Ayashi no Yuugi II: Final Sunrise
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply.
Kamui Gaia 07: OMG… It's been over a year since our last update, and so much has changed. I miss you so much, Mitsuki Cosmos!
Mitsuki Cosmos: I miss you too, Kamui Gaia 07!
Kamui Gaia 07: Well… Now that I'm in college and Mitsuki Cosmos is graduating High School, I'm sorry to say that this collab will be ending.
Mitsuki Cosmos: Neither of us wanted to leave this unfinished, so we decided to end it as quickly as possible.
Kamui Gaia 07: As such…
Mitsuki Cosmos: We will be ending the story, though it may not end in the way that it was originally planned.
Kamui Gaia 07: And there you have it. We deeply apologize for the long delay and the bad news.
Mitsuki Cosmos: We are very sorry. In any case, as with all things, this story must end. And so, here is the last chapter.
Dianna waited until she heard the front door open and close before she walked out of the bedroom.
The main room was filled with Fae. Friends. Family. All looking at her with eyes that silently pleaded.
She walked back into the bedroom and shut the door. She stood there for a few minutes, doing nothing, seeing nothing. Then she walked into the dressing room and stared out the window.
A hawk flew low across the meadow, a rabbit in his talons. Falco, bringing meat for the evening meal.
Tears filled Dianna's eyes. She pressed a hand against her mouth to keep from sobbing.
If she left now and the shining road closed, her Clan wouldn't remember that it was really Lyrra's fault. They would blame her.
So she was trapped here. She would live here in the cottage, confined to the boundries of the Old Place, while she watched the families of her Clan come and go to a place she would never see again.
She swallowed the bitterness that welled up inside her. And she wondered, briefly, if this was how the witches had felt when the Fae had gone to Tir Alainn and had left them to anchor the world they had created and never got to see.
---Exerpt from Anne Bishop's "The Pillars of the World"
Chapter 16: The Last Sunrise
There was a timid tap at the cherry wood door. "Admiral?" a quiet voice said nervously.
The quiet feminine voice was enough to rid the scathing hatred running through her veins for a second. Kayla took a deep breath, and another, and another, and willing her breathing to become even, she arranged her features into a calm and pleasant mask.
"Come in, Lunamaria," she called.
The door swung open and a young girl, hardly more than twelve, dressed the green and black uniform of a CSA intern entered the office. She fidgeted, toying with the embroidered cuff of her uniform.
"Lord Fire has sent a message. You are to depart for the Remalna Resort immediately. The Evas that are operational and are synchronized with the pilots are to go as well."
"I see. I was about to give the order to leave anyway. Activate the Alvis system the moment squadron five leaves the Headquarters."
"And the Fenris system, Admiral?"
"Not unless there is no other option. The Siegfried units are also only to be used as a last resort. I'm afraid the Orbital Bases have been using them too often. The enemy is recalibrating their strategy and weapons for long range attacks. They may not have fission shields to counter the particles and render them neutral, but the enemy is not stupid. They won't come into the range of the Units unless they let their guard down, but that won't be easy either. So far, only the Quebec base is untouched, but that's because we're underground with a school on top for the Children of the CSA to take on their secondary education. All the enemy really sees is a school, so they won't attack. Nevertheless, I won't take any chances, not with the lives of the children. See to it that they are protected."
Lunamaria saluted. "Yes Admiral."
Kayla nodded. "Dismissed." Lunamaria saluted again and left.
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July 14, 200 AC; 7:26 PM
The Sylvan Shuttleport, Remalna Resort, Budapest, Hungary
The four CSA Agents stepped wordlessly off the Remalna Resort's Guest shuttle, three automatically assuming a guard formation around the fourth, a woman with amber eyes and black hair with violet highlights, who was dressed in a black velvet strapless gown. Around her neck was a choker of black velvet with a single white stone in the shape of a crystal. Her hands were covered by black silk gloves to her elbow, and chandelier earrings of white stone and sterling silver hung from her ears. Her skin was pale, and her crimson lips were full and sensual.
"Remember your place… If WITCH is there, PACK will undoubtedly be nearby. Mark your territory, and keep your collars on, and do not under any circumstances, take your collar off. If you do, the repercussions will see to it that you never disregard my instructions ever again. You belong to Stella, only to be shared with Terra or Death, do you understand?" Kayla said calmly.
"Yes Madam!" the three agents snapped salutes and Kayla smiled.
"Good… Let's go!"
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July 14, 200 AC; 9:23 PM
Suite 10, 24 Floor, East Tower, Remalna Resort, Budapest, Hungry
Shinn sat on his bed in his hotel room, his head in his hands, the only light in the room coming from the laptop's blue screen.
Nothing had gone according to plan. He had shown too much of his true nature in a fit of carelessness, had allowed himself to enjoy his victim's pain far too much, forgetting where he was, and who was watching. The talk with the pilots had not gone well, and the five had all come to a unanimous agreement that after this mission, the Gundam Pilots would part ways.
What had hurt more, however, had been Quatre requesting on the behalf of the others that he not be the one to collect their souls at their deaths.
""Immortals pledge themselves once and only once, and to the one whom they have pledged themselves, they can refuse nothing,"" he whispered, ""And if the pledge is between mortal and immortal, the immortal will suffer the loneliness of a pledge broken when the mortal dies, for they shall be eternally sundered, and while the mortal may forget, the immortal shall never forget, and no power, white, black, or grey may change it." Why? Why did I ever choose this course, knowing full well what would happen?"
"Because it was meant to happen," a cool, ringing voice said.
Shinn looked up, and his eyes widened to see a woman clad in a burgundy gown with pale skin and eyes with neither pupil nor iris nor whites, and were simply pits of swirling blackness.
"Atropos," Shinn breathed, "The Sister who cuts the Thread of Life."
"However," the Fate said, "This event, this test of faith in the Lord of Death, it was not ordained." Bottomless dark eyes narrowed, "Time and time again, Chaos causes more problems than is necessary, and time and time again, the Gods must make sacrifices to prevent Chaos' over enthusiasm for his work from spreading to destroy all that we watch over. Athena and the Muses gave up Greece, and Aries gave up Rome. Apollo gave up the Mayans, and Hephaestus gave up the Aztecs, and Artemis gave up the Inca. Poseidon gave up Atlantis, and Chaos' brothers and sisters, the Titans gave up their power to their nieces and nephews. Time and time again, the divinity has surrendered their pride and joy to destruction to prevent chaos and discord from spreading."
"You have come to tell me that it is my turn," Shinn said sadly.
"Yours and Gaia's and Cosmos' turn, yes. My sisters are speaking to them even now."
"What does the Green Lady, the First Child and the Son of Death have; which could be offered to Chaos to stop this?" Shinn said bitterly, "Gaia has only the Earth which she rules; Cosmos the existence of the stars she loves so much, and the only thing most precious to me has already been lost."
Atropos looked sympathetic, "Yes, by taking this mission, instinctively, the first sacrifice has been given, and you sacrificed your friendship with the Gundam Pilots, and the love you have pledged to Quatre Raberba Winner. As such, the colonies on which you were reborn as a mortal will continue to fight, and shall be spared. Chaos can hold no dominion there, not so long as the Lord of Death fights for them still. The earth is split between Gaia and Cosmos, and so they must decide also. It will not be long now, and then we shall see what will fall under Chaos' power…"
Shinn's eyes widened and a heartbroken wail left his lips as he tore at his hair.
"The Fates too, have surrendered something precious to Chaos, did you know?" Atropos told Shinn, "We surrendered our powers, and our ability to be approached freely. We surrendered our names, so everywhere you go, there is some frivolous use of our names, and when all other immortals are given their rest, and fade from existence, the Fates will exist still, suffering the loneliness of true eternity, for always, there will be someone who will curse or bless fate for some sudden windfall of good or ill that befalls them, and we shall still exist after all other things are gone."
"Thus too is the Fate of Death," Shinn said in a broken voice, "for always, there shall be the end of some life, and unless there comes an end to all things, that know death and can name it, Death will exist."
"You have three choices now," Atropos said, "Destroy this resort, and unleash the virus being created. At this time, there is no cure, and by the time anyone realizes the illness being circulated, those who have fled, will have brought it to the colonies, and it will destroy the base with which Chaos works, and at the same time, it will save the other Gods this choice in the later future. Or you can withdraw, and leave Cosmos and Gaia to their choice, and let things run its course, and direct it from the position you hold. Or you could destroy everything, and allow Gaia and Cosmos to recreate everything anew."
"I have sacrificed my pledge," Shinn said, "I will not sacrifice his life!"
Atropos nodded, "Then let the Gundam Pilots 01, 03, 04, and 05 be the Ark which shall carry humankind to a new and brighter future."
Shinn blinked. "What?"
"Gaia has surrendered the Sanq Kingdom, which had been established with her blessing, and Cosmos has surrendered the CSA," Atropos said, "Relena Dorlain Peacecraft and Milliardo Peacecraft will die, and with them will fall the Sanq Kingdom. Those who wear the CSA's red uniform, down to the last Academy student will die, fallen to the Nautilus, but the Nautilus will fall with the deaths of the mortal forms of Shinigami, Cosmos, and Gaia."
Shinn closed his eyes. "So it is willed," he said, "so mote it be."
When he opened his eyes again, Atropos was gone.
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July 15, 200 AC; 9:23 PM
Remalna Resort, Budapest, Hungry
It was a pale faced Alexa Morse and Shinn Asuka who arrived in the foyer of the Remalna Resort to meet a tired but elegant looking Kayla Mitsuki, surrounded by the ICA under her command. Zechs and Noin joined them in one of the dining rooms, followed shortly by the Gundam Pilots, and it was simple for even those without empathy to see the listlessness in the eyes of the three immortals.
None of them knew that the immortals had sealed the fates of thousands of people, condemning them all to death for the sake of the world they loved. Fewer still knew that any hope that may have been had was lost.
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July 17, 200 AC; 12:23 AM
Remalna Resort, Budapest, Hungry
Quatre wasn't quite sure what had happened. All he knew was that one moment, he had been watching Duo fight off a large group of soldiers in the underground lab under the Remalna Resort, the next was that Zechs and Noin were dead, the five other CSA ICA agents that had accompanied Admiral Kayla and Alexa to the resort were dead also, and that the Gundam Pilots were outside, watching as the Resort went up in a single massive explosion, killing not only the enemy, but also the civilians who were inside the resort. There were no signs of the three remaining ICA Admirals, though Trowa mentioned seeing two aircrafts taking into the air just before the explosion.
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It was pandemonium in the CSA Headquarters. Seven of the ICA were dead, the remaining three in critical condition, and fading fast. The Nautilus was advancing, and those with the gift of the Sight were reporting shadows falling over the emblem of the Cosmos Star Agency.
Their sister organization, Preventors was working to send aid to the CSA, and even Lady Une mourned the loss of some of her best agents.
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Chaos.
It was the only word that would describe what was happening.
Reports were pouring in from every inch of the system, and Lady Une was surprised to discover how quickly the CSA was failing. She was even more surprised to discover how much information the CSA had gathered and preserved and had willed into the keeping of the Preventors.
Nevertheless, for every CSA base that fell, two Nautilus bases fell with them, and as Preventors sifted through the information sent to them as their Sister Organization's bases fell, they could not help but be amazed by how much they had been ignorant of, and how well the CSA had covered their tracks.
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July 15, 200 AC; 9:23 PM
CSA Sanq Kingdom Headquarters
There was a large ball of flames on the monitor. A giant ball of flames obliterating everything it could reach, and anything that got in its way; that was all that remained of the massive fortress that had been the Quebec Base, the Main Headquarters of the Cosmos Star Agency. And there was nothing left, although the EVA Units and the research had been sent to Preventors to preserve them, the Sanq Headquarters was the last CSA Base of Operations left standing.
"How could such a thing have been allowed to happen?" the Dean Yumi of the former CSA Spica Training Academy said.
"Years of hard work, all gone, simply for no apparent reason at all," the Admiral Alexa Morse of the Battleship Goldstreak agreed sadly. "We are the last outpost, and the Nautilus grows stronger by the day."
Another monitor blipped to show three Gundams taking into the air.
"Wha-" Dean Yumi said, "That's--"
"The Admirals!" Admiral Morse gasped, "What do they think they're doing!" she turned and called, "Open the frequency for the ICA! Get in contact with the three Admirals!"
"Admiral!" the communications operator called, "The frequency has been encoded and the Admirals aren't answering!"
Twenty minutes later the Sanq Kingdom disappeared in a massive fireball.
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July 16, 200 AC; 9:23 AM
Former CSA Base, Paris, France
"Everything has been destroyed…" Trowa murmured as they wandered through the wreckage.
"I wonder if Duo survived…" Relena murmured.
"Don't worry about him," Heero said, "02 is good at staying alive."
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July 16, 200 AC; 9:23 AM
Immortal's Manor, Lestrange Point 7
"What are we going to do now?" Alexa asked as she sipped her coffee.
Kayla sighed and silently stirred some cream into her coffee. She set the spoon down on the saucer and said, "We wait, I suppose."
"No," Shinn said, "I found the last Nautilus Base. What we are going to do is destroy it, and the leader, who will be attending a meeting there. Relena will be there also, trying to put out a peace treaty with the Nautilus. Once the last Peacecraft is dead, the conditions of the contract with Fate will be fulfilled, and Chaos will no longer spread his taint over the world, and we three can depart."
The other two immortals looked at their comrade in faint worry.
"Are you sure you're alright, Shinn?" Kayla asked.
"I'm fine," he said curtly.
Alexa sighed, "Well then, if we're going to do this, we may as well do things right. Shall we prepare?"
Kayla nodded and finished off her coffee and set the cup and saucer on the table and stood up. "That's a good idea."
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July 26, 200 AC; 6:66 PM
Preventers Headquarters, Lancaster, England
Heero, Trowa, Quatre and Wufei stared in shock at Lady Une.
"You're joking..." Quatre said, "The entirety of the CSA couldn't have fallen, and the Sanq Kingdom is simply damaged and restricting communications, right? They couldn't have fallen!"
"Admiral Shinn Asuka's last transmission detailed the destruction of the last Nautilaus base," Lady Une said, her face grave, "It's informal as everything was transmitted as it happened. The end of the transmission came with the activation of the self destruct mechanism in the CSA Gundams. We've sent several teams out, and the reports stat that none of the Admirals survived."
July 26,200 AC; 8:10 PM
Preventers Headquarters, Lancaster, England
Quatre R. Winner's Office
Quatre stared blankly screen of his computer. His eyes took in the words, but his mind didn't process them. Finally, Quatre turned his eyes toward the photograph on his desk. It had been a picture of happier times, before the Remalna Mission, when the pilots were still close, and still trusted each other, before Duo became Shinn, and before Shinn became something fearsome.
His computer blipped.
The blonde stared at the window that had opened.
"You have one new message."
Quatre clicked the icon and to his surprise, a window opened and Duo's face appeared. The braided pilot's eyes were dark, and his hair was messy. There was a thin line of blood that ran down his chin from the corner of his lips.
"Hey, Quatre."
The message smiled.
"After what happened after the Remalna Resort, you probably didn't expect to see anything like this. I've arranged for this message to be sent after lady Une has broken the news to the rest of you. By this point, the Sanq Kingdom Base is the last CSA Outpost as I record this, and the rest of us are dying like flies. The legacy of the CSA is now left to the Preventors' keeping. I'm recording this message now to say goodbye. Cosmos, Gaia and I will be sacrificing our greatest works in this mortal existance to head off Chaos and preserve this planet. It's true what they say, the lights that burn shortest always burn brightest, and humans have always burned shortest yet brightest to the Immortals. That's why we had a rule in place that forbade us from loving humans you know. If we don't say it out loud, eventually, we will forget the human, and the contract is never finalized. I give up my love for you and the others, my friendships to spare the preventors. Gaia gave up her greatest acheivement to date, the Sanq Kingdom, and Cosmos surrendered her precious CSA. All these things are fallen to Chaos, and as a result, Earth and her colonies exist yet. Pilot 04, lead Pilots 01, 03, and 05, and become the Ark that will guide humankind to a new and greater destiny. In the end, despite it all, Quatre, I do love you. Live well."
The screen went dark and two words flashed.
"Transmission Ended."
Quatre's eyes widened and tears poured down his face.
"Duo..." he whispered.
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The Divine Realms
Death Administrative Office
Shinigami stared at the mess that was his inbox.
"Well," he sighed as he picked up his pen, "I had been expecting this..."
Universal Adimistration Office
Cosmos sighed as she laboriously slogged through the paperwork.
"Seven years, and my office turns into a fire hazard," she sighed. "Why the hell did I agree to this again?"
Gaian Administrative Office
Gaia glared at the papers, and willed them to burst into flames. Nothing happened, and she pouted, and turned to the Green Lady, who was responsible for the forests.
"But I don't wanna!"
"Lady Gaia," the Green Lady sighed, "This is your responsibility. We've already cut back the amount of paperwork that would reach your office as much as possible. What is left requires your signiture."
"But it's going to eat me!"
"Nonsence!"
Existance Regulations Bureau
Kami's Office
the glowing ball of benevolence pulsed with amusement as the papers in front of it glowed and vanished, each one with the number 72 stamped on the signiture line.
Kamui Gaia 07: We got lazy... XD
Mitsuki Cosmos: Yep its over, kaput, byebye!
Kamui Gaia 07 and Mitsuki Cosmos: Don't bother looking for the sequel 'cause we're not writing one. Bwhahahahaaha!!!! XD
Edit: 10/08/2007
Kamui Gaia 07: Er... (sheepish look) Yeah... I got slapped over the head by my muse... (Dashes back to math homework)