Word Drama V

Tokyo Settlement
September 13, 2017

It was all for nothing.

That same line repeated over and over as Kallen maneuvered the Guren Nishiki through the still burning ruins of her homeland, refusing to silence. Tears threatened to overwhelm her stinging eyes, but somehow she managed to hold them back. She couldn't afford to cry, no matter how much she wanted to. No matter how much the words thundered within her mind and her soul, more so than the sky overhead head and the broken ground around her. More so than even the end of the world itself.

Even now, as her machine's landspinners ground through the hellfire, it all remained a fixture within her memory. The image of Zero's mask splitting open. His confession that he had, in fact, used the Japanese people – including her – for his own aims. Suzaku claiming that he had lied to all of them, much to his adversary's direct admittance, before the latter pleaded Suzaku for a truce in order to save the kidnapped Nunnally. Suzaku then raising his gun, cursing the Demon King's very existence, only for that very demon to slap a sakuradite bomb to his chest, challenging Suzaku to fire before trying make a truce once more. And finally, an enraged Suzaku proclaiming that demon's existence a mistake, causing the opposite gun to rise and both to draw a bead…

With only two distinct "bangs" and the events that occurred thereafter, remaining.

Indeed, It was all for nothing. Everything that Kallen had believed in – everything that she had believed in him – had been but a lie. A lie that had destroyed everything that she had cherished, everything that she had fought for, just as the smoldering ruins around her emphasized. A lie that had cost her heart, and her soul, to say nothing of Japan's.

She wasn't done yet however. In spite of the wanton destruction and the scattered remains of both artificial construct and human bodies – both of which were as far as the eye could see – there were two things that Kallen still held out for. The last two people in the world that truly mattered to her now. She would reach them; through the flames and death, she would get to them and bring them away from it all.

For they were the last vestiges of her life now. The life that Naoto had wanted for all of them, but was denied. The life that Zero had promised to her, but…

Mother, father… Please… Kallen pleaded as she again forced back her tears, steeling her gaze through her cockpit monitor while ignoring the remnants around her. Please be alive…

They had to be alive, especially after her last meeting with her father, right before the SAZ. He had promised her then, after confessing his original regrets, that they would be a family once more. That, once the SAZ was ratified, he intended to divorce his then-wife, cut his ties with the other Stadtfelds back in Britannia and, once she had been rehabilitated and her sentence cleared, marry the one woman he had ever truly loved. They would be a family, a real family, in the new Japan that Princess Euphemia had promised them.

Alas, that new nation would never come to pass, as the following events had ensured. Kallen had originally cursed herself for believing such drivel; that Japan could ever be reborn, as a fair and just nation no less. Whether by the hand of her late brother, a Britannian Princess or a self-proclaimed Demon King, it was a promise that was doomed to never be kept. The burning hell around her further reinforced that realization, as did the field of dead within.

Even so, Kallen still had some remnant of hope, a small light that she could reach toward through the darkness. Her father had been visiting her mother during the SAZ; in fact, he wanted to watch it with her. See history made by her side, or something to that effect. Regardless, he had remained there with her, even as the whole of Tokyo fell out around them – literally – and the Black Rebellion had erupted in full force. Thus they were there now, having remained undercover even through the destruction. Waiting for her to find them.

So she grasped onto that one feint light and moved the Guren forward. Wading through the destruction and the dead, so that they she may reach that one thing that mattered now. She could figure out what to do afterward later, she resolved to herself, managing to keep herself composed even as the number of corpses seemed to increase around her. So long as…

And then she turned the corner, where she would find her providence. Instead, as her despair reemerged from deep within, she found only anguish. No…!

There, directly in front of her now, had been St. Luke's General Hospital. The building was still standing technically, but that hardly mattered. One side of it had been blown away by a detonation, while the other half was completely enshrouded in flame. Her mother's room had been in the former half.

And just like that, the light was snuffed out, leaving only darkness. Such that Kallen could only hold her gaze onto the burning ruin, her breathing almost stilled and her eyes blank and empty. The tears now streamed down her cheeks at last, but they went otherwise noticed. She could only look out through the Guren's main camera toward where the last two vestiges of her hope, and her will, had once been.

Only after what seemed like an eternity did she at last move, her head lowering down, eyes squeezed shut as she wept in near silence. There really was nothing left for her now, for everything had been taken from her. Everything, and everyone, she had believed in and fought for were now gone. Swept away at one point or the other, whether by Britannian arms or an exploding wave of sakuradite. She had nothing more, and because of that, there was nothing. Nothing but sorrow and suffering.

"Damn it!" she screamed, almost bashing her hands against the Guren's controls in one final bellow of rage. It too waned fast; there wasn't even any point for that. "Damn…it…!"

Once upon a time, she had known it would ultimately come to this. Knew precisely that it would end like this, for there could be no other conclusion. Naoto's death had instilled that knowledge into her, and for the longest time she had simply accepted it, and her place in it. Effectively resolving herself to die, like her brother had, for a dream that could never be made true.

Only for he to enter in and change everything. Only through him had she forgotten that truth, and had actually dared to believe. Believe that she would not die in emptiness, but could live and fight for a dream that was possible. And much more, a dream that she could live in thereafter. Especially…

She shook her head as she forced back those particular emotions. In the end, that too had been an unfulfillable dream in itself. One that she had either been too stupid or too deluded to realize.

And so, forcing herself to move through her ongoing cries, she reached out and tapped her controls for what would be the last time. A moment later, a specific screen, one that displayed a ten second countdown, appeared on her central monitor. After a few more key taps, the countdown began. As did the final moments of Kallen Kouzuki's existence.

Still crying muffled tears, she watched as the numbers drew less and less, gradually making way toward the detonation of the Guren's Yggdrasil drive. At the very least there was still that. It would be a quick death – something that did not always come in battle – and it would spare her from all that would follow. Being forced to live on as an empty shell, alone and devoid of any form of happiness and companionship.

In fact, she dared hope, if only one last time, that it would not actually be the end for her. That, if at all possible, it would allow her to reunite with her family. In a place well removed from the hate and suffering of this world. This world that he had promised to change, one way or another, but had fallen short as well. This world that would be forever behind her. As with its evil.

Thus as the seconds dwindled closer, Kallen closed her eyes and waited. Just as the timer at last hit the three second mark. Two… One…

Only the awaited detonation did not come. Opening her bleary vision, Kallen could only look on and see that the timer had frozen right in the last second. The indicator reading "SELF-DESTRUCT OVERRIDDEN" in Japanese overhead.

What!? How! she mentally stammered, hands flying over the controls to enact a system check. There was no way that could have been damaged as well, could…?

"I'm sorry," a voice from outside spoke as its bearer casually walked before her machine, her hand raising a remote toward her main camera. "But it's not yet time for you to die Kallen."

Camera zeroing in on the intruder, Kallen suddenly shouted over the loudspeaker. "You!"

"Indeed," C.C. exclaimed with equal casualness as she remained standing in front of the Guren. In spite of all that was happening, the mysterious woman was very much out in the open in only her devicer suit, not even wearing a breather mask. Yet she seemed entirely unaffected by the smoke and brimstone, as though it were but a surrounding breeze.

"Why!?" Kallen demanded as she had the Guren redraw its fork knife. "What more could you want with me!?"

C.C. responded as though the answer were obvious. "As I said, it's not yet time for you to die," she explained simply, while taking a side glance around her surroundings. "While I admit that this, among other things, is a major setback, I assure you that it does not end here. That there still remains much to be done."

She then looked back toward the Guren's blue eye cameras. "Thus, I cannot afford for you to die here," she posited. "And neither can Zero."

"Zero is dead!" Kallen bellowed as she drove her right Sutherland arm to smash the woman where she stood. Right before the blue metal fist could make contact however, C.C. made a simple leap back, narrowly avoiding being smashed into paste. The move admittedly took Kallen by surprise, but that didn't stop her. "Everyone is dead!"

She lashed out, over and over, yet C.C. evaded each and every attack. As though she were dodging the arms and legs of a human rather than a four meter tall war machine.

"There's nothing left!" Kallen continued to roar, even launching her slash harken after her insipient target. Only for C.C. to simply sidestep around the rocket anchor, and then jump away as Kallen smashed her fork knife blade into the ground where she had been. "All of it! Japan, my family, my friends, everything that I loved! All of it gone!"

She fired off a grenade, but C.C. dodged that as well. "What more can I possibly fight for!?" she demanded as she pressed her attacks. "What more can I live for now!?"

"For Zero," C.C. offered as she sidestepped another right fist. "You fought for him before. Why not continue to do so?"

Kallen felt her fury bubble even further. "Zero's dead!" she roared as she slashed her fork knife at C.C., only for her to handspring away. "And even if he weren't, it still wouldn't matter!"

"Why? Because he 'lied' to you? 'Used' you?" C.C. inquired, jumping away from another fork knife attack. "Fine, he had ulterior motives, and he wasn't exactly forthcoming about them. But that doesn't change what he ultimately aimed for."

"And what was that!?" Kallen demanded as she fired her slash harken again. "That 'just' and 'peaceful' world he kept preaching about!? Or vengeance against Britannia for whatever reason!?"

C.C. shrugged. "I would think you, most of all, would know the answer to that Kallen."

Again the Red Dragoness felt her rage surge. Letting out a great and terrible roar, she launched the Guren after her opponent at full speed. Its right fist raised high and ready to smash at last.

Yet again the fist did not connect however. Right as it came upon her, C.C. jumped and landed on the outstretched arm, then moving into a dash. She ran up the entire length of the arm, coming upon the back cockpit block, before Kallen could realize what was even happening. Then, with another press of the remote, she tapped the button and caused the cockpit hatch to open.

The results were to be expected, though with a minor twist. Now exposed to the burning air, Kallen's lungs hitched in oncoming asphyxiation. However, she barely paid attention to this, instead drawing her Luger – the prized family heirloom her father had given her in their last meeting – took aim and fired a shot. One that launched directly into C.C.'s chest.

Thus, as she unconsciously struggled for breath, Kallen was taken back to see C.C. not fall from the bullet. Though she swayed somewhat, the green haired woman remained standing, even as her white devicer suit became stained with blood. All while her amber eyes looked on without forward emotion as Kallen – between her physical exhaustion and her present inability to gather oxygen – at last blacked out…

Eyes blinking open, Kallen was quick to realize that, no matter how much she wished it, she was not dead. Not only was the whole of Japan still burning around her, but she was able to breathe again, an oxygen mask now covering her face. Thus, as her eyes blinked into focus, she pulled raised herself up and into a sitting position. Right before looking over to the one that had "saved" her. "Why?" she demanded.

Sitting across from her in front of the now inactive Guren, C.C. shrugged. "As I said over and over, it's not yet time for you to die," she answered back plainly.

Straightening up further, Kallen saw that the opposite woman was still not wearing so much as a rebreather against the smoke and fumes. While the blood stain on her chest had greatly enlarged.

In turn, C.C. noted Kallen's confusion toward her, but ignored it for the time being. She could, and would, explain that later. "Zero is not dead," she pressed on, regaining Kallen's attention to her words. "In spite of all that has happened, he too will live past this."

Kallen sniffed at those words. "It doesn't matter," she said as she stared at the ground in disdain. "Even if Suzaku spared him, he will still be executed once he's taken back to Britannia…"

"No he won't," C.C. countered. "In fact, he could not be in a safer place now."

Upon Kallen's responding disbelief, C.C. clarified. "As impossible as it may seem, I speak the truth," she emphasized. "The Emperor will spare Zero. And much more, he will ensure his survival for that much longer."

"So what?" Kallen exclaimed derisively. "Even if he does live, it doesn't matter."

She again glanced toward the burning hospital. "Nothing matters anymore."

C.C. raised an eyebrow toward her charge. "You surprise me Kallen," she spoke observantly. "I would have thought you, of all people, understood…"

Kallen actually laughed at that insinuation. "I only thought I understood," she snarled, bring her knees up to her chest. "Only now, however, do I realize the actual truth."

"Which is?" C.C. asked with clear intent.

At that question, Kallen opened her mouth to give a long due answer. That it had been a lie from the very beginning. That Zero had been using her, those she fought alongside and those she fought for. That his brave new world of peace and prosperity was but bait to attract idiots like her into doing his bidding, as they all should have expected from the beginning. That they had all paid the ultimate price for their stupidity, their daring to hope in the supposed vision of a false savior. That she, perhaps most of all, has paid the ultimate price for her own blind faith; her sheer stupidity in daring to believe, and…

However, just as she was about to utter the first word, a certain memory entered her mind. That of Yokosuka, the infamous last stand of the JLF. Specifically where she entered that hangar and encountered Zero, sans his mask and uniform, sitting against the wall in seeming contemplation. And, dare she continue to believe, remorse.

That remembrance alone silenced those terrible, terrible words in Kallen's throat before they could ever be uttered. As a result, her expression softened considerably as she looked back toward the ground, her eyes now quite distant. As well as in deep contemplation of their own.

"I see," C.C. exclaimed, just managing to resist smiling. That, more than anything else, had been the answer that she had hoped for.

Frowning as she realized, perhaps, she had understood all along, Kallen closed her eyes in resignation. "I want to know everything Cera," she spoke softly but determined. "Everything."

C.C. nodded. "And you will," she replied in approval. "Once we're among the other survivors of course."

She then considered for a moment. "However, I can tell you this much now. It's actually C.C."

Kallen looked up with a raised eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"My name," C.C. clarified. "It's C.C."

The Red Dragoness blinked again, this time at perplexity. "C.C…" she repeated, looking down again. This time however, her expression was one in newfound bemusement. "That's a very strange name."

This time C.C. did smile. "I'm a very strange girl."

That earned a light, yet very much legitimate laugh from Kallen. Right as the sound of an approaching VTOL could be heard from above.