Chapter Seven –
Cupid's Bullets
It's been exactly six months today since I started to date Albedo. I can't believe we've lasted this long, especially after all that has happened. So much has happened; I don't know where to start.
Well, we'll start with a good note; the Encephalon dives have become much less frequent for me. I don't suppose Robert wishes to use my power for some time. Either because I'm useless, or he's trying to think of a way to use me – I hope it's the second one. I can't stand the thought of being useless. My powers have also become much stronger too; it's pretty cool!
Two months ago there was an accident in the dive Rubedo, Nigredo and Albedo were in. I'm not sure how it happened, but a girl called Sakura was killed by U-DO. Her death has taken a toll on Rubedo – he's distanced himself from the rest of us, which is also annoying Albedo. Doctor Mizrahi was devastated at her daughters' death as well. I never got to know Sakura that well; sometimes I'd see her and smile, and she'd always smile back but we never spoke or said hi. It didn't seem as if she wanted to – the smiles she gave me were small, and she never tried to start conversation.
The fact she was killed by U-DO has frightened me. I go near U-DO constantly, and so do all the U.R.T.V's. Thank God Albedo can't die. He hates the fact he can't and its making him mentally unstable but I know I won't be lonely. I feel so sorry for him though. He's beginning to distance himself, even from me. He just refuses to see people, and on some days he just disappears without a word. Rubedo and Nigredo have woken up with him gone, and then woken up the next day and he's in his bed – refusing to say where he's been.
A bunch of a dozen and a half red roses were suddenly dropped on Sedaytion's gold journal she was writing in. The sudden movement made her jump, and she dropped the black pen on the floor. It rolled to the other side of the room, but she completely forgot about it when she saw Albedo's smiling face. He looked proud, and quite happy; his cheeks painted a rosy pink shade.
"I got you these," he nervously said. He picked the bunch of roses back up, and waited for Sedaytion to stand up properly before putting them in her hands.
The thorns dug into her skin, but didn't pierce it. Sedaytion looked at the beautiful roses, which were wrapped together with a large, silk, red ribbon. They were a little wet in her hands, meaning they had been outside not too long ago. But where had Albedo got them? How did he buy them? Not bothering to even think of the answers, Sedaytion kissed Albedo on the cheek.
"Thank you so much!" she said, feeling herself go pink. "They're beautiful."
Albedo grinned, obviously pleased with himself for making Sedaytion happy. A little tut slipped through her lips.
"I feel terrible," she said, mentally scolding herself. "I didn't get you anything. I didn't know what to get you. I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Albedo assured. "You've made me happy by staying with me for six months." His cheeks turned bright red when he let that sentence out of his mouth. Sedaytion smiled.
"Aww that's sweet," she said, touching his arm.
Sedaytion bit her lip slightly, feeling a little awkward. She liked Albedo, but she was still slightly uncomfortable with their little 'moments' where they would stare into each others eyes, waiting for one to kiss the other properly on the lips. Escaping the eye contact, she took a step to the left and then began to walk foreword to the door quickly.
"I'd better go put these in some water," she said. "I don't want them to die."
Albedo nodded, and she left him alone in her room.
He took a step foreword and stretched his arms above his head. His eyes looked around her room; it was just like it had been when he first went into it, about seven months ago (the day he first lay a hand on her). The walls were a light pink colour, with posters of movies, bands and other random things pasted on the wall. Her bed was against the right wall, and her desk was opposite; against the large window that let her see into the park of the building. The curtains were wide open, letting Albedo look out to the world outside. The sun was dull, and rain was pouring from the skies.
He got closer to her desk, and his purple eyes looked down. On her desk were sheets with half drawn pictures on them, coloured pens were scattered across it making their own unique rainbow, and her gold diary sat happily in the middle of the mess. Then, his eyes caught a photo frame. Inside the silver frame was a picture of Sedaytion with a blonde headed woman. The woman was holding tightly onto Sedaytion, her blue eyes looking down at her. Sedaytion was obviously laughing, and it looked like someone else was in the photo but they had been scribbled out with thick black marker.
"That was dad," Sedaytion said. Her voice made Albedo jump. He nodded and then looked at another photo that was on her desk. It was one of him and her. The picture caused Albedo to laugh with a warm smile. In the photo he had his arm around her shoulders and his other hand was holding onto her hand. They were close, and he was talking to her, and whatever he had said had made her happy; extremely happy; her lips had curled into a smile. They were in the park, and, if he was remembering right, Rubedo had taken the photo.
"I have another one too," Sedaytion said, moving over to the bedside table. She picked up a picture frame with her, Nigredo, Rubedo and Albedo in the photo; all smiling. She showed it to Albedo and a weak smile spread across her face.
"Why do you have so many pictures?" he asked. She ran her fingers through her hair and shrugged.
"I guess they just remind me that we can be normal too," she admitted. "That our lives don't consist of U-DO, simulators and war."
"I wish that was true …" Albedo said, putting the frame down. "We're weapons – we're made for it: that is our life. Our only purpose is to fight." The tone in his voice had changed, showing his mental stability. Sedaytion shook her head, unsure of what to say or do – she wasn't used to Albedo acting … different.
"You're a normal kid," Sedaytion said. "You're not a weapon."
"You haven't learned anything have you?" Albedo snapped. His glowing eyes looked at her. "All we can do is fight. We're just monsters."
"No, your not!" Sedaytion yelled. Albedo laughed.
"You get angry easily; just like Rubedo," he said. "Rubedo's a monster too. But, at least he gets to have death. I have to fight forever; I have to be a monster forever."
"You're not a monster!" Sedaytion yelled.
"Why do you care if I'm one or not?" Albedo asked. "Why do you care if I think I'm one? Why do you care about me so much?"
"Because I love you," Sedaytion yelled. "You're not a weapon, you're not a monster: you're a normal teenaged kid like me but with cool powers. Okay?"
Albedo opened his mouth to speak, but Sedaytion quickly covered it with her own. She squeezed his arm gently as she kissed him. She completely forgot about him calling himself a monster, and began to mentally slap herself for suddenly kissing him – she worried he'd think she was weird or something. But, he kissed her back, and put a hand on her cheek. After a few moments she pulled away from him, and smiled at his smile.
"I love you too," he smiled. Sedaytion let a little laugh leave her lips. He kissed her again, this time passionately.
"Not interrupting am I?" a voice said, laughing. Sedaytion felt her cheeks burn up and they pulled away from each other. He put his hand on her arms, and she saw his cheek turn bright red.
Stood at the doorway with a hand on his hip and the other on his side, was Rubedo. He smirked at Albedo and Sedaytion. "Happy anniversary guys."
"Thanks," Albedo said. He took his hands off Sedaytion, and then held onto her left hand. Sedaytion smiled at Rubedo, her face still burning red.
"Are you okay, Rubedo?" Sedaytion softly asked. He nodded.
"We've got a dive today," he said. "So we'd better go get ready."
"Right," Sedaytion said. She kissed Albedo on the cheek. "Good luck."
"Sedaytion," Rubedo said, scratching his head.
"Yes?"
"You're coming too."
The City was just like it always was: the rain was falling miserably from the sky, and the noise of gunshots and screaming could be heard in the background. It was another bloody massacre she found herself in, and the only reason she was handling it was because of the fact the group leader, the executioner and her protector were at her sides. On her head was a black and silver headset, which she could use if she ever got lost from Rubedo, Nigredo and Albedo. She could also contact the real world with it as well. She walked behind Nigredo and Rubedo; her skinny grey jeans were damp, along with her purple top with grey polka dot sleeves. Her hair had a slight wave to it because of the rain, and her hand was quickly found by Albedo's.
She walked across the large bridge she remembered hiding under months ago. She was trying her best to make sure the sounds of screaming and gunshots couldn't be heard. Her strange eyes stared foreword, and she had a few assuring smiles from Nigredo.
"You okay?" Albedo asked, squeezing her hand. She nodded.
"Fine," she answered.
When they crossed the bridge, Sedaytion saw a purple beam quickly fly past her. Albedo pulled her from its way, warning her not to touch them.
"They'll kill you in a flash," he said gravely. Taking his word, she nodded.
After walking a few minutes in silence, Sedaytion spoke. "What's our goal?"
"To set up a Link for the U-DO waves," Rubedo said. Sedaytion nodded.
Suddenly, Sedaytion caught someone running between the buildings. She caught their tall figure, and long blonde hair flowing behind them in the wind. She froze, and blinked a few times.
"Hey!" she suddenly called, seeing the person disappear between the buildings.
She ripped her hand from Albedo's and began to run off in the direction the person had run in. Rubedo and Nigredo stopped walking when they heard the commotion.
"Sedaytion!" Albedo yelled, chasing after her.
"Albedo, wait up!" Rubedo yelled.
Sedaytion quickly took a swift turn into a dark alley. It wasn't a wise choice and she knew that, but she had to find out who that woman was. The alley was fenced off on its sides with high metal mesh, and it was darker then the rest of the city. Albedo quickly ran down the alley, and caught her hand before she could reach the end.
"What the hell are you doing?" he asked her.
"I saw her," Sedaytion said. "I saw my mother."
Rubedo and Nigredo didn't see the pair of them turn into the alley, and instead continued to run down the street, thinking they had gone down there.
"Albedo we have to go after her!" Sedaytion cried. He shook his head.
"It could be dangerous," he said, with a little hint of fear in his voice.
"Albedo I have this," she said, pointing to her headset. "And this," she made her hand glow a soft yellow colour; a thin bit of electricity shot out of her finger before disappearing in the air.
"And you have your own power," she said, making her hand go back to normal. "We'll be okay. Please."
He paused, and then nodded. "But if anything goes wrong …"
"Nothing will go wrong," she said, starting to walk down the alley.
For ages they searched the city, trying to find her mother but they found no one; they couldn't even find Rubedo or Nigredo, and as time drew on, less and less U.R.T.V's could be heard or seen and the city began to feel isolated and eerie.
Sedaytion held tightly onto Albedo's hand; she could feel his fear, and felt a little bit of fear herself. She gave him an assuring smile.
"Maybe they've started the mental link," she said. He shook his head.
"They can't do it without me," he said; his voice was shaking.
"I'll try and contact them," she said.
She reached up to her headset and pushed a little blue button Rubedo had told her to press if she needed to contact someone. After pressing it, she pulled the microphone down to her mouth, and then returned her arm to her side.
"Rubedo, Nigredo," Sedaytion said. They stopped walking and he watched her. "Guys, we're in the square but we can't find anyone." There was still no answer. She pushed the button a couple of more times, yet there was no answer. "Rubedo."
"Dammit!" she yelled, pushing the microphone back up and out of her way. Albedo stared at her.
"You couldn't get hold of them?" he asked. She shook her head.
"It's probably this bad weather," she said. "Rubedo probably just gave me a crummy headset."
Albedo nodded and they continued to walk the empty street. She wiped some rain water off her face and sighed deeply. "It's depressing with weather like this."
"Yeah I know," Albedo said. He looked at Sedaytion, and watched her for a few minutes. "Did you mean what you said?"
"What? When I said what?" she asked, her pink and gold eyes looked at his purple ones.
"When you said you loved me," Albedo said. "Did you mean it? Even though I'm a monster, you love me?"
"Of course I meant it," she said. "And you're not a monster."
Ignoring the second half of her sentence he nodded. "I meant it too."
Sedaytion smiled widely and then sighed. "I wonder where they are."
"They're okay though, aren't they?" Albedo asked. Sedaytion nodded.
"Of course," she said. "They can look after themselves."
They continued their walk and then Sedaytion heard something in her ear. There was a loud scream, making her jump. Albedo stared at her, worried about what was going on. She ripped the headset from her head, throwing it into a puddle. It sprayed water all over their feet, and the screaming had left her head.
"You okay?" Albedo asked. Her eyes were opened wide in fear. "What was it?"
"It's like some fucked up horror movie," Sedaytion said, taking a step back from her headset.
"What was it?" he repeated. She picked up the headset and threw it into his hands, trying to let go of it as soon as she could as if it were cursed. Albedo curiously looked at the headset, and Sedaytion pushed some hair behind her ear with her trembling hand.
A floodlight suddenly switched on, making the pair of them jump. The city could be seen better, and then they both gasped at a sight. In the centre of the square they were standing in was a six foot high cross. Strapped painfully tight to it was a beautiful, young woman.
Her head was hung in weakness: her beautiful and messy blonde hair covered most of her pale face. Her ice blue eyes were half open, and were staring down at the floor hopelessly. She was wearing a torn white dress that was drenched in her red blood. Rope was tightly wrapped around her wrists and ankles: holding her onto the wooden cross. The rope was so tight it tore her skin, making red liquid run leak from her cuts. Sedaytion could just about see a little bit of blood running from her lip.
"No!" Sedaytion screamed, knowing who the woman was. She quickly leaned her head on Albedo's wet chest, covering her eyes with her hands. Albedo slowly put a hand on her back, and he looked over at the woman on the cross.
"You … know her?" he asked, unsure of whether he wanted to know the answer of not.
Sedaytion lifted her head from Albedo's chest and she looked over to the woman. A lump appeared in her throat, which she sourly swallowed. "She's my mother."
Sedaytion stared for a few moments, unsure of whether her mother was dead or alive. It had been years since her eyes had seen her mothers beautiful face. Desperate to see her and help her, Sedaytion ran over to her, almost stumbling over as she did so. But, just as she was inches away from her mother, a force sent her falling to the floor. Stunned, she couldn't figure what had pushed her down to fiercely. She looked up, expecting to see someone there, but instead her eyes met something else.
Around her mother was a purple and black force field. It glowed evilly.
"Sedaytion!" Albedo yelled, running up to her.
He helped her up to her feet, and took her a step back from the force field. Sedaytion tried to pull herself from Albedo's grip but he would let her. Her chest hurt painfully, and her body felt really strange.
"Let me go," she demanded.
"That's U-DO Sedaytion," Albedo said, turning her around. "I'm surprised it didn't just kill you!"
"U-DO?" she asked, looking back at it. She ignored the fact U-DO hadn't killed her, or changed her like it did to the U.R.T.V's. "I've gotta get it away from mom!"
"Sedaytion you can't!" he said as she tore away from him.
Before she could get close to it, he had hold of her again. She tried to pull away but he was too strong for her. Then, she fell to the ground hopelessly. He sat on his knees, and held her close to him.
"You can't do anything for her," he whispered. "I'm sorry."
"I can …" she said, putting her left hand on the floor.
Her arm glowed a bright yellow, and a beam of energy ran deep into the ground. It emerged from underneath the U-DO. Her energy didn't destroy it; instead it sent it into the air, to hover above them in a fog. Her hand stopped glowing and Albedo started at her, stunned.
He let go of her slowly, and she quickly ran over to her mother. She began to un-do the rope holding her to the cross. She turned around to Albedo and looked at her with begging eyes. "Help me."
He stood up quickly, ran over to her and helped her bring her mothers light body down to the ground. They rested her back against the cross, letting her legs go out in front of her. Sedaytion went down onto her knees slowly, and looked at her mother who was breathing slowly. She brushed her gold hair out of her face and wiped some dirt off her soft skin.
"Is she your memory?" Albedo asked her. Sedaytion firmly shook her head.
"Never have I seen mother like this," she said.
"What's her name?" Albedo asked.
"Alison."
Her mother moved, letting a moan escape her mouth. Her head weakly tilted to the side; her bright blue eyes looked at Sedaytion, which made a few tears leave Sedaytion's eyes. When she went to the Institute, she expected to have seen her mother the next day or at least a few days later. But, as time went on all hope was lost of ever seeing her mother again, but she was here: she was there, with her hand on Sedaytion's cheek. Sedaytion had her mother back.
"Sedaytion?" her mother said. Her soft voice was like music to Sedaytion's ears.
"Yeah mom … its me …" she whispered.
"It … hurts …" her mother moaned. "It hurts so much …"
"What hurts? What hurts mom?" Sedaytion asked, beginning to panic.
"I love you … I'm sorry I … caused you so much trouble," her mother said. "I … tried … but …"
"Shh, mom stop talking," Sedaytion said. "You'll waste your energy."
"I just needed you to know I'll always be watching you," she said. "And that … I always …love you."
"Stop talking like that," Sedaytion begged. "Please stop. You're gonna be okay!"
"I'm so … proud …" she said. Her hand fell from Sedaytion's cheek. Her head hung, and she breathed out deeply. Sedaytion stared at her mother, watching as her eyes faded.
"Mom?" she whispered. There was no answer, and she waited for her to breathe again: she just had to hear her inhale for air. She waited and waited. Albedo sorrowfully looked at her, and then put his hands on her shoulders.
"She's dead Sedaytion," Albedo said. She didn't answer, and pretended she hadn't heard him.
Sedaytion put her hand on her mother's forehead, and Albedo closed his eyes, before exhaling deeply.
"She's dead," he repeated.
He helped the numb Sedaytion stand to her feet. Tears were slowly streaming from her eyes and then she turned around and looked down at her mother. She kneeled down and closed her eyes, before taking the gold necklace that was around her mother's neck. It was a locket, with a green four leaf clover printed on the outside of it. Sedaytion opened the locket, and inside was a picture of her, when she was much younger, with a boy. He had bright red hair like Sedaytion's, and his eyes were a bright shade of green. Albedo leaned over her shoulder to see the picture.
"Who is that?" Albedo asked her.
"My brother," Sedaytion said. "He's a year younger then me."
"You look like you could be twins…" Albedo said. Sedaytion sniffed and wiped a tear, or a rain drop, from her face.
He smiled at her and the floodlight suddenly switched off. Sedaytion jumped and the world turned much darker. It was as if someone was putting on a show, and it had just finished. She looked down to where her mother was sitting. In a split second she was pulled out of the Simulator, making a few more tears leave Sedaytion's eyes.
"It was him, wasn't it?" Sedaytion said, turning around to Albedo. "He killed her!"
"You can't be sure," he said.
"I can! I know he did!" Sedaytion yelled. "He killed my mom! Who else could have brought her in and out of the simulator? Who?"
Albedo took her hand and squeezed it lightly. He pulled her away from where her mother had died and they began to walk down the street. As they did, Sedaytion took the headset from Albedo and put it back on her head. She inhaled deeply; containing all the thoughts of sorrow and anger she had and smiled at Albedo.
"Let's go find Rubedo and Nigredo," she said.
The city began to liven up again and they heard the usual gunshots and screaming. Albedo pulled Sedaytion closer to him and looked down at her. 'I should fight …' he thought. 'I have to fight but I have to protect her. I want to protect her; for some reason I don't want to fight. I don't want her to see me as a monster.'
"Sedaytion!" Rubedo yelled in her headset. Sedaytion froze, and pulled the microphone down to her mouth.
"Rubedo?" she asked.
"Sedaytion there's been an accident!" Rubedo cried. She could hear his voice breaking, she heard him trying to hold back the tears.
"An accident?" Sedaytion repeated. Albedo's eyes widened. "What are you talking about?"
"It's Nigredo," he whimpered. "He won't stop bleeding. He just … won't stop."
"Where are you?" Sedaytion asked. She heard a few shaky sobs. "Rubedo where are you?"
"The link area …"
"He's going to be okay," Rubedo said, smiling at Sedaytion. "Thanks for helping."
"I didn't do anything," she quietly said. Albedo was holding tightly on her hand. She hadn't told Rubedo what had happened to them, simply shrugging it off and changing the subject. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she felt tired as it was late at night.
Sedaytion and Albedo had found Rubedo and Nigredo just in time; he was lucky to be making a full recovery, which pleased everyone. She still didn't get to know the proper story as to how he got injured so badly: she really didn't need to know.
Albedo took Sedaytion home to make sure she was okay. They went upstairs together and the house was silent because of Helen's night work. Sedaytion sighed and switched on her table lamp. She looked over at Albedo who was stood awkwardly at the door.
"Can … you stay here …?" she asked him. He frowned.
"You want me to stay here the night?" he asked, unsure whether he understood her. She nodded.
"I don't want to be alone today," she said, holding onto the locket. "Please."
"Yeah I'll stay here," he said, nodding. "I'll just go get some cloths from my room and I'll come straight back."
Sedaytion nodded. Albedo quickly ran off and she heard the door slam behind him. With the time she had alone, she got undressed and put on her pair of soft yellow pyjamas. She tied her long, feathered hair into a loose, low, ponytail and she stretched her arms above her head. She put her old cloths in the wash basket and went over to the picture of her with her mother. She bit her lip hard and sighed deeply.
The door opened downstairs, and she heard it shut behind the person. They ran upstairs quickly, and she smiled, seeing Albedo walk into the room in his pair of uniformed pyjamas. In his hand was a fresh set of cloths for the next day, which he put on the desk chair.
"Nigredo's back in his room by the way," Albedo said. Sedaytion nodded. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine," she whispered. "Here, I'll set you a bed out."
She pulled out a spare mattress from under her bed, and took out a duvet and blankets from her cupboard. She put a pillow on his mattress and set out his blankets. His bed was right by hers, and he lay down in it. Sedaytion lay down in her bed and reached over to switch off her lamp.
"Goodnight," she said, turning the light off so the pair of them were engulfed in darkness.
"Night," he said.
After a few minutes, Sedaytion felt tears fall from her eyes and she began to sniff. In moments she was sobbing and she couldn't stop herself no matter what she did.
Albedo slid himself into her bed, and moved her so she rested on his chest. She could hear his heartbeat under his chest, which soothed her. He wrapped her hair around his fingers and kissed her head gently.
"Shh," he whispered.
"I can't believe she's dead," she whispered. "That bastard killed her, didn't he?"
"What happened to your brother?" Albedo asked, trying to change the subject. "Did he … die?"
Sedaytion laughed a little. "No, he's alive. We send each other letters every week."
"Letters?" he repeated, unfamiliar with the word. Sedaytion looked up at him. "It's like an e-mail, but you write. You've never heard of a letter?"
"No," he said.
"They're not very common," Sedaytion said. She quickly sat up, and reached over Albedo's body, and fumbling for the handle of her draw. She pulled it open and it was filled to the top with letters. She picked up a handful and switched on her lamp. She sat up properly, with her side leaning on Albedo's body. She handed the letters to him.
He looked at them curiously, but couldn't make out the words. The writing was neat, but the words weren't English: they were something else. Catching his confused look, Sedaytion laughed.
"They're in French," she smiled. "My brother doesn't know a word of English."
"So, you're French?" Albedo asked. It seemed as time went on and on, he was finding very interesting things out about his girlfriend.
"Oui," she said, smiling proudly. "Well, our mom is. We were brought up speaking French, but mom and dad began to teach me English after I was five. We were going to teach my brother, but then he had to be taken away so he didn't get to learn."
"Where did he go?" Albedo asked.
"Hospital," Sedaytion answered. "He had cancer for a few years. Mom couldn't deal with him getting ill, and then getting healthy to only get ill again so he was sent off to live with our aunt. He moved away when I was ten."
"What's his name?" Albedo asked.
"Elliot," she said. Albedo smiled. Sedaytion put the letters back in the draw. She switched off the light and then lay back down, leaning her head on Albedo's chest.
"Can you teach me French?" Albedo suddenly asked in the darkness.
"Yeah!" Sedaytion agreed.