Louise awoke to an empty bed. She sat up sleepily and scanned the room. Zero hadn't come back. She hadn't really expected him to, after his reaction to the mere shape of that woman compared to actually meeting her... Her head swam with unanswered questions and troubling thoughts. She didn't know what to do, was he alright? Why was he trying to deal with this alone? Didn't he remember what he told the princess? Was it all just a lie? Or would he go to someone who was more easily able to relate to him? Did he return to Roll last night? Even the thought of that made Louise feel sick, but it was better than him being alone right? Shaking her head she decided to get dressed and go to breakfast, and with any luck Roll and Zero would be there...
***Break***
As Louise entered the dining hall she looked towards the staff area, where she spotted Roll and Professor Colbert talking, with no sign of Zero. She felt disappointed and relieved at the same time. Nodding to herself, she made her way over to them and politely interrupted the conversation the two were having, "Excuse me, Miss Roll..."
Roll looked over to Louise with some surprise. "Hmm, what do you need Louise?" she asked with some concern, she could see that Louise had something on her mind.
"Have you seen Zero?" Louise asked hesitantly, not sure which answer she really wanted.
"No, I can't say I have." She answered, then with a small scowl she said with a huff,"Don't tell me you two got into another fight."
"No!" Louise protested violently, then after a pause continued,"No we didn't fight. He well..." She shook her head. She couldn't say it. To see the beautiful woman that had captured Zero's heart had hurt her, even if it wasn't really her. Or was it? It was so hard to tell. "I don't know how to say this... But Axl said that he was going to take a walk yesterday, and he never came back."
"You're leaving something out." Roll said after a pause. "Zero wouldn't leave with no reason. And just who is Axl?"
"He's a young man who showed up yesterday," She said, and with a rare show of restraint looked around to ensure nobody could hear her next words before she continued, her voice soft. "A new reploid who showed up here yesterday, haven't you paid attention to the rumors going around about their 'practice session'?
"A reploid?" Both Colbert and Roll replied in shock.
"Yes!" She said heatedly. Her fists were balled at her side. "And he has a weird ability too!"
"What ability is that?" Colbert asked, curious at the reaction Louise had, talking about the new student. Seeing Zero and him clash like they had yesterday and treat it as if it was a normal occurrence had been more than 'weird', he couldn't help but wonder what would be unusual compared to that.
"He can turn into other reploids, if he has their cyber elves!" Louise said, her eyes threatening to tear up as she remembered the look on Zero's face.
"Elves?" Colbert asked shocked to the core. They were dangerous foes and not known to be on good terms with humans. He looked to at Roll questioningly, "Are reploids somehow related to the elves of your country?"
Roll looked at the older man, and laughed,"No, a cyber elf is merely the name that is given to a program that is either the remaining consciousness of a...dead reploid, or in some cases a program that is created from no previous consciousness that acts much the same." After a moment's pause she looked at Louise again,"He has cyber elves?" Roll questioned her, her eyes alight with curiosity. Although Zero had talked of it, the Cyber elf that Zero had said was with him through the battle against Weil was gone... She had wanted to meet one.
Louise looked at them. "Yes! He said he can activate them, and then copy them!"
"Oh? He was able to copy their powers? Its a capability even Zero and myself possess Louise. I don't see why that would be a big shock to him." Roll replied with a hint of laughter, knowing that to normal humans the copy abilities had to seem amazing.
"No, he can copy them! He can turn into them. And if he wants to, he can give them the freedom to do what they want, although he said that they are limited on time..." Louise said as she looked down.
"That's, remarkable. That's... almost unthinkable, actually." Roll murmured as she tried to think of what type of systems that would require to support. "Did he transform into someone Zero knew?"
"Iris." Louise replied reluctantly as she nodded.
"What?" Roll yelled as she grabbed Louise by the shoulders as the statement hit her. He had talked of her a few times, and the situation involving her. Roll now understood the girl's worry. Roll's eyes locked on to her eyes as she calmly asked, "He took the form of the Iris?"
"No. He became Iris. He gave her control, so that she could forgive him in person..." She said, her tears starting to flow again. "Then she left again. T-the look of pain on his face. He hasn't come back and I'm worried about him!"
***Break***
The morning sun hit the water of the lake as Zero looked out at it, trying to gather his thoughts. Why had he even come here? As he looked out at the water, his mind ran over the previous day once again. He had never felt so torn in his life. Iris had forgiven him. But still, how could he forgive himself? He shook his head. He looked at the water and smiled. She still loved him unconditionally, that was something unexpected, something that he could never have hoped for after all he had done... Zero rested his hand on his helmet, as he looked down at it. He might be a weapon... But this was armor, and armor was to protect. He could do that, he couldn't ever atone for what he had done, but he could try and prevent it from happening again. He smiled at the thought.
"So, this is where you were?" a voice said from behind him.
"Axl?" Zero said, as he sat up, startled. "What are you doing here?"
"What, a friend of mine disappears for a day, and I'm not allowed to be worried? Especially considering why you disappeared I had to come make sure you were alright. I might be a bit reckless but I'm not stupid. Well, not really anyhow." Axl said with a smile.
"Alright?" Zero asked, then shook his head. "I don't know. I want to cry, but I also want to laugh. She still loves me, she forgives me. But she's still dead, and it was still by my hand. I'm not sure I can forgive myself for that."
"Hmm. I don't know why you ever doubted that she loved you. From the memories she shared with me, the happiest times she had were with you." Axl reassured him, with a slight smile.
After a few minutes, Zero smiled bitterly and looked at Axl. He shook his head and said,"Axl, you were right. I've been thinking, and sealing myself away like that, was not the way to stop the destruction that I had associated with myself."
"Oh?" Axl looked at Zero with interest.
"The only way for me to stop war is to crush those who would make war for their own reasons. Anyone that would go to war for the sake of pride, for the sake of greed I'll kill. I'll ensure this world keeps its peace, and make it a place where war will never show itself again." Zero held his fist up in front of himself as he said this.
"What? Are you insane? How can you even think that way?" Axl asked, his eyes wild at the way Zero was talking. Zero had the power to do just what he was saying, even Axl doubted he could stop him if he went full out. Only X could stand against him if that were the case. "If you do that how can anyone keep you in check?"
"What's wrong with thinking that way? It makes sense. Partner isn't the type of person to abuse power. He'll just use it when it needs to be used," Derflinger chimed in, surprising Axl.
"Zero, did your sword just talk? Or are you into ventriloquism now?" Axl couldn't help but ask as he stared at the sword that had seemingly talked to him.
"Yeah, he does that. I think he was silent for so long because I was brooding," Zero said as he turned his head to look at his sword.
"Well yeah, you needed some time alone, and even if you weren't alone my talking would have just distracted you. Even a piece of metal like me could figure that out. What about you pointy hair, why couldn't you figure that out?" The sword demanded of Axl.
"What? I came out here because I was concerned about Zero!" Axl countered, glaring at the sword.
"Then why the hell did you break everything on him yesterday? You shoulda known what was gonna happen but you were stupid enough to do it anyhow," The sword said in a dry tone.
Axl looked at the sword then looked away after a few seconds."Okay, so maybe I was a little pissed. A lot of stuff has happened, and I'll admit I had things I've wanted to say. I waited over a century, and that's damned long enough thanks," Axl replied, an odd mixture of regret and annoyance present in his tone.
"Huh. Oh, right you young pups do live longer than humans huh? I always forget that. I've never known anyone for that long, so I suppose waiting to tell someone something for a century would kinda get on my nerves. If I even remembered it at all." Derflinger allowed in a forgiving tone.
"That doesn't matter. Zero, answer my question. Who do you expect to keep you in check if this is what you're doing?" Axl repeated his question, not letting the sword sway him from the topic at hand.
"Simple," Zero replied as he stared into Axl's eyes. "You, Iris, and the memory of X will keep me in check. I suppose even my angry little summoner, and all the people who I wish to protect. These are the people I trust to keep me on the right path. You are all the people I can trust to tell me what to protect."
"Zero, I don't know if that is the right path for anyone to follow. To destroy the people who make war makes sense, I suppose, but do not make that your only reason to live. Opt to protect the peace, rather than keep the peace in place by force. All you're doing is putting yourself firmly back into the 'living weapon' category. You have the freedom to choose. There is a difference between living as a weapon, and fighting for something worth protecting."
Zero looked at him, his face betraying his puzzlement. "What do you mean, what real difference is there?"
Axl wanted to sigh, because he could tell Zero really didn't get it, and that saddened him to some extent. In a resolute voice that Zero had never heard before, Axl did his best to explain. "The difference is, you would go looking for the wars, and destroy them, compared to living that peaceful life you wish to protect and taking up arms as necessary to protect it . If you can't be part of it, understand it, how can you really protect it? You and X both looked at the two extremes without ever seeing the middle ground, ya know? How many times did I have to talk X into action? I guess its the same thing in this too, you're a little too prone to action, and I have to talk you into delaying those actions."
Zero had to reevaluate the young man in front of him. No, he had long ago crossed that line, no matter what his attitude was. "Looks like you really did grow up Axl,"
"Nah, I just listened to X through all his philosophical rants. Not that I agreed with them all, but he at least helped me develop my own reasoning. By the way, that punch in the face was from him. He said that would probably be the only way to get your attention," Axl replied, a smirk on his face as he broke the news to Zero.
"Really..." Zero deadpanned, as he tried to control his laughter. "I suppose I should have expected that."
"He said something about it being the only thing you'd understand, and considering he didn't have access to his body he couldn't do it himself. I was kinda expecting you to kick my ass afterwards. I guess he was right." the younger reploid said with his trademark smirk.
"He normally was." Zero agreed.
"So, when was the last time you saw him?"
Zero looked at Axl and shook his head. "The last time I saw him was... After I destroyed Omega. He spent the last of his energy so he could stand with me in that battle. While he wasn't a physical part of the fight, we were a team... All of us. And I don't think he could stand to let me destroy myself like that, without at least some support. Although I defeated him, I don't know if I would have been able to if I had been totally alone..."
"Wait, so... Woah woah, you killed Omega? Your original body with those enhancements Weil put on it? He should have been trapped in prison up in orbit!" Axl shouted, nearly unhinged from that little surprise. Omega had been retooled by Weil and had run without the limiters that Zero had installed by Dr. Cain. It had taken everything that X and Zero had to seal him away the first time! Just how powerful had Zero's copy body become to have taken Omega one on one?
"Yeah. Weil and him came back..." Zero said as he looked at the sky. "Axl, how much do you know about what I had been doing since I was awakened by the resistance."
"Well, the last thing I recall before I ended up here, was sending information to that new Resistance leader, Elpizo or whatever his name was, including your 'exploits' as they were, and then a green flat bubble thing kinda kidnapped me. Pretty much the same as what happened to you I'm guessing." Axl smiled, as he removed the glove from his right hand, showing a mark strikingly similar to Zero's. "I'm the familiar of a void mage, just like you Zero."
"Wait, what?" Zero demanded as he surged to his feet grabbing the younger reploid by the shoulders. "You're a what?"
"Yep. Windalfr. I can talk to and command beasts of the magical variety, as well as a getting a few fringe benefits as well." Axl smirked in a way that he knew would infuriate Zero.
"So you are telling me there are other void mages?" Zero asked incredulously. "Then how come people don't know how to identify them?"
Axl looked at Zero with a smirk and shook his head. After a suitably theatrical pause he started to explain,"Probably because they are rare. The pope has said that they always come at the same time, and after the founder, each one is limited to a single unclaimed familiar type. They say that the founder's true power can only be brought about when the power of all the void mage are brought together... But since they only show up together at times of great change, it makes it hard to keep active knowledge on them since they're normally regarded as top secret weapons or kept secret to keep religious nuts from going totally overboard. Kinda like a certain kingdom we both know of. Although I am not sure why the hell you got selected for that particular mark, considering the fact you could destroy the world without giving you some sort of power boost like is described in the Pope's records. No offense, but if the spell was intelligent in any way it would probably have given you utility of some kind rather than making it even easier for you to crash a damned continent. I don't think anyone else realizes how close you were to actually crashing Albion during that little scuffle you had up there."
Zero looked at Axl and then looked down chuckling sheepishly as he responded, "It must have been close. I almost unleashed all my power... But something held me back. I'm not even sure what it was."
"Yeah, good luck on that part at least. If that thing would have crashed it would have been especially bad since it was technically over Tristain at the time, and we all know what a large crashing mass can do to the world. That floating continent is far larger than even Sky Lagoon. It probably would have been closer to a colony level incident," Axl said in a flat tone.
Zero shook his head as he scowled at the memory,"Don't remind me. I was kinda going through some... Ya know, I can't really describe it. It was like I was a bunch of Zero's at once and all of them at that point were really pissed for various reasons, and considering I'd been at odds with myself for literally days before that if not longer... I kinda reacted on that shared anger."
"Wait, you have multiple personalities?" Axl demanded, and couldn't help thinking it explained so much in some ways, not that it wasn't unsettling.
Zero shook his head, "Not anymore, no. It was mostly from times my memories have gotten damaged or corrupted."
"Huh... Odd." Axl said, scratching the back of his head while he thought. None of them really did understand their systems when it came down to it.
"Yeah..." Zero nodded as he voiced his agreement.
"So, on another note, do you think we should get back to the school before your summoner completely freaks out and tries to track you down?" Axl asked innocently.
Zero started for a moment then couldn't help but laugh. "Oh... Yeah, Louise is probably freaking out now huh?"
"No, I'm sure she's calm and totally collected and not going to yell at you." Axl said with a laugh.
"Of course not, she'll just throw furniture at me." was Zero's dry reply.
"Hey, you know they care if they're willing to do that much work to let you know they're upset." Axl stated in a matter of fact manner.
Zero couldn't help but stare at Axl as he tried to find some flaw in that logic. Zero sighed as he replied,"Whenever I think I'm the one who's really screwed up you just have to help me out by making me realize that I'm the normal one out of the two of us don't you?"
"Of course, what type of friend would I be otherwise?" Axl replied with a grin on his face that put to a lie all of the talk about him growing up, as he turned to walk down the road. "Well, its a long walk so let me bring you up to date on what information I've gathered so far..."
"Oh... Speaking of information gathering Axl..." Zero said interrupting the semi-serious younger man, then said nothing.
"What about it? I know you hated spys because of all the crap we had to deal with but I'm on your side," He turned and looked at Zero as he started walking backwards. After another moment of silence Axl pressed Zero again, "Well? And what's that stupid grin for?"
"It worked," Zero said with a nonchalant shrug, as he purposely smoothed his facial features.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Axl asked, his face blank showing his total loss on the situation.
"The box. It worked. Perfectly." Zero elaborated minimally, keeping his voice and features as schooled as he could, trying to do his best Tabitha impersonation.
"Wait..." Axl said as he stopped, staring at Zero before he burst out in laughter. "You mean you actually did it?" Axl's laughter nearly doubled him over. "Are you serious? I mean I used to think it was a cool idea, but come on it wouldn't work right?"
"Worked perfectly." Zero said as he passed Axl who only started laughing harder. "Too bad there isn't an arcade or anything here for me to treat you on that little bet we had going."
Axl straightened up, but was unable to halt his laughter entirely. "Oh, it doesn't matter! Just knowing the fact that you, the great legendary Zero, the cold calculating hunter running around hiding in a box is more than payment enough."
***Break***
It was evening, almost time for dinner, and Zero still hadn't been heard from. Louise couldn't help but worry, especially considering Axl had been absent that day, his first day of class. Had he gone after Zero? From where she sat, she kept her eyes on the gate, even knowing that dinner would be starting soon. If he wasn't back by dinner she was going to ask Tabitha for her help in locating her familiar.
"No way! They had you tied up in a rope and were playing a game to see who's sword you would take? Using you as a target?" a voice said loudly, followed by a gale of laughter.
Louise stood up quickly. She recognized that voice! Holding her hands in front of herself she waited a few more moments before the duo walked through the gate.
"Yeah, I almost got away, but that bullshit levitation thing they do kinda stopped me in my tracks. They tied me up and then Tabitha started swinging me. I guess to add a 'Challenge' or something," Zero groused as he remembered the events of that night where he met Fouquet for the first time.
Axl laughed again at the deadpan way it was delivered and then said between chuckles,"Zero you are way more forgiving than me! I woulda put like, a frog or something in her bed as retaliation or painted some sort of design on her face!"
"Hmm... Ya know, I never thought of that. I wonder if its too late to do something to repay them for that..." Zero said as he laughed at the thought of Louise's reaction to that. She hated frogs after all, and it would have only been fair.
"Zero!" Louise called out to him as she ran up to him. "Where have you been?"
Zero looked down at her and noticed the puffy eyes. He sighed as he shook his head, always the puffy eyes. "Sorry, I needed to take a walk to clear my head." Zero said, trying to sound sincerely apologetic.
"A walk is an hour or two... You were gone for more than a day!" Louise complained, as she jabbed her finger into his chest armor. "Don't you remember what you told the princess?"
Zero looked at her for a moment at a total loss, then took a stab in the dark,"Um... Don't give me a noble title? I'll smack you upside the head? I've said a number of things to the princess."
"What? No! You said she didn't need to be alone! Why didn't you talk to us about it?" Louise yelled at Zero.
Zero looked down at his summoner then smiled. "Because, I didn't need to talk about it. I just needed some time alone. Ya know, to sort myself out. You didn't think I'd just up and abandon you, did you?"
"No..." Louise whispered as she lowered her head,"But I wanted to help you, to be there for you! When I felt down, when I was ready to give up on my magic you helped me, you supported me right? What type of mage am I, that I can't even support my own familiar?"
"Louise," Zero replied as he did his best to comfort her,"You don't realize it, but just the fact that you want to help me means more to me than anything else. I've had eight people who truly have cared about me in my entire life before I came here. Just knowing that I have people that want to protect me is enough for me."
"Aww, the beauty of a tsundere letting her feelings out to the helplessly dense and oblivious natural ladies man. Its almost like one of those girly mangas Pallette loved so much," Axl said from behind him, ensuring that Zero knew he was very much still present.
While Zero glared back at him, Louise looked at him and asked,"What is a tsundere, or a manga?"
"Just some words from back home. They don't mean anything really," Zero said as he glared at Axl.
"What? Yes they do!" Axl said narrowly dodging the fist that came after this statement, "But I believe that discretion is the better part of valor in this case," he finished with the same grin on his face having moved a safe distance away.
"Forget what I said about you growing up. Still just a kid," Zero said, trying not to laugh at the antics Axl was using to get under his skin.
"No, really... What is a tsundere? Is it some kind of insult?" Louise demanded, her face turning red at the perceived insult, trying to figure out what it meant.
Axl looked at Zero who frowned at him then shrugged. "A girl with a prickly disposition on the outside, but all warm and fuzzy on the inside who normally can't let her feelings be known so they end up hitting, yelling, or throwing various objects at the person they have feelings for until they're finally backed into a corner or are shocked with the possible loss of the person they like. Some people find that type of thing endearing. Something about breaking through the rough outer shell to find the cute and warm girl on the inside making all that effort worthwhile. Me, I prefer not to have chairs thrown at me. Yes, he told me about that."
Louise's face turned even more red and she looked down as she processed what he said. She felt the heat in her face. Tsundere? Was that how Zero saw her? She'd never even heard a word to describe that! She knew she hadn't been on the best terms with Zero when he first got here, but that had changed, right?
"Ignore him Louise. He's just trying to get a reaction out of you." Zero commented lightly. "This is just typical Axl."
"You don't think I'm really like that do you?" she asked, her face cast down.
"Who knows? You're a little standoffish, but that's besides the point. You're you, so it really doesn't matter. Don't let him get to you," Zero said as he shrugged.
"Aww, still the sweet talking and dashing reploid. Able to tame the sweet and the innocent, as well as the elusive and difficult Tsundere. Next you'll be going for the Yandere!" Axl continued his teasing.
"Axl, you're about to get that live weapon practice match you wanted." Zero replied moving his hand to his saber.
"Ok , ok. I'm done." Axl said quickly, putting his hands up in a quelling motion.
"What's a yandere?" Louise asked curiously.
Zero shook his head,"No, you don't want to know that."
"Why, is it something like a tsundere?" Louise asked curiously.
"No, not even close..." Zero replied trying not to put his palm into his face. Why was Axl doing this?
"Then what is it? They kind of sound the same," Louise reasoned aloud.
"Have you ever heard of the scale of dere?" Axl asked them, as he tried to hold a professional air as he did his best to keep himself ready for Zero's counter attack.
"I haven't even heard about it..." Zero said with some hesitation. "And I'm pretty certain I don't want to..."
"Too bad! You see there are two sides to the dere scale the Yan and the Tsun side. On the Yandere side you have people who are crazily obsessed with the person to the point they'll kill their rivals or even the people they like to prevent someone else having them. They're all lovey and cute on the surface, but don't ever cross them or you're likely to be in for some real bad times. Like, your head in a bag kind of times. Or their rival's head in a bag. In comparison the Tsundere will deny their feelings and be all mean compared to the Yandere who will become so obsessed that they can only think about that one person.. All girls fall somewhere on this scale. Healthy relationships show up somewhere in the center, but I suppose some people like Zero are into abuse would like the Tsundere more." Axl said in a mostly serious tone, although it slipped into teasing by the end of his explanation.
Zero looked at Axl for a moment, then shook his head."Okay, first off, I am not into being abused," Zero said, then pointed at Axl, "And second, why the hell do you have this all so well thought out?"
Axl laughed then said in a light voice,"Give enough time with a few people in your head doing low profile spying and you have all sorts of wonderful conversations. Hell, we've managed to rate all the females we've worked with in the past on the scale. Wanna know where everyone sits?"
"No, no I do not. I"m good." Zero said, giving into his desire and firmly planting his palm in his face. "Lets go get something to eat and pretend this conversation never took place."
"I... I think that would be best, yes." Louise nodded her agreement, knowing her face was still darker than her hair..
"Come on, its not that bad, right?" Axl asked as he followed them. "Right?"
***Break***
As they walked into the academy dining hall Zero noticed that the majority of the female students had shifted to sitting near the guards, while the faculty had had taken care to separate themselves even more from them. He shook his head, even if it was the musketeers they were trying to isolate, the teachers were pushing their students further away.
"Zero!" A female voice called out from the staff tables. Zero looked to the source and noticed Roll rushing up to meet him.
"Are you alright?" she asked, concern clear on her face.
"What? Why wouldn't I be?" Zero asked with some surprise.
"Well, considering what Louise said happened?" Roll replied quickly as she looked into his face, trying to see if he really was alright.
"What? You mean meeting an old friend? I just needed some time to clear my head, nothing that big. Why is everyone making such a big deal about this?" Zero asked, clearly confused by what she was saying.
"Are you really going to just downplay meeting her again?" The blonde girl demanded as she put her fists on her hips and leaned forward in annoyance.
"Huh, how do you know about that?" Zero demanded, had Rock found a way to monitor the area through the information network?
"I already told you, Louise told me!" Roll said she continued to stare at Zero.
"She did, did she," Zero asked lazily as he turned to look at his summoner. "I'm fairly certain I sent you back to go deal with those stupid musketeers and play with those padded staves..."
Louise looked down, unable to give any justification for what she had done. Not that she wouldn't do it again...
"Whatever. I guess you were just worried about me. But I do merit some privacy, even if I am just a familiar, you know." He said coolly
"That wasn't what it was about!" Louise yelled at Zero,
"Hmm, what was it about?" Zero's cold reply chilled those present.
Louise looked at Zero. Steadying her resolve she looked him in the eye and replied in an angry shout,"You're someone I want to protect too! But you never let me know anything... How can I protect you too, if you won't even let me know when something is wrong? I'm not sorry we spied on you!"
"Wait, why am I the one getting yelled here?" Zero demanded. "You're the one who spied on me!"
"Well, she has a point partner. Its not like you're not being a hypocrite when it comes to this. Although the girl should really try not to get caught so easily when spying." Derflinger added from his shoulder.
Louise looked at the sword somewhat gratefully. Even though it was a pain and annoyed her, it had helped her a few times, and the fact that it was standing up to Zero when he was clearly angry was something she couldn't help but be thankful for. "See, even your partner agrees with me! You can't take on the whole world by yourself."
"Actually, he can. Probably without even putting in any real effort either," Axl commented lazily.
"Fine then, even if he can doesn't mean he should!" Louise said as she glared at the young man.
"Now that, I'll agree with. But that's how he always has been. The three of us were a team partially because X and myself were the only ones who were able to keep up with the crazy bastard." Axl said as he placed his hands behind his head.
"Wow, thanks for the compliment Axl," Zero replied sarcastically.
"Wait, you knew X too?" Roll asked as she turned to face him.
"Sure did. fought alongside him for almost two full centuries. Well mostly, I did a lot more black ops and spying in the later part of the last century and he was kinda locked away but yeah."
"Axl, you really should know when to stop babbling. Then again you've always been helpless around a cute girl. Ya know, kinda like that time in Giga City..." Zero commented, trailing off at the end
"Shut up! That was one time!" Axl shouted as he glared at Zero who just answered with a friendly smile.
Roll looked at the two and smiled. It seemed Zero was alright after all,"So, how did you know my brother?"
"Oh, well the three of us were always running around saving the world. Ya know how it is. Dangerous things try and take over the world and we go stop em." Axl announced with a smug, overconfident air.
"Huh. That sounds very familiar... That's so much like what my brothers did as well." Roll commented.
"Oh? Just your brothers? Wait, Zero only mentioned Rock..."
"Oh, I had one other brother, but he was somewhat estranged... Father kept trying to repair him but he wouldn't have anything to do with that. He didn't like the thought that what made him who he was might get damaged. His power core was flawed, worse than mine or Rock's."
"Ah... I'm sorry..." Axl said awkwardly, feeling bad for bringing up bad memories. This was two for two now, and this time he hadn't even meant to...
"It's alright. He lived how he wanted. He admitted he had no regrets the last time I saw him." Roll said cheerfully."I think he valued the fact that he had a 'natural life span' like humans. He got to have his heroic ride into the sunset, ya know?"
"Yeah, not really. I don't care too much for those types of things considering my friends have the bad habit of trying to do that every chance they get," Axl replied while glaring at Zero.
"What? I had reasons for it, even if I didn't think it through as well as I could have!" Zero replied in his defense.
"Okay, so a few people died because of you, no reason to freak out that much. Whatever, at least now you understand you can still try and protect those who are left," Axl dismissing Zero's reasoning with a shrug..
"Axl, almost four billion people is not a 'few' by any stretch of anyone's imagination. That's not even counting the reploids in that four year period." Zero replied heatedly at the disregard Axl was showing for the sheer loss of life, then stopped. His face went pale as he heard the gasp from Roll.
"What?" Roll asked after trying, and failing to collect her thoughts.
"Billion? How much is that?" Louise asked curiously, she'd never heard that term used.
Axl just looked at Zero and shook his head. "Ya know, I'm the one who is supposed to put his foot in his mouth. Not you."
"Shut up Axl." Zero replied with an almost cold fury.
"Those deaths weren't your fault. Wars happen. You stopped Omega anyhow right?" Axl stated gently, knowing he was treading on a heavily mined field.
"Just drop it Axl, I don't want to talk about this anymore. I'll get dinner elsewhere." Zero said, his good mood killed. He turned and walked out of the dining hall leaving Roll and Louise to watch him leave.
Louise looked at her familiar's retreating form, then turned to Axl. She looked at him hesitantly and asked again,"How much is a billion?"
Axl looked at her and shook his head,"You probably don't want to know the answer to that."
"Yes I do!" Louise replied. "He is my familiar! Anything that is his burden is mine as well!"
Axl nodded and said coolly,"A good attitude I suppose, if a bit reckless. Its a thousand millions. I doubt this world has even half that many people populating it."
"T-thousand millions?" Louise asked, her stomach twisting at that thought. Nobody could kill that many people, could they? Zero would never do that! She shook her head violently, "No, no way. That's not possible. He said that it was only a four year period! Gallia, the largest of all the countries has only fifteen million within its boundaries!"
"Yeah, he did say that it was a four year period..." Axl replied. "But it wasn't really his fault. A man named Weil was to blame. Zero just got caught in the middle of it all, just like always... He was touchy about that subject the last time I talked to him too..." Axl shook his head. X didn't know it, but he had had a conversation similar to this with Zero before he sealed himself the last time. While X had tried to stop it, he had been too late to stop the process without damaging Zero... But in the end, Axl knew the truth... It wasn't Zero's fault for sealing himself away the final time, it was Axl for pushing the matter too far..."Let's get an unoccupied table and I'll quietly explain just what was involved in that horrific, yet short war..."
A pale Roll and Louise nodded as they followed Axl to an empty corner of the dining hall.
***Break***
Zero opened the door gently, trying not to make any noise. As he entered the room the light from the moon illuminated the empty bed. As he wondered where Louise could be this time of night, he heard the door close and a somehow feminine growl from behind him. Ah, so there she was. Clever girl...
"Do you know how long I was waiting? You didn't go to the kitchen for dinner either, I tried to check up on you!" Louise whispered in an accusing manner.
"I didn't feel much like eating," Zero replied as he turned to face her. Huh, a girl in a pink night gown had never looked quite so threatening before.
Louise poked his chest as she continued to berate him,"You need to take care of yourself! Even if things aren't going how you like them!"
"Oh, considering how you didn't take care of yourself while I was off treasure hunting, you don't have any room to talk," Zero replied testily.
"That doesn't matter! I still ate!" Louise countered.
"Maybe so, but I don't need to eat. And considering how Roll looked at me when she heard the number of deaths I was responsible for, I didn't really feel like staying. Now you know why you and Cattelya were wrong. The amount of deaths that follow me make me nothing short of a monster. Especially considering that was just a short four year period...There were more... A lot more, over the previous two centuries." Zero shook his head as he spoke.
"You're wrong." Louise replied. "A monster would have killed me. I took you from your world. I treated you like an animal, like a slave...I was planning to collar you like a dog, remember?" Louise took a step closer and poked him in his chest again as she spoke, "If you do have the power to kill that many people, and you are a monster, why am I not dead? Why did you save my life? Fouquet's golem could have crushed me, Wardes could have killed me... I could have been caught in the fray with those Albion mercenaries that came here and died. Tabitha, Guiche, and Kirche would all likely be dead because of those mercenaries in the tavern. What about the mercenaries that you let live? You could have killed them all, most nobles would have killed them all. You said you gave them a second chance!" Louise looked into Zero's eyes, noticing how his eyes seemed to glow dimly in the low light. When he didn't answer, she continued," The reason is, because regardless of everything, you believe in all the things your friend believed in... But circumstances haven't been so kind to you. You were there to shield him from the harsh reality of the world while he came into his own power... Just like you've shielded me. You view yourself as dirty because you've lost that 'innocence' that we still have... But without you, that 'innocence' wouldn't exist. We'd either have lost it, or we'd be dead. That's why X could trust you, because without you, the world he dreamed of could never have been achieved."
"The world he dreamed of never happened... And it sounds like you've been talking to Axl," Zero said, folding his arms.
Louise shot back,"He makes some good points, you can't deny them."
"Maybe, maybe not. I suppose you want me to come to bed?"
"Yes. And change out of your armor. You don't need it here."
Zero just nodded as he complied.
"Zero, I mean it. If you're that worried about it, I will talk to the Princess. I will keep you from the battlefield with everything I have. I have the void, that should be enough. You don't need to fight anymore. I really do mean that." Louise said as she wrapped her arms around him, doing her best to comfort him.
"You're going to end up going, so I'll go no matter what." Zero stated.
"You don't have to. This isn't your world, and you've seen enough death, right?" Louise asked again, an unfamiliar gentleness in her tone.
"Doesn't matter if I see it or not, it will happen. And if I'm not there, the people who don't deserve to die will be the ones to die. Not even mentioning the fact that someone on their side had the ability to produce Pantheon troopers. Even with how relatively weak they are, a small squad of them could bring the entire invasion force to a halt. Tristian needs me there to counter that, if nothing else."
"But they're reploids like you, right?" Louise asked curiously.
Zero laughed,"No, you didn't get a good look at them... They're not like me at all. They're little more than semi-intelligent attack drones. They are made for killing, nothing else. They don't have feelings, they can't be intimidated, they can't feel fear. They'll attack and kill. Or if they're instructed to, capture... But knowing how the rebellion works, I doubt they'll do that. They're all for removing obstacles the old fashioned way."
Louise sighed as she slipped into her bed. "Alright Zero, we'll talk more about it tomorrow... It's time for bed." As Zero settled in wordlessly beside her Louise couldn't help but smile as she wrapped her arms around him. "Good night Zero." She murmured sleepily as the emotional day came to a close.
Zero lay there, listening to the even breathing of the girl laying beside him. Considering what the said, it did have some merit, even if she didn't understand the true scope of the numbers involved. He sighed as he shut his eyes, once again willing his diagnostics to start in earnest.
****
Author's notes.
Sorry for the late chapter. Dug out my old laptop, gonna be slow going on this thing since I do not like its keyboard or its slowness. I'll do my best to keep updating and thank you for the positive responses and the corrections on some of the reference materials.
Just to answer a single quick question that someone sent me, no Zero has NOT charged his saber yet. Power has been directed to it, but it has not been charged as can be done because the charging mechanism by "canon" is shared between the buster and the saber. by removing the charging mechanism from the buster he can insert it into his saber, but that removes the only way the buster functions until it is replaced. And yes, I know in the game you can charge them both at once but the game doesn't always follow its own explanations. Honestly, too much of their listed sources contradict themselves, so I'm just trying to patched it all together.
On Zero's power source, I go with the only printed specs for his power core/supply. That would be Megaman X Command mission. It makes the most sense and it works at least in theoretical science compared to some unknown element that is perfect energy or some stupid crap like that. They never called it Zeronium or anything absurd like all the normal Mega man stuff, all Wily said was that Bass's power supply was a mistake, an accident, if a lucky one. Zero was touted as his masterpiece, non accidental and powerful enough to make Bass look like a toy in comparison but he never named what his core was, just that it was superior to the one that was inside of Bass.
Why the dialog between Axl and Louise about yandere/tsundere? Because he's an asshole at times, and he noticed all the minor(and not so minor) tsundere traits from the stories that Zero told him on the way back. And considering out of all the people in the megaman/X series he's the most likely to put his foot in his mouth or purposely tease someone... And honestly with a bunch of cyber elves having conversations in your head would probably make for some interesting times when you're doing 100-200 hours straight of menial basic work that is below even a basic pantheon troop when you're disguised as a worker reploid or mechanaloid. Hell, during deployment we came up with some of the weirdest crap ever just because we were so massively bored. The boredom he must have felt beats even that, and the fact that he had some help in his head at all times with them probably as stir crazy as him... Yeah, weird thoughts and crazy sayings abound. So saying, Carlos the scorpion, you are still missed. We will never forget.
On the numbers for people dead, looking at the %'s given in the MMZ series, and how the human population tends to grow the number of people dead would be on the conservative side even counting the deaths due to the previous disasters, but that's still a staggering amount. 3,424,657.5 people dead per day. For four years. If that's not enough to convince you "Hey, I'm dangerous. This world needs me NOT in it" I dunno what is. Keep in mind this isn't even estimating how big the reploid population would have been. If it was even half the population of humanity at that time, the deaths per day would have been close to if not over 6 million. Looking at it on that scale, Zero truly is an extinction level event capable of ending life as we know it. And while I know the "real" Zero in his copy body didn't show up till the end of the war, Zero's body was still the cause of all of this. This makes Zero responsible in some way, and with how he tends to dismiss the ideals of X while doing his damnedest to live up to them(or give his life to protect them) it pretty much all boils down to Zero believing that he's just not good enough to say those ideals are his own even if he truly wants to help make the world X wanted. And as dumb as it sounds, it IS an inferiority complex of sorts, not based on the capability of Zero, but based upon his own judgements of his actions and histories. Zero and X are both the closest to humanity that robots in this series have ever come in my opinion, and because of that they're able to feel, think and have all the same problems as humans. Watch Day of Sigma from the PSP release of MMX to get an understanding about how something as simple as hesitation can mean so much.
While Julian/Julio was a helpful if slightly antagonistic character in the series, Axl knows Zero and has some unresolved issues with his former comrade. The reason Julian/Julio was slightly antagonistic to Saito was somewhat as an assist in getting him to mature, or push him farther. Axl does NOT need to push Zero to become stronger or confirm his will to fight and he knows that. Axl will probably snipe at him, but even still they're still 2/3 of the greatest team in the history of the Mega man Universe, and the two of them served together for probably fifty years uninterrupted. This is the primary reason behind Axl giving away the secret of his powers as well as the true story behind the void users so easily. Axl is not going to have anything in common with Julian's personality, and this should be evident by the fact that he gave himself away to Zero at the get go about being a void familiar.
Now, quick actual definition of Yandere / Tsundere for those who don't know exactly what they really mean or who are going to say Axl didn't explain it right. Yan means mental or emotional illness Tsun tsun means to turn away in disgust. Dere dere means to show affection. Yandere and Tsundere are a combination of those words and were mostly started by fandom and in anime. Yandere are people who are relatively or totally normal but kinda go(Or totally go) psycho when people get in the way of their love, while tsundere won't admit their feelings and instead lash out. Now you know, knowing is 1/4th the battle blah blah, GI Joe lied.