SD Gundam Fan Fiction ❯ The Flame of the Rose Revived ❯ I'm Here Now, It's Okay ( Chapter 9 )

Okay, so I'm no expert in Spanish!! Wait, it was Spanish right Kane??

Kane: Don't look at me; I'm not your memory banks.

Alright then sue me then!! *Sees a bunch of lawyers* O_o I wasn't serious!!!

~~~~

Zero jumped with a start, then frantically looked around. He didn't see anything except the pool. " That does it, I'm crossing…." He said shakily. He floated into the air, and glided over the surface of the water. He landed on the other side, then started to see light up ahead. He floated a ways, then stopped.

What he saw made him sick, and made him want to scream and cry at the same time. " Oh my god…no….!"

Shute and Captain lied face down on the ground, skewered and dead. He also saw all the girls he knew were lying dead as well, including the princess. They either torn apart or had a weapon stuck out of them. Kane lied in front of two other bodies, holding his sword, but had his neck and left arm torn wide open as dark blood leaked to the ground.
Bakunetsumaru lied on the ground near Kane, blood-soaked and beaten. His chest had been ripped out, and wires spilled out as much as blood did. Baku was also holding Litho, who was covered in more blood then Baku that it would make you think he jumped into a pool of catsup. But the child's head was nowhere to be seen.

Zero fell to his knees in blood-chilled horror at what he saw. Tears came as he cried openly to the dark. " Mana-no…no!! How could you h-have let this happen….!?" His legs didn't want to work anymore. They seemed to have just given up the ability to walk when he saw this massacre.

He crawled over to Baku and Litho, then held their bodies tightly in his arms as he sat on his knees. " B-Baku…Li-tho.." he sobbed hysterically. He cried loudly, his voice echoing in the cave, but he didn't care. He felt that everything in his life went to hell, and there was no way of getting out.

They were gone….they were all gone…

He wanted to just die.

***

Baku yawned as the sun peeked through the clouds. " What's taking him so long??" he asked. Kane looked at the end of the cave gravely. " Kane?"

" I should have warned him what was in there…" Kane said in a low voice.

" Don't worry, Zero's smart. He can figure it out." Kane shook his head. " The images he will be exposed to…his fears…he will believe them to be real. The cave has its ways, Bakunetsumaru." Kane turned to Baku. " You do know he's doing this because you wanted to." Baku tiled his head.

" What?"

" He's doing this because you wanted to. As soon as he heard what the after effects of going in there were, he decided that he would go in your place…"

" Why him though?"

" I did offer to go myself, since I have nothing to fear. But he insisted." Baku blinked, then looked back to the cave.

" You moron…what are you trying to prove?" Baku whispered.

Baku thought for a while that Zero would get out of it just fine. Would he? The more he thought, the more worried he started to get. The sun was starting to set, and only a handful of participants have come out so far. Baku fidgeted nervously.

" C-can't we go in and get him??" Baku asked hopefully. Kane shook his head. " The rules state that they have to get out on their own."

" But what if they don't??"

" Then they stay in there…" Kane sighed. Baku made s scared noise in his throat while looking back at the cave. ` Zero…c'mon…you can do this….' Baku thought.

Baku stared into the cave, and imagined Zero coming out. But after a few seconds, he realized that it wasn't his imagination, it WAS Zero!

" Zero!"

Zero staggered into the light, coughing and gasping while clutching to his severed right arm. His cape was tattered and torn, and he was covered in scrapes and scratches. Everyone ran up to him. Baku and Captain went to support him up.

" Zero?? Are you okay??" Captain asked. Zero kept coughing, but had a distant look that reflected fear and panic lightly. " Zero?" Captain suddenly felt Zero's body get warmer and warmer progressively.

" Quick! We got to shield him from the sun!" Kane said. Zero didn't have on sunglasses like Kane did, and his eyes were wide open as the sun beat down on them. Captain and Baku guided the knight over to the shade of a dead looking oak tree with dry leaves. Shute pulled out a bandana, and tied it over Zero's eyes.

" So why does this happen when you guy's eyes are exposed?" Shute suddenly asked.

" Nervous system," Kane said simply. " Basically, the nervous system in our eyes are the most sensitive, so if they burn, it also connects to the rest of the body's nerves and fries them too."

Zero groaned while coughing dryly. " Someone get him some water," Kane instructed. Shute went to the nearby creek. Baku sat next to Zero and took the knight's hands in his. Zero flinched while giving a startled gasp.

" Shhh, it's okay now," Baku said soothingly. Zero reluctantly relaxed, but gripped Baku's hands weakly. Baku looked up at Kane. " Is he going to be okay?"

" I…" Kane sighed. " Even I wouldn't know. Hopefully, he will…." Baku looked back at Zero, then kissed the knight's hands.

" I'm here now…everything's gonna be okay…."

`

In Zero's mind, he could hear Baku, but couldn't see him anywhere. He wanted to believe him so badly….

But after what he saw, he couldn't.

Zero took in ragged breaths as Baku held his hands. They quickened until they became soft sobs. Baku leaned down and held Zero comfortingly. The samurai rocked Zero slightly while holding him. " Shhh…it's okay…" Zero grabbed Baku from around his waist and buried his head in the musha's lap, crying uncontrollably.

Baku held Zero's head, almost crying himself to see Zero like this. " D-don't…leave me…!!" Zero hiccupped. Baku stroked the knight's head tenderly while whispering, " I won't. I'll never leave you…I promise."

Kane watched, his emotions concealed behind his sunglasses while Captain watched sadly. Zero's cries started to become scratchy and dry.

" Zero, calm down," Baku pleaded softly. But Zero' couldn't stop. He was scared out of his mind literally at all the things he saw.

Especially the last thing he saw…

He couldn't tell anyone about it. It was too much to even think about it, even though it ate away at his heart-no, tore it.

" Baku---!" he sobbed while tightening his grip on the musha.

" I'm here, Zero." Baku held Zero tightly. " I'm here…"