(Note: Noticed I forgot to explain a few more things. Each of the LFO's that got turned into people, they still have the ability to turn back into the LFO form if they wish. Hence why they flew off in the Nirvash.)
Want to Meet Me? Go to Sakuracon 2013, at the Seattle Convention Center. I'll be there. Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday. Send me an email if you're interested nightstalker98501 at gmail dot com
Chapter 11
Wavering Emotions & Crude Words
I was up before everybody else was. I always seemed to have this internal alarm work due to my work that even now never went away. I stood there watching the calm water as the warm gentle breeze slowly blew through the air. The sky slowly began dancing with colors in the sky. I could see oranges, clashing with reds as the sun slowly began to rise up and show itself. The water reflecting what was shown in the sky. I stood in awe as I watched the morning sky rise. A few minutes later I heard some stirring of people behind me. Looking behind I noticed the children were sitting up while shaking their parents to wake them up. I looked back at the sky one last time then turned around and heading to the LFO's. Smiling at the little ones while they smiled back; I pointed to Amarante and the little ones nodded. Maeter went over to Amarante trying to wake her up. I continued over to Adir taking off the camouflage, climbing up to the cockpit, opening it and climbing inside and getting ready to prep Adir for deperature.
"Hey buddy, ready to do some flying." I asked as Adir monitors fired up and he began starting up. On the monitor it read, 'Whenever you are ready, Shawn", which earned a smile from me as I continued the prepping.
"Alright, I'll be back Adir then we can take off." I replied as I jumped out of the cockpit and began heading over to the group. I noticed everybody was up and packing up their things.
"Morning sleepy heads." I said chuckling as I grabbed some food out of my bag and began eating
"Morning." They all replied sleepily
"Ya guys need any help on packing or loading stuff up?" I asked
"Sure, could you take these bags and start up the Nirvash for us?" Eureka asked
"K!" I picked up some bags and then hauled them up to the cockpit of the Nirvash. I tossed the bags into the back while I looked over the controls.
"Hey girl, how ya been." I asked as I began starting her up.
'I've been well. I see you're still the same as always.' Nirvash replied as a few memories flooded up from before I died. It was me having conversations with the Nirvash from time to time. This brought a smile to my face.
"Glad to hear it. So I have to ask how come you didn't turn into your human form?" I asked curiously as I continued the checks.
'I didn't feel like it. I've been in the human form for a long time so I wanted to enjoy my machine form.' She replied
"I don't blame ya. Being an awesome machine is pretty cool plus having a break from time to time is always nice." I said I felt Nirvash didn't know what I meant by a break but figured I'd leave it at that. I finished my checks. "Alright I'll let them know that you're ready to go." I said as I jumped out of the cockpit and headed over to the group.
"Alright gang she's already to go whenever you are." I said as they nodded then headed to the Nirvash while I headed to Adir.
"I can't wait to get some relaxation for a few days back at base!" I said excited
"They've been running you hard?" Eureka asked as I laughed at the comment while she gave me her usual curious look.
"You should know Holland. He's always that hardass that's also a badass. Well He tried to be at least." I said laughing at my comment as the rest of the gang laughed at it as well. I climbed on board of Adir.
"Let's rock Adir!" I exclaimed as we took off on the board gaining altitude fast then circled around and waited up in the air for the rest of the gang. They took off a few minutes later as the Nirvash began following me. I threw on some hard rock and let loose on the trapar waves as I enjoyed myself as we headed back to the base. We finally got back to base about an hour and half later. When we landed down a lot of the base crew was out there within minutes including the GekkoGo crew. We all offloaded our stuff and then Nirvash transformed into her human form.
"Adir I'll see ya in a bit. I'll come visit." I said as I followed Renton and the gang. Everybody was relieved I brought them back safely.
"Knew you could do it." Holland stated holding out his hand, I shook it and gave the guy a man hug.
"Glad you didn't doubt cause then I'd have to sock ya one." I said jokily while I winked earning a good laugh from Holland.
"That'll be the day. Anyways go rest up, you earned it." Holland stated
"Thanks man. I'm gonna go get some food first." I replied as I turned to everybody, "Anybody needs me, I'll be in the cafeteria stuffin my face." I said smiling as I turned around and headed out. Everyone thanked me as I just waved back at them while I continued towards the cafeteria.
'Yeah I know guys, I wouldn't let my family down, ever.' I thought with a smile on my face.
'Nice job little one.' Alucard said
'You being sarcastic or you actually mean it.' I thought back
'Nope I mean it and you handle adir very well too.' Alucard replied
'He's an amazing machine that's for sure. Though how come he cant change into a human form like everybody else?' I thought
'That story is for another time, time to go back to being dormant and good job again.' Alucard replied and before I could say anything I felt his presence inside me fade quickly
"You old dolt always doing that to me." I said out loud which gained some odd looks from the people who noticed but then went back to their business noticing it was me.
When I arrived at the cafeteria there were a few people but it was mostly dead. I went up and grabbed some food then sat down at one of the tables. I then noticed a few people walking over to me. Looking over I noticed it was Akane, Aimi and Kamin. I motioned to the seats next to me as they all smiled and sat down.
"Where you been stranger?" Kamin asked curiously
"Had to do a rescue mission a ways out." I replied as I took another bite of my food.
"Oh, who'd you rescued?" Kamin asked
"Renton and his family." I replied back as I continued eating.
"Anybody get injured?" Aimi butted in
"Besides being a little beaten up they were fine. Still people can be quite cruel. I mean everybody got their loved ones back but I can sort of understand the fear they have of having another summer love killing thousands again, but violence really doesn't solve anything." I stated as I went back to eating
"Yeah, I agree. Violence doesn't solve anything." Akane piped in
"So where's the family now?" Aimi asked
"I believe their still out on the landing strip, oh and the Nirvash is out there too. In her human form." I replied
"Nirvash?" They all asked
"Oh right you guys weren't around during that time. Basically Nirvash is an LFO but when Gonzy came into this world he turned all LFO's into humans but it seems like they can still turn back into their LFO form when they wish." I stated
"That's so cool!" Kamin said, "I wanna go meet the Nirvash!" She exclaimed
"Oh and the Nirvash's new name is Nobue. It's her human form name." I stated as Kamin got up, waving bye to everybody then bolted out the cafeteria to go meet Renton and the family. Earning a chuckle out of me.
"Hyper girl." I said with a smile as I went back to eating.
"Was the mission tough?" Akane asked
"Hm, I did have quite a bit of enemies I had to deal with but nothing I couldn't handle. I got everybody out safely and that's all that matters." I stated just then Amarante and the crew walked in being all chatter boxes. I looked over and waved.
"Hey guys come over and chat." I hollered to them as they all started walking over and sat down filling up the table.
"Renton was just telling me of your skills in battle." Holland stated
"Nah, he's just exaggerating." I said laughing a bit
"Your always modest." Holland joked back, "Good job kid. I'll let the higher ups know you finished a mission with a success. They'll want a report as well." Holland stated as he got up and walked off to the generals office.
"Ick, I always hated paperwork." I said sticking my tongue out at Holland causing everybody to laugh.
"I know how ya feel man." Matthieu replied shaking his head.
"Your just lazy." Hilda said smacking Matthieu in the arm earning a laugh by everybody
"But honey!." Matthieu said in a pleading voice
"No Buts! Its true." Hilda stated as Matthieu just sulked then
"The big bad Matthieu has been tamed." I said with a wink and began laughing joined by everybody else.
"I miss these times." Renton replied
"Well stick around and you'll never have to miss them again." I said with a smile as I finished my meal.
The remainder of the time was spent just having idle chatter with each other. How things had been going over in Bell Forest. How things have changed since I had died. How my LFO turned into a human as well and is still at Bell Forest as well waiting for me to visit. What she does for a living now too.
"Wow a lot has changed. I'll have to go visit her once all this is over and done with." I stated
"You should, we could tell she missed you." Eureka replied
"It's so hard being popular." I joked as I got smacked by Eureka, "Hai, Hai, I'll be sure to visit her though." I stated again
"Good." Eureka replied
"So does he still live inside you?" Renton asked which caused everybody to become confused including me for a seconds then I realized what he was talking about.
"Ah, Alucard, yes he does. We've come to terms and I've accepted him. He ain't so bad once you get used to him. Except being all mysterious." I replied laughing a bit
'I like being a mystery it makes things interesting.' Alucard said out of nowhere then went dormant again
"Alucard you're an ass, stop doing that!" I said to myself which all the people I personally knew what was going on but a few of the other people didn't.
"Long Story, you'll meet him eventually." I stated as they all just nodded as I got up to put the tray and plate where they need to go.
"Well, I'm gonna go see the General to let him know how things went." I stated
"See ya Shawn!" They all said back as I waved
Amarante got up and walked over to me. "May I tag along?" She asked kindly
"Sure, I don't mind." I replied back as we continued onto the Generals office. Unknown to me Akane didn't like Amarante getting close to me. Akane knew Amarante would probably win this fight over me but she wasn't going to admit defeat easily.
As Amarante and I walked to the office we continued having small talk. Talking about how things had been in the small town. The training she's had and among many other things. As we reached the office Amarante bid me farewell as I waved back with a smile. I knocked on the door a few times and a familiar voice informed me to come in. I opened the door, entered the room seeing Holland and the General and closed the door behind me.
"Morning Sir." I said as both of them nodded.
"Good work on your last mission. You did one hell of a job. No need to fill out a report on this one." The General said
"Thank you sir." I replied
"For now, you can rest for a few days. Enjoy visiting with the others especially Amarante." He replied as I nodded
"Need me for anything Holland?" I asked
"Nope, now go relax." Holland replied
"Very well." I replied as I turned back around and let myself out as I felt something fly past my head reaching up I caught it and noticed it was some extra money. I looked back curiously as the General just waved saying "take it as a bonus for a job well done" he replied as I nodded then continued out the door and closing it behind me.
"Nice guy." I said to myself as I counted the money then stuffed it in my pocket. I continued my leisurely walk heading to the forest. A few of my friends noticed and decided on following. When I reached the forest I began running then activating my powers my speed slowly increased as I began weaving through the trees and brush. The things just blurred past as I continued for a few minutes then slowed back down as I became light headed for about a minute then regained my senses. I came to a nice opening with many flowers in this small spot with sunlight rays shining down into this area. I walked over plopping down while I took a deep breath enjoying the smell of the forest better then the smells of the base. I just sat there for a while observing the insects do their things. A few minutes later I heard some rustling and noticed it was Aimi and Akio coming into the forest opening. I waved to them without turning around.
"Hi Aimi and Akio." I said as I continued gazing
"How'd you know?" They both asked
"Used to being around both of you." I replied smiling as I turned a bit so I could see them as I had some sort of insect on my finger.
"Need anything?" I asked as I turned back around and patted the ground next to me. They both looked at each other then continued walking over to me and sat down on both sides of me.
"It's about Akane." Aimi paused for a few moments
"and Amarante." I added as Aimi nodded
"I already know. Amarante is my actual lover and Akane is in love with me." I stated as Aimi gave me a taken back look then recomposed herself
"Why haven't you said anything to Akane instead of remain silent." Aimi asked
"In hopes she would find somebody else as I haven't shown any interest since I've known and I don't like hurting people." I stated
"You realize if you don't say anything a fight may break out as Akane is a fiery girl." Aimi stated
"Yes I know. I'm sure Amarante is as well. So I suppose I should go talk to them now." I replied as Aimi nodded. I was surprised Akio stayed silent the entire time. We all got up as Akio patted me on the back. We began heading out of the forest as a horrendous feeling came over me and it was pulling me towards the base.
"I'll see you all there." I said in a worried voice as I took off in full force back to the base. I made it back to base in half the time it normally took. When I got onto the base I could see a few people in the distance. I could tell one of them was Amarante and the other was Akane. As I approached I could hear insults being said to Amarante from Akane. This fight was about me from our the conversation sounded. Alucard also had to surface just then and notice his mate was in trouble he quickly took over and then a very strong speed boost happened as I was across the base and up in Akane's face in moments. Alucard grabbed Akane's hand that held the knife, twisted it then flung her as she landed a few feet from him. Everyone looked at Alucard and my friends knew exactly what was going on. Aimi and Akio finally caught up and noticed how different I looked and how I acted.
"Alucard things are fine, calm down." Holland requested
"What happened." Alucard demanded in a very lethal voice
"It was a fight over you. Akane didn't like the fact that I'm your lover and thought she could do much better among other things as well." Amarante stated
"Listen well, Shawn may have forgotten Amarante due to his deal with Gonzy but I never have. Shawn will be with Amarante as she is the only one that can understand and help Shawn. Akane you cannot understand and cannot help Shawn. Do not get in their way again and bring out a knife against my mate again, I will take your life." Alucard stated as then the colors in my wings went back to their normal and I began reverting back to my normal self. The moment the change was complete I collapsed on the ground but before I passed out I noticed Akane getting up and running the other way as everybody was focused on me then all I could see was black. In my dreams many memories of Amarante began coming back to me while the other memories of my friends all came back to me. 'Shawn this may hurt a bit.' a voice said in my dream as I gripped my head in my dream as many memories flooded in while what was happening outside of my dream was a bright light filled the room that came from my body. After a few minutes the light slowly faded and I now had tons of people next to me. I slowly opened my eyes due to all the noise.
"You're all noisy." I said rubbing my eyes while everyone laughed a bit
"How do you feel?" One of the nurses asked
"Minor headache but otherwise fine." I replied
"Here, drink this, it'll help." The nurse said as she handed me a cup of water and some pills after taking the pills the nurses did some other checks on me then left the room.
"So do you recall anything Shawn?" Holland asked
"A lot more than I did before I passed out." I smiled at Amarante which took them all a few seconds to understand what I meant then Amarante got it as she tackled me and kissed me full force. That's when everybody else knew what I meant. After a few seconds Amarante retracted with slight red on her cheeks.
"So how much do you remember?" Mischa asked
"Everything." I replied , 'Thanks Alucard.' I said in my head but never got an answer
"Let us do a few more tests and have you stay down for another day." Mischa said as they began doing more tests while everybody but Amarante left.
"You aren't hurt are you?" I asked
It took Amarante a moment to realize just exactly what I was talking about then it hit her. "Oh, the fight? Yes I'm fine, I've learned how to take care of myself really well." She replied
"Ah, good to hear, not such a damsel in distress anymore." I joked winking at her which earned a smack on my arm and a laugh from me.
"That's the Shawn I know and love." She said
"Yep my good smart ass self." I joked, laughing a bit. "Well it's nice having all my memories back. Next I'll need to end this war sooner than later." I stated
Amarante just nodded agreeing with me. "So how's the old gal doing?" I asked earning a curious look from Amarante. "Michiko." I clarified
"Oh! She's doing great. You'll have to come visit the town once all this is over with." Amarante stated as I nodded
"Did Renton make his house bigger to fit the bigger family in there?" I asked
"Yeah, we all helped do to some remodeling of the place. It's a lot bigger. You're quite famous in that town too." Amarante stated
"Probably get bombarded the moment I arrive in town. People and Heros." I joked while I smiled a tad
Mischa took a blood sample which surprised me greatly earning a small yelp the moment the needle poked my skin. She took the blood quickly then bandaged up the hole.
"Little warning next time Mischa." I said
"Baby." Mischa replied
"That hurts!" I replied as I exaggerated it by putting a hand on my heart and making a hurt expression. Earning a giggle from Amarante while Mischa just shook her head.
"Same old Shawn." Mischa replied smiling a little bit. "Welcome back." She added
"Well of course! And thanks Mischa. Missed all of you while I was away." I said
"As did we." Mischa said as she went back to her medical machines
The rest of the time was spent just chatting with Amarante some more. Enjoying quite a few good laughs about things she had done and seen on her one year adventure without me.
"So I have an off topic question." I said
"Sure what is it?" She asked
"Why didn't you move on? I appreciate that you stayed single but how'd you know I would come back?" I asked then she got really quiet. As if thinking about her answer carefully.
"It's because I knew you weren't dead. Well to be more specific your soul hadn't moved on and was in Limbo. So I believe, this Gonzy person, you spoke of would bring you back to me." She said
"Ah, just shows we do have a strong connection." I said while smiling brightly causing my wings to react and light up the room a few more hours went by then I decided to sleep for the night. Amarante and I said our farewells as she walked out of the infirmary. Due to the events that happened earlier, Mischa had locked my room tight. I slowly dosed off and fell into my dream land.
Everybody on the base was looking for Akane due to that event. Though nobody could find her as night fell they kept everybody on high alert. If they saw Akane they were to detain her and bring her to the General on base. Some few hours later the door to Shawn's room opened then closed quietly. I felt a small prick as my eyes shot open and I found out I couldn't move and standing next to me was Akane. I couldn't even speak.
"Only I can have you. I will do anything to get rid of Amarante. You won't see me until you least expect it." Akane said as she slowly slid into the shadows and disappeared. She never once came back that night. Slowly I managed to be able to move and then speak again. I hit the button that informs nurses that a patient needs help. Mischa ran to the room and noticed the door was cracked open. She burst into the room, flipping the lights on full and looked around the room after she saw me.
"What is it Shawn?" Mischa asked
"She was here, maybe 4 hours ago. She paralyzed me somehow and said she was going to do anything to get rid of Amarante." I said, Mischa came over quickly checking on me, making sure I was okay.
"She's gone for the time being?" Mischa asked, as I nodded, "Good, I'll inform everybody of what happened and to be on alert. You're free to go now. I'd suggest keeping a weapon on you at all times now." Mischa suggested as I agreed with her.
Mischa exited the room and went to their announcer room and announced to everybody what had happened. I was fully dressed and getting ready to walk out when the Gekko Go crew barged into the room.
"I'm fine." I stated
"Thank god!" Gidget said
"You got some bad luck, dude." Matthieu said
"Shut up Matthieu." Hilda said smacking Matthieu, "We're glad your okay kid." She added
"I should have stayed with you throughout the night." Amarante said a little teary eyed
"It's fine love, it's not your fault. She's after you so there's no need to worry about me." I stated giving her a hug, "Anyways for now we all stay alert. I have a feeling Akane's going to do something stupid and I might end up having to kill her." I said as everyone just nodded.
After that we all walked out and went about our business. The Gekko Go crew did their usual maintenance on the ship. I worked on my LFO with the help of Amarante, Renton, and Eureka. We all just chatted for the rest of the day and taking it easy after the LFO maintenance. During the evening we all sat down in the lounging room of the Coralian's living quarters. Some more friends joined us and we just remained talking till it was time to head to bed. We all waved while Amarante followed me up to my room. We all went to bed as I was enjoying the warmth I missed for over a year now.
AN: There ya go guys. Sorry it took so long been busy with life. See ya in the next chapter!