FOREVERMORE
~Part Three Of The Forever Trilogy~
Chapter 51
Fallout
June 17, 5001.
(Goldy's POV)
I remembered everything.
I remembered saying goodbye to them.
I remembered going to my room to chill to wait for them to return, worrying about their safety.
I remembered Sapph bursting into my room, distraught.
I remembered demanding what was wrong since I had never ever seen her in tears before.
And I remembered her telling me that one of my best friends had been violently murdered, one who I had been chatting with just this morning.
...
June 16, 5001.
After they had left, I had decided to just go back to my room to wait for them to come back. I had nothing better to do, after all. I had no paperwork, and there was no point in training. I, after all, was the least important Kimu kid here. My brother was the High Commander, and even though I was the same rank as my sister, she had a lot more respect than me.
But I couldn't dwell on these things. I didn't want to think badly of my family or feel jealous of my siblings. We had to be a team, after all.
I didn't know how long I was in there, just laying back on my bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking. I wondered what Sapph was up to. She probably was training, or Jade had dragged her off somewhere. I missed her, but we both needed our time separate.
I was beginning to nod off when suddenly, the door burst open. I jerked, startled, and sat up to see that it was the very girl I had been thinking about moments ago. And I immediately saw that something was wrong.
"Sapph!" I called, sliding myself to the edge of the bed. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
Her short brown hair looked like she had been pulling at it, and her red eyes were wide and slightly bloodshot, filled with tears that were streaming down her face. I knew something was very, very wrong. I had never seen Sapphira Senri cry before, not in these five years I've known her. She didn't answer me, just stumbled up to me, and threw her arms around my neck, hugging me and burying her face into my shoulder.
Sapph also never did that.
"Hey, it's okay," I said, trying to say something comforting as I put my arms around her as she cried into my shoulder.
She shook her head again, and choked out, "No it's not."
I pushed her away a little and looked her in the eye. "Sapph, what happened?"
Her eyes teared up more. "Rubin... R-Rubin..."
"What about Rubin?" I asked gently.
"Rubin... He was... murdered."
I froze, my whole body going rigid. I just stared at her, my eyes widening with horror. Oh my freaking Arceus. I wished she was kidding, but I knew she would never joke about something like that. It was like a slap to the face. Especially after what he had made me promise.
"Arceus no," I breathed, looking down at her, and she just nodded mechanically. "Who the hell did it?!"
Her grip tightened around my neck. "Crim and Indi... They think it was Synis..."
Why the hell did that bastard want to kill Rubin? This was Rubes we were talking about, not Am or Grey or anybody else high up in the ranks. Yeah, he had been toughening up lately, but still.
"I never... I never got to say goodbye!" Sapph choked out, holding onto me tighter, pressing her face into my shoulder again.
I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to say. But then I realized something. Someone else was in a much worse situation than us.
"Sapph," I said, and she pulled back to look up at me, her face nearly as red as her eyes. "Where's Topaz? She was with him."
She froze this time. "I... I don't know... She wasn't with them when they came back..."
Well, shit.
I had no idea what to do anymore. How was I supposed to keep my promise when Topaz had been freaking kidnapped by that damned psychopath again? I was so freaking tired of this.
"Goldy..."
I looked back down at her, still unable to find my voice or figure out how the hell I was going to react and deal with this crap. There was fear in her beautiful red eyes—fear of what was going to happen, who was going to die next. Because this was not the end.
"I... I don't want to lose you," she whispered, her hands clutching desperately at the collar of my shirt. "I love you, Goldy."
I just stared at her, shocked. I honestly thought she would never say that. But her brother's death was pushing her to the edge and she must have realized there was a chance any of us could die.
I cracked her a sad smile, though I was overjoyed to hear her say that. "I love you, too, Sapph."
I was surprised when she suddenly smashed her lips to mine, catching me totally off guard. I was so stunned I froze up, but then I finally realized what was happening and that she had actually started it probably for the first time for a long time, if ever. I relaxed, kissing her back gently.
I honestly didn't expect anything else to happen, and I didn't really care. I was happy just to hear her say she loved me finally. But she was the one who started to unbutton my shirt. I froze for probably the millionth time today, and pulled away from her.
"Sapph, are you sure?" I asked quietly for probably the first time in my life.
She nodded firmly. "Yes. I need to feel better. I think you do, too."
She was right on that one. I smiled again, and leaned forward to kiss her again before pulling back and saying, "I think we all do."
...
June 17, 5001.
Now it was the afternoon, and we all were sitting in the lounge on the first floor. No one really was talking. Sapph and I had both managed to get grips on ourselves by now, though everyone else was still a bit of a mess. Especially Cerise; everyone seemed to forget that she was childhood friends with Rubes.
"I am so freaking done."
I looked up to see Grey where he sat next to my sister, his arms crossed over his chest, looking very much pissed. And I did not blame him one freaking bit.
"I am so freaking done with their shit," he said, scowled. "This was a direct attack on us."
"I'd like to know why," Am said, and we all looked over at him. "It doesn't make any sense."
"None of this makes any freaking sense," Sapph growled. "My brother didn't do a thing to hurt Synis! Absolutely nothing!"
"We don't know that for sure," I spoke up, and she looked at me. "We have no idea what Synis's motive is."
"I'm pretty damn sure his motive, whatever the hell it is, has nothing to do with my brother!" she snapped.
"Calm down," I told her gently, putting my hand on her shoulder. "We can figure this out calmly-"
"I have every damn right to be freaking pissed right now!" she yelled. "My freaking twin brother just was freaking murdered by that damned psychopath that screwed up freaking time just to do whatever the hell he wants! THAT IS NOT OKAY!"
"I know it's not okay!" I snapped. "But we have to stay calm and think rationally! Flipping out and raging will not make anything better, Sapph!"
She flinched back when I yelled at her, and for a moment I felt bad, especially considering what we had done earlier in the day. But I was right, and she knew it. She relaxed, and squeezed her eyes shut, and I could see tears gathering once more.
"I-I'm sorry. You're... You're right... I just... I just..." She couldn't even finish her sentence before bursting into tears again.
I pulled her close to me, letting her cry into my shoulder again. I looked over at where my brother sat, his expression steely. Everyone else sat in silence. No one knew what to say. How were we supposed to react to this?
Finally, someone spoke up. "So... Um... W-What're we gonna do now?" It was Jade, and she was struggling to keep herself from crying. "They... They have Topaz..."
"I know," Am said, still somehow managing to stay calm. But that was why he was our High Commander, and not anyone else. Even Grey couldn't keep his head that straight. "I don't believe she is in any danger-"
"YOU DON'T THINK SHE'S IN DANGER?!" Crimson roared, leaping to his feet in a sudden fit of rage. "You don't think my sister is in DANGER while she's in the damned Government's freaking CASTLE right after her HUSBAND was VIOLENTLY MURDERED?!"
Everyone flinched, except for my brother, who just stiffened, and narrowed his eyes at the younger boy.
"Crim-" Indi began, reaching out to grab her hand, but he smacked it away.
"Who knows what the hell they're doing to her!" he yelled, furious. "Who knows if she's even alive!"
"C-Can't we all just stop yelling-" Cerise began shakily, on the verge of tears again, wrapping arms around herself.
"NO!" he snapped at her, and she flinched, and burst into tears.
The look Shirou gave him could place fear in anyone's heart. Man, you really did not want to piss that guy off. If looks could kill, Crim would be rotting in the deepest pits of hell right now.
And, well, I was getting tired of this.
"Crimson..." He looked over at me angrily. "I think that's enough. If Sapph can calm down, so can you. So chill or get out of here. We don't need your crap right now."
He narrowed his eyes at me, his hands clenching into fists. Sapph tensed, pulling back from me. She looked up at Crim and he actually paled a little. He backed up, but not before shooting me one last glare.
"Fine," he spat, turning around and stalking out of the room.
I sighed heavily, and ran a hand through my hair. I was suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of exhaustion. It would have just been so much better to go back to bed and sleep and get away from all this tragedy. I wanted none of this.
"I'll... go talk to him." I looked back up to see Indi push herself off the couch. "Just... let me know when you figure out what to do."
She walked out of the room, leaving us, once again, in silence. Well, silence, except for the faint sobs coming from where Cerise sat with Shirou and Alan. I still felt so tired. I wished that this was a dream.
"So..." Jade began again. "What are we going to do?"
We all looked over at my brother. He didn't say anything for a moment. I wished he would show some sort of emotion. Did he even care that Rubin died, or that Topaz had been kidnapped? He was really getting on my nerves.
"We will remain here," he said at last, and there were many protesting gasps, including from me.
"What?! Are you insane?! We can't leave her there with those bastards!" I cried angrily. "If she stays there, then we let Synis win! You can't be serious!"
Am wasn't bothered one bit. "It's too dangerous. We're not prepared to infiltrate the castle yet. If something happened to one of us while we tried to rescue her, Topaz would never forgive herself. She already must hate herself for what happened to Rubin. We have to make things as easy as possible for her now."
Everyone just stared at him, shocked by how much he just said. And, well... He was right. I understood his reasoning completely. No matter how much I hated it. I didn't want her there. Hell, I didn't want anyone there.
"I just don't want to lose anyone else," I said with a sigh. "But you're right... That's the best thing to do... I'm... going to my room."
I pushed myself up off the couch, and Sapph started to get up too, probably to follow me, but I held up my hand to stop her. "No... I need some time by myself."
Her red eyes dropped. "Oh... Okay... Well... Come find me when you feel better..."
I cracked her a sad smile. "I will."
But right as I headed for the doorway, I collided with the person we were just talking about. I nearly knocked her down, but I instinctively grabbed her by the shoulders to stop her from falling. My eyes grew wide with surprise once I finally looked at her.
"Topaz!" I exclaimed, before pulling her roughly into a hug.
"Agh, Goldy!" came her muffled cry. "Ow, you're hurting me! I'm sore!"
I released her abruptly, pushing her back away from me. "Sorry! I'm just... so glad to see you safe."
"TOPAZ?!"
I turned around to see Cerise had leaped to her feet, her red eyes wide with hope. I stepped back into the room, and Topaz followed. I took a good look at her. Her ponytail was messy, and her hair windblown. She looked so tired, and she could barely make herself walk, she was in so much pain.
"Hi... guys," she said, embarrassed, before looking around at all of us. "Where's-"
She was cut off by her sister glomping her in a hug. Cerise burst into tears again, while Topaz yelped in pain. She began rambling on faster than I thought was possible, so I had no idea what she was saying but she was on a verge of a breakdown.
"Cer, calm down!" Topaz said firmly, pushing her sister back. "I'm back, and I'm safe. Nothing happened, okay? I'm fine."
"But you looked in pain when you were walking!" she protested.
"Er... That's... for a different reason."
Well, that definitely confirmed my suspicions to what she was doing with Rubes the night of her birthday, but that just made his death much more worse. Especially... Especially if they weren't safe and she... got pregnant. Now that would be really screwy.
"Anyways," she said, looking around at us again. "Where's Rubin?"
Oh Arceus, no. She didn't remember? Well, that explained why she was so calm. But that meant we had to... tell her all over again... and watch her break down... I didn't want to hurt her like that... But she had to know.
No one responded to her question. Everyone looked like a Deerling in headlights. A confused expression overcame Topaz's face.
"Where is he?" she demanded, her temper flaring. "Is he hurt? What happened to him?!"
Cerise whimpered, covering her mouth with her hand, before stumbling back to her boyfriend on the couch. Everyone else was still frozen. Realizing she wouldn't get the answer from them, she whipped around to face me.
"Where's my hu-boyfriend?" she demanded from me.
"Topaz..." I said at last, my voice heavy. "Rubin... Rubin's dead. He was murdered by Synis."
She stared at me, her orange eyes widening with horror, the color draining from her face. Her mouth opened, but no words came out. She didn't move. I wasn't sure if she was even breathing. I hated doing this to her.
"No..." she breathed, finally speaking, slowly beginning to shake her head. "No! Y-You're lying!"
A grimace formed on my lips. "I'm sorry, T... But I saw him. He's dead. Gone. Deceased."
I had never seen such a expression on her face. It was like her heart had just been ripped out and crushed. Her bottom lip quivered as tears filled her eyes, and she began to shake. Her knees gave way, and she began to drop to the ground. But I leaped forward to catch her, stopping her fall.
"NO!" she wailed, her sorrow finally exploding. She clutched at me, sobbing. I didn't move; I could barely hold onto her as I was. "R-Rubin... I-I... r-remember..."
Oh, Arceus.
She let go of me, dropping down to the ground. Everyone was just so startled about her reaction, no one moved. What were we supposed to do? We knew she would freak, but we never imagined it would be this bad.
Diamonda stood up, and walked up to the sobbing girl while we all watched her in our frozen states. "I'll take care of her," she told us, her voice quiet. Then she leaned down to grab her gently by the arm and pull her up. We didn't move until they were gone.
This was going to be a really long few months...
...
(Topaz's POV)
I was vaguely aware of someone pulling me along, but my thoughts were too clouded with the horror of the loss I had remembered. The tears wouldn't stop coming, and I could barely breathe. It was like I was suddenly drained of energy.
Rubin was gone. Forever.
I would never see his wonderful smile again, be in his arms, receive his kisses, or make love to him... How... How could I live without him? I couldn't see how any of this, any of what we were doing, had any point anymore. My future—no, my life—was gone without him. It had no meaning.
The next thing I knew, I was on my bed, in my room. My breath caught with a sob as the reality hit me hard again. Then I finally noticed who had taken me here.
"Topaz," came Diamonda's voice, gently. "Breathe. Just breathe."
I tried to calm down, to breathe, like she told me to, but the tears just kept on coming. Eventually, she gave up, and let me weep, pulling me into an embrace, letting me cry into her chest. She was acting more motherly to me than my adoptive mother ever had.
"Shhhh," she murmured, stroking my hair. "Hush now. Breathe, Topaz. Just breathe. You can do it."
I had no idea how long I cried. I just knew as they finally began to slow down, that I was even more mentally and physically exhausted than before. My body was shaking, almost shuddering violently. A numb feeling overcame me, and we sat there until the tears finally stopped.
Diamonda helped me put on some pajamas, since I could barely move myself and I was in no condition to go back out. She broke out a first aid kit from outside in the hall just to check my injuries. She touched up a couple of scrapes and cuts, but that was about it. Then she tucked me into the bed, and Raiden released himself from his Poke Ball just to join me, curling up onto my chest. The scar over his eye glared at me.
"Topaz," she said, and I flicked my eyes to to look at her. "Tell me what happened on your birthday."
My birthday. That was two days ago. Or something like that. I was eighteen. An adult.
I moved my hand out from underneath the covers to stroke Raiden's back. "Everything?"
"Well, the basics."
"We went out for my birthday. We... We got married. We came back for the party. Then, after... We... had sex."
She was quiet. "The following day?"
"We got a letter asking us to come meet someone at Mount Silver. We saw nothing wrong with it, since it was Mount Silver, our old base, even though it's really close to the Government's headquarters... So we went there... A-And... Synis was there... He challenged us to a battle... His... H-His Nidoking... stabbed Rubin... He kidnapped me... but Maroon helped me escape..."
She was quiet again, and then she sighed heavily. "Oh, Topaz..."
I stopped petting Raiden, and grabbed him instead, pulling him into a hug. He let out a sad cry, and snuggled into the crook of my neck, under my chin. Tears began to prick at my eyes again.
"Go to sleep," she told me gently. "You'll feel better in the morning. You've been through a lot."
I highly doubted sleeping would make me feel better, but I was so tired I had no objections. In only a few moments after she left, I was out cold.
...
June 18, 5001.
(Maroon's POV)
As soon as Synis called a meeting of all the admins, I feared the worst. Had I finally been found out somehow? Was I going to be killed now, too? I had no idea, but I had no choice but to go to the meeting. Otherwise, I would look even more suspicious. It was bad enough that Navy defected, but now that Verdant had, too, I had to be under close watch.
I saw that I was the last to arrive as soon as I stepped inside the council room in the castle. The table was long, and rectangular, made of mahogany. All the way at the end, in a plush leather chair sat the bastard himself. On his right was Karen, and on his left was Flax. Pink sat next to Karen. I begrudgingly walked over to the chair next to Flax, and sat down.
"Took you long enough," Flax snorted, and I fought the urge to scowl at him.
"That does not matter," Synis said icily, and we turned our attentions to him. I had to wonder what personality he had now. He had three different ones, after all. "I'm sure you all know by now that Rubin Senri is dead."
"It's kinda hard not to know," I deadpanned.
Synis narrowed his eyes at me. "However, Topaz has managed to escape. Therefore, there are still threats against the mission."
"But aren't they all threats?" Pink asked, confused. "Unless you're talking about something else."
"He doesn't mean our mission," Karen clarified. "He means his own personal one."
"So," Flax drawled, leaning back in his chair. "I take it you want us to kill them for you since you already killed one of them yourself."
"Yes," the President replied. "Those remaining are Grey Kuro, Gold Kimu Junior, and Alene Vin."
Wait... I understood Grey and Gold... But why the hell Vin? He didn't seem connected to this at all. I just didn't get it.
"Oh, Grey is mine!" Pink growled, clenching her hands into fists. "I will make him pay."
"Hm... I'll take Vin," Flax announced with a smirk. "Perfect payback for Kazuo."
Well, at least that somewhat made sense, I guess. But I wanted none of this. I didn't want to have to murder anyone. This was just madness.
"Who will take Kimu Junior?" Synis asked.
It was down to Karen and me, and I really did not want to do it. But I think Flax realized that because he looked over at me, and our eyes locked. I kept the straightest face I could manage. He narrowed his eyes, and I stayed silent.
"I think Marun here would like to," he said, taunting me with a smirk. "Don't you, Marun? You don't like the rebels, do you?"
He knew exactly what I was doing. Dammit.
My hands clenched into fists underneath the table. The bastard. I had no choice, then. If I refused to kill Gold, he would call me a traitor and kill me himself. I hated all of this. Maybe I should have left with Topaz after all. But it was too late now. I was stuck.
"I will," I said at last.
Flax's smirk widened, and I wanted so badly to wipe it right off his smug face. I hated that guy so much.
"Thought so."
Sorry for another wait, I've been immersed in a new video game, ehehe.
Short, BUT SO MUCH HAPPENED.
Okay, so Topaz got back to the base and remembered everything. Also, AmazonMoon is FINALLY a solid, unsinkable ship. I have so many plans for them, hehe.
However.
That's right, Synis's current goal now is to get rid of the "threats". Aka, any guy that could possibly threaten him getting Topaz back. As you know, the three guys listed to be killed are no longer threats and haven't been for a while. Well, Alan's kinda... not really.
So. Pink will kill Grey. Maroon will kill Goldy. And Flax will kill Alan.
OR WILL THEY? That is the question. Will the murder be successful?
Okay, so the Cessa Arc is almost here. And the Cessa Arc will be INTENSE, VIOLENT, AND VERY WAR-FOCUSED.
Expect A LOT of character death. Anybody can die. THIS IS WAR, PEOPLE DIE IN WAR.
*cough*
Oh, and about the plagiarism... Behind_Sapphire_Eyes has been banned from Teen Ink, but he has set up an account on Figment. If you want the link, just PM me or ask me on my tumblr.
IT'S TIME
TO GET SERIOUS