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Chapter 63
By Agent Havoc
Julia turned her back to the unconscious man and started to walk away. She had problems of her own, she thought, there really wasn’t any sense in gettinbg herself in any more trouble on the account of man who was obviously being chased by some people. Maybe he was even a criminal. And one way or another, she had dragged him from the shore and left him protected from the rain a little bit in front of a closed hotdog stand.
« No…not the hospital…I’ll get caught…just leave me here… » he had said.
But he had such a soft voice, and such an intense passionate look in his beautiful blue eyes. As thoughts of the stranger came to her mind, the young woman could feel herself slowing down and she eventually stopped. Such a passionate look that reminded her so much of her first love… That was not a good reason to help a man who could be potential trouble for her. But those eyes, and that voice…
She knew she would damn this moment later on as she turned back around and walked towards the unconscious stranger. Within a few moments, she was standing next to him…Rain was still falling very hard and the man, whoever he may be, looked so innocent and so harmless and devilishly handsome at the same time. But what secrets did he hold? Why was he here?
She started to drag him and eventually, managed to put his left arm around her shoulder and started to walk with him towards the streets next to District Beach… As she walked towards the street, she cursed under her breath as she could feel her soaked clothes and shoes getting the better of her. Men were all pigs, so why the hell was she helping this guy ? For the same reason she stayed wuth Jarrick without any doubt ; because she attracted trouble and deep down, maybe she enjoyed living such a pathetic and troublesome existence.
« Damn you Jarrick, and damn you stranger… » she whispered to herself « One day, I’ll show you all… »
Somehow, the pep talk she was giving herself wasn’t doing her any good, it didn’t give her any more courage or determination. It just made her feel even more vulnerable… Bizarely enough, the street was pretty much deserted, very few cars passed by. On the other hand, she thought, heavy traffic will only come in about an hour or so, when most people will be getting up to go to work.
Eventually, she saw a cab far away and she waved to it with her free hand. The taxi cab stopped next to her and she opend the door, dumping the man in the backseat, and went to sit in the the front passenger seat, nextto the taxi driver. The cab driver was a little corpulent and had a cigar in his mouth. He had a very warm smile with shining grey eyes. It was rare that she saw people who seemed so happy at first glance and she smiled herself because of the positive aura that the driver gave away.
« Where too little lady? » asked the cab driver cheerfully.
« 212 Third Avenue in sector 17, please sir » she answered drily.
« And off we go! »
The cab driver stepped on the pedal and the vehicle started to move.
« So what’s wrong wih your man? » asked the driver.
Julia turned around and looked at the unconscious brown haired stranger, it was only then that she realised he had a hole in his left arm and blood was flowing slowly out of it, staining the cab driver’s back seat… Her eyes widened slightly due to the surprise that hit her and she felt her heart skip a beat. The man was wounded. As luck would have it, she only noticed that after she got into the cab. She regretted helping this man already.
« He just had a little too much to drink yesterday night… » said Julia…
Her sunglasses were wet and blocked her vision. She wante to take them off, but that would show this friendly taxi driver that she had a black eye. Pride kept her from taking them off right away.
« You wouldn’t have a tissue now would you sir? » she asked in the most peaceful tone she could manage.
« Of course little lady, just check in the glove compartment. »
Julia opened the glove compartment and took out a boix of tissue. She took a tissue out and looked away from the driver before taking off her glasses and drying them with it. She then put back her glasses on and looked in front of her, enjoying the peaceful ride. The rest of the ride went on without another word. Soon enough, the car stopped in front of her appartment’s building.
« That’ll be 32 credits little lady. » said the driver.
Julia took out a fifty credit bill and gave it to the driver.
« Keep the change. » she said softly.
She then got out of the cab and proceeded to get the stranger up from the back seat. She wrapped his arm around her shoulders and starte to walk away with him again, towards the entrance of her building. The rain had died down a little bit by now.
« There are no excuses for a man to hit the woman she loves, even if he is drunk! » said the driver behind her.
Julia turned around and saw that the cab driver had opened his window to tell her that sentence. Not knowing what to reply , she only shook her head.
« You deserve better than that little lady… »
And with those word, the taxi drove away… She looked at the car as it turned a corner and dissapeared from her sight. She then gave the unconscious stranger a glance. He was cute, and looked so peaceful…
« I might as well care for him, » she muttered to herself, « in the worst case, people are going to hunt him down, find him in my home, kill him and kill Jarrick and myself to keep us silent…it would put me out of my misery… »
She started to walk again towards the entrance of her building…
Lydon was pacing back and forth in his office as an infinity of thoughts flooded his mind. His career and his promotions were being compromised here. All because he had let such a petty emotion such as anger and being vengeful take over him. A mistake he told himself he would not repeat again. And he would do well to calm down a little bit and thnk things over clearly. The detective went to his chair and let himself fall into it and put his feet on his desk. Certainly not the most classy position to be in, but still the most comfortable way he could place his body.
Rubbing the bandage that was placed on his arm by the nurses at the Core before his meeting with Ven, Lydon’t thought drifted from the path the were supposed to be headed and he saw Ashley fall flat on his back and his bullet striking down Nakano. And then, he saw Phoenix mark’s determined look as the short red-headed hunter was shooting at him.
Imagining the sound of bullets being launched, his thoughts went to an imaginary abandonned battlefield. Everything was in black, white and various shades of grey. Thousands of dead soldiers littered the ground , each corpse being more mutilated than the other. But for some reason, he kept walking through this scene that would horrify most people without a bother.
Death was a natural part of life, and these men and women had fought for what they believed in, and died for it. Maybe if he found a cause that would inspire him, he would fight and die for it too. But there was no cause for him in this world. And with a lack of cause to fight for, he would have to settle to fighting for himself for the present moment.
It didn’t really matter. For the moment, there was only one thing that mattered to him and he would get down to it as quickly as possible. Lydon kept on walking, a crushing feeling and sound under his sole made him look where he had stepped and he realized he had stepped on what had been left of a corpse’s hand. Dark grey blood stained his shoe . Disgusted, he lifted his foot and wiped it on the sand next to the dead man’s hand.
Hearing activity far away, the detective started to run towards the signs of life he had noticed, avoiding carefully all the corpses that littered the ground. Soon enough, all the corpses were behind him and he was on an empty field, with nothing but flat light grey sand around him and a jet black sky with no moon., the sound he had heard earlier was nearing his position but the detective was much too tired to continue running. He stopped and fell flat on his back breathing heavily. It was better to take a break now and rest a little bit than to get to his destination and be too exhausted to do anything. Looking at the sky, Lydon felt the sound of human activity getting nearer and nearer even though he stayed put, when he sat up, he saw that people, perfeectly lined up were walking towards his position. The were walking at a very rythmic pace, almost as if a drum was telling them when to move their feet. A perfect line, and as they walked, a chant was being sung . A dark chant, one that froze his blood instantly. The detective stood up and walked towards the first man of the line as the group walked towards him.
« Stop! Police! » said Lydon in a rasp voice « I’m looking for someone! »
As he approached them, he realised that they were all wearing black hoods and black capes, and they were each carrying a body on their shoulders. The chant sounded louder and louder. Soon enough, the walking group were near him and the first man in line was but a few feet from the detective.
« Stop, I said! » repeated Lydon.
Surprisingly enough, the whole group stopped dead on its tracks and the chant was nowhere to be heard anymore. Only the soft sound and caress of the wind could tell Lydon that time was still moving forward. For reasons he could not explain in any way, Lydon went to the first person in line and pulled down his hood. His heart skipped a beat as he realised that the man had only holes in the place of eyes. A little nervous, Lydon stepped back a little bit. But it was then that he noticed something that bothered him : color. Everything up to now had been in black and white but there was a red rose in this whole picture. The corpse that the first man in line was carrying held a red rose tightly in its hands. Curious, Lydon approached the rose and recognized immediately the young girl who was holding the colored flower. She had been in his dreams a few nights before and she had died then.
« Where are you taking her? » asked the detective.
The eyeless man pointed towards the battlefield that the detective had been in earlier.
« You are dumping her in that battlefield.? »
The eyeless man nodded once and started to walk again. The whole line followed and the chant started anew. As he saw the red rose starting to get away from him, Lydon felt that something wrong was happening here. He drew his gun from his holster and pointed it at the eyeles man.
« Stop! »
They kept on walking and chanting.
« Stop or I’ll shoot! »
No response.
« I won’t ask a fourth time! »
Still no response, they were chanting and walking. Lydon pulled the trigger once. His bullet ripping apart the back of the eyeless man skull, making him fall on the spot and dropping the girl. No more chanting , no more walking. Lydon went to the little girl and picked her up. She was still holding firmly the colored rose in her hand. Lydon also recognised the wound in her cheek. He took her in his arms and started to walk, leaving all the hooded people behingd him
« I am taking you home girl. »
A ringing sound, getting louder and louder was then polluting his whole environment and threatening to drive him insane. Lydon dropped to his knees and dropped the dead girl’s corpse. He let out ascream of anger, closed his eyes.
And opened them again.
Color.
His office.
It had all been a dream, he had fallen asleep. The ringing sound was still being heard. The detective took off his feet from his dest and reached for his telephone.
« Lydon! » he answered .
« Detective Lydon, this is Master Ven! » said a strict voice on the other side of the line.
« I’m listening! » « You will assemble your anti-terrorist team, and you will go to the airport immediately! Cisia should show up there. »
« Yes sir! » said Lydon reluctantly, he hated being told what to do, but it was a necessary evil at times.
« That will be all, i will not tolerate failure again… » a click and a dial tone…
Standing right up, Lydon headed towards the exit of his office to call up his whole team.
It was time to return to reality. His dreams constantly haunted him, but it where he was right now, they could no longer hurt or haunt him. However many times he told himself that, the image of the little girl would not leave him alone…
A jet black environment surrounded Darian . The hunter, not knowing where he was or what he was supposed to do decided to stay put. If he was dead, then, some instructions were bound to be given to him to tell him what to do in the afterlife. It was funny since he didn’t expect to wind up in an afterlife, and the vague idea he had of an afterlife was certainly not as uneventful as this one. An infinite darkness… How boring could that be for someone who was conscious of his existence? He crossed his fingers hoping that this wasn’t the kind of eternity he was going to spend because eternity was bound to be a very long time with nothing to do like this.
« Can anybody hear me? » shouted the hunter,hoping that someone would reply.
The only sound that could be heard was the sound of his voice in echo in what was appearently a very empty space. He could feel himself, but he could not see a thing. It was indeed total darkness. Would it be wise to walk forward? Or to stay put for that matter? This was a whole new ball game abnd he didn’t know what the rules were. As his life experience had taught him countless times, playing a game without knowing the rules could land a person in very deep trouble, and he had no intentions of getting into trouble here. But then again, those were life experiences…Maybe this had nothing to do with life.
« I can hear you Darian Ashley! » replied a familiar feminine voice.
A spotlight from behind him opened and cleared up a path in front of him. A young blonde woman that he knew very well walked into the spotlight and showed herself to him.
« ‘Nik! What are you doing here ? » asked Darian smiling and feeling very relieved to see a familiar face.
As the scarred hunter started to step forward to give his partner a hug, the young blonde motionned him to stop, locking gazes with him. Her deep purple eyes met deciphering every single emotion that was going through his mind and body. This wasn’t Anika. This person moved like her, had her voice, looked exactly like her, but it wasn’t her, that he was sure of.
« Who are you ? » he asked.
« Does it really matter? » she replied coldly. « Look behind you !"
Curious, Darian raised an eyebrow and turned around. To his surprise, he was now in an environment he hadn’t been in in years, in what seemed almost like a lifetime ago : The TracerCo council room. Looking behind him to find Anika, he only saw what should have been in the council room behind his back. « Anika » was nowhere to be seen. And looking at himself, he saw that he was still dressed in the suit he last wore before falling to his death.
The tracerCo council room was exactly like he had remembered it. A huge round table made of marble with fifty chairs around it, with a grey rug under his feet. A hologram projector that wasn’t open, was installed on one of the walls, pointing to the middle of the table, ready to be turned on when it was needed, just like anything that TracerCo owned, just like him when he was theirs. There was only a dim lighting in the room that made all of the environment look a little bluish. Walking around the empty council room, Darian could only be reminded of sour memories in this place. Nothing good had ever come to him from TracerCo, only death, deceit, treachery and violence. His thoughts wereinterupted when a door opened… Two Raiders came in and went to the side of the entrance, leaving the way for the council members to enter. Standard Raider procedure to always enter a room before his or her masters to take the bullet meant for the more important person.
« Listen, I know I shouldn’t be here but seriously, I really have no idea how i got here… » started Darian. he had to explain himself before they drew their guns and shot him on the spot.
Bizarely enough, they didn’t answer him.
What kind of Raiders are these, he thought, if I had been in their place, I would’ve shot any stranger on the spot without asking questions.
He went to them and was about to ask questions when one by one, members of the the council entered, all of them ignoring Darian. Darian tried to grab one of the men’s arm to stop him so he could get an explanation, but his hand went through the man… Stepping backwards in fear, the scarred hunter simply didn’t know what to do next or how to react at this point.
« Just stay put and watch! » whispered Anika’s voice in his ear. « That’s about the only possibilty you have right now, you cannot influence these events anymore because they are past. »
Looking around, Darian couldn’t see « Anika » anywhere near.
As the council members entered the room,Darian recognized some and didn’t recognize others. The two Raiders guarding the entrance were very familiar though, he had worked with both of them at one point or another. All the Raiders were like a family at the time, they were raised, and trained together since the day of their birth. A « batch » of Raiders was like a family, and all the « batches » were closely knit. When the council members were all done entering the room and all sat down around the table, two more Raiders came in and closed the door behind them. One of those Raiders was a younger scarless Darian and the other was his field leader, Micheal Cray. Feeiling nauseous,darian started to remember this day very well, in all of its details and he knew exactly what was going to happen.
Davis Craven, TracerCo’s C.E.O and owner of the corporation started to make a speech about loyalty to the philosophy of the company, rewards for those who helped the cause of the enterprise and punishment for those who betrayed the company code.
Looking at his younger self, Darian couldn’t see a single sign of remorse in his younger self’s face. The younger Raider had his arms crossed and was leaning against the wall, expressionless. Yet, they both knew exactly what was going to happen here.
When Craven was done with his speech, the younger Darian drew his hand gun with his left hand and grabbed one of the council members by his hair. The young Darian smashed the council member’s head repeatedly against the marble table and blood spurted from the man’s skull. When he was done, he stuck his gun behind his neck and shot once.
In these few moments of gratuitous violence, the young Darian hadn’t even blinked one, and was practically smiling. He obviously liked his work.
The older Darian felt sick looking at this sight and turned away.
The fact that this had happened eleven years ago, when he was but 18 years old didn’t make this any easier…
All the lights turned off and he was alone in a jet black environment again.
« That, Darian Ashley, is the true you.! » said Anika’s voice « You are a cold blooded killer and you know it, but you just want to deny it. You have killed 57 men and women in your lifetime.»
Was there a way to deny this? Darian searched his soul for answers but could not find any at the present moment, the confusion he felt in was just too great…An infinity of questions flooded his mind : Was this where he was being judged for his deeds after life? Was this where they would determine if he would go to hell or not? What was going on?
« I’m not denying that I have killed 57 people in my lifetime, 58 if you count Hihori that I may have just sent to his grave. But I wasn’t my own man back then, I was raised to be a killer, my morals weren’t my own until I saw the world outside of TracerCo. I have my own morals and convictions now, and I have changed. So you’re going to have to do much better than that ! » said Darian, trying to sound as confident as possible « I don’t know what your game is, but I most certainly won’t lose ! »
Silence.
Not a single sound to be heard in what seemed once more like an infinity of darkness.
« This isn’t a game kid, it’s much more serious than that! » It was « Psycho » Edward Amos’ voice.
« Everything is a game, Ed, you win or you lose, the stakes are simply higher in some games than in others. » replied Darian.
« So you would consider the lives of all living beings on the planet’s surface to be no more than stakes in your pathetic little games kid? I would say that it isn’t what a hero’s attitude should be like. »
« Whoever said I was a hero, Ed? » replied Darian « But everything being a game for me doesn’t mean that i don’t realize what the stakes are each time, but it does mean that I can bend the rules to put more chances on my side to win any given game. If you don’t see it as a game, you don’t see the rules, and If you don’t see the rules, you can’t bend or break them to win. It’s only then that what you had at stake may be lost permanently. »
Light illuminated the place once again and Darian was standing face to face with Ed in the Cathedral at Coeptis where they had fought and captured Dalasius.
Edward had his arms crossed and shook his head.
From the corner of his eye, Darian could see the remains of Hudson who had been blown apart by the Necromancer. On the other side of the room, Bella was lying on the the floor, fatally wounded with a younger Darian sitting next to her, his cheek opened up and bleeding. A youg version of Hihori was standing behind the younger Darian with teary eyes. Not too far away from them was Dalasius, also lying on the floor unconscious, with bullet wounds in his guts.
« Why the hell do you want me to see this again? I have relived this moment countless times in my sleep! » asked Darian angrily as he turned towards Ed.
«Because I have something to prove to you kid ! » answered Ed drily, « Because i have to show you a part of yourself you have yet to discover. »
Looking at the scene helplessly, Darian saw Bella die again from an exterior point of view, but he knew exactly what his younger self was seeing, the look she gave him, every single syllable that came out of her mouth and the exact tone at each moment.
But no matter how painful i was to relive this, he couldn’t bring himself to look away from theis scene. Running away wouldn’t make this any less real. Facing this and dealing with it might actually solve something. As Bella coughed her last breath and the younger Darian screamed over his loss away, the older Darian turned to look at Ed and pointed at him with an angry look on his face.
« What was the point of all this Ed? Just exactly what have you proven me? »
The lights went out again.
Total darkness.
«You treated love as a game back then, Darian! And you lost that game big time. » answered Ed «There are winners and there are losers in games, and you lost because you were afraid of the stakes and of losing."
« Meaning? » asked Darian,
« It means that you have to set your priorities straight if you want to make a difference. This isn’t a game, this is life and death. This is sorrow and happiness. There are no rules except the ones that your life experiences have told you to follow. You must, by all means, unlearn all those rules , because the threat you are going to fight is something that isn’t physical, it’s on another plane. If you treat this as a game like you treat everything, and that you are afraid once more of the stakes, you will risk losing again. And i cannot allow you take that risk. »
Darian laughed.
« What difference can a dead man make? » asked the hunter.
« You are very much alive Darian Ashley. » said Ed’s voice, morphing slowly into an unfamiliar voice « I have made sure of that. And i will not let you fail like you failed all of these people. »
Once more, light came back to illuminate the room and a whole group of people were in front of the hunter, in a bright white room. He recognized every single people that were there, from all 57 people that he had killed for TracerCo, to the whole team of hunters that had been commissioned to hunt down Dalasius, minus Hihori and Ed… And a few more people that he didn’t recognize.
One by one, each of these people walked towards him and said drily : « You failed me! » and turned their backs on him , walking away.
Every single time the sentence was said, he felt a little dizzier.
Finally, the whole group of people had each said that sentence to him, except one, the one person he didn’t want to hear that sentence from.
Isabella Manchester walked towards locking gazes with him.
Darian felt time slow down as he looked at his first love approach him. A loud buzz was ringing in his ears as he felt his whole world become more and more fragile. She was there in front of him, with al the same grace and beauty that she hasd before. Things could be the same as they were before. Screamed a part of his mind, while the other countered that it was oo late, that they were both world’s apart by now. There were so many things he wanted to tell her, he wanted to beg her not to say it, but words refused to come out of his mouth.
« You have failed me Darian, but I don’t hate you for it, neither do any of these people. We just hope that you will learn from your mistakes. »
And with those words, she turned her back on him and started to walk away. Darian fell to his knees, the blow inflicted on him being too much to handle. Never before had he felt so empty. Never before had he felt so insignificant… Looking up, he saw another group of people in front of him, he also recignized them all : Anika, Cisia, Nakano,Phoenix Mark, Talehn, Paula and Byrce. They were all staring at him with no expressions on their faces. Darian looked away, and closed his mind to what was around him. He no longer wanted to hear what they had to say to him…He wanted to be left alone…
Forever…
Anika was relaxing in the comforatable hot bath in Nakano’s house. The night had been long and eventful and this moment of relaxation was well deserved, she thought. Feeling her mind and body relaxing more and more, Anika started to think of Darian. Where was he right now? Was he alive? Was he dead? What was he doing? Darian and her had almost kissed just before Tetsuhara had interupted the both of them. Did he want to kiss her because he wanted to? Was it by pity because of her loss? Were they still both in love like they were before?
Too many questions that would serve only served in screwing her up more at the moment. Suddenly,a feeling of guilt took over her when she realized that most of her concerns were being directed at her personnal happiness when the world was being threatened by an evil that’s so immense that it threatened to take over the planet and wipe out all life. She still believed that there was nothing she or any of her newfound companions could do, but Darian seemed to believe that they could actually do something. And with his training, she knew that her partner was never one to bite off more than he can chew. For the first time since she had learned of all these threats concerning the planet being a mind and Dalasius threatening it, Anika Jansen felt hope concerning this whole situation. But then again, if Darian didn’t make it out of his meeting with Yodama, what would they all do? What would she do?
« Deal with it when and if it happens ‘Nik! » she muttered to herself softly.
Reaching for her pack of cigarette next to the bathtub, Anika took out a cigarette and a lighter that was inside it and lit the cigarette.
Thinking about Cisia’s question earlier, Anika tried to imagine herself with Darian in a few years, waking up besides him every morning and going to sleep in his arms every night for the rest of her life. It was a beautiful thought. The more she thought about it, the more she knew that she was indeed in love with her partner. But she also realized that she was maybe a little too dependent of the man. Darian was an independent person being as dependant of his presence as she was now, she realized that she always wound up being hurt. She didn’t blame him at all for that because he always does what he believes is right, wich is a good thing. But at a certain point, he resented her scarred partner for disregarding her feelings so much when duty was in the subject. It wasn’t his fault, and it wasn’t hers…
She sighed.
Relationships can be so complicated at times.
« At times! » she laughed « All the time! »
She took a haul off her cigarette and tried to clear her mind of these thoughts and simply relax. Merrit. The Cleaner.
Anika shook her head , it was simply impossible to think of nice thoughts and relaxing thoughts at the moment. It seemed like everything that can possibly hurt her is popping back in her mind… It was almost as if her subconscious thoughts were conspiring against her.
She could almost hear the haunting laughter of the Cleaner and at that very moment, her whole body tensed up. Never would she hear Merrit’s hearty laughter again, all because a hitman that she had failed to stop put a bullet in the back of Merrit’s head.
And she didn’t even manage to avange her old mentor afterwards. Her fist tightened as frustration was threatening to take over her completely. As quickly as it came, the frustration left to be replaced by a lump in her throat once again because memories of a happy and laughing Merrit came to her mind...
« Talk about rollercoaster emotions! » she whispered to herself.
She took one last drag off her cigarette and threw it in the toilet bowl next to her. She would get another crack at the Cleaner and she wouldn’t miss him next time around, she told herself. But relaxing would most certainly be good thing for now. She needed it badly and she probably wouldn’t get another chance to have any time to herself for a little while. Thinking about all this was hardly relaxing. Then again, if she stayed alone, she thought, she would be bound to think too much, and most of her thoughts would most likely be dreadful ones. Too bad about this bath, she was physically very comfortable in this bath tub, but if she stayed here, she might have a depression. Not a very nice thought, so the young blonde stood up and emptied the bathtub. She grabbed a towel and dried herself, rolling the towel in her hair afterwards and oputting on a white bathrobe.
Picking up her bloodied clothes from the floor, Anika threw them in a basket full of dirty clothes. Nelson had told her that she could wear Mia’s clothes, since they all probably wouldn’t have time to wait for her to wash her clothes.
Looking at herself in the miror, she thought of Darian again, her relationship with him and what they were all fighting for right now. Darian was fighting for what he thought was right, she was fighting so that they could be together one day. And for some reason, her motivations didn’t seem right at all. It was then that the thought occured to her; there are many people who are in love around the planet at the very moment and that many more would fall in love in the future. Love. If Dalasius managed to take over the planet, many people would most certainly doe horrible deaths and would not be able to live the wonderful and sometimes destructive feeling that is love. And as bizarre as it sounded in her mind, she was going to make sure that such a feeling continues to exist for quite a while in the future. As cheesy as she thought she was sounding right now, she was going to fight for love.
She grinned at her reflection.
« I sound like a cartoon character… » she said smiling.
Fast repetitve knocks were being heard on the door to the bathroom.
« C’mon Anika, I need to use the bathroom or I’m gonna explode! » said Phoenix Mark from the other side of the door.
Anika rolled her eyes upwards and sighed.
« Hold on, I’ll be out in a second! » she replied, extremely annoyed.
She looked at herself in the miror again.
«Well, at least I have a reason to fight now, let’s make sure I don’t screw up now… » she whispered to her reflection smiling.
She opened the door to see Phoenix bent over his stomach. The short red head obviously needed to evacuate something. She stepped out of the bathroom.
« Go right ahead! » she said sighing.
She didn’t have to say another word, Phoenix practically pushed her to enter the bathroom and closed the door shut in a second. She shook her head.
« So much for relaxation! » she whispered to herself walking away from the bathroom.
John Lydon was sitting in the passenger car in a patrol car seat next to the driver. The vehicle in question was rolling over the speed limit, sirens blazing and blaring. The rain outside had died down and grey clouds covered the sky. Not the most pleasant morning weather, thought the detective, but did actually matter? He opened the file on Cisia that was on his lap and checked it out again. Something bothered him about her eyes on the profile and frontal picture of her. The look in her eyes… so peaceful, so mystic, so enchanting. It actually went to the point of haunting him in a very bizarre way.
What was she doing to him?
A confused feeling hit the detective as he simply couldn’t find the answer to the question he was asking himself. There weren’t even any trails for him to follow to find the answer he was seeking and that made him feel uneasy.
« Are you alright sir ? » asked the officer next to him.
« Shut up and keep your eyes on the road! » snapped Lydon.
Appearently, his uneasiness showed , meaning that he was showing weakness in front of one of his men, wich in its turn implied that he actually could lose some credibility in front of the people who were under his command.
He would have none of that, respect and fear came hand in hand. Lydon made a note to himself to make sure that his men fear him later today. He knew that there were alot of chances that they were already afraid of him, but one can never be too sure. But that could wait, for the moment, something a little more important preoccupied him; Cisia. After a few moments, he realized what bothered him about the look in her eyes; she simply looked too naive, too innocent. And as a contrast too that, her eyes also showed that she had suffered alot. Like a child being hurt that doesn’t understand why he or she is suffering at the moment. Charming indeed, thought the detective. And very confusing also. As the patrol car kept on rolling, Lydon was lost in his thoughts and simply didn’t know how to untangle the little mess that was in his mind right now.
Smiling lambs and ponies were standing around in a large plain of grass. A cloudles blue sky was seen over her head and nothing but fresh air was being breathed. Mikan liked this place alot as she ran around, rolling herself in the grass and laughed. Kuri was behind her, looking, watching her play and have fun with the little that she had here. Then again, having all this place to play around was hardly what she called little. Everything was simply beautiful here, so fresh, so full of life, she could ask for nothing more. She had no idea how she got here in the first place, but it was certainly better than living in the Core. Mikan kept on rolling in the grass and stood up a little dizzy because she had rolled a little too much. Keeping her balance was a little harder but she thought it was funny. She laughed out loud.
« Come on Kuri! » she said joyfully « This is fun! »
Her beloved big brother simply looked at her and shook his head smiling, giving her a sign to keeep on having fun. He looked a little preoccupied by something, but she simply didn’t know what. Thinking about it a second, Mikan decided to go pick up some flowers for her brother. Beautiful ,colorful flowers! Perhaps that would cheer him up. Jumping around joyfully, Mikan picked up every nice looking and colorful flower she could find, red ones, blue one, yellow ones, orange ones. It didn’t matter what kind of flower they were, as long as they were colorful and pretty. It didn’t take too long for her to amass an enormous boucquet and she went back, running towards Kuri. But the closer she got to Kuri, the darker the sky got and all the cute animals that were standing around started to leave this place. Afraid that she would be caught in the rain, Mikan ran a little faster towards Kuri so that they both could find a place to shelter themselves. However when she got to Kuri, her older brother simply dissapeared, vanished right in front of her eyes. Shocked by this turn of events, Mikan stood still where she was and dropped her boucquet to the ground, leaving all the flowers to be taken away by the wind. Confused and simply not knowing where to go, Maikan started to look around, searching for her big brother. What would he do without her? She was worried for him.
« Kuri? Where are you? » she shouted repeatedly.
Her older brother was probably worried sick for her at the moment, just as she was worried for him. Wherever Kuri was, he was without any doubt looking for her too. Hopefully, they’d find each other quickly enough and this little moment of fear for each other’s safety would be over and stored away deep in the bad memories department of her mind. The sound of the wind caressing the grass and the leaves on the tress became more and more intense. The feeling of that wind caressing her hair and skin would have been pleasant if she could manage to think about it, but all her concentration was put in finding Kuri. A booming sound of cracking thunder and warm raindrops started to pour down… Within seconds, Mikan saw a dark cave and ran towards it to helter herelf from the rain. There was no sense in gettting herself anymore wet.As soon as she was in the cavern, Mikan heard a few voices coming from the interior of the stone shelter. It was dark and there seemd to be no light at all in there, but she was very curious and started to walk in, getting deeper and deeper inside. The more she walked, the louder the voices sounded. Mikan kept on walking until she could no longer see a thing. It was completely dark inside. She wasn’t afraid of the dark, but she felt uncomfortable not seeing anything. She closed her eyes for a moment and opened them slowly. Her vsion was completely blurred for the first few seconds as an aggressive light hit her eyes at full scale. When she could finally make out what was in front of her, she saw a white ceiling she had never seen before with neons on it. A man with a blue paper doctor’s mask was standing next to her with a young woman with such a mask too. They were both talking to her but she simply couldn’t make out what they were saying. She found it painful to move as well as to breathe. There was a piece of plastic coverng her mouth that was connected to a machine next to her.
Confused as she had ever been, the young girl simply had no idea what was going on. Only one thought made sense in her mind right now; « Where are you Kuri? »
A boost of motivation came over Darian as he stood back up, looking at the ragtag band of misfits fate had united tonight. Looking at each of them for a moment, as thousands of thoughts bombarded his mind, the scarred hunter tried to speak a few times, but stopped before a single word escaped his mouth each time. There was simply no point in talking too eagerly if only clumsy words would escape his mouth. He would chose his words carefully. But what would he tell them all? That he was a failure and that they should all go on without him? Or would he tell them that he has truly learned from his mistake and that he would do his best not to fail again?
Giving up was not an option, he then thought, he may have failed many people in the past, but he wouldn’t do it again. He was determined to make as much of a difference as he could this time around. He had made a difference in the past, and he would do it again. For the first time since he got into this weird environment, Darian felt comfortable.
« I ask you all to accept me in this fight, I will do my best to make a make a difference in the coming fights. I have had to face repeated failures in the past, but i have indeed learned alot since then, and I have now acknowledged that I have learned all of these things. If you do not accept me, I will fight this threat on my own… »
For a second, Anika, Nakano and the others simply stared at him, expressionless. And a warm smile came from each of them, one after the other, even on Phoenix Mark’s face. And darkness took over again. Darian felt no fear anymore, whatever they would show him next about his past wouldn’t matter at all. The past didn’t matter nearly as much as the future or the present. « There is no point in disregarding the past, but we must not live in it » he always said , and starting at this very moment, he would actually live by those words.
« I/we am/are truly sorry I/we had to make you go through all of that Darian Ashley! » boomed a soft female voice « But I/we wanted you to fight and vanquish all of your inner demons before asking you to fight exterior ones. »
Darian smiled and crossed his arms.
« Would it be too much to ask you who you are? » asked Darian « And why you took the forms of my friends and people i knew to communicate with me? »
« I/we am/are Life itself, you have been told about me/us earlier today. An I/we have chosen you to be one of my/our guardians. I/we have tapped into what you call the Ether Network to reach you in your mind. I/we have made sure that your fall wasn’t a fatal one even though such an act has weakened me/us considerably. »
« I am very grateful that you have saved my life. » said Darian, not knowing quire exactly what to say.
« I/we know you are. I/we have been watching over your progress since the day you were created. I/we know that the genetically engineered warriors once known as the Raiders are without any doubt the best warriors that have no access to Ether on this planet. And I/we know that you are the only Raider with the right morals and convictions to protect me/us. »
A moment of silence.
« What would you have me do Life? » asked Darian.
« First of all, I/we will heal the wound in your arm right away through the Ether Network. It will weaken us considerably once more and but I/we calculate that it will be worth it. Once you return to your physical body, I/we ask you to find my/our champion and the one person who can destroy Dalasius for good and protect him from any physical harm. »
An image of an bizarre looking old man and a little boy appeared in front of the scarred hunter. They were obviously in Central District in the imge Darian had in front of him.
« It will be done… » said Darian
« I/we am/are glad to hear that, I/we must take our leave now, because it is very difficult for me/us to stay in contact with you since you are not an Ether-induced human. Good luck Darian Ashley! »
The image dissapeared and Darian was in the dark again. However, this time around, he truly felt alone in here.
« Where I come from, there is no such thing as luck… » he whispered to himself smiling.
« The white mage has escaped our grasp! » said Sir Reginald from the other side of the line. « Was he in the company of anybody else when he got to the hospital? »
Doctor Correa felt his heart beat faster and faster as nervousnes threatened to make him lose control of his muscles and drop the telephone he held up to his ear.
« He was with a young girl who has just woken up from a coma right now… She is in a very unstable condition so… » answered the doctor.
« I do not care in what cndition she is in doctor, I only want the Mage back. You will bring her to the Core right now, but unharmed and alive. The Mage will without any doubt come looking for her, and that way, we will have an advantage on him. I, and thousands of other people are counting on you doctor! »
A click and a dial tone. Correa detested dealing with Reginald. The man was cold, unfeeling and calculating. But he was right.
Correa walked out of the phone booth of the hospital and headed towards Mikan’s room…
Julia dumped the scarred stranger on her couch and stripped him of his jacket, shirt and tie off. She found two empty handgun holsters on the man as she stripped him. The more she went forward, the more she knew that this man was trouble indeed. Only cops, gangsters and bounty hunters carried handguns on them. And all three of these categories litterally meant trouble, with police corruption being such a social problems these days, and bounty hunters being such blood thisty brutes. And if he was a gangster, well, that would probably be the worst possibilty of them all. But she really couldn’t help but think that this guy had a very sexy upper body.
She sighed.
There was no point in letting him bleed all over her couch though, so the young woman went to her bathroom to get her first aid kit and make a bandage for the stranger.
Luckily for her, Jarrick was asleep in their bedroom with vomit on the floor next to their bed. So that was at least something she wouldn’t have to worry for a little while. Her boyfreiend had been on a drinking rampage yesterday night and there were alot of chances that he wouldn’t wake up for a few hours. Maybe the stranger will have woken up and left by then. Reaching for the the first aid kit in her pharmacy and grabbing it, Julia returned to her couch to see the most amazing thing she had ever seen in her whole life. The wound on his arm spat out a piece of lead, that was presumably a bullet and started to close on itself itself. Julia dropped the kit in shock and stood there staring for a moment simply not knowing how to react. The stranger then opened his eyes slowly, revealing once more his beautiful icy blue eyes. He moaned and then stretched his arms a little bit and looked at her…
« Where am I? » he asked softly.
Before she could answer him, a the last voice she wanted to hear talk screamed obsenities behind her back. It was Jarrick, waking up alot earlier than she had expected.
« What the fuck is going on here? » screamed her boyfriend « Who the hell are you? You come here and want to fuck my woman, I’m gonna kick your ass! And than, I’ll have you killed you little piece of shit! I have connections with the Syndicate! »
She closed her eyes and sighed again. This wasn’t good at all.
The stranger looked at her with a confused look, and looked at Jarrick.
« I am sorry sir, I truly don’t know how i got here, let’s all just sit down and discuss this like gentlemen. » managed the scarred man, obviously trying to cool things down.
It was amazing how classy the scarred man managed to sound, even though he was just waking up thought Julia.
« My ass, like I said, I have connections with the Syndccate…You don’t know who the hell you’re messing with here mister! »
« Oh you don’t say… » said the stranger, trying to hide the sarcasm in the tone of his voice « You really should calm down, there is no point in us fighting… »
Julia opened her eyes and turned around to look at Jarrick to say something. But before she knew it, her boyfriend was already next to her and slapped her with a force so great, it sent her immediately to the floor. Feeling the stinging pain on her face, Julia thought that it was nothing compared to the pain that Jarrick had just imposed on her ego and her feelings by hitting her in front of someone they didn’t even know. Looking at the stranger, she could see the shock and anger on his face because of what he had just seen.
« I’m gonna kick you ass… » repeated Jarrick.
« Oh I honestly doubt that'll happen… » answered the scarred man, looking straight at Jarrick with a very confident tone.
As confused as Darian was by all that Life had told him and asked him in his dreams, as well as falling dpwn quite a few stories to what should have been certain death, one thing was clear in his mind right now, and it was the fact that he detested wife beaters. He detested them with a passion along with people who beat their children.
The scarred hunter stood up. And thought for a few seconds before acting. It would still be morally incorrect to beat this guy to a pulp because he would without any doubt have no way to protect himself against the hunter's fighting techniques. Then again, this guy beat this girl who had saved his life without even blinking and she wasn’t defending herself.
But it was not an excuse to stoop down to his level.
« Miss, I see that you are obviously being mistreated by this man here. » said Darian softly , never leaving his eyes from the the lowlife scum that was in front of him « And i owe you for saving my life. I propose that you come with me so that you i can give you a monetary reward and that you start your life anew with that money… »
« You son of a … » said the man jumping straight at him, hands formed in tight fists.
The man swung at Darian twice but the hunter ducked at dodged all of his punches. The man kept on trying to bombard Darian with ouches but not once did his fists connect with the hunter. Darian kept on backing up, avoiding all the clumsy punches that this man was trying to deck him with. Eventually, Darian was backed up against a shelf full of books.
The man tried to connect another puch, letting out a curse word.
Darian ducked and moved to the side
The punch connected with the furniture, shaking it and making a flower pot that was on top of it fall. The flower pot broke on the man’s head, knocking him out instantly. The hunter checked his would-be attacker’s pulse and lifesigns with his medical training and wentto the conclusion that he would wihout any doubt be fine soon enough. He then looked at the teary eyed young woman who was still sitting on the floor, looking at this whole situation.
Darian went to her and extended his hand.
« Let me help you get up. » he said.
She took his hand, sobbing and he helped her back up on her feet.
« He’ll live… » he said.
« I know… » she answered sobbing.
Darian felt his heart tighten and a lump form in his throat.
"And from my point of view, you’ll live too," he said softly "and you should keep doing so without him from here on…"
Standing next to an automatic bank teller, Julia looked as the stranger was walking away, holding the enveloppe he had given her in her hands, with her luggage next to her. He had never told her his name and he was already walking out of her life.
But he also gave her the chance of a new life, the amount of money he had given her was enormous, it was enough for her to to pay the rent for an appartment for five years, plus, she could buy all the food she needed to live during that time as well as schooling fees for her to pay for higher studies and get a good job. It also gave her a chance to get away from the hell she had gone through with Jarrick in the past few years. The stranger had been her knight in shining armor. She had saved his life and he had given her a new one. Perhaps she would never see him again, perhaps she would. One way or another, she would never forget the gentle blue eyed gentleman who arrived from the waters of Central District beach and who freed her.
She smiled and called for a taxi from a phone booth deciding that she would spend the day and the night in a hotel. Waiting for her cab to arrive, all of Julia’s thoughts concerned her bright new future, and the blue eyed angel who had given her the chance to live such a future…
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