the beauty of the sky, it was the beauty of the coming destruction of the village below the stars. The whole village was asleep, not a care in this war-torn world, but they were going to wake up to reality; the reality that Gears were roaming
and killing humans. And they were going to be a part of it, just like everyone else.
The army moved in closer, with him flanked by the Gears. He had been trained by the Gears—and rogue men—and he was now deemed worthy to be called a part of their band, although only a portion of his blood was theirs, the rest was human. He didn't want to be human, though. He couldn't stand them. He couldn't even stand their smell. It was like that hatred had been bred into him.
The Gears quickly approached the sleeping village, then at the right moment, they charged in. There were ambushers and then there were the attackers; he was one of the attackers tonight, a rare privilege. With his sword gripped firmly in his hand, he waited for the chaos to unfold. And it did, under a few moments. As the ambushing Gears broke into the quiet little homes of the villagers, there were screaming, shattering glass, and the sound of struggling bodies---fragile human bodies.
Ky moved down the dirt street, feeling the 90 degree heat on his heavily clothed body. He hunted with the Gears for humans to fall into his blade, and one did. A door flung open with a woman's voice calling as a young boy---a teenager---flew out, trying to save his own miserable life.
Ky swung around as he saw him leap out, and thrust his sword into his flesh, impaling it right into his torso. He heard him yelp a weak scream, but it was cut short as Ky pulled back on the sword and let the boy to fall into the ground, right outside his door.
"Danny, don't go out there! Danny!" The mother came running for her fallen child, unaware that he was already dead. Ky took advantage of the situation and swung his blade, slashing right into her throat, splattering blood on the walls and ground.
Ky moved on in search of more human blood to shed under his blade. He listened to the villagers' screams of agony and fear, all the while he relished all of it. His dark flowing Holy Knight's uniform and smooth slashes of his sword gave him elegance and grace with his murders, unlike the Gears. Their killing method were barbaric and savage, while his style was graceful. He even found a few humans rushing to him, thinking he was their savior, but once they neared, their faces turned into horror.
He was mainly used as a decoy in these massacres. He was one of the few humanoid fighters the Gears had, and he was useful to them. Very useful, certainly with the face of a young leader— A very important leader.
The murders went on with the sky above fully engulfed in stars and darkness. The sun was gone, as if it were hiding from witnessing the madness inside the village. Humans were begging for their lives, screaming in fear.
He moved off to another house, and gave a hard kick to the front door. The lock of it broke, allowing him into the seemingly empty house. But he knew better. They were just hiding.
He paced to the front room, with the bottom of his boots thumping against the hard wood floor, clearly announcing his presence. The room was dark, but faintly lit by a low burning lantern on a table.
They were still here.
He walked off into the bedrooms and checked under the beds, in the closets, but found nothing. He carefully looked around, and returned to the den. He knew they were around. They were hiding. But where? Some humans were clever, and had cellars to hide in, but an even more clever hybrid like him could always flush them out.
Past the screaming outside, he picked up the sound of murmurs. And it was below the floors.
He heard a child's voice then. As he turned his head, the floor opened up. Oh what clever people; they had a storm cellar in their den, and their child just gave them away.
A little girl, possibly five years old, screamed at the sight of him and ran up to him. "A Knight! A Knight! I want to get out of here. I want to get out of here!" Ky bent down and caught the child as she ran to him. "Make the monsters go away!"
Ky put his sword down and wrapped his arms around the crying child. He then put his hands to her head, giving the impression he was just going to comfort her, but instead, he snapped her neck with a quick twist. The child didn't struggle at all, and fell limp onto the floor in a dull thud.
Nearby, her parents screamed after they witnessed the murder of their child. "Mary-lin!"
Ky slowly reached for his sword as the father charged at him, more interested in getting his dead daughter away from him than attacking him. But he wasn't going to take the risk. He grabbed the man by the shirt and threw him across the room, right into the table with the burning lantern. The table collapsed from under his weight, sending everything on the table crashing to the floor. The lantern on the table broke, sending fuel and flames spilling onto the floor. Meanwhile, the mother of the dead child screamed.
Flames were quickly starting to reach up to the wall and began to engulf the floor. He had to get out of here quick before the whole house went up, but he had to deal with—
The instant he turned his head towards the mother, she swung something hot at his face. Ky screamed in pain and stumbled back as it hit him. He caught himself by the wall and looked across at the woman, a hand by his face. She threw the object that she hit him with---a burning leg of the broken table---which missed him by an inch and hit the wall beside his head. "Get out of my house!" she screamed as she threw it at him. "You killed my family! You're not going to get me!"
He bared his teeth at her, then charged, swinging his sword. The woman dove out of the way and fell at the same time. While she grabbed another piece of the burning table, he spun around for another attack. The woman got back to her feet quickly and waved the burning object in front of his face. He wheeled back, holding his hands out to protect himself, feeling the heat on his face.
"Get out of my house! Get out!" She swung the flames at his face, while he tried to shield himself with his hands, backing him between the wall and the couch. She shoved the flames at his face, coming in contract with his skin once again. He screamed and stumbled to the side, falling into the couch.
But the woman wasn't going to stop there. She chased him with her makeshift weapon as he tried to crawl away from her. He fell back onto the floor as he met up to the end of the couch, with the woman still on him. He screamed in pain as she whipped the flames into his face again.
"You're not so tough now! Ha!" She kicked him across the ribs. She swung the burning piece of wood at his head, which he ducked. He crawled back to his feet, trying to escape her wrath. As he passed her, she swung the flames onto his sleeve, catching it on fire. He didn't notice it at first, but the pain soon came. He thrust his arm up and down and patted at it, trying to put it out. The flames were eating away at his gauntlet and sleeve. He stumbled backwards, and tripped over the dead child's body while he was distracted with the flames. He fell to the floor with hot flames around him. He scratched at the flames on his arm, frantically putting it out.
"You demon from hell!" the woman screamed as she advanced on him. "Get out of here!"
Ky finally managed to pat the flames out, which had eaten away at his sleeve. He bared his teeth at the pain against his skin, the worst kind of pain he had felt in a long time.
Intense heat then began to touch his leg, making him jerk his head towards the flames lurching from the floor. He pulled his leg away and turned his head back towards his attacker. She was advancing towards him with that burning piece of wood in her hand.
"Go back where you came from!" the woman screamed at him. "Go back to hell!"
Half blinded, he grabbed her arm and shoved her back. With one arm outstretched, he began searching for a way out. He stumbled to the left, keeping one arm out, feeling the heat of the flames fading from him until he tripped out of the burning house. He fell to the ground on his knees, holding a hand to his face. He laid there for a few seconds, listening to the chaos around him, then forced himself up.
He stumbled a few paces away from the house, then felt himself bump into something. He went to his knees again, keeping his eyes closed and one hand over his hot and stinging face. He could smell the scent of his own burning flesh and clothing. What he fell into was a person's arms.
"Oh God," he heard a man say while he was in his arms. "We've got a man down here!"
He struggled a bit, trying to get a better view of the area with one good eye. He could see dead Gears on the ground, and Holy Knights of the Order.
Damn it, the Order's army had found out about the attack. He didn't know they were in the area. How did this happen? It wasn't suppose to be this way. The Gears were supposed to destroy this place, not be destroyed.
"Somebody get down here, quick! He's been burned!"
"No," Ky groaned, then shoved the man off before he could get a good look at his face, and stumbled to his feet. He bolted off, half blind and in pain. He had to get away from this place before the Holy Knights find out he had their leader's face. They would kill him. Kiske might even do it himself once he found out about him.
He struggled to clear his eyesight as he ran. He stumbled and swayed while tears ran from his stinging eyes. His smoke filled lungs ached as he breathed, but he couldn't let anything stop him. They were going to kill him! They were going to—
Ky jolted awake, startled by a noise nearby. He looked around, finding himself in the safety of his cabin once again, not in the hells of his past. It seemed he always managed to find it in his dreams and nightmares every time he closed his eyes, like a message from God to remind him where he came from. Maybe a sinner like him needed that constant reminder.
He unfolded himself from the couch, and stretched his arms up over his head, knocking something off the arm of it in the process. He listened as it hit the floor in a feathery thump. As he looked down, he noticed his Bible laying on the floor, which had landed with its pages flared open against the floor. Quickly he reached down and picked it up. He examined it for any damage. A few pages had suffered a few creases, nothing serious. If he put something heavy over it, maybe it would straighten itself out.
He stood up, and carried the book back to the coffee table where he normally kept it. He pressed his hand down on it, and then same noise that woke him, although quieter this time, sounded from his bedroom. And then it clicked.
Oh yes, his guest.
Ky turned his head towards the short hallway that led the way to his room and quickly walked to it, where he found Dizzy holding up the black capelette of his old Sacred Order uniform. The sight of it nearly burned his eyes. He hadn't touched the thing in a long time, and had stored it away since he had settled in the cabin, never wanting to see it again. He had even been contemplating on destroying it, but never brought himself to do it. Out of sight and out of mind worked just as well, until now, until Dizzy dug up its grave. He bit his lower lip as he saw the skirt and belts laying on his bed.
He leaned an arm against the threshold of the door as he glared at her. "What are you doing?"
Caught in the act, Dizzy quickly jerked her head to see him at the doorway. She gasped as she saw him and pressed the black and gold cape against her chest. He could hear the metal under the shoulders clicking as she brought it closer. "Umm, I was—"
"Snooping," he said.
"No, I wasn't snooping!"
"Yes you were," he said.
Knowing there was no way out of it, she lowered her head and looked down on the uniform in her arms. "Sorry, I didn't mean to. I was curious. You have very interesting things."
He couldn't help but smile and begin to forgive her, but not fully. "I would appreciate it if you put that back where it came from," he said, pointing to the uniform. "I put it away for a reason."
"Sorry." She reached back and picked up the pieces she had on the bed up and began to limp towards the shallow wooden case that she had pulled out from under the bed. He watched a few moments how she used the foot of the bed as a guide, then remembered—
"No, wait," he said, and stepped towards her. "Let me do it. Besides, you're supposed to be resting." He took the uniform from her arms and turned, beginning to take a step towards the case. But he immediately stopped in his tracks once he cast his eyes onto the clothing in his arms. Bad choice. He stared down on it, remembering the very last time he put his hands on it, the day he would try to bury that past that always came back to haunt him, a part of it looming under him at night. He thought it would be a first step, but it didn't seem to be good enough. He just couldn't forget it. He should have buried the damn thing.
He folded the skirt first, then neatly placed it in the center of the case, then put the belts and gauntlets in their respected places. He stared down on the uniform as he put it away, almost with hesitation. He slid his slender fingers onto the top of the case, his palms balancing on the edges as he looked down on the uniform, as if it were trying to call him back, its lies tempting him back.
"Ky? Is there something wrong?"
He suddenly snapped himself out of it, tearing his eyes away from the uniform and up where they met Dizzy's form. "What?"
"Is something wrong? You looked—"
He shook his head. "I'm fine, I'm fine. I was just—thinking, that's all."
"I wasn't supposed to touch it," she said in a guilty, child-like manner. "I won't do it again."
He slid the box under the bed again, seeing that a few more things had been moved, but that didn't matter as much as that forbidden uniform. He then slowly picked himself up into a stand. "Thank you," he muttered as he began to walk past her, not even looking at her anymore.
"Umm, Ky?"
He ignored her. He felt deaf to anything she said, as if she wasn't even there—as if he wasn't even there. He walked slowly back into the den, where he dropped his body into the chair by the fireplace, his body falling limp against it. He sat there, staring dully at the wall. His mind felt numb, felt dead.
"Ky. I have seen you before. I remembered when I saw your uniform. I've seen it before."
"I told you before, we've never met before," he growled, and stood. "I am not who you think I am." He then began to advance towards her. "Let me tell you one thing. I—"
"Sit back down," Dizzy said to him, and by his surprise, he did. He dropped himself back into the chair without even thinking. It was like his body obeyed what she said to him, like a dog.
"What did you just—"
"Don't scare me like that, " she said, her body half recoiled against the wall.
He stared at her, but not like he had a few moments ago. The anger had been washed away, replaced by a stunned wonderment. It was as if it had never been there. He had already forgotten that she had mistaken him for Ky Kiske. Kiske suddenly didn't exist in his mind anymore. It was just her.
"Do that again," he said.
She seemed to be taken back by the request. "Do what again?"
"Tell me to do something."
She shook her head. "I don't understand."
"Tell me to do something. Anything."
"I-I don't know. I still don't understand what you want, but—" she hesitated, but finally said with a shrug, "Stand on one leg."
He obeyed, lifting one leg then settled it back down, even though he could have easily done it himself. "Come on, try something different. Tell me something I wouldn't do by my free will."
"No. What are you doing? You're acting strange."
Apparently, she wasn't going to cooperate. "Nevermind. Forget I asked." He threw his hands into the air in defeat, and turned, heading for the door. If she wasn't going to cooperate, then he wasn't either.
"Wait." she called after him.
He suddenly stopped in his tracks at the sound of her voice, just as he was about to reach the door. It looked like he was halting himself from stepping on something in his path, like a coiled snake ready to strike him, but nothing was there. He looked down on his immobile feet, then over his bared shoulder at Dizzy. It was beginning to make sense.
"You're not going to leave, are you?" she asked him, unaware what was going on.
"No." He slowly turned around and strode back over to the chair, dropping himself back into it. He leaned his elbow on the arm of it and rested his hand under his chin as he watched her from across. "I had a feeling about this, and I think you just proved it." He leaned forward and crossed his legs. "You're a commander."
"What?"
"Don't tell me you didn't know you're a commander Gear."
She stared at him as if he were crazy. She slowly shook her head.
"You're serious," he said, cocking his brows a bit. What Gear didn't know what they were able to possess, certainly a commander? She had the ability to command any Gear and control their will and she didn't even know it? A grin crossed his lips as he looked across at her. "Well, if you didn't know it then, know it now. You have complete control over me, and over any other Gear."
"Over you? But you're not a—"
He raised a slender finger to silence her. "I'm afraid you're wrong again. I am. Only a quarter, but that's another story." He grinned more widely then. "But I will tell you why I look like the man you think I am."