Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Dark Moon Ascendant ❯ Musings (Schwarz & Weiss) ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimers: I sadly do not own Weiss and the related characters. I wish I did but I don't have enough money to buy them. *sniffs*

Chapter 4: Musings [Schwarz & Weiss]

Schwarz HQ, Tokyo.

Sunday morning

Farfarello flipped his blade into the air idly as he leaned against the study wall. Although he was bored with the current situation, his instincts seemed to be buzzing about something exciting that was about to happen. Crawford was up to something and now Schuldig seemed to be in on it. It was rather unfair as far as he was concerned but he knew that that was the way Crawford worked. Despite his rather uninvolved status in Schwarz's organisational aspects, Farfarello was pretty much aware of its workings within the group. He enjoyed the dirty work and Schuldig was a good partner to have at times, but he still preferred to work alone. Gutting his enemies while they screamed and pleaded for mercy was something he savoured and rarely liked sharing their agony with anyone. Schuldig would usually dig out the information from their minds and would then leave the rest of the dirty work to him while waiting for him in the car. Farfarello knew that this was to protect the German from the excessive thought barrages as the victims died and to give him sufficient distance from the activity.

Crawford on the other hand, wasn't as fun. The man would simply put a bullet through the person's heart or brain before walking away. Farfarello rarely had much opportunity to 'play' with them unless Crawford allowed it as a means to make them more accommodating to his requests. After that, it was either the bullet or the quick stab through the base of the skull to kill them quickly. Despite appearances, the rest of Schwarz held a rather humane outlook in the termination of their victims. In Farfarello's case however, it was debatable much like his moods. Sometimes calm and quick, other times excessively violent and messy. It was all a matter of his current state of hormonal imbalance and perverted tastes.

Nagi was scouring the information super highway searching for the data he needed on Crawford's visions. He had happened to overhear the conversation between Crawford and Schuldig and it bothered him. Crawford was always calm and in control of the situation and never during Nagi's time with Schwarz had he seen Crawford so rattled. He was surprised that Schuldig had not picked up on his presence during that time and put it down to the telepath's distraction at the news. There was too little to go on and the amount of information he had picked up on the Apocalypse and the biblical references in the Revelations only served to confuse him further. Suddenly remembering the silent watcher behind him, Nagi turned to Farfarello for help in explaining the significance of the biblical references.

"Farfarello, can you help me with this please? I'm quite unfamiliar with the Christian concepts of the end of the world." Nagi pointed to the monitor screen showing the specific text from the bible on the Revelations.

"The great beast will arise and devour the world. Only those chosen by the Lord will be spared and the rest to perish," the Irishman responded laconically. "Those marked by the beast will be cursed and damned to everlasting torment in the fires of hell."

"And what does that mean exactly?" Nagi's frown deepened. Farfarello had merely paraphrased what he had read but not explained it. Sometimes the man was thoroughly unhelpful and at other times, preaching the Word of God like an evangelist on those American television shows. This time was probably the former.

"It simply means that the time for hurting God is coming."

Nagi sighed and rubbed his eyes. The man was being a nuisance and he wished that Crawford would send Farfarello out on some mission. Nagi was beginning to tire from his net surfing and decided to take a short break from the computer. Ignoring the Irishman as he exited the room, he made his way to the kitchen for a glass of fruit juice. Since it was Sunday, he knew that Schuldig would be lounging about in bed and Crawford would be catching up on the week's work before planning the following week's one. Since Crawford's upsetting visions, the American had had to leave more of the work to Schuldig and him. It suited Nagi as it gave him a clearer understanding of how Schwarz worked.

Nagi had always secretly held the American in high regarded and not just because it was Crawford who had found him. The man's ability to hold things together given the generally unstable group dynamics coupled with the overall running of their organisation was a skill that Nagi hoped to acquire in due time. Nagi knew that despite the group's generally high competence in taking care of their own, no one was infallible. Crawford's near crippling visions was a good example in the making of how things needed to be handled swiftly and competently. Nagi did not hold out to the fact that Schuldig would be able to handle the group in the event of Crawford's incapacity. It was that Schuldig simply detested the paperwork and Farfarello was just Farfarello. That left only him and he wasn't complaining.

Nagi never liked killing, it was tiring and it made him uncomfortable. The last time he had expended his powers to the max was when Farfarello had killed Tot. He never forgave the Irishman and Farfarello never cared about it. In the berserker's eyes, he had done what he was wont to do. He had no care for Nagi's feelings and the resulting levelling to the Schreint base barely registered in his mind. Nagi disliked the man intensely but he tolerated him for Crawford's sake. Besides, Farfarello had his uses. Even if wasn't particularly helpful in this matter of explaining about the Christian interpretation of the Apocalypse.

As Nagi sat at the kitchen table sipping his orange juice, he couldn't help but wonder if he was on the right track. Perhaps he was missing something but of what, he had no idea. Finishing the juice, he got up and washed the glass before heading back to his room. Glancing at the clock, he realised that it was time for lunch. Given the fact that nobody seemed to care, Nagi saw no need to bother. Besides, he wasn't very hungry and the juice had filled him sufficiently. Perhaps some light reading and a short nap would help him focus better on finding something to help Crawford with interpreting his visions.

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Weiss Mobile HQ

Afternoon

In the trailer, Omi washed up while Ken helped with the drying and stacking of the clean dishes and utensils. Lunch had been uneventful and little conversation had taken place during the meal. Ran had seemed distracted about something while Yohji looked annoyed. Something must have happened between them to cause the unnatural quiet. Usually Yohji would be narrating some silly story or joke to lighten the atmosphere of the trailer but not this time. Omi had been lacking in his usual cheerful self since the Powell incident and he knew that Yohji had been picking up the slack. As he washed the dishes, Omi wondered why he was feeling the way he was. Even though the Takatori Mamoru incident had caused him much agony, he hadn't let it get to him as much as this. Why was it so?

The only answer that seemed to make sense was that an innocent life had been sacrificed in order to bring down a tyrant. And the result is that a young teenage girl has to live the life of an orphan not once, but twice over with the death of her only brother. It hurt him that he could not do anything about it, and the staged battle in the fairground also added to the resulting tension. Handing over the wet dish to Ken, Omi decided then and there to find a way to heal his pain and to refocus his energy on reuniting Weiss. It was too long and unless he wanted to see his family torn apart by this distance, Omi had little choice in the matter. If anything, the threat of not having them together should serve as a catalyst. As his thoughts guided him, he could feel his resolve strengthening. His heart cleansed of the unnecessary guilt, he handed the last plate over to Ken and smiled.

Needless to say Ken's response to Omi's sudden smile was startling. Fumbling with the water-slick dish, he almost dropped it before recovering. It had been so long since the boy had smiled with such warmth and it made Ken curious. As far as he could discern, the Omi of a minute ago had been distant and at times withdrawn from the activities around him. He rarely smiled with any warmth or joy, and Ken had felt oddly guilty for it. Perhaps all of them did; Yohji and Ran included. Omi was the reason why working in the more covert operations of Kritiker more tolerable. Ken had to live a lie every day since his joining and Omi had been the one who helped him to remember that it was a necessary lie that need not cloud his principles. What they did was justifiable; it kept the innocent people safe and helped to reduce the more serious crimes in general.

But sometimes, things can go wrong and the people you wish to protect end up losing their lives. Akira's face flashed through his mind at that sobering thought. To save his sister, he had sacrificed himself to the soldiers that came to hunt them down. Neither Omi nor he had been there to protect them, and for that Ken felt the burden of guilt. Despite knowing that they would not have been able to handle the situation given their own lack of firepower, Ken still felt it was inexcusable. But while Yohji had been explaining the details and outlining the battle plans, Akira had been killed and his sister kidnapped. And Ken had felt the sharp pain of that guilt tearing through his soul. He had felt a vicious joy for the opportunity to savagely rip through the damn man yet the guilt still lingered. It was almost like that incident with Kase, but then Kase had betrayed him and had tried to kill him not once, but twice. Akira was different. That was why the guilt had been so much more suffocating. Killing Powell had served little purpose but to remove his presence and his threat to Kritiker and the Japanese government. Other than that, it made no difference. The revenge was more bitter than sweet.

But seeing Omi smile forced him to realise his position in their little informal family. He wasn't alone. He had people around him who carried their own guilt around but refused to let it drag them down. Sometimes at night, Ken could sometimes sense one of them awake and thoughtful in the dark, no doubt replaying the different events in his mind and wondering what would have happened if things had been different, and the choices made then could be changed. Slowly shaking his head, Ken knew that he had been selfish as had Omi. Things like this were bound to happen given their line of work. To give in to the hurt and guilt would ensure a death sentence, if not for him then for someone else in the team because of his self-pity. Ken refused to let it happen. If anything, Akira's death should serve as an example of how bad a situation could get and that sometimes an innocent person would have to be sacrificed. The key was in minimising the chances for such mistakes to happen. Looking at Omi, Ken smiled back. It seemed that Weiss was starting to come together once more.

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Author's Notes: I don't really read the bible even though I know about the Revelations and the Great Beast that features in it. I didn't go into details simply because it's not all that relevant. I've decided to make Farfarello rather contrary and Nagi's response is fairly accurate to his laconic response. I don't believe that Nagi is all that loving to Farf; if anything, he would probably want smash the Irishman into and through the ground until he pops out somewhere in North America. Farf had taken away the one person who accepted Nagi for who he is; after all how would you feel if that special someone had been so cruelly taken away? It is only Nagi's devotion and unwavering loyalty to Crawford that Farf's still breathing. As for Nagi's relationship with Schu? Let's just say I reserve my opinion at a later time.

BTW, can anyone guess as to how much I adore Farf? The guy gives me the willies but let it not be said that I will not give the fellow his due - eventually. I could never understand him very well and it doesn't help matters much that I've read one too many insane, humour, violent and/or angsty fics starring the resident psycho. *sigh* Need to focus here…

I know it seems that Omi and Ken's emotions and thoughts seem a little rushed and the change a little too sudden. Well, they have been brooding about it for some time and I made it such that they are forced to see the situation beyond their own little circle of misery. I didn't trivialise their emotions and thoughts but I did make them a little more practical to the overall situation. Tensions being high and Yohji is currently pretty pissed. Besides, how much time could they afford to brood on the situation? Weiss is in a near crisis so everybody needs to pull together. Besides, I think that it was time to move things along. *laughs*

BTW, I'm still looking for the so-called purple wallpaper in the Schwarz household - can anybody answer this question? I really, REALLY want to know if it does exist or if it's some twisted figment of my imagination. Or perhaps it was one of those threads in the MLs that tends to linger in the mind long after the talk has faded away. Whatever the case, can someone put me out of my misery regarding this? Thanks!