Gundam SEED Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Hell Knows No Fury Like A Woman Scorned ❯ Eris Revived ( Chapter 21 )

SailorStar9: A new chapter up and no review. You guys don't love me anymore. (Wails). Anyway, this is Chapter 21. If you guys want to know whatever happened to Cagalli, then you have to read this chapter. Read and review.

Disclaimers: Don't own, don't sue or I'll sink a SEED mode Kira after you. And no flames. Flames will extinguished by a fire extinguisher or used to burn joss sticks.

Chapter 21: Eris Revived

Cagalli fingered the Nibelung Ring on the ring finger of her left hand and smiled, an evil glint in her eyes. The shadow from before had taught her how to use her untapped magic and helped her experiment with her magic, teaching her certain spells that were certainly very handy for the jilted girl. Who knew a simple Natural like her could have magic just like that accursed Snow Goddess? The former ORB Representative then curled her right hand over the Golden Apple that laid on the round side table beside her. A malevolent Cosmo surrounded her as Eris manifested through her.

The apparition from before had told her of its plan to remove Chione permanently. Once she had Chione in her grasp, she would use the Golden Apple to drain the Snow Goddess of her life-force. Once Chione is dead, Cagalli would take over Chione's lifeless body and return to the lands in glory. With Chione gone, Cagalli will be able to take Chione's place as Chione and have everything that Chione possessed, be it Sanc, Colony L6, or better yet, Athrun.

Eris waved her hand over the crystal ball on the side table beside her and an image appeared.

Viewing Globe Image One

Flashback to Chapter 15, in the forest where Athrun and Merci were passionately kissing.

Just then, a gunshot was heard, the bullet missing the Sanc Princess' shoulder by inches. His military training kicking in, Athrun turned around, whipping out his gun and placing himself in front of his hostess. Still covering her, the couple was about to inch out of the thicket when the would-be assassin leapt down from the trees.

“You should have remained to L6 and not interfered with the EAF. In the name of Lord Djibril, die Peacecraft wretch!” the assassin hissed, training his gun at the Sanc Princess.

Athrun quickly fired his weapon, disarming the assassin in an instant. Another shot from his gun killed the assassin in an instant.

Behind him, Merci sighed and sank to her knees.

“What did I do to deserve this?” she muttered.

“You're a Peacecraft.” Athrun told her simply. “Your ideals don't really concur with what the EAF had in mind.”

Then, a glint of a gun alerted the ZAFT pilot that they were not yet out of the woods. Aiming his weapon behind them, Athrun fired a shot , dispatching the second assassin easily.

Pulling her up, he joked, “Looks like I can't let you go around Sanc alone anymore. You need a bodyguard.”

“What? Are you offering?” Merci kidded.

“Maybe.” Athrun's eyes twinkled in amusement.

“But...” Merci blinked, a small flick of doubt in her eyes.

Kissing her briefly, Athrun sighed, “Just allow me to stay by your side until the Minerva leaves, okay?”

“Besides,” he grinned, “What kind of guest would I be when I can't even protect my hostess?”

“Fine.” Merci sighed in resignation.

“Good girl.” Athrun teased.

End of Viewing Globe Image One

Viewing Globe Image Two

It was already very late into the night by the time the pair returned to Merci's bedroom. Leaving Athrun in the room to undress, Merci grabbed her nightie and stepped into the bathroom.

“You're officially driving me crazy on purpose.” Athrun growled, his emerald eyes travelling over her barely clothed body, once Merci stepped out of the bathroom. The moonlight shone through the window, giving the ZAFT pilot a pretty good view of his beloved's choice of nightwear.

With a tailor's precision, the virgin white gown hung against the curves of her figure perfectly, and the sides of the dress looked like crisscross silken shoe laces that revealed to him that the only thing she had on was that gown.

“Maybe, that's my idea.” Merci joked playfully.

Athrun's growl deepened as he grabbed the silvery-blue-haired girl by her waist and kissed her passionately.

He laid her on the bed and inserted his fingers though the shoe string openings of her dress to touch her creamy softy skin as he pulled her closer towards him. Merci moaned, pressing her body against his.

Pulling his fingers out, Athrun panted as he broke away.

“Luckily, I can control my hormones around you.” he told her. “Otherwise, I'd just let this carry on.”

“Merci...” he looked at her.

“Hmmm?” the girl muttered.

“Just...” he started, combing his fingers through his hair. “Don't take this the wrong way.”

“I want you.” he admitted. “But not now.”

“I know.” Merci smiled understandably.

End of Viewing Globe Image Two

Cagalli steamed in anger as the second image waned off.

That should be me! she fumed. I should be the one by his side! I should be the one he keeps so close! I should be the one he kisses! Her frame began to tremble ever so slightly in rising fury. When must I act?

Not now, Cagalli. The dark shadow in the Galaxy Cauldron replied. You are not fully Eris yet. Be patient and wait until the time is right.

And when will it be? Cagalli pressed.

I'll tell you when the time is ripe. The dark shadow answered.

She waved her hand over the crystal ball and dug deep into herself, calling on every recess of magic she possessed for her task. Such lovely pain she would cause the Snow Goddess before she took what rightly belonged to her. It was perfect.

You will feel the pain I have felt at your reappearance, little witch. Athrun is mine!

After her Patron Saint left her mind, Cagalli began to contemplate on how ORB really came about. Officially, when Uzumi Nara Athha took over Sanc, and Herbert and Iris Anderson were forced into exile, there were no opposition and the takeover was peaceful. But in reality, ORB was built on blood; the blood of the Peacecraft loyalists.

You see, an ambitious seed had already long been planted in Uzumi Nara Athha's mind. Not satisfied with being just second place to the Peacecraft family, Uzumi had plotted to remove the Peacecrafts and take over their place as ruler of Sanc. After the Peacecrafts were forced into exile, Uzumi then introduced what he called 'patriotic re-education' to the then citizens of Sanc.

Obviously, there were many who were still loyal to their exiled rulers and they refused to obey. And that was the start of a bloody regime.

One prime example was a young music student by the name of Kathryn Culley who was doing a documentary on Sanc music and culture. She was not in Shiatsu, one of the major towns in Sanc, long before policemen blocked her path between the stalls of the marketplace and marched her to jail. She was held incommunicado for more than a year. Finally, in response to a letter from the American President, a Representative from the newly-renamed ORB Embassy in Washington acknowledged that Culley was in jail; her crime, gathering 'sensitive intelligence' and engaging in unspecified 'illegal separatist activities'. Two months later, the Uzumi-controlled Radio ORB declared that Culley had been sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment. Her crime was 'spying for the Sanc government-in-exile'. The authorities gave no evidence to support the charge. Culley was said to have 'confessed' and secret Sanc sources revealed that she was in Tramo, an isolated forced-labour camp some 500 kilometres east of Lhata. No foreign delegation had ever visited the prison and the inmates were denies visitation rights.

Cagalli knew that the violation of Kathryn Culley's rights was by no means unique. By the time she was old enough to understand, Uzumi had told her frankly that no fewer than 1200 citizens of Sanc, mostly political prisoners, were being held in the Athha jails and like Culley, most were denied legal representations or contact with their families and many were tortured.

One of them, Walden Satsu, fled Sanc after 33 years in detention, taking with him a collection of manacles, thumb cuffs and electric cattle prods used by the prison guards. The aged watch-mender lost all his teeth after a guard jammed an electric prod into his mouth, leaving his gums and tongue scarred for the rest of his life. When Cagalli asked for the reason of this cruelty, Uzumi simply told her that it was his desire to bring Sanc under his direct control and to force the people to acknowledge him as their rightful liege.

Unwilling to be re-educated, a number of Sanc loyalists fled underground.

Tiering Choekey was typical of the thousands of former political prisoners who had sought the refuge of the underground resistance. She was barely 14 on a gloomy December morning when she and her two friends from her Lhasa junior high school walked through the city streets waving a Sanc national flag and shouting 'Uzumi quit Sanc! Bring back the Peacecrafts!'. The trio were quickly arrested, but refused to admit any wrongdoing or implicate others. From then on, from midday to sunset, for two months, Choekey was questioned, punched, beaten and prodded with electric batons. Denied of treatment, the wounds on her ankles and hands became infected. Choekey was detained for a year without charges, legal representation or visitors. Finally, she was sentenced to three years in prison for her anti-Athha demonstration and she served the remainder of her sentence in a labor camp.

At least Choekey was alive. Shah Kwangju, her 15-year-old senior caught singing a song praising the Peacecrafts, died of kidney failure after being beaten with electric cattle prods and plastic tubing filled with sand. At least 35 citizens of Sanc were known to have died from beatings sustained in prison over the Athha Revolutionary.

As time passed, political prisoners were simply detained for expressing their support for their exiled rulers, the Peacecrafts. Such speech was classified by Uzumi was 'endangering state security'.

Ingmar, a former Party member of the Athhas, had admitted that in closed-door meetings, Uzumi and his closest Party bosses confessed that they had failed to win the hearts and minds of the citizens of Sanc. Henceforth, they would crush any dissent. A top official declared that their goal was to wipe out the language, culture and identity of Sanc at the grassroots level and replace everything with Uzumi's ideals. Entrusted with distributing and exhibiting party propaganda films, Ingmar was forced to rethink his loyalties. He set up a clandestine network, and for 16 month, waged a poster and letter-writing campaign calling for the reinstatement of the Peacecrafts. Identified by his handwriting, Ingmar was arrested, tortured and jailed for three years.

Back on the Archangel, Chione stiffened slightly at a sudden, insistent yet gentle crackle of someone's raising Cosmo along the edge of her senses. Everything else faded to the backs of her mind as she closed her eyes and concentrated her attention on this new occurrence. She could feel it collecting to a point that was as yet undetermined. Nonetheless, to the Snow Goddess, this was a very bad omen.

“Queen.” Kakyuu looked at Chione, a flick of concern in her eyes.

Noting her gaze, Chione inquired, “You felt it too.”

Kakyuu merely nodded before adding, “It's isn't Apollo.”

Chione agreed, “It's much darker. Much colder, yet…”

“Familiar.” Kakyuu completed the sentence.

“Yes.” Chione nodded.

Just then, her sapphire eyes widened at the sense of the very familiar Cosmo, the way too familiar Cosmo.

“Eris...” the Snow Goddess hissed in realization.

“But how?” Kakyuu gasped in horror.

“I've felt something dark stirring in the Galaxy Cauldron for some time, but I couldn't pinpoint what.” Chione replied. “But it would seem that Deanor's seal had been broken.”

“Deanor?” Kakyuu echoed.

Chione noted, “Deanor is a being that was created by the Twisting Nether, an ethereal dimension of chaotic magics that connected the myriad worlds of the universe together, and it was home to an infinite number of malefic, demonic beings, who sought only to destroy life and devour the energies of the living universe. The first Selenity managed to seal Deanor within the depths of the Cauldron. But now, it will seem that his seal has been weakened enough for him to break free. I'll have to enter the Cauldron and fin Deanor to re-seal him once again.”

“Agreed.” Kakyuu replied.

SailorStar9: Well, this chapter's a small cut from the battlefield. The Archangel and Kira go back into battle in the next chapter. Until then, read and review.