Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Into The Void ❯ Painful Revelation ( Chapter 11 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By: MellyN

Into the Void

By: Melissa Norvell

Chapter 11: Painful Revelation

'What happened? I don't get it. . .Why wasn't it fired?' Loreli thought to herself in confusion. She was sure that she and Zidane had activated it right. It should have gone through with the sequence regardless of the fact that Rubio and his group had made it to the top of the mountain. "I have to go back and investigate."

"Hey! What did you guys think of Valentino?" Sari bragged. "Wasn't he just awesome?"

"I have to hand it to him; he's very intelligent to crack a code like that," Agata complimented. She was glad that someone like Valentino was on their side. With genius like that, they would have a chance against Ibuki if they had to face him soon.

"It's almost like he knew it…" Yaritza said to herself. 'Which is weird.'

"That's because I did," he responded simply. There was no use in pretending that he knew nothing about the very organization that he came from.

Sari turned her gaze to Rubio. "So, you're a terrorist, Rubio? What's up with that?" Valentino was honest about his origins; she couldn't say the same for her little silver-haired friend.

"Yeah, why didn't you tell us?" Vincent helped interrogate. That would have been an important thing to mention.

"This is news to me," Yaritza said. "You look pretty normal not that it matters, because I was taught not to underestimate my enemies," Rubio just seemed like some refined man that was thrown into society. The fact that he was supposed to be a terrorist really baffled her.

"You're a head hunter. Agata's in the military. Sari's village was killed by terrorists…Do I even really need to tell you why?" Rubio shot back. There were so many events that could have gone bad from all of that. So many people were after his head, and they all had good reason. It wasn't like he could trust any of them when they told him things like that. Rubio did what he thought was for the best, and what he thought would keep him alive the longest.

"No wonder you didn't want to go back to base," the eye patch clad woman stated matter-of-factly. It all made sense now. She had thought that he was shady before, now those feelings were heightened.

"Rubio McDougall…I know you now…" Ionna made a connection.

"Oh joy," Rubio dead panned. Just how famous was his name? Was he as much of a wanted man as Valentino was? Surely, he couldn't have been that horrible.

"But I'm not after you. I'm after him. Just don't stand in my way," She warned.

"He's all yours," Rubio gestured with his hands, practically offering him to her.

"Great."

"He killed my girlfriend," the man harped on the subject. He wasn't going to let it go, and Valentino would hear about it until the end of time.

"You can have some."

"Yeah, you get to kick him in the head when we're done," Sari told him sarcastically.

"Thanks," Rubio sweat dropped.

A hand clutched the cold and icy snow. It then reached up again, but didn't have enough power to finish its task and came down limply, laying flat in the snow. The hand pushed down as a masculine form popped up from the snow. It fell from him like a shower of powder and he spit a few chunks from his mouth.

"Damn," Zidane coughed, "at least I can breathe now, but I can't move…Ugh…" The scar faced man passed out, half way covered in snow. Who knew how long he had been lying there, and if he had frostbite or not.

"Man, these avalanches really did some work," Sari said as the group walked around in the destruction below. She glanced around at all of the fallen rocks, as well as the destroyed mountain base.

"No joke," Yaritza agreed. "I'm glad to hear that there will be no death today- whoa!" The ninja yelled as she tumbled over something that looked like a snowy mass. Agata gasped and Rubio looked surprised.

"Gack!" Vincent had a horrified look on his face as his sights laid upon what Yaritza tripped over.

"Hey, you fell over…an arm," Sari pointed at the limb that poked out of the snow.

"That's attached to a body…and a face," Valentino's twin looked over the body, her crimson gaze following it to its destination.

"Mmpfh! Grrmpf!" Mumbling noises could be heard from beneath the snow. Whoever was buried was definitely alive, and vocalizing their existence.

The female arose and looked back to the frost-covered form. "Sorry what was…" In mid-sentence, an annoyed expression crossed her face, realizing who she had fallen over and pointing to them. "You're…"

Zidane looked back at her from his position on the ground. "Rivalry aside," he said in a pained voice.”Could you help me out?"

"You just tried to kill us…" Sari scrutinized. Why in the hell would they help him? So he could turn around and betray them? Sari wasn't about to fall for that crap. He could stay in the snow and rot with the rest of his men for all she cared.

"Yeah, let's save the guy who tried to kill us," Vincent rolled his eyes sardonically. He knew it wasn't a good idea, either. If they helped that guy out of the snow he was going to scream.

"There comes a time in someone's life where they do something they regret…and my life has been full of those moments…I made mistakes…but don't we all?" The scar-faced man informed. After all, it was his job and he had no escape from Ibuki, but now that he was presumed dead, he could get away.

"You act like we're being cold!" Sari yelled. There was no way that she was just going to feel bad for someone who tried to kill her and tricked her into trying to go to Polport Harbor a while back. She really had no sympathy for this man.

"Yeah," Yaritza agreed.

"You don't have to help me. Hell, I don't expect you to help me, but do understand that I was only doing my job," he stated. It wasn't like he exactly expected any of them to willingly lend him a hand.

"I understand, but then again…I know what you're saying," Rubio agreed with a frown and guilt set upon his features. "Your words pierce deep. Deeper than any bullet ever could."

"I just want you to know, you're still a Grade A creep," the spunky girl griped. This definitely wasn't her idea at all. If it was up to her, she would leave that guy lying in the snow.

"I know. I'm not asking you to give a damn."

Agata glared at the man lying below her with a cold stare. She was trying to sort through the good and the bad of this situation. She never knew when someone might betray her and at this point, everyone was suspicious. She didn't even trust the other members of her team that much now that Rubio unveiled himself as an assassin.

"I'm a wanted man, but you pass judgment on me," he leveled the woman's cold stare. "You're working with a wanted man, Sergeant Battissia."

The woman sighed, releasing him of her deadly stare. "You're right," she finally agreed. She realized how hypocritical that was.

"You act like you're torn between staying and leaving," Vincent had noticed that his words and face seemed out of place for the situation. Was Agata really having some kind of pathos on this guy?

"Well, it's either go with you all, or drag my carcass back to Ibuki and I'm not about to get tortured again. I don't like him any more then you all do, but it's my own fault. I don't want your pity or sympathy. My life has been a lie and I'm still lying to myself. I've come to a painful revelation while lying here that a lot of things I really accomplished aren't as prestigious as I made them out to be." If Zidane was going to get out of there, then he was going to go far away from Ibuki and all of the assholes that he worked with. He would have rather had a cold death in the snow than go back to that hellhole. Maybe, if he was able to escape, he could rescue Udo and the others.

"How long have you been here?" The bounty hunter asked.

"Long enough," Zidane replied, and after he uttered those words, Rubio got to his knees and started shoveling out snow with his hands. The man tried to dig him out of his snowy grave.

"What are you doing?" Sari was astonished that he would just jump in there and begin out of nowhere. After all, she wasn't done interrogating him yet.

"He deserves a chance, right?" Rubio didn't make eye contact with the girl but continuing to dig out more snow.

"Hmmm…Let me see…" The girl held a finger to her cheek and looked up, as if pretending to be in a state of deep contemplation before she turned her head swiftly back to him with an angry look on her face. "No!"

"No?"

"He's almost shot you, tried to fight us, lied to me in the village…Yes, I am still made at that. He tried to get us killed and changed the signs and floor numbers," she pointed out his obvious flaws.

"We gave you chances," Rubio told her, blue eyes glaring at her. Why did she have to be so impossible to get along with?

"You just say that because you're a terrorist," she argued.

"Look, who cares?" Vincent chimed in. "He'll get hypothermia if we leave him out here." What good did it do any of them to have a death on their shoulders?

"Isn't that what we WANTED to happen?!" Sari fumed.

"Not anymore," the bounty hunter kneeled on the other side of the fallen man and began to shovel out snow with his hands as well.

"You guys make no sense!" Sari screamed in irritation.

"Thank you," Zidane replied lowly.

'Yeah, you'd better be thanking me!! Jerk!!' Sari's thoughts berated him as Valentino joined the dig.

"I can't walk. I think my body went into shock and my legs are completely numb," the bald man told them as they were digging. He knew he'd been out for a while and suffered a dangerous fall. No doubt his body was feeling the repercussions of all it had been through. Numb and pain co-existed in different parts of his body, so much so that he could no longer feel the cold of the snow around him.

Once Zidane was out of the snow, Ionna picked him up by the legs and Sari wrapped his arms around her neck, much to her protest.

"Ionna…"

"Wait," the one in question paused in her actions. "I knew you were familiar."

"You haven't changed a bit," the bald man spoke of her endearingly. He struggled through his pain to smile at her.

"I didn't recognize you," red eyes stared at the man she was holding as a sense of nostalgia overtaken her. It had been so long since she'd seen him, and he had changed so much. Zidane was indeed a sight for sore eyes.

"I knew you'd get the picture," Valentino told them.

The red-head arched an eyebrow and cast a bewildered expression at the two. "More people know each other?" What kind of group was this?

'What is this? Déjà vu?'

"He's my ex-boyfriend."

"WHAT!?! YOU WENT OUT WITH HIM!?!?!" Sari screamed at the top of her lungs in disbelief. The two of them didn't even look like they belonged together.

"Yes. Why are you being so loud?"

"They haven't heard you in Canada yet," Yaritza replied sarcastically. She knew that Sari had a loud mouth, but that time it was particularly obnoxious.

"Grr.." The other girl glared. Yaritza couldn't talk about having a big mouth; she was the queen of the loud mouthes.

"Is there something wrong with him?"

"…"

"I used to be madly in love with him," Ionna informed everyone on her relationship with the renegade. The two of them had a colorful history together.

"You'd have to be mad to go out with him," Sari muttered. What in the world did someone as pretty as Ionna see in someone as unattractive and foul as Zidane? She was certain she didn't date him based on looks.

"Or maybe you're a big dork like him," Vincent added.

"Say what you want, but we're not dorks," Ionna frowned. The only dork she saw was the bounty hunter.

"It's just really weird, picturing you kissing," Sari said thoughtfully with an uneasy look on her face. In fact, scratch that, she didn't want to try and picture that anymore. It was beginning to give her nightmares.

"Kinda fits though…" Vincent looked perplexed as well, as if they were trying to visualize the events described within the confines of their minds.

"Evidently she saw something in him," Rubio replied. Why were they so concerned about the way they looked together, anyway? People went out with each other for more than just looks. Why was everyone in his group so superficial?

"Hey, I think he's kinda cute," Yaritza defended as the short haired girl looked at her as if she were diseased. "What? He is."

Sari still said nothing and held the look on her face. She was beginning to think Yaritza was just as weird as Ionna when it came to having a good taste in men.

"But I'm cute too, right?" Vincent asked, pointing to himself.

"In your dreams, loser!" The ninja shouted at him.

XI.

"How much longer until we're back to the Republic?" Sari asked after they all had been walking in silence for what seemed like hours. She was tired of hearing the sound of fresh snow, crunching beneath their feet and the sting of the cold against her skin. She didn't know about anyone else but she wanted to be sitting in front of the fire with a cup of hot chocolate.

"Not long," Ionna replied.

"Five miles," Ryouzonia informed. If they were just a little more patient, they would make it back, and they would be able to get Zidane some medical attention.

"Suck it up. Later on today, we've got to go back to the mountain and destroy that canon," Ionna reminded them of their earlier activities. Sure, that roundabout of events ran them down, but if they could endure that, they could endure anything.

"You people never learn, do you?" Zidane sighed casually. He had no idea why they were so determined to come to a shit hole like that anyway.

"You really shouldn't talk trash to the people who just saved you," Valentino stated in monotone, casting his void gaze to the other. He knew how Zidane could be, but he advised against it.

"Exactly," Rubio agreed, "we're the ones carrying you around.” He had a right mind to dump him right on his head and watch him pathetically crawl after them. Rubio certainly didn't owe him the help he was giving him.

"Like it's my fault I'm crippled," Zidane complained being his usual sarcastic self.

"Oh, it is," Sari argued.

"That's screwed up Sari," Vincent looked to the girl, who was smirking at Zidane. Why would she make fun of a crippled person like that?

"You'd say the same thing to me," she told the bounty hunter. Vincent needed to stop acting so self-righteous. It was beginning to piss her off.

"Would not."

"Hmpf." Zidane huffed. 'Immature kids…' Dark eyes befell the spunky girl. 'So, the girl with the big mouth is the one Hisamichi likes…Figures.'

XI.

Upon getting back to the elder's house, they had laid the injured man in a futon and covered him with blankets. They wanted to make sure that he could thaw out from his escapade and decided that he needed plenty of sleep and rest. The man was so numb by this point that he couldn't really feel the covers around him, but he was glad to be away from Mount Kayukus and Ibuki.

Everyone was sitting around him in a circle on the ground.

"How have you been?" His ex asked from her position on the ground. Since he would be pinned in there with them, Ionna figured that she may as well take some time to get caught up.

"Miserable…As always," he complained, looking to her. Somehow, looking at her still brought a little spark in his heart. Zidane was glad that he crossed paths with her again.

"Some things never change."

The bald man looked to the assassin. "Guess I'm on your side now. Hmpf…Don't be calling me some heroic avenger or anything. I need a cigarette…"

"You need to be touched by an angel is what you need," Sari glared and muttered under her breath as she folded her arms across her chest.

"You certainly have a big mouth."

"And you a smart one."

Yaritza turned to Vincent. "What do you think of Zidane, Vincent?"

"He seems like a nice guy," Vincent beamed, then turned to her and looked afraid. "He's going to kill me, isn't he?"

"Nah! Not now anyway."

"How comforting…"

"Oh come on. Give him a chance. He seems nice."

Vincent looked to the injured man with a skeptical look on his face. How in the hell did he `seem nice'? Zidane looked like a crazed serial killer that wanted to carve his eyes out and sacrifice him to Satan.

"He's smiling," Yaritza pointed out, noticing Zidane's expression. He didn't seem to look so bad when he was smiling, and it made him look more human.

"Is that evil or otherwise?"

"Otherwise," the girl glared.

Ryouzonia handed the man a cup of hot coffee, pink eyes holding kindness for the man. "We owe you all for saving us from the cannon. We would not exist if not for you."

The man took the coffee, sipping gingerly from the cup. "Where's my cigarette?"

"Don't smoke until you're better," Ionna instructed. She didn't want him having any more problems than he already did. If he still had that same nasty habit he had all those years ago, he probably fell into the snow with a cigarette in his mouth.

"I don't know if I can last that long. Today's been stressful," the edge was really getting to him. Zidane craved nicotine like no tomorrow.

"No joke," Sari agreed, "it's been stressful ever since I joined this group." Zidane wasn't special. Everyone was stressed out, and she was still injured from her skirmish with Udo earlier.

"I can see why."

"Are you warmed up?" Agata asked, sitting at his bedside.

"You're just waiting aren't you? Got that eagle eye ready to pierce my soul, sergeant?"

"I'll tell you what I told the others. Any old scars are to be settled after Ibuki is dead," Agata informed gravely. For now, she would abandon her mission to apprehend him. It was far more important that they stick to their main goal.

"It's a subtle form of interrogation. Get them to tell you what they can, then mercilessly kill them when they least expect it," Vincent, Rubio and Yaritza all looked nervous in response.

"Not quite. We're not like you," Agata degraded him. What kind of people did he take them for?

"Of course we're radical and you're subtle, but it's all the same."

"No, it's not," Agata denied any semblance between the two. Sure, she would be the first to admit that there were corrupt police, but she wasn't one of them.

"Hmpf."

"Politics isn't a great subject you guys," Ionna noted. She knew that no one would agree on anything right now, anyway.

"Oh god please no…I can't stand politics…Don't know what the hell they're talking about," Sari wanted a better subject, rather than just sitting there confused and left out. The girl was all for a change of topic.

"Valentino," the white haired woman turned her head to the assassin, "thanks for saving us."

"So it was you who disarmed the canon. Heh, only members of our organization have a code like that memorized," Zidane was then interrupted by Rubio slamming his fists on the ground, creating a loud noise.

"Ugh…I did stuff too. Why does everyone like him!?!" He outraged.

"Uh, I thought you liked him," Sari replied in a confused tone. What in the hell was this guy's problem?

"I do, but I shouldn't be shunned and he glorified for it."

"No one put you down for it. You're just spazzing out. Calm down," Yaritza told him. Why was Rubio so damned sensitive all of a sudden?

"Sick of the dog's life, Rubio?" Zidane smirked.

"You son-" Malice was present in Rubio's voice as he lunged for the bald man, but was punched in the face before he could even land a hit.

"Cut it out! Damn you get annoying! You whine all of the time!" Ionna yelled, irritated beyond all belief at the man's recent actions.

The silver haired man lay on the ground, holding his newly created injury. "What was that for?"

"Shut up Rubio," Valentino advised.

"You know damn good and we-"

"Shut up, sister."

Both Rubio and Ionna glared at the red-clad man. The girl finally muttered 'fine' under her breath and flopped down on the floor and the man was silent in response.

"That wasn't necessary," Valentino told them.

"I wasn't going to have him hit Zidane," his sister told him. What would that have solved even if she had allowed it? Ionna knew that the bald man deserved it more than anyone in the room, but it didn't solve anything.

"You guys all need to chill," the ninja tried to diffuse the situation. "We're too high strung here. I know everything's been stressful but at least try to calm down."

The scar-faced man sipped some coffee peacefully. "Perfectly calm."

"I'm good," Ionna said from her seat on the floor.

"Fine…" Rubio muttered, still rubbing his swollen face.

"I'm good. I won't be if I drink coffee though. Coffee makes me loopy," Vincent stated.

"You're loopy without the caffeine," Sari told him sarcastically.

"If you think that you don't want to see him on it," the militant woman told her.

The silver man turned with his back to everyone, brooding to himself. Valentino sat beside of him and looked to him. Great, that was the last person he wanted anywhere remotely close to him, much less in the same room or living on the same planet as he was.

"Go away," Rubio spat. "I don't need your help."

"Ugh…What a jerk," Valentino's sister spat from across the room. She thought that they would have gotten along for the sake of the group, but Rubio was still making things difficult.

"Is he not your type, Ionna?" Zidane teased.

"He treats my brother like crap and look! He's still helping him…The nerve," Ionna spat. Why in the hell would she want someone like that?

"Your brother's persistent…"

"I appreciate it," Valentino got up and walked outside. There was too much tension in the room. Besides, if Rubio wanted him to go away, then he would. However, he couldn't ignore him forever.

Blue eyes looked back at him in silence, until Sari broke it.

"Hey!" Sari yelled and the assassin stopped.

"Let me go with you. There's too much tension here," Sari offered. If she didn't get out of that room, she swore that she was going to kill someone, preferably Rubio or Vincent. They annoyed her the most.

"Right."

As they went outside, the snow was pouring down. The large snowflakes created blankets that covered the surrounding houses and landscape of the Republic. It crunched beneath their feet as the two walked side-by-side into the yard a few feet. The two fell silent as eyes of different hues looked around to the scenery and set sights upon the falling snowflakes. The little pieces of ice began to stick to their clothes and skin.

"Snow," Valentino said as he looked up at the falling flakes.

"The canon probably made the snow come down from the mountain. Pretty huh?" Sari asked, holding her hand out and watching the snow fall into it.

"Yes…" Valentino said.

Sari put on a red and orange scarf, wrapping it around her neck as silence befell the two again.

"Thanks for saving me," Sari told him gratefully, looking from the snow in her hand to the man standing in it a few feet away. "You know, you're not such a bad guy, and even though you're cold on the outside you do have a heart. I mean you care about all of us, even Rubio…Especially Rubio, though I don't know why."

"I feel a connection…" The man replied.

"You're a really sweet guy…and you seem so lonely maybe you need someone to show you that you're not so bad," Sari said in a kind tone, looking up and blushing.

The assassin turned his head to her, making them very close- almost nose-to-nose. He blushed. "Sari," the red-eyed one noticed that his lips were only slightly above hers.

"Sari, please," Valentino replied softly.

Yaritza opened the door and started talking to them as if she was being casual. "Hey guys! Why are your heads so close together?"

This snapped Sari out of her delusion. She realized what she was doing and immediately felt stupid for it. It almost seemed as if she were taking advantage of Valentino. "Ack!" She called out, putting her hands on the assassin's chest in fright. "Sorry Valentino…I didn't mean…"

"It's alright," Valentino, blushed.

"What am I thinking!?! Geez! Let me make it up to you," Sari was so embarrassed.

"It's okay, really," Valentino replied. "It's all a misunderstanding."

"You should feel better about yourself though," the girl walked a distance away, and then stops to look back at him. "Enjoy the snow," she smiled kindly and then stomped away, blushing and looking irritated.

'What am I thinking? I don't love him!...Or do I? I mean…I almost kissed him! Calm down Sari. You've been without a boyfriend for WAY WAY too long!!! Damn I need a boyfriend!'She looked back at Valentino, who was standing in the snow. She thought about how she'd grown considerably closer to the man since she'd met him. 'No! Not that one!! Like he likes me?! Wait…Why am I thinking about him liking me? He's probably about twice my age…Ok he's my friend. My savior. He's cute…Okay hot…Okay, drop dead gorgeous…AHHHHHHH!!!'She began to hit herself in the head with both hands. 'God, I'm so stupid! Yaritza's right,' the girl sighed to herself. 'I do need to chill out…'

She blinked to see the ninja waving a hand in her face, a look of confusion crossing her features. "Hello…Sari?"

"Yes?" The girl asked nervously, smiling as she felt a bead of sweat run down her forehead.

"Are you sick or something?"

"Sick in the head," she mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing, I was just talking to Valentino and watching the snow fall," Sari replied.

"Pretty isn't it?" Yaritza looked at the snow, standing side-by-side.

"Yeah…"

"Makes a romantic scene, eh?" Yaritza asked.

'Why does she have to bring that up!?!" Her thoughts berated her. "Sure."

"I need a boyfriend," Yaritza sighed. Seeing the two of them in the snow like that made her realize how lonely she had been.

"Who needs a boyfriend? I'm too busy with the mission for that," Sari put a hand behind her head and laughed loudly and obnoxiously.

"You freak me out," the ninja looked at her like she was crazy and walked away. "I'm talking to Valentino now. See you around."

"Byyyeee!!" Sari waved vigorously and looked falsely happy. Then she slumped down in misery. 'God I'm such a loser.'

"Nice snow, eh?" The ninja said, stopping beside of the assassin. He turned his head mechanically and looked to her.

"You're quiet, you know. If you didn't stand out so much, I wouldn't notice you."

"I wish to fade away."

"Not on my watch pal!" Yaritza smiled.

"You say that so easily."

"I'm not a broken spirit…But you seem to be."

"Maybe I am."

"This may sound offensive and I don't mean it that way but…Are you as hollow and void as you look?" She looked to him and hoping that he wouldn't be offended by it.

"…"

"I take it that was too personal."

"I have issues."

"We all do but your issues are probably more psychologically damaging than ours," Yaritza replied.

"If you say so."

"I think so at least."

"…"

The ninja put a friendly and strong arm around the man's neck and smiled brightly. "We'll pull through. We've just got to stick together!"

"I wish I were that confident about it," the man said, simply looking ahead.

"Hey, no one ever said it would be easy," Yaritza told him. "Especially when the odds are against you."

"So they have been," he agreed.

"Hey, don't worry," she reassured, "healing takes time."

"Please don't say that…" He looked down in distress.

"Why?"

"…"

"Didn't mean to hurt you," the green eyed girl looked a little worried. 'Man, he's touchy about the pick-me-up lines. What's his major malfunction?'

"It's fine," he told her, eyes still looking to the ground.

"Hey, hang in there. You never know," Yaritza kept up her confident smile, trying to give him some semblance of good hope.

"Angels need wings to fly,” he said morosely.

"Not always…"

To Be Continued…