Xenosaga Fan Fiction ❯ 30 Kisses ❯ Philosopher's Stone ( Chapter 8 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Niu Shiy-Ue 
#13 excessive chain
Non Anime: Xenosaga Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.06.2005 | Pages: 2 | Words: 1.1K | Visits: 416 | Status: Work In Progress
#13 excessive chain
Non Anime: Xenosaga Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.06.2005 | Pages: 2 | Words: 1.1K | Visits: 416 | Status: Work In Progress
"So there's no hope at all?" Rubedo whispered.
"We don't know," replied Helmer. "This is Wilhelm and chaos that we're talking about; we have no real idea what those two are capable of. In addition, we're fairly sure about the continued existence of KOS-MOS and UDO. We're certain that most of the Vector employees, including Allen, Shion and Jin Uzuki could not have survived the crash of the Elridge."
Rubedo's hands tightened on the edge of the table. "And the Testaments?"
"Actually, that's why I contacted you. Now that we know that Zarathustra really was Albedo-"
The younger cut him off. "I haven't sensed Albedo since he became a Testament."
The image in front of him sighed. "Then we must assume the Testaments have died as well."
"So what happens now?"
"We can't get near the planet."
"More black holes?"
"If only it was that simple. No, UDO has placed some sort of shield around the planet. It appears to have accessed Deus, and is now manipulating the planet to its will."
"But at least this time it's isolated. There's nothing there except for the wreckage of the Elridge, right?"
The Representative hesitated. "Actually, we have evidence that intelligent life exists there. The Senate has not been informed of this yet."
"Just what we need. More Gnosis."
"Actually the number of Gnosis attacks is steadily decreasing. Whatever UDO is doing, it no longer is drawing the Gnosis into are dimension."
"That's good."
"This isn't over yet. Your talents will be invaluable in the future, so I will continue to keep you and Nigredo informed of the Federation's progress. Helmer out."
Rubedo sat back and sighed. "You can take the General out of the military, but you can't take the military out of the General. You can come out now, Nigredo."
The taller man stepped out of the shadows. He looked gaunt and stressed. Fighting Yuriev for control of his body had a lot out of him and even now, six months after they had finally managed to contain UDO in the Deus supercomputer of the Proto Merkabah, he was still feeling the effects. "You did well."
"Heh, you're the front person, not me. I'm just the sword, you're the pen."
"I should be able to return to work soon."
The younger looking boy waved him off. "No hurry. I'm the older one after all, I should take some responsibility."
The other looked him over. "You should get some rest. You've been running on empty since before KOS-MOS's confrontation with UDO."
Rubedo bobbed his head. "Yeah, especially given what Helmer said. Looks like we're in for a long trip."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Rubedo never told his younger brother, but he hated sleep. His dreams were all the same, filled with those who had gone, red-tinged and pandemonium. Tonight was no exception. They were all there: Sakura, Citrine, Albedo, Yuriev. New faces too, Shion, Jin, chaos. The living were there as well, Ziggy, MOMO, Helmer and Yuri Mizrahi. They were all reaching out to him.
"My other half, let us burn in Hell forever." Albedo smirked at him, clawed hands pulling him down into a pool of red and black.
"Live for me, Junior-kun." said Shion, grabbing his hand. Hers were a ruin of bone and blood.
"Your purpose is complete. You must be disposed of." Yuriev, his body riddled with bullet holes, pushed him down again.
"You promised, Rubedo, you promised me." Sakura pulled on his arm, trying to drag him away from Albedo. Her eyes were empty sockets, crying dark tears that he could almost taste.
Promises, promises, so many promises. Promises to Sakura, to Albedo, to MOMO, Ziggy, Citrine, Helmer, Nigredo. Like so many chains wrapped around his limbs, all pulling him to life, pulling to death, pulling him apart. He felt like a prisoner on Lost Jerusalem, whose limbs were stretched till they pulled apart on a wrack or tied to four horses to be torn apart. "Stop it!" he cried. "Leave me alone!"
"Rubedo, Rubedo!"
"Junior-kun, please stay with me."
"Rubedo, you can't die now. We'll need the URTVs in the future. You haven't done enough."
"I did my best! Isn't that enough!" He was screaming now.
And for the first time in fourteen years, the cacophony that was his sleeping mind began to quiet. A shadow began to fill his mind, dissolving the red and swallowing the disappointed faces that surrounded him. As each was lost in the darkness, their voices quieted, then fell silent. The hands that had been grabbing him anywhere disappeared, until finally there was only himself, the shadow and Albedo. For a moment, they both hesitated, the shadow and Albedo. The Albedo reached out and smiled at him, a real smile, like he had so long ago before Rubedo had messed everything up. The shadow wrapped itself around them, soft and wispy almost like a cloud and Rubedo knew nothing more.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Nigredo raised his head and looked down at the still warm body he cradled. The blue eyes were closed, lips slightly raised in a small smile. For the first time in fourteen years, his older brother looked at peace. Suddenly unable to look at what he had done, the taller man buried his face in the red hair.
Everything was over. UDO had been contained, the Gnosis were disappearing, there was no purpose for the URTVs anymore. Rubedo deserved his rest. And to keep him from Albedo, to let him face those endless centuries alone, once Nigredo had died . . .
Or so he told himself. But he couldn't stand it. He would never hear that voice, both mocking and reassuring, in his mind again. Never see those eyes sparkle in anger or amusement. #669 was now truly the last of the URTVs.
He closed his eyes, but tears continued to fall in the corpse's red hair. He slid one hand beneath the pillows on the bed and pulled out the gun he knew was there. It was the Pistolet Markarov that he had given Rubedo that day, the beginning of the end.
He leaned forward and pressed his lips against the other's one last time. "Don't leave with Albedo quite yet. Wait for me, please, Rubedo."
Then he raised the Pistolet to his temple, pulled the trigger and.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Nothing more! Yes, it really is supposed to end like that! Bad grammar and all!
"We don't know," replied Helmer. "This is Wilhelm and chaos that we're talking about; we have no real idea what those two are capable of. In addition, we're fairly sure about the continued existence of KOS-MOS and UDO. We're certain that most of the Vector employees, including Allen, Shion and Jin Uzuki could not have survived the crash of the Elridge."
Rubedo's hands tightened on the edge of the table. "And the Testaments?"
"Actually, that's why I contacted you. Now that we know that Zarathustra really was Albedo-"
The younger cut him off. "I haven't sensed Albedo since he became a Testament."
The image in front of him sighed. "Then we must assume the Testaments have died as well."
"So what happens now?"
"We can't get near the planet."
"More black holes?"
"If only it was that simple. No, UDO has placed some sort of shield around the planet. It appears to have accessed Deus, and is now manipulating the planet to its will."
"But at least this time it's isolated. There's nothing there except for the wreckage of the Elridge, right?"
The Representative hesitated. "Actually, we have evidence that intelligent life exists there. The Senate has not been informed of this yet."
"Just what we need. More Gnosis."
"Actually the number of Gnosis attacks is steadily decreasing. Whatever UDO is doing, it no longer is drawing the Gnosis into are dimension."
"That's good."
"This isn't over yet. Your talents will be invaluable in the future, so I will continue to keep you and Nigredo informed of the Federation's progress. Helmer out."
Rubedo sat back and sighed. "You can take the General out of the military, but you can't take the military out of the General. You can come out now, Nigredo."
The taller man stepped out of the shadows. He looked gaunt and stressed. Fighting Yuriev for control of his body had a lot out of him and even now, six months after they had finally managed to contain UDO in the Deus supercomputer of the Proto Merkabah, he was still feeling the effects. "You did well."
"Heh, you're the front person, not me. I'm just the sword, you're the pen."
"I should be able to return to work soon."
The younger looking boy waved him off. "No hurry. I'm the older one after all, I should take some responsibility."
The other looked him over. "You should get some rest. You've been running on empty since before KOS-MOS's confrontation with UDO."
Rubedo bobbed his head. "Yeah, especially given what Helmer said. Looks like we're in for a long trip."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Rubedo never told his younger brother, but he hated sleep. His dreams were all the same, filled with those who had gone, red-tinged and pandemonium. Tonight was no exception. They were all there: Sakura, Citrine, Albedo, Yuriev. New faces too, Shion, Jin, chaos. The living were there as well, Ziggy, MOMO, Helmer and Yuri Mizrahi. They were all reaching out to him.
"My other half, let us burn in Hell forever." Albedo smirked at him, clawed hands pulling him down into a pool of red and black.
"Live for me, Junior-kun." said Shion, grabbing his hand. Hers were a ruin of bone and blood.
"Your purpose is complete. You must be disposed of." Yuriev, his body riddled with bullet holes, pushed him down again.
"You promised, Rubedo, you promised me." Sakura pulled on his arm, trying to drag him away from Albedo. Her eyes were empty sockets, crying dark tears that he could almost taste.
Promises, promises, so many promises. Promises to Sakura, to Albedo, to MOMO, Ziggy, Citrine, Helmer, Nigredo. Like so many chains wrapped around his limbs, all pulling him to life, pulling to death, pulling him apart. He felt like a prisoner on Lost Jerusalem, whose limbs were stretched till they pulled apart on a wrack or tied to four horses to be torn apart. "Stop it!" he cried. "Leave me alone!"
"Rubedo, Rubedo!"
"Junior-kun, please stay with me."
"Rubedo, you can't die now. We'll need the URTVs in the future. You haven't done enough."
"I did my best! Isn't that enough!" He was screaming now.
And for the first time in fourteen years, the cacophony that was his sleeping mind began to quiet. A shadow began to fill his mind, dissolving the red and swallowing the disappointed faces that surrounded him. As each was lost in the darkness, their voices quieted, then fell silent. The hands that had been grabbing him anywhere disappeared, until finally there was only himself, the shadow and Albedo. For a moment, they both hesitated, the shadow and Albedo. The Albedo reached out and smiled at him, a real smile, like he had so long ago before Rubedo had messed everything up. The shadow wrapped itself around them, soft and wispy almost like a cloud and Rubedo knew nothing more.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Nigredo raised his head and looked down at the still warm body he cradled. The blue eyes were closed, lips slightly raised in a small smile. For the first time in fourteen years, his older brother looked at peace. Suddenly unable to look at what he had done, the taller man buried his face in the red hair.
Everything was over. UDO had been contained, the Gnosis were disappearing, there was no purpose for the URTVs anymore. Rubedo deserved his rest. And to keep him from Albedo, to let him face those endless centuries alone, once Nigredo had died . . .
Or so he told himself. But he couldn't stand it. He would never hear that voice, both mocking and reassuring, in his mind again. Never see those eyes sparkle in anger or amusement. #669 was now truly the last of the URTVs.
He closed his eyes, but tears continued to fall in the corpse's red hair. He slid one hand beneath the pillows on the bed and pulled out the gun he knew was there. It was the Pistolet Markarov that he had given Rubedo that day, the beginning of the end.
He leaned forward and pressed his lips against the other's one last time. "Don't leave with Albedo quite yet. Wait for me, please, Rubedo."
Then he raised the Pistolet to his temple, pulled the trigger and.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Nothing more! Yes, it really is supposed to end like that! Bad grammar and all!