Allelujah Haptism

A few days later, everyone was gathered in the hangar bay to welcome their new addition. The ceremony was somewhat reminiscent of Tieria's arrival: the excited buzz, the dripping anticipation as they waited for his ship to dock...Sumeragi only hoped the similarities would end there. As the small transport ship finished docking, a young man with long dark hair timidly exited the craft. Carrying his one piece of luggage, he approached the waiting crowd, a single silver eye shyly observing them. He stopped a few feet away from everyone and bowed slightly.

"Ah, h-hello. My name is Allelujah Haptism. It's an honor to be here. I hope to live up to the title given to me." The young man, Allelujah, greeted softly. Sumeragi smiled.

"Welcome aboard. My name is Sumeragi Lee Noriega..." The rest of the crew proceeded with introductions, Allelujah politely regarding each one. When that was done and people started returning to their duties, Sumeragi turned to Lockon, who was trying to engage both Tieria and Allelujah at once...and failing miserably.

"Lockon, Tieria, why don't you show Allelujah to his room and get him settled in." Sumeragi proposed. Lockon smiled thankfully at her.

"Sounds like a plan! Alright, Tier-"

"I'll pass." Tieria answered sharply and walked away.

"Hey now, Tieria! That's not very nice..." Lockon mumbled after him before sighing and turning an apologetic smile towards Allelujah.

"You'll have to forgive him. That kid wouldn't know manners if they bit him in the ass."

"No, it's okay. I'm sure he has his reasons." Allelujah replied gently, smiling at the cheerful man. Lockon started walking, motioning for the other to follow. He floated after the older man in silence for a short while.

"So, how old are ya exactly?" Allelujah started at the question.

"Ah, I turned 17 recently." Lockon whistled lowly.

"Between you and Tieria, I'm starting to feel pretty old. And I'm only 22!...Not that I really know how old that kid is...but he honestly couldn't be a day over 16..." He rambled on.

"So, Allelujah Haptism...is that a codename?" He asked after a while, moving on to a new topic.

"Ah, no. That's my real name..." Allelujah answered, blushing a little.

"Really? That's an interesting one. Mine's not nearly as cool, so I think I'll just stick to Lockon Stratos for a while. Sometimes I wonder who's using their real names or not. I think Tieria's is real, but Sumeragi's is a codename..." He rambled on.

They carried a polite conversation all the way to his room. By polite conversation, it's really meant as Lockon talking while Allelujah listened and smiled. Finally, they'd reached his room and Lockon left with a quick salute.

As the older man drifted away, he kept thinking of the new meister. Allelujah...he seemed like a good enough kid. He was polite, kind, humble...maybe a little too timid...it made one wonder what made him join Celestial Being. Maybe they were similar, victims of terrorism or something...But that was none of Lockon's business, no matter how curious Neil was.

No matter the reason, he was here, and Lockon was a little more than pleased. He was looking forward to working with the new kid. Although conversations were still one sided, at least he didn't feel like Allelujah was going to sear his mouth shut with a welder in his sleep (he had one too many nightmares after chasing an irritated Tieria). This newest meister was nice, and that was something the older man terribly needed after months of Tieria. He floated along, humming contentedly, avoiding the windows that Neil longed to get lost in.

Allelujah, now alone in his new room, let out a long breath and collapsed onto his bed. Although everyone on the ship had been nice enough, his nerves were still a wreck. Maybe it's because they were so nice...but he didn't want to think that way. He'd really gone through so much to get here, Allelujah wasn't going to start doubting himself now. He rolled over so that he was facing the ceiling and crossed his arms behind his head. He sighed again. Can I...belong here?

Allelujah remembered his earlier days, after escaping that accursed lab, before Celestial Being had saved him. He had been a drifter for most of his adolescence, constantly on the run, jumping from colony to colony, mainly because of 'his' screw ups. But then one day, they showed up. They offered him a refuge. A place to work. A place that was safe. And now, they'd given him an outlet. A way to fight...that they were both okay with.

'Oh, don't you start with that sentimental crap. I swear, if you even think of crying, I'll take over and beat the shit outta the first person I see, Allelujah!'

Allelujah groaned and closed his eyes, rolling onto his side.

"Knock it off. I'm not in the mood to fight you." He mumbled gruffly. "And I wasn't gonna start crying!" He added, a little louder.

'We share the same body genius. You can't fucking lie to me...eh, it's not worth it. I'm gonna take a nap or something.' And with that, the voice faded away.

"Hallelujah..." Allelujah sighed, before being lulled into a light sleep himself. And he dreamed.

White hallways stretched forever in front, forever behind. He ran. Right, left, forward. Move. Don't stop moving. The white walls...they were too white. Too bright. So clean you could see the blood, oozing out of the seams. He ran. 'Don't stop.' Gray. Walls that closed in darkness. Stale air. He couldn't breath. He stopped running. Wet...something warm and wet puddled at his feet. "Please, Allelujah...I don't wanna die..." A voice whimpered. Where, who? He couldn't move, but he watched himself covered in blood walk towards a small boy. "I-I don't wanna die...Allelujah!" And he that wasn't him laughed. It hurt his ears. "Too bad. You're gonna die!" He/not him lifted the gun. "No, please, Allelujah-" "Wrong! My name is..." BAM.

"Hallelujah!" He sputtered out as he shot up in a cold sweat. The banging continued. Knocking. Someone was knocking on my door. Allelujah got up and walked to the door, letting the remnants of dreams fall away and dissolve behind him. He opened the door to reveal a chipper Lockon, who, after giving him a good look-over, looked quite apologetic.

"Hey, Allelujah. I'm sorry, if I'd known you were sleeping, I wouldn't have..." Allelujah quickly shook his head, smiling graciously.

"No, it's okay. I'm kinda glad you woke me up. What is it?" He asked, causing the other man to perk up a little again.

"Oh, yeah, well I was gonna ask if you're hungry, since by our clocks it's about dinner time. Most everyone's in the mess hall. I'm sure they'd like you to join." Allelujah started slightly at this before smiling to himself. No one had ever really cared enough to invite him anywhere. It left a warm feeling in his chest, and he quite liked it. Realizing he still had to answer, he looked at a curious Lockon rather flustered.

"Ah, yes! Uh, I-I am kinda hungry. I'll join you..." He trailed off at the end, more than a little embarrassed about the intensity of his reply. Lockon just smiled and chuckled lightly. Clapping him on the shoulder, he gave him a 'Well let's go then!', and off they went. They (Lockon) talked the entire way there, and it put Allelujah in a strange sense of ease. They arrived at the mess hall, and he was greeted by everyone he passed.

Having his food, he sat with Lockon at a table with the girls Christina and Feldt and the young man named Lichty. The mealtime together was filled with laughter and light conversation. When Hallelujah decided to wake up, Allelujah didn't have half as hard a time as usual ignoring him. He just continued to laugh. Continued to smile. It felt...nice. And nice was something the young man desperately needed.

At some point, Tieria had walked into the room, grabbing a tray of food. When Lockon called over to him, he noticed the way Christina grimaced and Lichty balked. Feldt...well, her face didn't change much in general, but she did quickly dart her eyes to Lockon and back.

"Don't get the wrong idea," Tieria said, sitting down gruffly. "Eating should be confined to the mess hall and this was the last seat open."

Lockon laughed a little. "Stop acting so stuck up and just eat with us!"

Tieria shot him a nasty look but started eating anyways. Lockon tried to get the conversation going again, but it was noticeably more tense than before.

"Tieria, stopped glaring at your food like you're out to kill it. It's making us nervous." Lockon sighed.

"I'll eat however I please, Lockon Stratos. My eating habits are none of your concern." Tieria spat back.

"Of course they're my concern, especially when they ruin my appetite-"

Tieria's eyes widened. "Well, excuse me if I disconcert you so much. Maybe if you'd just leave me alone like I've been telling you to-"

Lockon chuckled. "Aw, now you know I wouldn't do that, so don't worry your pretty little head-"

"Do not call me pretty!" Tieria nearly yelled, obviously startling Chris and Lichty. But Allelujah had been watching with the utmost interest. And he laughed.

"You two...are really good friends, huh?" Allelujah asked, and he felt everyone's dumbfounded gaze fall upon him. He looked up and looked around nervously.

"W-what? Did I say something strange?" He was answered by Lockon's laughter and Tieria's quick departure from the table.

"Now where would you get a crazy idea like that?" Lichty asked, Tieria now long gone.

"Yeah! Tieria obviously hates just about everyone! No offense Lockon." Chris chirped.

"None taken."

Allelujah looked at them quizzically. Well, he hadn't been around the youngest meister for long, not at all, but it was pretty clear...

"I...I don't think he hates anyone. He's just..." Allelujah mumbled, shyly defending the absent boy. Lockon gave him a pat on the back and a wink.

"You see, I knew I wasn't crazy! Tieria's just a little awkward at expressing himself. It makes him plenty fun to tease!" Lockon announced, earning giggles all around. Allelujah sat with them for a while more, long after the food was gone. The carefree banter was unlike anything he'd been blessed to experience before. His nightmares had long since left his mind, and Hallelujah was nothing more than a snoring echo. And he was at peace.

The next day, Allelujah was led to the hangar bay by Ian Vashti, a man he learned was the main caretaker of the gundams. There, he was introduced to Kyrios. His gundam. He lightly ran his fingers over the sleek orange metal as Ian briefed him about its basic specs.

"The thing that sets it apart from the others is its ability to transform mid-flight." This caught Allelujah's attention. Ian noticed.

"Yep, this baby right here has two modes. A form reminiscent of old fighter jet planes, and the fighting humanoid form you see now. Both are vital to what makes Kyrios so unique. A dual machine." Allelujah looked back at his gundam. Subconsciously, he reached up and touched his hidden eye behind his hair.

'Looks like this really is our destiny...Allelujah.'

A/N: Short chapter is short, sorry not sorry. I would promise that the next chapters will be longer...but I haven't actually finished...so I can't lie...but I really do think the next chapters will have a lot more substance in them. Meister-intro chapters tend to be shorter just because.

So yeah, anyways, this is the last chapter I have complete that I'm happy with. So, I can't guarantee any sort of consistency with updates anymore (I've been trying to upload a new chap every 4-5 days). But I will try my absolute best to keep up the pace.

Thanks to everyone for reading and sending me beautiful reviews! Seriously, they motivate me to continue this fic. Love and peace ya'll~