A/N: My exam had just finished last week and I become lazy in holiday… Sorry for grammar mistakes and OOC-ness.
A big thank you for MoonliteShadow101, Asereth, Hegodart, kazuko soranai, AsuCaga01, x. Midnight . Insanity .x, and PoeticDayDreams for the reviews and those who put this fic into Story alert!
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny…
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"He is killed."
Cagalli's eyes widened in shock. "I-Impossible… He can't be… You must be lying!" She dropped on her knees and cried. Merna circled her arm around Cagalli's shoulder and tried her best to comfort her mistress.
Kira was also in the same state but he can maintain himself. "Who dare to do this, Mwu-san?" his voice was firm.
"It's the Zala clan."
Chapter 2: Duty
"Zala?" Cagalli managed to ask between her sobs.
"I never heard that name before," Kira said, in the matter of fact.
Mwu crossed his arms. "Well, I have heard that name before… just once."
Another explosion erupted. Most of the palace building was engulfed with flame. "We should hurry!" Merna yelled.
"Kid, your horse is ready," Mwu shouted then gave two cloaks to both Kira and Cagalli. "Put on the cloak, they are searching for you. Kira, bring Cagalli with you!"
"What about the other?" Kira asked.
"Don't worry, I've asked Neo to take my place here. At least, until the two of you can escape from this place!"
Kira approached Cagalli and helped her stood up. "Are you okay?"
Cagalli rubbed her eyes. "I think I am."
"Let's go!" Kira said, led them to a white horse nearby. Fortunately, Cagalli wear pants, not kimono, so it's easier to her to get up to the horse.
She pulled up the cloak to cover her blond hair and her face, the same goes with Kira.
"Are you ready?" Her twin asked.
Looking back at the now half burnt castle, she silently nodded. Kira quickly rode the horse, heading to the wood, farther from their so called house.
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A pair of emerald eyes scanned through the room. He -the owner of that eyes- felt that someone watched him from afar, but quickly shrugged it off.
A pair of emerald eyes gazed at the dead body, the body of the Orb Emperor, Ulen Hibiki in front of him. On the owner of that eyes' his right hand, he held a bloodstained sword that he used to kill him.
"This is easier than I thought," he said with deep voice. He put his sword in its original place then he walked around the room, searching for the thing that he needed to find. He opened every wardrobe and wooden box in that room.
"Where is that thing?" he thought while opening an empty wooden box. "Not here."
"He has secured it somewhere."
After looking the room for a while, he decided to go away from that room and headed to where his leader waited for him.
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"Where are we going?" Cagalli looked at her brother intently. They had been riding their horse for about an hour and now they're inside a dark and creepy forest.
"I don't know, Cagalli. I just follow where Mwu goes," Kira replied.
Cagalli replied. "What are we going to do?"
"I'm not really sure on what are we going to do after this whole scheme. At least, I'm sure that Zala is searching us. We must avoid anything that related to Zala."
They made up their way to an abandoned place outskirt the city. The place was quite secure, from what Mwu thought.
The twins got off of the horse when Merna approached them. "Via-sama is inside. She is resting now. You can come and meet her."
"Thank you, Merna-san," Cagalli said with a small smile on her face. They walked in to the small hut. Their mother was resting in the only room in that place, surrounded by some maids. Cagalli and Kira approached Via and bent down next to her bed.
"Can you please give us some privacy?" Kira asked to the maids. They nodded and walked out from the room.
He sighed and looked at his sister who took their mother's hand in hers. Via's eyes fluttered and she fixed her gaze to her children. She sat up with the help of Cagalli.
"Are you okay, Mother?" Cagalli asked with a slight tone of worry.
Via merely nodded and suddenly burst in tears.
"M-Mother, what happen?" Now it's Kira's turn to ask.
The brunette woman hugged her children while sobbing in happiness. "I'm glad that… you're okay… my children…"
"Sorry for making you worry, Mother," Kira said.
Via pulled back then glanced at Kira and Cagalli. "You aren't hurt, are you?"
The twins shook their head in unison while Via sighed in relief.
"Your father," Via started. "they killed him."
"We know that."
She then pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to both Kira and Cagalli. "This is what your father left before he ordered my ordered me to escape. He told me to give you this."
Kira took the paper and read it.
Dear my children,
When the two of you read this, I already died right now. From now on, Kira will replace my place as the emperor of Orb. I've heard some issue about this revolt for a long time, yet I didn't know the exact time when they would did the attempt. The Zala just want one thing, our family treasure, the Precious Rose. As the heir of the Hibiki, it is your duty to retrieve the Precious Rose before they get it and do something we can't imagine.
This will be my last wish for you, my children. I hope you a peaceful life.
Kira and Cagalli looked at each other after reading the paper.
"The Precious Rose…," Cagalli mumbled.
"Our family treasure that passed down through our lineage," Via explained.
"Father has told us about this before," Kira said, trying to remember the exact time.
There was a knock on the door. Via let the person came in and the door opened, revealing Mwu who bowed to the three of them.
"I'm sorry for interrupting you," Mwu spoke.
"It's okay. Is there anything wrong?" Via asked.
"Our soldiers succeed to save the palace, although half of it was destroyed. Zala's soldier still guarding the area though," the blond man explained.
"You have other information, don't you?" Cagalli asked, raising her eyebrow.
The blond man smiled slightly at the princess' sharpness. "You're right, hime. Our soldiers also found the Emperor."
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Not far from the emperor's palace, a group of people gathered, waiting for a certain blue haired man to come. The leader of the group, a middle aged man with a serious face stomped his foot impatiently.
"Where is he!?" he barked to one of the soldier who stood next to him. The soldier, a blonde haired man with violet orbs named Dearka Elthman startled a bit at the man.
"He will be arrive pretty soon, Patrick-sama," Dearka answered.
Patrick Zala frowned and crossed his arms. He observed the palace carefully. Without even glancing at the blonde, he said, "He went for an hour. He should be here by now. Was it a hard thing to kill the emperor?"
As if on cue, a man whose head wrapped by a cloth emerged. He quickly knelt down in front of Patrick. His emerald orbs fixed at the ground.
"I'm sorry for being late."
"Detach that thing off of your face," Patrick ordered. The man obeyed the order and detached the cloth that wrapped his head, revealing his midnight blue hair.
"What've you got?" Patrick said, heartlessly.
"Nothing's there. The Emperor didn't want to tell anything about Precious Rose. His children are nowhere to be found. It looks like he ordered them to retrieve Precious Rose before we found it," the bluenette explained monotonously.
Patrick put his hand under his chin and looked intently at the man before him as if trying to make sure that he's not lying to him. "Are you sure, Athrun?"
Athrun's face lit up as he looked straight at Patrick. "I'm very sure, Father."
The sky began to darken, signifying that it's going to be raining soon enough. The winds blew very hard, swaying every single leaves around them.
"They aren't going so far. It's going to be raining," Patrick murmured to himself and then looked at his son. "Find them, Athrun. This is your next task. Spy on them and after you know all the information about where that damn emperor hides the Precious Rose, just kill them. Understand?"
Athrun thought for a moment and nodded. "I'll make sure I won't take a long time to finish this."
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Via, Kira, Cagalli, Mwu, all the soldiers and maids gathered in front of a small grave that belong to Ulen Hibiki. They finished giving Ulen a proper funeral although now many people attend it.
"Who found him?" Cagalli asked, breaking the silence.
A soldier started to spoke, "It's me, hime."
She fixed her gaze towards the soldier. "Did you saw the person who kills him?"
"I didn't saw his face clearly, but he's Zala's soldier and he has emerald eyes."
"Emerald eyes?" she said then thought deeply.
After a long silence, the maids and soldiers leave from the site, until there only Via, Kira, Cagalli, and Merna.
"Via-sama," Merna started. "You must have some rest. Your wound isn't healed yet."
Taking a last glance at her husband's grave, Via nodded. She faced her children before going. "Kira, Cagalli, the two of you must have some rest, too."
Kira gave Via a reassuring smile while Cagalli just nodded silently. Via walked inside the hut followed by Merna. The twins' gaze still focused on the grave in front of them. Noticing that it's going to be raining soon, Kira tapped Cagalli's shoulder.
"We must go inside, Cagalli," Kira said.
Without turning at his brother, Cagalli said, "I know. I'll be here for a little while. Don't worry."
Kira sighed then silently walked in, leaving Cagalli alone.
Tears slowly streaked down from Cagalli's amber orbs. She can't bear losing her dear father, despite his strict act to her. She loved him; she loved him with all her heart. Now, she must live without him.
She knelt down in front of the grave, touching the exact place where Ulen's body buried. "I don't know what will I do, Father."
A booming sound of the thunder echoed. Rain slowly poured down to the earth, but Cagalli didn't budge from her place.
"Emerald eyes… Zala…," she whispered to herself. Her hand clenched into a tight fist and she spoke with determined voice, "I'll kill the person who dares to kill you. I'll avenge your death. I promise, Father."
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A/N: How is it? Bad or good? I'll try to put some of Japanese mythological creature on the future chapter. Please review and give your comment about this chapter. And, fell free to PM me anytime if you want to ask me anything or give suggestion about this fic! XD
