I believe you've all been waiting for the next chapter. So here you are, faithful readers...
Chapter 2 Begin.
Character Perspective: Zero
Several hours passed as I sat, preparing every fiber of my being to attack at a moments notice to protect the sleeping siren in the room. A light stirring roused me from my meditation and I bolted out of the chair I'd been waiting in, flipping out onto the floor without making a sound. I looked around the room, noticing Angel moving slightly about the bed and making groaning noises. I made one last check of the cave before deciding to relinquish my blade, returning it to my waist. I walked over to where she was asleep, watching her sleep for a short while to make sure everything was alright. As I drew closer, her groaning was stifled and Angel ceased her turning, lying still in her bed. The suddon change in her movements seemed as though my proximity soothed her, and the closer I came to her sleeping form, the less she stirred in her sleep. I now stood only a foot ahead of her and she stopped moving entirely, her arm falling over the edge of the bed. Realizing that she was alright, I turned to go back to the chair when a soft tugging at my wrist caused me to look back at the sleeping girl. Her hand was wrapped around my wrist, preventing my leaving. She then pulled me closer with a weak grip, I complied as to not disturb her slumber. I kneeled at the edge of the bed and she still pulled me closer. I was mildly confused, but I did not show it through the use of my holographic projector as it may have been too bright and woken her up. I leaned forward more, my faceplate now rested only inches from her face. I stared at her, my mind raught with questions due to her subconcious affinity towards me.
Then, as I stared at her motionless, sleeping face, her eyelids began to glow a soft pink as her siren powers started to illuminate her eyes. I could sence something was amiss at this sight and began to resist her hold when her eyes opened, blinding me with the intence light pouring from her eyes. The light was instantaneously replaced by darkness and I felt a radient warmth on my body, as though my suit was gone. The silence that filled the room at night had returned but didn't feel natural, as though it was forced over the cave in which we resided. I tried to look around in the darkness and even my suits enhancements could not help me to see in it; there was nothing but the darkness.
A voice resounded through the impermiable darkness, willing itself to pierce the haze of night with its presence. "Zero?... Zero, are you there?... Please answer me... Zero!" the voice pleaded, exciting a white light above me, forcing out the darkness. I reached up toward the familiar vioce, recognizing Angel's soft voice in the darkness. A burst of purple erupted through the white and blinded me again. When it was gone, I looked around again, seeing Angel standing before me, her wings spindling around the two of us as she collapsed to the ground, crying. "Zero... I'm sccared..." she sobbed, her wings fading away. I kneeled down before her, placing my hand on her shoulder to try to comfort her. She looked up into my visor, her eyes now a rich blue, swimming in a sea of tears.
"No more tears, Angel/ Whatever you're afraid of/ It cannot hurt you." I said softly, my hand cupping her cheek. She smiled at me with fained comfort before I leaned forward, resting my faceplate against her forehead. Through my helmet, I saw her eyes as they looked despirately into it for reassurance, but all I could offer her at that time was words. "Please tell me the truth/ What are you afraid of/ Fills you with such fear?" I asked, my other hand holding hers as I stood up, pulling her to stand with me. She stifled her tears and smiled up at me weakly before replying.
"Show me your fears and I'll share mine..." she answered, her tattoos beginning to glow again as her siren powers flared. She outstretched her other hand to my helmet, touching the smooth surface, never trying to remove my anonymity. I nodded, the blinding light washing over my sences again. A flash of blue and black fluched over me, overshadowing the white light that Angel's eyes created. I looked around again after the hazing burst, noticing that I now stood in a room with slidinng doors and thin sheets of a paper-like fabric over the frames of the doors. I looked around one more time, noticing one of the doors sliding open, revealing Angel in a Kimono, the patturn of which was white with purple fluttering flower petals.
"A dojo?" she asked confused, looking around more intensely, inspecting the room and her dress. She blushed slightly when she noticed the light, silken fabric as it flowed around her.
"Indeed, young Angel/ You are now inside my mind/ Nice dress, by the way..." I replied, displaying a smiley face, waiting for her reaction. She looked away, her cheeks turning a soft pink as a light smile graced her lips.
"So... While we're here, where are your memories and fears?" Angel asked, trying to regain composure. I wagged a finger to her, walking closer to her, sliding my left hand behind her shoulder, gesturing to a door on the far side of the room with the other.
"But you can't go in.../ I'll bring my fears out to you/ And then explain them." I said as we stepped toward the door. My hand dropped from behind her as I stepped ahead of her. I gripped the round, indented handle, sliding the door open. I stepped in, closing the door behind me, immediately being enveloped in a red light.
My sences escaping me, I was no longer able to feel anything, the red light becoming my reality. Soon, I was able to see the white of the door behind me again, the red afterglow of my nightmare fading slightly. I then made my way back to the door, sliding it open and reentering the room in which Angel awaited my return. She had her back turned to me, soon spinning around to the sound of the door sliding closing. Her eyes looked at my arm and shoulder, revealing her fear and confusion.
"You see my nightmare/ Power I cannot control/ A strength not my own." I said, glancing down at the markings that now covered my left arm and leg.
"Those are sirens tattoos... You should never have those... Why are you afraid of having them?" Angel asked, her eyes full of intrigue as she walked closer.
"I fear the power/ Having a lack of self control/ Being unrefigned." I said slowly, tightening my left hand into a fist.
"Then try training with it as though it was your power. Don't fear what you don't understand, learn about it so you no longer have a reason to fear it. Being a siren, I can tell you that I was afraid of my power when I was younger... but as time went on, I learned to embrace it, now it is my true strength." she replied, slipping her tattooed hand in mine. I nodded, sliding my right hand to my sword hilt and taking a few steps back from her. I drew the hilt, digistructing the blade, taking hold of it with both hands. A red, fiery light washing over the blade, binding with its blue and creating a vibrent haze of the two colors as I swung the weapon. I swept through position after position, reciting them out of subconcious memory after years of use. As I continued, I began to feel a burning in my chest, as though this new power was forcing its way into my soul to become a part of me. The burning shot through my veins and I could see a red in my vision. All of the energy in my limbs seemed to drain away and I then did my best to obey my body's desire to drop wihout falling unskillfully to the ground. I forced my arm to return my sword to its place at my side, barely succeeding at this motion and sliding into a cross-legged position on the floor. The red markings on my left side now looked to be on fire, energy eminating from each as though every one was a small coal in a forge, burning intensely. I looked up into Angel's kind eyes, realizing that her tattoos were also glowing and her wings were now positioned around us as her glowing hand outstretched to mine. Feeling a surge of resolve, I lifted my arm to accept, gripping hers. A strong pulse of energy filled my empty limbs and I easily roze to my feet. I felt reborn, as though the strange power was now united with me in reality, not simply in my dreams. When I stood up straight, I showed Angel a smiley face emotocon, glancing at the markings on my body that were glowing through my suit as they now faded to a light color. Angel giggled softly at the sight of the emotocon, walking over to the door on the far side of the room and opening it. A flood of light rushed into our eyes, overtaking everything in a blizzard of white.
Once again, I was senceless, incapable of seeing anything in the emptiness. I lingered in this helpless state for what felt like hours or even days, the silence and tranquility of a tomb slowly seeping into my soul, infecting my life-blood. Just as in the previous encounter, Angel's voice entered into the silence.
"Please... Help me... Someone... Anyone?" I heard her sobbing in a far-off sounding voice. In the darkness, eventhough I couldn't see, I could tell she was close. Somehow, the power I'd gained in my dream was allowing me to detect her presence and proximity. The markings on my flesh began to glow a heavy crimson color as I tapped into their energies. I began to feel amazing, the new power overtaking my sences and seemingly pouring out of every pore of my flesh. Then a thought filled my head; this power is not my own. I must use my own strengths if I am to remain useful to my companions, especially Angel. Realizing this, I released the energies in a deafening, thunderous roar that sent the tattoos back into a lightless state. I closed my eyes, feeling the silence overtake me again when Angel called out once more.
"Zero... Please... If you can hear me... I need your help..." At that point, I used my deception, disappearing into the darkness completely, becoming one with my true nature. I then just sat down into a position on my knees, listening for her voice to call me again. "Zero?... Why don't you answer me..." she cried, sorrow filling her words. "...P- please... don't leave me here!..." she continued. While she spoke, I listened intensely, soon pin-pointing her location. I stood up, dashing toward her voice, incidently tackeling her to the ground, stunning her from her fears. We fell fast, almost landing with me on top of her. However, I reacted swiftly, rolling beneath her in an instant and having her fall into my arms to coushin the impact. We fell hard, but she was light and did not injure me when her weight collided with my ribs.
"Do not be afraid/ I am here to protect you/ To grant you new life." I said softly, gently sliding my hand to her cheek. Then the darkness faded away, revealing Angel's teary eyes to me. I looked into them silently as I awaited her reaction.
After a brief delay, her arms wrapped around my neck and she pulled herself up into a tight hug on my neck. She began pleading for me to stay with her, holding her as she did me. I complied, my arms rolling around her shoulders to hold her closer. Her tears now dripped free of her eyes, gliding down the back of my suit. Confused as to her level of attraction toward me, I remained with her for quite some time before her sobbing ended. When she fell silent, I pushed her away enough to see her eyes when I brushed away the hair that covered the left side of her face. Her eyes red with sorrow and her face stained by tears, our gazes met for a long while as we stood up.
"Are you okey?" I asked, taking a step back from her, desplaying a question mark. She smiled faintly, nodding and regaining her composure. I nodded in turn, standing up straight and looking around for a way out of our dark surroundings.
"Y-yeah... Thanks, Zero..." she said with a heavy red on her cheeks. "Now... Let's get out of here." I nodded, pulling out my blade. She giggled, shaking her head. "That's not going to work... Here, give me your hand..." Angel said softly, holding her hand out for me to take. I accepted, sheathing my blade at my waist. "Now that we've faced our deepest fears, our minds are clear to work with one anothers... If you want to bind minds with me, that is..." she concluded, looking away with a blush on her face.
I decided to break Haiku for my responce as to show her my acceptance of the connection that such a bonding would entail. "It would be an honor, Angel." I then tightened my grip on her hand, desplaying a smiley face. She had previously taken my slow reaction as silence suggesting that I wished to decline and she closed her eyes, beginning to cry. However, when my hand gripped hers, she turned to face me again, confused. This confusion faded away when she heard my responce, being replaced by a heavy blush and eyes that seemed glazed over by strong emotion. Taking this as a good sign, I bent my neck down as to press the forehead of my faceplate to her forehead, causing her to ghasp in surprize before her legs nearly gave out and her blush became an actual crimson color. She was senceless with a strange sensation that I could not identify, practically in a vegitative state for several seconds. "Are you alright?" I asked, pulling my head back to desplay a question mark and release my grip of her hand. She snapped out of her trance, looking into my visor before studdering out her response.
"Y-Yeah... I=I'm okey... I just... L-let's go..." She then raised her hands and both our markings began to glow brightly, engulfing everything in a pink light that formed from the combination of colors. The light soon disolved to blackness and a light weight that only covered a small portion of my body. I could feel a softness beneath my head and back that seemed strange. I lifted my head to see Angel sleeping next to me in the bed, her leg outstretched to cover my lower body and her head resting on my torso along with her hands. In her sleep, she mumbled "Thank you, Zero..."
I immediately whispered into her ear, "...You're welcome, My Angel..." She smiled faintly in her dreams at this, nestling into my chest more happily. I chuckled to myself at this, relaxing into a trance to react instantaneously.
End Chapter 2: Nightmares
So this is the pivital chapter. It sets the stage for their future romance and partnership, as well as some future back-story into Zero... For those of you out there who choose to wonder about our mysterious friend... See you later then...