AN: heheh... I had most of this chapter written until school ate up most of time and then I joined a mmorpg called Dream Of Mirror Online (DOMO) so I nearly forgot all about this story... ''orz
Also this story looks much more readable and cleaner on Word. ;w;
Warning:
Violence
I gripped the back of chair tightly and felt vomit rising in my throat. I covered my mouth and felt my whole body convulse in pain. I gasped for air rand uncovered my mouth. My eyes wandered to my hand. Despair started to eat me away as I slowly slid on to the floor. My life is coming to an end. If I keep this up, I will surely die, but if I die, then there's no hope for humanity. I gazed at the dark liquid of stress in my hand and grudgingly wiped it on the floor.
This is not supposed to happen. My hand wandered up to my hair and I yanked it out of stress. This is not supposed to happen!
"Weeeeeeeee!" Lucina screamed as she slid down the chute. "oof." She landed on Ike's sleeping body. She chuckled a bit, still thrilled from the sliding down the chute. She poked Ike's sleeping form, "Aiku! Wakey-wakey!"
She heard Toony's screaming and quickly got off of Ike. Soon after, Toony landed on Ike, tears streaming down his face. He jumped off of Ike and tried climbing the chute to no avavil. "Link! Liiiinnnkk!" he cried out.
He continued to cry and slid down towards the ground, lying defeated. He stayed like that for a while. Lucina looked at him, confused at first. Wasn't Link going to come with them? After a few minutes, she realized he wasn't and Toony quieted down to sobs. She walked over to Toony and sat down next to him. She's gone through this before...
She looked at Link with a sad smile, "Toony..." her voice came out a bit shaky. Toony didn't face her, he had his knees pulled up to his chest and his head buried into his arms. Lucina placed a hand on his shoulder. "Toony... Link be okay... It be some time that you talk to him, but its okay..." Lucina wrapped her arms around Toony.
Toony flinched from the embrace, but slowly relaxed. He sniffled uncontrollably, "Y-you t-think s-so?"
Lucina nodded, "He would want you to keep on smiling, Toony." Lucina let go of him and placed her fingers near the corners of her mouth. "So smile!" she gave a warm, bright smile.
Toony gazed up at her, sadly. He didn't smile nor frown. Lucina shook her head, "No, not liek dat silly!" she pulled the corners of Toony's mouth upward, "Like this!" she grinned.
Toony's face went red. He gave him very distraught smile, hoping Lucina would let go of his face. Lucina grinned and giggled a bit, "That's good for now." then she started looking around. "Where are we?"
Toony looked around the dim lit room. In the shade of darkness, he could make out hampers full of clothing, dirty ones and clean ones. "The laundry room?" Toony answered. Lucina got up and looked at the clean clothing. "Ooh, I found a pretty dress!" she pulled out a white, spaghetti strap dress from the clothes.
She proceeded to put it on. Toony's face flushed and turned his head around. "I-if you were g-gonna change infront me, g-give me a heads up first!" Toony shouted, obviously flustered.
"Oh yea, I forgot you are a boy. Aiku gets mad when I put clothes in front of him." Lucina giggled.
"..." Toony didn't know whether or not to be offended. Before he could say anything, Lucina interrupted him. "Oki! How I look?"
Toony turned back around and didn't look quite impressed. "eh... You look okay." Lucina made a pouty face. Toony giggled a bit which made Lucina a bit happier.
"Toony, I found clothes fer you too!" Lucina handed him a shirt, shorts, and underwear.
Toony shrugged, "uh... okay... Turn around."
"Oki dokey, Mr. Shy Pokey!" she spun on her heel and faced the hampers.
Toony sighed and put on the clothing. To his surprise, it was actually felt nice on his skin. He rolled up the long sleeve shirt and put on his shorts. "Okay, I'm finished." Toony turned around.
Lucina smiled and did a thumbs up, "Noice!" she then brought another pair of white clothing, this time it was more larger than them. "Now it's Aiku's turn!"
Toony felt a cold beads run down the side of his face. "Here, I'll do it. You can go and look for a way out of here."
"Okay!" she chimed and slinked herself into the darkness. Toony sighed and proceed to dress Ike.
Lucina imagined herself as a secret agent and sneaked behind the hampers, despite the fact her dress was so white and flowy. She put her back against a hamper and looked left and right. She took in a deep breath in and then jumped out. "Bang! Bang!" she shouted. Her eyes widened in surprise.
"There! Now all you gotta do is wake up, Ike." Toony sighed. It was hard trying to change the older boy because he was heavy and twice his size, but Toony managed to do it and he felt a bit accomplished.
"Toony!" Lucina came running from behind the hampers. Toony jumped and looked at her. "Toony!" she jumped on him, nearly toppling them over.
"Wha!?" Toony asked confused and startled.
Lucina then pointed her finger towards the hamper. "I found somebody else!" There was no movement. Lucina paused and ran towards the hamper. "Hey, its a'ight. We is nice people, nothing to worry about."
Lucina soon came out from behind the hamper, holding hands with a blonde. The blonde was looking down and their hair was extremely unkempt and shaggy and right at the base of their neck. They wore a large, raggedy shirt and had cuts and bruises laced up and down their arms and legs. Toony assumed they were a girl due to their frail appearance.
Lucina smiled gently at them, "Dun worry, Toony's nice and Aiku is asleep."
The blonde tilted her head up, revealing large blue orbs. Toony was stun. Never had he seen anyone with those eyes before. They reflected her inner turmoil, pain and loneliness; a gaze without a future to look forward to. Lucina looked up at Toony. "Toony, this is... uh..." Lucina looked at the blonde again, "What's your name?"
The blonde didn't reply and keep her gaze locked on the ground. "hm... I think we should name you." she bit her lip in thought, "uh... I like the name... Fizzle Fuzzle Pants!.. but you're not exactly wearing pants..."
Toony sweat dropped. What were they getting this poor child into?
"Sh..." The blonde whispered quietly.
"hm?..." Lucina watched the child intently.
"sh.. Sh... ul...ku" the child's voice was hoarse and raspy.
Lucina looked up at the hidden ceiling, "Sh...ul...ku?... Sh...uoolk?... Shoolku!" Lucina said excitedly.
The blonde shook her head.
"Shulk?" Toony guessed.
Shulk nodded and looked at Ike. Lucina smiled, "Oh and that's Aiku!"
"Which is pronounced, Ike." Toony gave a sheepish grin.
Shulk nodded and walked over to Ike. She poked his face and frowned. Lucina looked at Toony. "I found light over there." she pointed across the room, "I think its where we leave, but Aiku needs to wake up though."
"Yeah..." Toony frowned. If Link were here...
Lucina tilted her head in confusion. "What's up, Shulk?"
Toony turned to look at the frail child who was trembling with fear. She looked around frantically and started to drag Ike by his arm, but couldn't move him. Lucina decided to help and Toony soon came after. "What are we doing this for?" Toony asked, but Shulk didn't answer back.
She stopped suddenly and then hid behind the hamper. Toony and Lucina looked confused at first. Then they heard someone coming and hid with Shulk. Shulk trembled again and pushed Ike under the hamper and ran hid under the hamper next to it. She motioned them to do the the same thing. Lucina and Toony looked unsure, but did anyways.
Footsteps came their way and they all immediately shut their mouths and held still. The footsteps were right in front of them, black slacks. They stopped suddenly and then kept walking on. "I think they left this premise already." a man said, "It's all clear to get back to work!"
With that, the man left and everything was still and quiet again. Lucina popped her head out first and scrambled out from under the hamper. Toony followed along with Shulk. "How'd you know that man was coming?" Toony asked.
Shulk didn't reply which made Toony pout. Lucina brought Ike's sleeping body from under the hamper and started shaking him. "Aiku! Aiku! Wakey, wakey, eggs and steaky!" she shouted.
Ike looked around the meadow of white roses. He narrowed his eyes and looked at the monochrome sky. Where was he? He looked at his hands and clothes and they matched matched this black and white landscape. "What the h-?"
"Aiku." Ike turned around and saw the same boy from earlier. He too was in black and white, but his light blue scarf still retained its color. He stood next to a black tree on top of a the hill. Ike's eyes lit up and he smiled. "Marth..."
Marth nodded in return and opened his arms wide. A White flash appeared from behind him and the two were floating in a black and white checkered room. Marth suddenly disappeared and Ike looked around frantically."Marth!? Where are you!?" he called out.
He felt arms wrap around from behind him along with a familiar soothing scent. "Aiku... I hate to be the bearer of bad news... Please don't hate me..." his voice came out as a whisper. The weight suddenly vanished as it came. Ike looked behind him, expecting Marth, but met nothing but black and white tiles.
He turned back around and met with Marth's sorrowful, blue eyes. Ike jumped back a bit. Marth gave a sad smile and turned his head, as if lost in thought. Ike looked at him and then to the direction where the other was looking at. In a large frame stood Lucina's poorly drawing of them in a happier place. Marth sighed and covered his mouth with his cyan scarf, the only thing that still retained its color.
"Aiku, those days back then were all great and I'm glad to have met you and have Lucina as a little sister, however, now matter how hard I try, it can never be the same again. Those old days are dead and gone..." he paused briefly, "... I can feel my existence slowly fading away... I won't be able to live this much more without getting corrupted..." Marth closed his eyes, "I'm an artificial angel, created by the Miracle Facility. That's what became of me and at this rate, I will die soon as one."
"..." Ike's eyes were covered by his messy hair.
"..." Marth sighed and looked up, "The power I've received is unstable. In the Facility, I was given 'candies' to cap this energy, but since I escaped, I ran out of those 'candies' and my body is slowly withering away..." a sad smile appeared on his angelic face, "I'm really sorry for abandoning you and Lucina. If you were to get close to my physical body back then... I would never forgive myself... But now my body has grown weak and frail and I sense the end is near... This maybe the last time I will be able to talk to you like this and I am truly sorry, Aiku..." tears threatened to break his serene face. "I just wanted it to be like back then..." his face finally broke.
"...You're the same as ever, crybaby." Marth jumped a bit when he felt Ike's crushing grip on his hand. "Even if you have all this power and act like an adult, you're still just a child." Ike stared into Marth's eyes, "You're not going to die. Not on us! We will find you Marth and it will be like the old days. Hold onto life a little longer and don't give into all that power and corruption crap!"
Marth's eyes widen as if he were struck down by a train. His gaze then softened. "You idiot... You're still too young to understand this situation I'm in... Ike." his voice darkened and returned the glare, "If you really wish to save me, you would have to sacrifice your whole being. You will be wiped away from history, as if you were never there. All those laughs, those good times, friends, family, they will never know that you ever existed. You wouldn't even become a mere memory. You would turn into nothing... Do you really want to do this for somebody who is more worthless than trash right now?"
Ike sniffed, "What fool do you take me for? You're just trying to scare me away from a decision like old times."
Marth grinned bitterly, "You caught me there, but the price is still as bad. In order for me to live long enough, I would have to transfer my corruption into your body. This means you can never be saved and the threat of losing your mind in the facility and possibly hurting everyone around and yourself is greater..."
Ike thought for a moment, "Well, if it can keep us close and you alive, then I'll allow it. That's what a friend for is right? To help a friend in need, no matter what the price is."
Marth had tears in his eyes. "Aiku... No..." he fell to his knees, "Please, I highly advise you just to let me die! I don't want you to get hurt! I don't want Lucina hurt either! Please, just let me die!"
Ike crouched down and put his hand on Marth's shoulder for support. He grinned, "I know what I'm getting into, crybaby, I'm much more stronger than you anyways. I'll be able to handle it."
Marth looked up at him, pain and sorrow washed over his eyes. Ike assisted him up and his head hung low.
Their surrounding broke down into cubes, falling apart to show a colorful world full of hope. The color came back to the multicolored meadow and the large tree standing alone on the hill. Marth looked up from the white flowers beneath him, he was smiling while also crying. "I guess I should stop trying to stop you from helping the weak, I guess." his cyan scarf caught the wind, "Even though I should never told you of the other option." Pure white feathers slowly floated around the area, painting the area in feathery snow. "I guess I still am the same." he gave a bittersweet smile, "I will have more faith in you from now on. I will try to find another way so you won't suffer this burden for long. I really don't want to say it because of this situation, but thank you." he closed his eyes and wings sprouted from his back.
He embraced Ike and wrapped him into his wings. "I will only give you a little bit of the corruption. I'm afraid you would lose your sanity if you took it in all at once." Marth smoothed down Ike's hair. He closed his eyes and proceeded to infect Ike with the disease. Ike gritted his teeth as the electric sensation zapped through his veins all the way to his heart. It stung, but he didn't want to seem weak and shut his mouth tightly.
Marth opened his wings and Ike's body began to drift away from his grasp. Marth reached out for him, but smiled bitterly once he realized what he had done. The sun flashed the white feathers, blinding the whole area. Ike, feeling weak, began to fade away in the dazzling light. "Protect Lucina and the Seer!" he heard Marth's voice in the waning darkness.
Ike woke up to Lucina shaking him vigorously. While trying to sit up, he bumped his head. He winced in pain and slowly sat up. "...Where are we?" he asked.
"The laundry room." Toony answered.
"Aiku! This Shulk! She's my new friend!" Lucina wrapped her arm around a blonde child. The child looked down, her face flushed.
"Welcome aboard, Shulk..." Ike looked around, "Where's Link?"
Immediately, Toony's face darkened and he gazed at the floor. Lucina frowned as well and didn't look directly at Ike. He decided not to ask anymore questions. "Okay then..." Ike checked behind him. "Did any of you find any escape doors in here?"
Lucina raised her hand, "I saw a lit door! I think was front door though."
"hm... If we keep quiet... We could possibly leave, but we will be exposed in the hallway." Ike frowned as he thought for a much better plan. Lucina felt Shulk poking at her arm. She looked back at the blonde, but the blonde pulled her down a bit to whisper something in her ear. Lucina smiled and piped up, "Aiku! There's another out! Shulk says there'sa vent we can crawl through to hide from Angels!"
"Really? Where?" Ike asked suspiciously.
"Its um..." she looked around a bit before pointing her finger, "There!" Her finger pointed to her left. Ike looked at Shulk quizzically, but shrugged. here's no better option. Shulk held onto Lucina's wrist and tugged on it bit so they could start moving. They all followed the child and eventually reached a dead end.
Shulk pointed at the old hamper in front of them. Lucina looked up at Ike. "The vent is behind here." Lucina said. Ike nodded and placed his hands on the hamper. To his disgust, it was all gritty and nasty and stunk terribly. He started to push the hamper out of the way with some difficulty due to he rusty wheels and its tremendous weight. Once the vent came into sight, Ike looked up at the giant hamper, wondering why it weighed so much for clothes.
In the dim lighting, he could make out a brown color on the sheets. They were all piled up and folded strangely as if there was something in there. He was tempted to look under the sheets to see what it was, but Lucina poked him out of his thoughts. "Aiku! Come on! We're leaving!"
Shulk had already climbed in and Toony was debating whether he should follow or not. Lucina placed a reassuring hand on Toony's shoulder. Toony looked back at her and she simply gave him a reassuring smile back. He quickly turned his red face away and climbed inside. Lucina looked back at Ike. "Let'sa go!" She climbed in. Ike climbed in after her.
The vent was dark and suffocating. The farther they go in, the narrower it gets. Ike was starting to get claustrophobic as he began to crawl with his elbows. Even that movement was slow and limited. He closed his eyes to hide away from the darkness and pushed on in the dust filled tube. He opened his eyes and could see light in the distance. "You're almost there, Aiku!" he heard Lucina.
He gasped for breath, hs lungs filling with dust particles. The vent walls were closing in on him, trying to hold him back, wanting him to stay there forever. The cold of the vent made his bones feel icy cold. His elbows went numb and his whole body shivered. He couldn't turn back now. He didn't even know if he was getting closer to the exit. He made one last feeble attempt and reached for the light.
He took in a deep breath of air and let it out. His arms were dangling from the vent. Lucina and Toony grabbed his arms and helped pulled him out from the vent. He nearly landed on his face if Toony didn't catch him in time. Soon enough, his whole body became free from the vent.
"We're here!" Lucina chimed.
"Where?" Ike asked.
"Shulk's room." Toony answered looking around hesitantly.
The room was a mess. Boxes with their rotten contents spilled on the floor lay scattered across the room, over hanging live wires cluttered the ceiling, and barrels with a strange symbol were piled on top of each other, hazardously. Shulk walked over to the only spotless thing in the room. Wires connected to the base of the strange capsule like bed. Shulk moved the glass screen and reached in their for something.
Ike cautiously led Lucina and Toony to the strange machine and told them to wait there. He ducked his head from the overhanging wires and was careful not to touch the ooze running from the strange trash. He managed to find a pathway clear of gunk and proceeded following it. "Aiku!" he heard Lucina call after him.
"Don't follow me!" Ike shouted back. He was close to the end. Just a little more, he was right there at the wall. A cold shiver suddenly went up his spine. His whole body froze as he felt death brush his lips with his bony fingers. His heart raced a million miles across the world and the most nagging question on his mind was why? Where did all this fear come from? Why did he get so cold all of a sudden. With the energy he could muster, he turned around.
Shulk looked into his eyes, her empty, blue fish eyes staring wildly from under her blonde matted hair. If Ike didn't know any better, he could of easily mistaken her as a murdered victim, betrayed by someone they once knew.
She blinked and her eyes somehow darkened. Shulk lowered her head, the blonde tangles following her eyes. Ike noticed she had something in her hands. It looked like a book. "Shulk, what do you have there?" Ike asked.
Shulk trembled and reached out a shaky hand to grab Ike's wrist. Ike watched her suspiciously as she led him back to the capsule. Lucina smiled when they finally got back. "Aiku! We wait for you! Shulk has a story for you to read out-loud!"
Toony nodded, "Can you read big words? I think it has some."
Lucina looked surprised, "Wait, you read it before!?"
Toony smiled sheepishly, "N-no... The book looks like it would have lots of big words..."
Lucina nodded in agreement, "Yeah, your right." she looked up at Ike, "Dun worry if you cant read big words, Aiku! We cant read them too!"
Shulk gave the book to Ike who examined it. It was an aged, hardcover book with the covers both brown and scratched to the point you couldn't read the words anymore. He flipped open to the ancient, yellow page with strange stains on them. As he skimmed over the first page, he realized this was a diary of a scientist who recorded all the experiments conducted here. There was a memo on the last page, before he could read it, a large clank signaled that they were not alone.
Shulk gave an inhuman shriek and darted off in the mess. Sounds of metal and shouting people came from over the mess of poisonous waste. They heard Shulk screech again and the sounds of muck getting toppled over. Ike looked around for a place to hide and dragged the children behind a pile of boxes and barrels. He held them close to him, covering their whimpering mouths. Shulks screams grew louder and louder.
Ike took a deep breath and peered behind the boxes, bracing himself for the horrors the Angels will place upon the poor child. Two people rubber astronaut clothing had a pole with a noose around a Shulk's neck, a tool used for controlling wild animals. Shulk struggled to take it off, but the other person held Shulk's hand back. Together, the two strange people picked up Shulk's body, careful not to break her neck, and quickly pinned her down on a metal bed.
Shulk screamed and kicked wildly and soon her hands and feet were cuffed to the metal bed. Her chest heaved up and down, desperately gasping for air. The two people brought out needles and syringes and began to repeatedly stick them in her body. She gritted her teeth in pain, her eyes caught Ike's terrified ones. Her head was forcibly shifted and held by one of the rubber astronauts. The other took out a long needle and placed it on the syringe. With a quick squirt, the needle was pointed at Shulk's eyes which were now forced opened by a rusty eye clamper.
Ike turned his head back and cringed at the earsplitting yowl from the blonde. Lucina and Toony tensed up, tears threatening to spill from Lucina's face. Ike held her closer and shut his eyes in pain. How much more of this torture does the frail child have to endure? Shulk's screaming became even more frantic and exasperated...
AN: Poor Shulk...
I dunno, is it just me that thinks Shulk would look girly as a kid and super macho as an adult? Kinda like Aoba from Dmmd, but without the macho-ness. xD
I'm working on the next chapter as of now, but I won't promise anything about when it will be posted.
Leave a review and a fav~
Until next time-