On the 12th day of RP's
Jan. 15th, 2007 12:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kuribohMy webmaster gave to me:
The story's ending soon, so we's gotta finish fast!!
~~
The story's ending soon, so we's gotta finish fast!!
--Mid March C.E. 81, 10 miles outside of JoshA --
The cold winter's wind blew against his body as he stood outside of the suite in a hotel had been awhile since he stayed in such luxury. The luxury, after all, such things were material things...things that blind humanity from the realities that befall them...like they do now.
It was a quiet night...at least, everything appears to be when you're on the 22nd floor. All is at peace...the world simply looks like the lemmings they had always been.
Everyone and everything is predictable. It's just being able to see the right pattern that one can see the outline that God has made out for us.
"Hmm...it's cold...close the door..."
A feminate voice came from the bed.as the noise began to roll over.
"Sorry...just needed to cool off." He smiled at her, looking her over. She was a little older than he was...technically. It didn't matter much, really. They were using each other.
"So...you got me that transfer from your husband?" He laid next to her and began to stroke over her frame. His mind kicking himself for stooping to such a pathetic tactic.
"mmm...buisness as usual I see." She grabbed the comforter and wrapped it around her body. At least she looked good for a 40 yr old...
"I'd feel bad about this...but her husband is a floor below us. It's really quite sad that they need to justify themeslves and their age by sleeping with young people. What kind of scam of a marriage do they have? Marriage without love bring forth love without marriage..."
He spoke out of contex...this was not love. He had already loved enough in his lifetime. This was strickly to get what they both wanted...a mutual benefit...she wanted to feel younger...he wanted into a place that was restricted to him...
[i]"They got this fucking base wrapped around in a security blanket. I'm just lucky I got my foot in the door...so to speak."
His thoughts were interrupted by the woman standing above her. She loomed down and kissed his lips. He returned the affection with nothing more than pity in his lips.
"Here you go..compliments of JOSHA's commander."
"I dare think of how you got a hold of this."
Maybe she actually had to sleep with her husband...God forbid.
"I have my ways...why is it so important that you get transferred over to the containment field, anyway? It's not exactly a great chance to get a high-ranking position, you know."
"Yea...but we all have our reasons. I just found this position and its situation interesting. You know, capturing that merc's kid. Helping with something like that should really help me raise in rank."
Isn't that what being a officer is about? Rising the ranks to gain some sort of sense of power? Hell, even Satan would believe that.
Truth be told I had a very important reason to be apart of this...something that deserved my distraction from my duties...
--JOSHA Containment Center--
He entered the sliding doors for the first time, seeing the room before him. It was a clear white hallway. Nothing really stood out in here...minus the big, bulking men guarding a room. Their flamboyant colors made one question their sexual prefrences...although not directly to their face. They were the elites...the TITANS. They had some kind of futuristic field armor that makes everyone cry tears as they make up for their Natural shortcomings...how pathetic. They cannot graps the power they truely have, so they, instead, hide behind some queer looking armor. Is this what the Earth Alliance holds their hope of victory over their enemys with? A flamboyant piece of metal?
"When it comes down to it...they won't last."
He tries to keep a straight face when walking past them, giving the proper salute as he walked by.
"2nd Lt. Markus, your orders are very clear. You are in charge of the men involved in the welfare of the prisioner. Any problems, protests, dicplinary matters are to directed towards you..."
He glances over at the TITANs again...it was really hard not to laugh at them.
"...to maintain a respectible profile as a officer of the Earth Alliance. Any sort of malicious or..."
"Is...is that...a skull on their armor? What do they think they are, a gay biker gang?"
"...have I made myself clear?"
"Yes Major, sir!"
Please let me in...I need to laugh...I can't...keep this straight face for long.
"Go meet the prisoner, then 2nd Lt."
This was the moment of truth...the doors began to open...slowly. His gut began to turn...he was nervous. It had been a long time since he had this feeling...
He entered the dark room, as the lights began to turn on slowly. It was a two-way mirror. Of course, they were going to keep a eye on him...not even a lowly officer like me could do anything...our meeting would not be as well met as I wanted it to be...but right now, I had little choice. This course of action must follow...soon, he must learn the nature of himself.
[i]
It was most strange...entering into this room. I could feel as if the world grew very small. As if there was something..wrong.
I looked at him and he looked at me. This was the moment of truth. Our first words together...this would have such great impact on him.
"Hey kid."
Purple hair...just like his mother. There was no doubt about it...it was him. This was the child of Shinn Ikagami.
A few days ago, he'd given the TITAN's a choice : give him the stuff he packed from Reckoning, or listen to him scream and scream and scream until he either got wahte he wanted, or passed out.
Needless to say, his belongings (sans haro) had been returned promptly.
So now he was alone in his room - an unloving shade of grey - with ihs guitar on his lap, freshly tuned and earbuds resting gently inside his ears, playing some song or another. Tobias didn't care, really. He was sad and lonely.
Through the music, he heard the far-off doorslide open. He shifted his large sapphire orbs over to gaze at the intruder; a short man sporting a long shag of hair, a nervous air and....nearly an identicle pair of eyes.
"Hey kid."
Tobias pulled his earphones out and turned to face the newcomer a bit better. There was no malice in his words - maybe a bit of awe, definately pride... the boy stood and walked over the the panel of glass separating them. This man was familiar, in both looks and feel, but Tobias had no idea where from. His tiny blue eyes looked the man up and down, trying to assess everyting about him, like Kazée had taught him to do.
"Who're you?" he asked innocently.
"As of today, I am, offically, your offical servant. Whether or not you choose to disregard the redundancy of that last statement is up to you." Markus grins for a moment, looking at him.
Kid's smart enough to get the joke, so he didn't have to treat him like a kid...which brings relief to him, as it degreades who he is.
"Tobias, isn't it? You can call me Markus. It's what I go by, it's who I am. Anyway, I'm here to deliver your food."
Don't let my mind wander...don't let my mind wander...focus on cards...Ace beats king beats Queen beats Jack beats 10...
Looking him over, he smiles for a moment. Yea, he definatly looks like her...espically the purple hair. "So...do you know why you're here?"
"Ace beats king beats Queen beats Jack beats 10..."
"Why are you talking about cards?" the boy asked, barely hearing the spoken line. "Of course I don't know why I'm here." His little blue eyes studied the man, but, unlike most other people, Tobias could get nothing off this "Markus" fellow...
But GOD he looked familiar.
Tobias opened his mouth to speak further, but his stomach beat him too it. He averted his eyes from the man in front of him and blushed.
"I...I have a poker game tonite with the officers...gotta keep on tabs, right?"
He didn't show any apparent signs of lying, other than that obvious statement. This kid already knew how to do that...there's no telling what he could do...he could not allow him to pierce his mind...
"Say, how did you know I was thinking about cards? That's something not many people can stake a claim at?"
Why...why I am I doing this...why I am I here? I shouldn't be here...it's too risky...but I had to see him.
"Shit..."
His mind wandered off. All he could do was hope he didn't grasp it.
He laid the food down on the table, and continued to focus on cards.
"Becuase you said so out----"
"it's too risky...but I had to see him. "
Tobias ignored that whisp of a comment, as a try full of standard military fare - meat, potatoes and green beans - was placed in front of him. The boy poked at it a bit and took a few bites before he looked back up.
"You're a bad liar, you know. Mama taught me to notice when people are lying." He puffed out a little cheek of his. "I'll bet you get punched when you ask people to play poker."
He nearly laughed...that brought back memories.
"You know...you're mother's right. I'm not much of a liar. I have a very nasty habit of almost always speaking the truth, even though it appears I never do. Although...the entire concept of "truth" is subjective. I merely use that truth to explain what I believe to be the truth when one looks at it thru other perspectives and view points. To simply say that I am a terrible liar is simply looking at things thru your own way. Determining what is right and wrong cannot be solely up to you. Merely, you only state what works for you."
The way he spoke sounded like a lawyer: fast, concrete, finding wrong in another's statement...after all, if a person is found wrong, doesn't that make the other person right?
Political correctness: gotta love it
"Does that make any sense to you, or am I moving too fast? You're smarter than you look, so I trust that you can keep up with me."
He begins to fish around his pocket for a cigeratte. His thoughts focused on where the pack would be, where to find it, and what to do with it. No other thoughts loomed thru his head. He knew full well what he was doing...
Tobias tucked into his food properly as he listened to the man ramble about personal politics. It was interesting to hear his reasoning played out in words, but man was he a windbag.
Tobias fixed his sapphire gaze on the man, swallowing the last of his green beans (rather taseless beans at that - Kazée's were infinately better) and drew in hit breath for an answer.
"I folllow," he spoke, in his light and unbroken voice, "but you could have said the same thing in half the words. Were you trying to confuse me?"
Markus smiled at him and shook his head good naturedly as his hand began to fish around in his pocket for something...
Tobias shrunk away from him slightly. This man wasn't "not-talking" to him. it was a little bit intimidating to the boy, who'd been hearing things like that his entire life...
But now there was one thing that tugged on his curiosity - the man seemed to react alot when Tobias mentioned his mother. The Virgo got up and ran over to his pack, rooting through the few things he brought until his hand closed around the framed picture of his very pregnant mother and his not-looking-at-the-camera-that-ass father. He grinned a grin that could only have come from said mother and ran back, holding the picture out.
"Do you know her, mister? Do you know my mom?"
"..." Markus stood there for a moment with his jaw touching the ground.
"That was unexpected."
"Not really...only from stories and reports I've heard of..I don't normally assoicate with mercs."
He looked at the photo again. Glancing at the man turned around.
"I guess that was the only photo of Shinn. He was never into having too many photos anyway."
That brought back memories...
--Unknown Date, Alecto CE 71--
Shinn glanced over from the cockpit of the Freedom. His hands were occupied with a clipboard and a piece of paper. Glancing in and out from the cockpit, he began to draw specs of the suit. The redness of his eyes had shown his exhaustion, as he had not slept in quite a few days. The close calls of the destruction of the Nu Freedom had made him even more press for time than he was...he hasn't even...well...oh well, it's kinda hard to do that anyway, seeing as she's that preggo. Besides...he didn't want the baby to have a even softer head.
"Oh yea...putting the Japanese stereotype to shame."
Grinning widly, he glanced down and saw the beaming beauty of a preggo woman down below. He hopped off the suit and dove towards her...grabbing her in a glomping sort of manner.
"Hi honey, what brings you here?"
They floated around a bit in the low gravity, holding each other in their arms. Shinn gave her a light kiss and looked at her again.
"This suit's going to kick ass...lemme tell you."
He shifted his body around for a moment, and allowed it slam against the wall, blocking the slight force of impact.
He stabilizied on the ground and looked at her, kissing her again.
The moment seemed so right as Ryley sneaked in, grabbing her camera. As she walked towards them nonchantly, she armed the flash, ready for the strike.
Shinn wiggled his foot for a moment..it felt...loose.
She ran up to them as quickly as she could, and like a gun, positioned herself with the shot...
There was a bright flash as Kazee gasped in shock...and Shinn turnt his head up. "Hmm...need to tie my shoes." He noticed a upset Ryley before him, holding a camera.
"HA! I am the ninja of photo dodging!" He did a mock victory pose against her as she sighed. The photo only showed his head...the perfect shot...ruined.
--Back to present--
"She never could get a decent shot of Kaz and Shinn...try as she might. At least she was determined"
Looking back at the kid, he smiled. "You probally know better, don't you. Espically since I thought about it...damn kids and your shock value."
Tobias looked distinctly unamused.
"You're a really REALLY bad liar, mister. You keep fidgiting when you lie. And you know my dad too? Jeeze. It seems everyone knew him but me..."
At this, the boy dropped his arms as well as his head. He didn't like to talk about his dad. It made him feel very left out, not knowing the man and all...and whenever he was brought up, Tobias could almost feel his mother's anguish. Nine years and a new lover had done little to ease her guilt and pain.
"...This is the only picture mom has of him," he said after awhile, "the rest were destroyed before I was born, she said, along with all her pictures of the pregnancy." He sighed and looked back down at the picture sadly, "I wish i could meet him...my dad, that is..."
"Your father...was a good man."
He walked over to the kid and placed his hand on his head. He didn't like him being upset. Beginning to shift his hair all around him, he began to play around for a bit.
He wanted to remind him that he was a kid...for he would not be one for much longer.
"I can actually see alot of you in him. Your know-it-all attitude. Your cynicalism. Hell, even your posture kind of reminds me of him.."
He finally found a cigeratte and began to simply play with it. He let it flow between his fingers, twirlling it around while he talked to him.
"Bet you thought I was going to smoke it, eh? Just because you can tell what a person may be doing doesn't mean that is what he is going to do. Will still dictates the decision. You should do best to remember that, Tobias"
He looked at him for a moment, then stood out into the distance.
"Your mother...she still misses him, I see. Even with Raziel by her side...I had thought she had moved on from him...very unhealthy of her."
The child looked up at his warden, playing with the cancer-stick in his hand. Tobias reached up, plucked it out and threw it behind him.
"Don't smoke."
The boy shifted away from Markus and back towards his bed, melancholy still painted all over his face. "Mama said that "time heals all wounds" is a lie. Time only makes them more distant; father behind you, and that hindsight is 20/20. She loves Uncle, but she misses Dad alot. They both know that. She feels really gulty about not being able to help him sometimes..." as he reached his bed, he turned and sat upon it.
"I think they were SoulMates. Sure she and Uncle love eachother lots, and that's good. In fact, that's awesome!...but Mama still looks...lost sometimes. Like she isn't all in the Here and Now." He sighed and reached around for his discarded guitar, pulling it onto his lap and plucking at a few strings before launching into the quiet beginning of a lullaby Kazée used to sing to him. "I just miss Mama and Uncle. I miss them alot."
"She did what she could to help your father...she had you, you know. If I were him, I wouldn't have even concidered letting her fight. He made the right decision, and she did what she could...I hope one day she can finally accept this. It may just be wishful thinking, though."
He looks over at the cigeratte for a moment, looking for another one to play around with. Unfortunatly. he only brought one. Reaching into his coat pocket, he grabbed a pen and repeated the same fluid motion.
"...I'm afraid your mother's life will be full of pain and suffering. She may never find happiness again..."
His face stood outward again, not looking at him...his feelings about this, though were quite clear: he did not like that...
"...you do know why you are here, correct?"
Tobias shook his head at the man's inquery. He had no idea why those action-figure-people had gone through the trouble of impersonating one of his best friends and kidnapping him. He leaned over his guitar sadly as he started to play another song - Greensleeves.
"I just want to make her happy. Uncle's taught me how to pilot so that I can let Mama rest, but she dosn't want me to even go near Moblie Suits. I'm almost positive that it's 'cause of Dad. Sometimes I want to hit him for making Mama so sad...Sometimes I want to hit Mama too 'cause she has Uncle to make her happy, and she still gets sad."
Tobias sighed and looked up at Markus. His eyes were glassy with tears that he refused to let fall.
"And theres something else. She's sad about something else, but she never tells me! I know it's not Grama and Grampa. She told me what happened to them, but...." He sighed again in mixed sorrow and frustration. "I wish I knew..."
...Is she sad now, or was she sadden by something else?"
He looked at him with a straight face and patted him on his head.
"Regardless...I do not think I have the right to tell you why you are here. It is hers to let you know when she comes for you.."
He looked at sockets full of tears and stared at him.
"...No matter what happens...do not judge your mother for her actions. The Balance must be obtained...even though it may cost us dearly."
"I dunno," sighed the boy, "sometimes she looks at me and...well...she just radiates sad. I don't even think she notices...maybe I just remind her of Dad to much..."
There was in his chest, a tiny pang of lonliness, but it wasn't the usual lonliness that he felt when he was apart from his mother. This one was much more....profound. More primal.
HE looked up at Markus and forced a small smile across his face. "Knowing Mama, she's probably FUBAR'd half the planet by now." another sigh, " whatever it is that she has to do, she'll never tell me. I think she's the only person alive who can keep secrets from me."
He grinned for a moment. "Yea...that is true, she would do that...and I bet I Frost taught him about FUBAR...the bastard."
"What she must do...is something she cannot keep hidden from you forever. One way or another, you will learn the price she had to pay for your return."
He smiled for a moment. "As I said before...you do remind me of your dad...if she has not moved on, she can be upset from this. Don't worry about it too much..she loves and cares for you very much."
Looking at his pen, he sighes for a moment and clutches it in his fist. "Her keeping secrets...yes...you can only touch the surface, I see; you don't know how to delve deeper... you're probally better off then, you are still a child, and children should respect one's privacy. Although you're quite good at reading the surface..."
"Do you know want to know why I talk about how to keep a fluid motion of a pen? Why I speak of how to play cards?"
Tobias turned the man's words over in his head a few times. "You're cutting your train of thought," he said at last, "so I don't hear your not-words.... Ever since I was little, people have said things that nobody but me seems to notice. Everything of yours is about mundane things like cards...but Mama dosn't say anything like that, ever. And yes, Uncle taught me FUBAR, SNAFU, SAMFU and things I don't want to say. And he's not a bastard. Hes.." the boy paused a second to remember the words Raziel told him all those years ago, "he's arrogant, and he has every right to be...or something."
The pair fell into silence after that. Tobias was calming down now, even relaxing around this man who called himself Markus. Tobias reached for the discarded picture of his parents, and traced his finger over his mother's large belly.
"Hey..." he said after a minute, "I never thought about it before now, but Mama looks awful big for a pregnant woman."
Markus looked at the photo for a moment, looking at it...it's not his fault he didn't pay enough attention...
"Yea...come to think of it she does...how very odd..."
"Well, she must have eaten enough of pickles and ice cream while having you." He grins for a moment, showing his humorous side.
Staring at the picture for another moment, he looks back at him.
"So...I hear you're good with DRAGOONs. Is that true?"
Tobias looked at the picture and scrunched up his face. if it was overeating, wouldn't her arms be fatter?
The man's question startled him. How did this stranger know something he thought that only his uncle did? He looked worried for a moment, but quickly threw on his poker face.
"Yeah. Uncle doesn't really understand it, but apparently I'm pretty good." Tobias said, flushing and rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I dunno. they just seem...really natural to me, is all. Do you pilot mobile suits, mister?"
"I've...dabbled in it. Once or twice, that is. Nothing really noteworthy about my experiences. I'm only a Natural, and I can only operate via a computer program that allows me to upgrade myself to the abilities of a Coordinator like yourself...if only thru a mobile suit, that is."
He gives a grin, obviously hiding from the truth. "But that's what I would like for you to believe...but I know you won't. In truth, I have been banned from mobile suit piloting. It's the natural order of things. It's not till the Time of the Flames will I be able to pilot again."
He looked at him for a moment, his mind racing with card tricks. "...which is why I come before you today. Something troublesome comes this way, things that collide times that should never exist together. I am here...to bestow on you a gift from your father. Something you must keep hidden...but know it. This shall be your steed to meet the enemy that will befall you in the coming time. Interested?"
Tobias blinked owlishly at the man.
Dammit, stop with the cards already...is there a pattern? A crack?
"I am." The boy answered, "anything about my father...anything you know - tell me. Please!" By now, he was standing facing Markus, his blue eyes shining with determination. "Please tell me. If it's something I have to keep secret, then don't worry; I don't repeat things."
Sapphire stared down sapphire as the child awaited his answer.
He sighes. The boy pratices futility. With his current mind, he cannot grasp into his own...without his permission. "There is a pattern within all things. You are on the right track. Knowing the patterns...that is always the key. The key to my existance is that patterns repeat themselves. The world, as you see it, is nothing more than a redesigned pattern of its former self. I am curious to see what you can bring to the design."
Markus fumbles around his pocket for a moment. "This is something Shinn would want you to have. It was his final gif--...shit."
His left pocket was empty. Markus patted around it to be sure:
It wasn't there.
"Perfect timing..just great. Just when I got into all that big spheal and this was all dramatic, I had to go lose the damn disk. Is it just my fucking luck today or am I--shit, I left my mind open. Do not pay any attention to this message, kid. This is just a figment of your imagination. OoooOOOOOoooOOOOOOooooOOOOO" A bead of sweat dropped from his face as well as an embarassed look soon after.
"Sooo...yea...we'll have to take a raincheck on that disk...umm...the dog ate it."
Silence.
Tobias stared at Markus with a face that he could only have inherited from his mother; one that was incredulous at best, and positively evil at it's worst.
"What?"
Markus fidgeted under the gaze of the child. He even sounded like Kazée.
"You, mister, are an idiot."
God, his face his just like his mother's...
He couldn't help but laugh at the situation.
"Sorry kid, musta just left it in my other pocket. Don't worry though, I got it for ya. I'll give it to you before you go, so don't worry."
He glanced at his watch. He was running out of time. The security cameras would restart itself soon. It always had to be like this...couldn't spend a decent moment in peace...
but that was his job...it was he had to do.
"Sorry kid, but my time is up. You're gonna be here for awhile...don't worry, I'll talk to you again before you leave." He walked over to him and palced his hand on his head. "Don't worry...you'll be fine. I'm going away for awhile, so you won't see me. I'm going to be transferred to recon for a bit until I end up back here on guard duty."
He sighed for a moment, his mind focused on Raziel and Kazeé for a moment. This was something he could not stop...
He removed his hand and walked towards the door and stood there for a moment. He turned around and smiled at him.
"Take care kid." Placing his hat on his head, he walked out the room.
Tobias watched the stranger leave with a sense of very deep, primal sorrow. It was strange, really. This man was a complete stranger to him, and yet...As the doors hissed shut, Tobias was surprised, almost startled when he felt a few tears slide out of his eyes, meandering down his face to meet quietly together on his chin.
'Why is his leaving making me so sad...?'
He felt that pang in his heart again - the lonely one he felt sometimes when his mother looked at him.
There was one with me, one around me and a third that came and went...
There was a little voice in the back of Tobias' mind that told him it just went.
He glanced at his surroundings yet again as the "crack security team" of TITANS stood as calmly there before him as they had been before they left. He attempted not to snicker at them as he walked by, looking in the direction of the major standing before him. He was holding a familar piece of paper.
"2nd Lt. Markus!" He shouted out. Markus stood there and saluted him. He knew what was coming.
"We have new orders for you...which I find clearly odd, since you were just transferred over here. Regardless, you are to leave on temp assignment on a recon mission. All the details will be given to you in this folder. Make sure to read them carefully and to understand the nature of the mission. It's primary to the mission involving Virgo's kid. Make sure you don't let us down."
"Sir!" He saluted again. It was a good thing he went for the third round with the general's wife...
He began to walk off without glancing at the folder. He already knew what was in it.
He was to locate the Frost and Virgo and ensure that a kill was had...
it was not a job he was looking foward to doing. However, Raziel deserved to be with friends at his death...he already knew he was to die. He had offset the Balance with the destruction he had caused. It was the way it had to be...
Now, with the coming tide, he began to prep up for what fate had in store of him...
....
...
...
after he stopped by his room and grabbed the disk.
~~
The door opened, as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. A few seconds later, he noticed him…as he was sure he did the same. Their eyes met, and for a moment, he saw someone he had lost...but that did not matter now.
Time had gone by too fast, and the world continues to spin. No one, not even Death can stop it. With death, the cycle begins anew. The Wheel of Fate, as some call it. Death exists so life can begin anew...that is how it always is. But that was for another time.
...now, it was time to say goodbye.
“Hey kid…I’m back.”
He glanced at the child, looking him in his eyes. It had been…a rough day. His time here would soon end, as his other missions would bring him far away from here…and the boy, he would be returned. There was no reason to doubt the stupid man in the armor's word.
Besides…the Balance would not permit him to die here.
Looking at the boy, Marcus glazed into the child's eyes for a moment. The truth would come out soon…
This was his last opportunity to say what he wanted to say…to give into his human side.
"…I have good news, kid. You're to be released in a few days. Your mother was…successful in the bargain. Soon, you'll be reunited with her, and everything will go back to—"
He pauses for a moment. Nothing would ever be the same again…not for Tobias. Frost was dead; he was like a father to the boy. There will be no easy recovery for him.
"…a semblance of normalcy."
He did not try to hide his feelings: he didn't have the strength for it right now…and it didn't really matter, for these were to be the final moments they would share with each other for a long time.
"Listen kid…I actually brought the disk with me this time." He looked at him for a moment, with emotion in his eyes. His sight then shifted to his view of his left pocket, pulling out a silver CD case. "Inside here is everything you need to know about the suit, as well as possible upgrades and design improvements for the future. Do me a favor and commit them to memory…it might save you someday.
He gives a knowing smile. "Who knows what kinds of stuff may happen to you during your lifetime. After all, you're [i[his[/i] son.
He looks to the child again with another smile, returning to the shuffling of the deck in his mind. "Just remember: Ace beats King beats Queen. Never let your mind be open to those who would can hear you speak. They can use it to their advantage…"
Tobias brightened upon Markus' entrance, but wilted when he saw how harried the man looked. The boy sat quietly during the man's speech, and accepted the tiny gift.
'Suit? Mobile suit? Wow. I wonder which one...''
Markus' mind was impregnable as usual (almost like Kazée's, he noticed), but it didn't take much to tell that the man before him was extremely sad, maybe even....scared?
When he had finished, a full minute of silence passed through the room. Markus sighed and turned to leave but was stopped when a tiny pair of arms wrapped themselves around his waist. The man turned back, almost stunned as the child buried his face into the man's wait, probably hoping against hope he wouldn't leave.
Tobias didn't know why he was doing this - the impulse to prevent this man from leaving was overpowering, and the boy did the only thing he could think of. Maybe he was just lonely after 6 months of this, maybe it was because this man would talk about his father. Tobias didn't really know, but he did not want this man to leave.
Markus smiled and knelt to the child's level, again, catching his eyes with a pair that matched.
"Don't worry kid. You'll be fine..."
~~
Tobias crept down the stairs of his house slowly, pausing after each step to listen for signs of his mother's awakening. Her sleeping was erratic - sometimes the sound Tobias rolling over in another room would wake her, other times, blasting heavy metal in her ear would hardly cause her to stir.
Seemed to be one of those nights, Tobias realized happily as he padded down the last few stairs, turning the quick corner into their den, which played host to the almighty computer.
In his hand was the CD Markus had given him, and he slid it into the drive as he sat down.
A program popped up, and over that, a password bar. Tobias stifled a curse, and thought about it. Markus wouldn't have given it to him if he hadn't expected the boy to be able to get into it.
....
....
....
acekingqueen
The bar disappeared and was immediately replaced by statistics scrolling by at a speed nearly unfathomable.
The child's blue eyes widened.
(zee end)
The cold winter's wind blew against his body as he stood outside of the suite in a hotel had been awhile since he stayed in such luxury. The luxury, after all, such things were material things...things that blind humanity from the realities that befall them...like they do now.
It was a quiet night...at least, everything appears to be when you're on the 22nd floor. All is at peace...the world simply looks like the lemmings they had always been.
Everyone and everything is predictable. It's just being able to see the right pattern that one can see the outline that God has made out for us.
"Hmm...it's cold...close the door..."
A feminate voice came from the bed.as the noise began to roll over.
"Sorry...just needed to cool off." He smiled at her, looking her over. She was a little older than he was...technically. It didn't matter much, really. They were using each other.
"So...you got me that transfer from your husband?" He laid next to her and began to stroke over her frame. His mind kicking himself for stooping to such a pathetic tactic.
"mmm...buisness as usual I see." She grabbed the comforter and wrapped it around her body. At least she looked good for a 40 yr old...
"I'd feel bad about this...but her husband is a floor below us. It's really quite sad that they need to justify themeslves and their age by sleeping with young people. What kind of scam of a marriage do they have? Marriage without love bring forth love without marriage..."
He spoke out of contex...this was not love. He had already loved enough in his lifetime. This was strickly to get what they both wanted...a mutual benefit...she wanted to feel younger...he wanted into a place that was restricted to him...
[i]"They got this fucking base wrapped around in a security blanket. I'm just lucky I got my foot in the door...so to speak."
His thoughts were interrupted by the woman standing above her. She loomed down and kissed his lips. He returned the affection with nothing more than pity in his lips.
"Here you go..compliments of JOSHA's commander."
"I dare think of how you got a hold of this."
Maybe she actually had to sleep with her husband...God forbid.
"I have my ways...why is it so important that you get transferred over to the containment field, anyway? It's not exactly a great chance to get a high-ranking position, you know."
"Yea...but we all have our reasons. I just found this position and its situation interesting. You know, capturing that merc's kid. Helping with something like that should really help me raise in rank."
Isn't that what being a officer is about? Rising the ranks to gain some sort of sense of power? Hell, even Satan would believe that.
Truth be told I had a very important reason to be apart of this...something that deserved my distraction from my duties...
--JOSHA Containment Center--
He entered the sliding doors for the first time, seeing the room before him. It was a clear white hallway. Nothing really stood out in here...minus the big, bulking men guarding a room. Their flamboyant colors made one question their sexual prefrences...although not directly to their face. They were the elites...the TITANS. They had some kind of futuristic field armor that makes everyone cry tears as they make up for their Natural shortcomings...how pathetic. They cannot graps the power they truely have, so they, instead, hide behind some queer looking armor. Is this what the Earth Alliance holds their hope of victory over their enemys with? A flamboyant piece of metal?
"When it comes down to it...they won't last."
He tries to keep a straight face when walking past them, giving the proper salute as he walked by.
"2nd Lt. Markus, your orders are very clear. You are in charge of the men involved in the welfare of the prisioner. Any problems, protests, dicplinary matters are to directed towards you..."
He glances over at the TITANs again...it was really hard not to laugh at them.
"...to maintain a respectible profile as a officer of the Earth Alliance. Any sort of malicious or..."
"Is...is that...a skull on their armor? What do they think they are, a gay biker gang?"
"...have I made myself clear?"
"Yes Major, sir!"
Please let me in...I need to laugh...I can't...keep this straight face for long.
"Go meet the prisoner, then 2nd Lt."
This was the moment of truth...the doors began to open...slowly. His gut began to turn...he was nervous. It had been a long time since he had this feeling...
He entered the dark room, as the lights began to turn on slowly. It was a two-way mirror. Of course, they were going to keep a eye on him...not even a lowly officer like me could do anything...our meeting would not be as well met as I wanted it to be...but right now, I had little choice. This course of action must follow...soon, he must learn the nature of himself.
[i]
It was most strange...entering into this room. I could feel as if the world grew very small. As if there was something..wrong.
I looked at him and he looked at me. This was the moment of truth. Our first words together...this would have such great impact on him.
"Hey kid."
Purple hair...just like his mother. There was no doubt about it...it was him. This was the child of Shinn Ikagami.
A few days ago, he'd given the TITAN's a choice : give him the stuff he packed from Reckoning, or listen to him scream and scream and scream until he either got wahte he wanted, or passed out.
Needless to say, his belongings (sans haro) had been returned promptly.
So now he was alone in his room - an unloving shade of grey - with ihs guitar on his lap, freshly tuned and earbuds resting gently inside his ears, playing some song or another. Tobias didn't care, really. He was sad and lonely.
Through the music, he heard the far-off doorslide open. He shifted his large sapphire orbs over to gaze at the intruder; a short man sporting a long shag of hair, a nervous air and....nearly an identicle pair of eyes.
"Hey kid."
Tobias pulled his earphones out and turned to face the newcomer a bit better. There was no malice in his words - maybe a bit of awe, definately pride... the boy stood and walked over the the panel of glass separating them. This man was familiar, in both looks and feel, but Tobias had no idea where from. His tiny blue eyes looked the man up and down, trying to assess everyting about him, like Kazée had taught him to do.
"Who're you?" he asked innocently.
"As of today, I am, offically, your offical servant. Whether or not you choose to disregard the redundancy of that last statement is up to you." Markus grins for a moment, looking at him.
Kid's smart enough to get the joke, so he didn't have to treat him like a kid...which brings relief to him, as it degreades who he is.
"Tobias, isn't it? You can call me Markus. It's what I go by, it's who I am. Anyway, I'm here to deliver your food."
Don't let my mind wander...don't let my mind wander...focus on cards...Ace beats king beats Queen beats Jack beats 10...
Looking him over, he smiles for a moment. Yea, he definatly looks like her...espically the purple hair. "So...do you know why you're here?"
"Ace beats king beats Queen beats Jack beats 10..."
"Why are you talking about cards?" the boy asked, barely hearing the spoken line. "Of course I don't know why I'm here." His little blue eyes studied the man, but, unlike most other people, Tobias could get nothing off this "Markus" fellow...
But GOD he looked familiar.
Tobias opened his mouth to speak further, but his stomach beat him too it. He averted his eyes from the man in front of him and blushed.
"I...I have a poker game tonite with the officers...gotta keep on tabs, right?"
He didn't show any apparent signs of lying, other than that obvious statement. This kid already knew how to do that...there's no telling what he could do...he could not allow him to pierce his mind...
"Say, how did you know I was thinking about cards? That's something not many people can stake a claim at?"
Why...why I am I doing this...why I am I here? I shouldn't be here...it's too risky...but I had to see him.
"Shit..."
His mind wandered off. All he could do was hope he didn't grasp it.
He laid the food down on the table, and continued to focus on cards.
"Becuase you said so out----"
"it's too risky...but I had to see him. "
Tobias ignored that whisp of a comment, as a try full of standard military fare - meat, potatoes and green beans - was placed in front of him. The boy poked at it a bit and took a few bites before he looked back up.
"You're a bad liar, you know. Mama taught me to notice when people are lying." He puffed out a little cheek of his. "I'll bet you get punched when you ask people to play poker."
He nearly laughed...that brought back memories.
"You know...you're mother's right. I'm not much of a liar. I have a very nasty habit of almost always speaking the truth, even though it appears I never do. Although...the entire concept of "truth" is subjective. I merely use that truth to explain what I believe to be the truth when one looks at it thru other perspectives and view points. To simply say that I am a terrible liar is simply looking at things thru your own way. Determining what is right and wrong cannot be solely up to you. Merely, you only state what works for you."
The way he spoke sounded like a lawyer: fast, concrete, finding wrong in another's statement...after all, if a person is found wrong, doesn't that make the other person right?
Political correctness: gotta love it
"Does that make any sense to you, or am I moving too fast? You're smarter than you look, so I trust that you can keep up with me."
He begins to fish around his pocket for a cigeratte. His thoughts focused on where the pack would be, where to find it, and what to do with it. No other thoughts loomed thru his head. He knew full well what he was doing...
Tobias tucked into his food properly as he listened to the man ramble about personal politics. It was interesting to hear his reasoning played out in words, but man was he a windbag.
Tobias fixed his sapphire gaze on the man, swallowing the last of his green beans (rather taseless beans at that - Kazée's were infinately better) and drew in hit breath for an answer.
"I folllow," he spoke, in his light and unbroken voice, "but you could have said the same thing in half the words. Were you trying to confuse me?"
Markus smiled at him and shook his head good naturedly as his hand began to fish around in his pocket for something...
Tobias shrunk away from him slightly. This man wasn't "not-talking" to him. it was a little bit intimidating to the boy, who'd been hearing things like that his entire life...
But now there was one thing that tugged on his curiosity - the man seemed to react alot when Tobias mentioned his mother. The Virgo got up and ran over to his pack, rooting through the few things he brought until his hand closed around the framed picture of his very pregnant mother and his not-looking-at-the-camera-that-ass father. He grinned a grin that could only have come from said mother and ran back, holding the picture out.
"Do you know her, mister? Do you know my mom?"
"..." Markus stood there for a moment with his jaw touching the ground.
"That was unexpected."
"Not really...only from stories and reports I've heard of..I don't normally assoicate with mercs."
He looked at the photo again. Glancing at the man turned around.
"I guess that was the only photo of Shinn. He was never into having too many photos anyway."
That brought back memories...
--Unknown Date, Alecto CE 71--
Shinn glanced over from the cockpit of the Freedom. His hands were occupied with a clipboard and a piece of paper. Glancing in and out from the cockpit, he began to draw specs of the suit. The redness of his eyes had shown his exhaustion, as he had not slept in quite a few days. The close calls of the destruction of the Nu Freedom had made him even more press for time than he was...he hasn't even...well...oh well, it's kinda hard to do that anyway, seeing as she's that preggo. Besides...he didn't want the baby to have a even softer head.
"Oh yea...putting the Japanese stereotype to shame."
Grinning widly, he glanced down and saw the beaming beauty of a preggo woman down below. He hopped off the suit and dove towards her...grabbing her in a glomping sort of manner.
"Hi honey, what brings you here?"
They floated around a bit in the low gravity, holding each other in their arms. Shinn gave her a light kiss and looked at her again.
"This suit's going to kick ass...lemme tell you."
He shifted his body around for a moment, and allowed it slam against the wall, blocking the slight force of impact.
He stabilizied on the ground and looked at her, kissing her again.
The moment seemed so right as Ryley sneaked in, grabbing her camera. As she walked towards them nonchantly, she armed the flash, ready for the strike.
Shinn wiggled his foot for a moment..it felt...loose.
She ran up to them as quickly as she could, and like a gun, positioned herself with the shot...
There was a bright flash as Kazee gasped in shock...and Shinn turnt his head up. "Hmm...need to tie my shoes." He noticed a upset Ryley before him, holding a camera.
"HA! I am the ninja of photo dodging!" He did a mock victory pose against her as she sighed. The photo only showed his head...the perfect shot...ruined.
--Back to present--
"She never could get a decent shot of Kaz and Shinn...try as she might. At least she was determined"
Looking back at the kid, he smiled. "You probally know better, don't you. Espically since I thought about it...damn kids and your shock value."
Tobias looked distinctly unamused.
"You're a really REALLY bad liar, mister. You keep fidgiting when you lie. And you know my dad too? Jeeze. It seems everyone knew him but me..."
At this, the boy dropped his arms as well as his head. He didn't like to talk about his dad. It made him feel very left out, not knowing the man and all...and whenever he was brought up, Tobias could almost feel his mother's anguish. Nine years and a new lover had done little to ease her guilt and pain.
"...This is the only picture mom has of him," he said after awhile, "the rest were destroyed before I was born, she said, along with all her pictures of the pregnancy." He sighed and looked back down at the picture sadly, "I wish i could meet him...my dad, that is..."
"Your father...was a good man."
He walked over to the kid and placed his hand on his head. He didn't like him being upset. Beginning to shift his hair all around him, he began to play around for a bit.
He wanted to remind him that he was a kid...for he would not be one for much longer.
"I can actually see alot of you in him. Your know-it-all attitude. Your cynicalism. Hell, even your posture kind of reminds me of him.."
He finally found a cigeratte and began to simply play with it. He let it flow between his fingers, twirlling it around while he talked to him.
"Bet you thought I was going to smoke it, eh? Just because you can tell what a person may be doing doesn't mean that is what he is going to do. Will still dictates the decision. You should do best to remember that, Tobias"
He looked at him for a moment, then stood out into the distance.
"Your mother...she still misses him, I see. Even with Raziel by her side...I had thought she had moved on from him...very unhealthy of her."
The child looked up at his warden, playing with the cancer-stick in his hand. Tobias reached up, plucked it out and threw it behind him.
"Don't smoke."
The boy shifted away from Markus and back towards his bed, melancholy still painted all over his face. "Mama said that "time heals all wounds" is a lie. Time only makes them more distant; father behind you, and that hindsight is 20/20. She loves Uncle, but she misses Dad alot. They both know that. She feels really gulty about not being able to help him sometimes..." as he reached his bed, he turned and sat upon it.
"I think they were SoulMates. Sure she and Uncle love eachother lots, and that's good. In fact, that's awesome!...but Mama still looks...lost sometimes. Like she isn't all in the Here and Now." He sighed and reached around for his discarded guitar, pulling it onto his lap and plucking at a few strings before launching into the quiet beginning of a lullaby Kazée used to sing to him. "I just miss Mama and Uncle. I miss them alot."
"She did what she could to help your father...she had you, you know. If I were him, I wouldn't have even concidered letting her fight. He made the right decision, and she did what she could...I hope one day she can finally accept this. It may just be wishful thinking, though."
He looks over at the cigeratte for a moment, looking for another one to play around with. Unfortunatly. he only brought one. Reaching into his coat pocket, he grabbed a pen and repeated the same fluid motion.
"...I'm afraid your mother's life will be full of pain and suffering. She may never find happiness again..."
His face stood outward again, not looking at him...his feelings about this, though were quite clear: he did not like that...
"...you do know why you are here, correct?"
Tobias shook his head at the man's inquery. He had no idea why those action-figure-people had gone through the trouble of impersonating one of his best friends and kidnapping him. He leaned over his guitar sadly as he started to play another song - Greensleeves.
"I just want to make her happy. Uncle's taught me how to pilot so that I can let Mama rest, but she dosn't want me to even go near Moblie Suits. I'm almost positive that it's 'cause of Dad. Sometimes I want to hit him for making Mama so sad...Sometimes I want to hit Mama too 'cause she has Uncle to make her happy, and she still gets sad."
Tobias sighed and looked up at Markus. His eyes were glassy with tears that he refused to let fall.
"And theres something else. She's sad about something else, but she never tells me! I know it's not Grama and Grampa. She told me what happened to them, but...." He sighed again in mixed sorrow and frustration. "I wish I knew..."
...Is she sad now, or was she sadden by something else?"
He looked at him with a straight face and patted him on his head.
"Regardless...I do not think I have the right to tell you why you are here. It is hers to let you know when she comes for you.."
He looked at sockets full of tears and stared at him.
"...No matter what happens...do not judge your mother for her actions. The Balance must be obtained...even though it may cost us dearly."
"I dunno," sighed the boy, "sometimes she looks at me and...well...she just radiates sad. I don't even think she notices...maybe I just remind her of Dad to much..."
There was in his chest, a tiny pang of lonliness, but it wasn't the usual lonliness that he felt when he was apart from his mother. This one was much more....profound. More primal.
HE looked up at Markus and forced a small smile across his face. "Knowing Mama, she's probably FUBAR'd half the planet by now." another sigh, " whatever it is that she has to do, she'll never tell me. I think she's the only person alive who can keep secrets from me."
He grinned for a moment. "Yea...that is true, she would do that...and I bet I Frost taught him about FUBAR...the bastard."
"What she must do...is something she cannot keep hidden from you forever. One way or another, you will learn the price she had to pay for your return."
He smiled for a moment. "As I said before...you do remind me of your dad...if she has not moved on, she can be upset from this. Don't worry about it too much..she loves and cares for you very much."
Looking at his pen, he sighes for a moment and clutches it in his fist. "Her keeping secrets...yes...you can only touch the surface, I see; you don't know how to delve deeper... you're probally better off then, you are still a child, and children should respect one's privacy. Although you're quite good at reading the surface..."
"Do you know want to know why I talk about how to keep a fluid motion of a pen? Why I speak of how to play cards?"
Tobias turned the man's words over in his head a few times. "You're cutting your train of thought," he said at last, "so I don't hear your not-words.... Ever since I was little, people have said things that nobody but me seems to notice. Everything of yours is about mundane things like cards...but Mama dosn't say anything like that, ever. And yes, Uncle taught me FUBAR, SNAFU, SAMFU and things I don't want to say. And he's not a bastard. Hes.." the boy paused a second to remember the words Raziel told him all those years ago, "he's arrogant, and he has every right to be...or something."
The pair fell into silence after that. Tobias was calming down now, even relaxing around this man who called himself Markus. Tobias reached for the discarded picture of his parents, and traced his finger over his mother's large belly.
"Hey..." he said after a minute, "I never thought about it before now, but Mama looks awful big for a pregnant woman."
Markus looked at the photo for a moment, looking at it...it's not his fault he didn't pay enough attention...
"Yea...come to think of it she does...how very odd..."
"Well, she must have eaten enough of pickles and ice cream while having you." He grins for a moment, showing his humorous side.
Staring at the picture for another moment, he looks back at him.
"So...I hear you're good with DRAGOONs. Is that true?"
Tobias looked at the picture and scrunched up his face. if it was overeating, wouldn't her arms be fatter?
The man's question startled him. How did this stranger know something he thought that only his uncle did? He looked worried for a moment, but quickly threw on his poker face.
"Yeah. Uncle doesn't really understand it, but apparently I'm pretty good." Tobias said, flushing and rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I dunno. they just seem...really natural to me, is all. Do you pilot mobile suits, mister?"
"I've...dabbled in it. Once or twice, that is. Nothing really noteworthy about my experiences. I'm only a Natural, and I can only operate via a computer program that allows me to upgrade myself to the abilities of a Coordinator like yourself...if only thru a mobile suit, that is."
He gives a grin, obviously hiding from the truth. "But that's what I would like for you to believe...but I know you won't. In truth, I have been banned from mobile suit piloting. It's the natural order of things. It's not till the Time of the Flames will I be able to pilot again."
He looked at him for a moment, his mind racing with card tricks. "...which is why I come before you today. Something troublesome comes this way, things that collide times that should never exist together. I am here...to bestow on you a gift from your father. Something you must keep hidden...but know it. This shall be your steed to meet the enemy that will befall you in the coming time. Interested?"
Tobias blinked owlishly at the man.
Dammit, stop with the cards already...is there a pattern? A crack?
"I am." The boy answered, "anything about my father...anything you know - tell me. Please!" By now, he was standing facing Markus, his blue eyes shining with determination. "Please tell me. If it's something I have to keep secret, then don't worry; I don't repeat things."
Sapphire stared down sapphire as the child awaited his answer.
He sighes. The boy pratices futility. With his current mind, he cannot grasp into his own...without his permission. "There is a pattern within all things. You are on the right track. Knowing the patterns...that is always the key. The key to my existance is that patterns repeat themselves. The world, as you see it, is nothing more than a redesigned pattern of its former self. I am curious to see what you can bring to the design."
Markus fumbles around his pocket for a moment. "This is something Shinn would want you to have. It was his final gif--...shit."
His left pocket was empty. Markus patted around it to be sure:
It wasn't there.
"Perfect timing..just great. Just when I got into all that big spheal and this was all dramatic, I had to go lose the damn disk. Is it just my fucking luck today or am I--shit, I left my mind open. Do not pay any attention to this message, kid. This is just a figment of your imagination. OoooOOOOOoooOOOOOOooooOOOOO" A bead of sweat dropped from his face as well as an embarassed look soon after.
"Sooo...yea...we'll have to take a raincheck on that disk...umm...the dog ate it."
Silence.
Tobias stared at Markus with a face that he could only have inherited from his mother; one that was incredulous at best, and positively evil at it's worst.
"What?"
Markus fidgeted under the gaze of the child. He even sounded like Kazée.
"You, mister, are an idiot."
God, his face his just like his mother's...
He couldn't help but laugh at the situation.
"Sorry kid, musta just left it in my other pocket. Don't worry though, I got it for ya. I'll give it to you before you go, so don't worry."
He glanced at his watch. He was running out of time. The security cameras would restart itself soon. It always had to be like this...couldn't spend a decent moment in peace...
but that was his job...it was he had to do.
"Sorry kid, but my time is up. You're gonna be here for awhile...don't worry, I'll talk to you again before you leave." He walked over to him and palced his hand on his head. "Don't worry...you'll be fine. I'm going away for awhile, so you won't see me. I'm going to be transferred to recon for a bit until I end up back here on guard duty."
He sighed for a moment, his mind focused on Raziel and Kazeé for a moment. This was something he could not stop...
He removed his hand and walked towards the door and stood there for a moment. He turned around and smiled at him.
"Take care kid." Placing his hat on his head, he walked out the room.
Tobias watched the stranger leave with a sense of very deep, primal sorrow. It was strange, really. This man was a complete stranger to him, and yet...As the doors hissed shut, Tobias was surprised, almost startled when he felt a few tears slide out of his eyes, meandering down his face to meet quietly together on his chin.
'Why is his leaving making me so sad...?'
He felt that pang in his heart again - the lonely one he felt sometimes when his mother looked at him.
There was one with me, one around me and a third that came and went...
There was a little voice in the back of Tobias' mind that told him it just went.
He glanced at his surroundings yet again as the "crack security team" of TITANS stood as calmly there before him as they had been before they left. He attempted not to snicker at them as he walked by, looking in the direction of the major standing before him. He was holding a familar piece of paper.
"2nd Lt. Markus!" He shouted out. Markus stood there and saluted him. He knew what was coming.
"We have new orders for you...which I find clearly odd, since you were just transferred over here. Regardless, you are to leave on temp assignment on a recon mission. All the details will be given to you in this folder. Make sure to read them carefully and to understand the nature of the mission. It's primary to the mission involving Virgo's kid. Make sure you don't let us down."
"Sir!" He saluted again. It was a good thing he went for the third round with the general's wife...
He began to walk off without glancing at the folder. He already knew what was in it.
He was to locate the Frost and Virgo and ensure that a kill was had...
it was not a job he was looking foward to doing. However, Raziel deserved to be with friends at his death...he already knew he was to die. He had offset the Balance with the destruction he had caused. It was the way it had to be...
Now, with the coming tide, he began to prep up for what fate had in store of him...
....
...
...
after he stopped by his room and grabbed the disk.
~~
The door opened, as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. A few seconds later, he noticed him…as he was sure he did the same. Their eyes met, and for a moment, he saw someone he had lost...but that did not matter now.
Time had gone by too fast, and the world continues to spin. No one, not even Death can stop it. With death, the cycle begins anew. The Wheel of Fate, as some call it. Death exists so life can begin anew...that is how it always is. But that was for another time.
...now, it was time to say goodbye.
“Hey kid…I’m back.”
He glanced at the child, looking him in his eyes. It had been…a rough day. His time here would soon end, as his other missions would bring him far away from here…and the boy, he would be returned. There was no reason to doubt the stupid man in the armor's word.
Besides…the Balance would not permit him to die here.
Looking at the boy, Marcus glazed into the child's eyes for a moment. The truth would come out soon…
This was his last opportunity to say what he wanted to say…to give into his human side.
"…I have good news, kid. You're to be released in a few days. Your mother was…successful in the bargain. Soon, you'll be reunited with her, and everything will go back to—"
He pauses for a moment. Nothing would ever be the same again…not for Tobias. Frost was dead; he was like a father to the boy. There will be no easy recovery for him.
"…a semblance of normalcy."
He did not try to hide his feelings: he didn't have the strength for it right now…and it didn't really matter, for these were to be the final moments they would share with each other for a long time.
"Listen kid…I actually brought the disk with me this time." He looked at him for a moment, with emotion in his eyes. His sight then shifted to his view of his left pocket, pulling out a silver CD case. "Inside here is everything you need to know about the suit, as well as possible upgrades and design improvements for the future. Do me a favor and commit them to memory…it might save you someday.
He gives a knowing smile. "Who knows what kinds of stuff may happen to you during your lifetime. After all, you're [i[his[/i] son.
He looks to the child again with another smile, returning to the shuffling of the deck in his mind. "Just remember: Ace beats King beats Queen. Never let your mind be open to those who would can hear you speak. They can use it to their advantage…"
Tobias brightened upon Markus' entrance, but wilted when he saw how harried the man looked. The boy sat quietly during the man's speech, and accepted the tiny gift.
'Suit? Mobile suit? Wow. I wonder which one...''
Markus' mind was impregnable as usual (almost like Kazée's, he noticed), but it didn't take much to tell that the man before him was extremely sad, maybe even....scared?
When he had finished, a full minute of silence passed through the room. Markus sighed and turned to leave but was stopped when a tiny pair of arms wrapped themselves around his waist. The man turned back, almost stunned as the child buried his face into the man's wait, probably hoping against hope he wouldn't leave.
Tobias didn't know why he was doing this - the impulse to prevent this man from leaving was overpowering, and the boy did the only thing he could think of. Maybe he was just lonely after 6 months of this, maybe it was because this man would talk about his father. Tobias didn't really know, but he did not want this man to leave.
Markus smiled and knelt to the child's level, again, catching his eyes with a pair that matched.
"Don't worry kid. You'll be fine..."
~~
Tobias crept down the stairs of his house slowly, pausing after each step to listen for signs of his mother's awakening. Her sleeping was erratic - sometimes the sound Tobias rolling over in another room would wake her, other times, blasting heavy metal in her ear would hardly cause her to stir.
Seemed to be one of those nights, Tobias realized happily as he padded down the last few stairs, turning the quick corner into their den, which played host to the almighty computer.
In his hand was the CD Markus had given him, and he slid it into the drive as he sat down.
A program popped up, and over that, a password bar. Tobias stifled a curse, and thought about it. Markus wouldn't have given it to him if he hadn't expected the boy to be able to get into it.
....
....
....
acekingqueen
The bar disappeared and was immediately replaced by statistics scrolling by at a speed nearly unfathomable.
The child's blue eyes widened.
(zee end)
~~
Kazuki Chigatana rose to his feet and turned, "I shall soon be departing on a journey with some old friends. We will be gone for some time, so I shall leave the Absit forces under your jurisdiction until I return." He paused, "If you truly wish to protect the boy, speak to his mother and convince her that he needs to be as far from this war as possible. When she agrees, and she will, I will take him with me on my expedition. When we return, he will be much closer to claiming his destiny." The mercenary hid his smile at his final comment and stepped out the door, leaving as silently as he had entered.
Michael stood rigidly as he watched the mercenary ship Yue docking below. He had taken quite some time to consider this; it had been long since he'd last spoken to the mercenary queen, and he wasn't too fond of the circumstances it had been under. His face looked worn and exhausted, the long scars on his cheek never seeming to heal or go away, their presence in his reflection a constant reminder of the visitor he had had and the potential cause behind the troubles now plaguing his land. That had all seemed so long ago now; the curtain of his Greymane Protocol had gone up, isolating his colonies from the rest of the Earth Sphere. Only the odd ZAFT officer still acted out in the field, on comission of some sort, doing the work for their mother land, leaving him here to try and clean up the mess.
Pushing them from his mind, he reached for his sunglasses as he caught the image of his eyes, once sharp and bright, now dull and weary. For a second, he considered slipping the darkened glasses on, but refrained, instead returning them to the pocket of his suit. No, there was no use. She was find him tired either way, through his voice, his mannerisms - she would know, if she didn't already from the urgency of the message with which she had been summoned.
It only took a few minutes from the time the ship docked before the door at the far end of the chamber opened. Michael tried to force a smile, pushing himself through the zero gravity to greet the visitors, "Ah, Miss Virgo, it's nice to -" He was stopped by a sudden stinging slap across his face, causing slight burns to lance across the scars there. He turned towards the mercenary queen, Kazée Virgo, and forced a slight smile, "It's nice to see you too."
The shorter woman withdrew her hand slowly, settling it against the other one as she crossed her arms and shifted her weight into a stance that was very arrogant and very, very angry.
She hadn't been sleeping recently - not awakened by nightmares like she used to be, no. Now she simply could not, would not sleep. Her hair was slightly dishevelled and her posture only slightly droopy.
"Didn't our Dearly Departed Emperor once say that we'd make sure you knew what Silence was, Micheal?" she asked. There was anger smoldering in her voice, and the bald man was well aware of it. "I can quite honestly say I'm less than impressed," she dropped the stance and walked over to the window behind his desk, looking out into the space behind them, "though given the recent happenings, I can't exactly blow up at you now, can I?
"What did you call me here for, Micheal? It had better be damn important."
I didn't say a word, he thought, but he couldn't easily share that and explain it behind it. To do so would shift the blame of the matter to someone else, someone who the mercenary queen could blow up on, and it would end up in a dire and devastating conflict, no doubt. He straightened himself, pulling his suit into shape and regaining some of his old composure, a half-cocky grin crossing his face, "It's not our dearly departed emperor that we should be worried about, Miss Virgo." He emphasized the title, trying to gain control before things got out of hand; he may only be the steward, but the people truly thought he held his position as emperor and to show any weakness...
He frowned slightly, "Raziel took great measures to ensure that he would be safe, but I fear for his sake." He sighed, closing his eyes, "But your boy is no longer safe here, in the Earth Sphere. This war is spreading, Miss Virgo, and there is no where to hide. If the fact that we obliterated Orb only to have a third of our population wiped out in return were not enough, note the coup d'etat that took over so many of the Alliance's bases." He turned to the woman.
"What would you say if I could promise your son safety, apart from this war?" the stand-in emperor asked. "What if I could put him in the hands of possibly the greatest warrior living for his own safety?"
Kazée didn't turn from watching the space. Nor did she answer for a long, long while.
"You're really a fool," she began, "If you think that I'd trust a stranger - warrior or not - with the welfare of the only person that matters to me anymore. You're aware that for the greater part of this year we were separated, and I with no guarantee of his safety during then. Do you want me to do that again?"
She turned sharply to glare at the man. "Tell me, Micheal. Whats the longest you've been apart from your little one with no contact, hm? Do you know what that feels like? Do you?"
She turned back to the window with a "phe".
"You're a horrible, horrible man to ask me to do that again."
"I can ask you to do it again simply because of what you said - he's the only person that matters to you," replied the steward, gazing out the window and avoiding the question turned pointedly at him. Just how long had it been since he'd taken time out to go home and see his family? He hardly remembered anymore - there were far too many things that needed doing, far too many lives at risk to give in to his desires. Thus, he carefully danced away from the subject and pressed his attack against the mercenary queen, "Look around you! What's out there - war, famine, disease, destruction, genocide. There are few places left to hide, and everyone's proven they're not afraid of striking at civilians - unarmed civilians! - in order to win this war."
"Perhaps, Miss Virgo, you are thinking more about your own personal well being than that of the boy," he stated, crossing his arms, his tone cold. "Would it not be in his best interest to be as far from the battlefield as possible?"
"You said it yourself, Micheal," she replied curtly. There was an angry edge to her voice now, "There's nowhere left to hide, even out in L2, apparently. Wherever would this esteemed gentleman take him? Where would they hide?" she turned her eerie stare on the regent, her pastel green eyes seeming to glow from the light outside. "Don't ever think that I'm inhuman enough to place myself before my people, least of all my child.
"Moreover," she continued, "you never answered my question. Have you heard from your family recently? Mail? Phone call? Messages that say 'Daddy, I miss you?' I've been with my son for less than four months in the past twelve. He's barely over the shock of his uncle's death! You expect me to just hand him off!" Her voice grew louder as her agitation increased. "Try and see this from my point of view for a minute, Micheal! I understand the need to get him away from here, but...he's already short two fathers, and I think he feels like he's losing his mother now, too..."
Michael stood rigidly as he watched the mercenary ship Yue docking below. He had taken quite some time to consider this; it had been long since he'd last spoken to the mercenary queen, and he wasn't too fond of the circumstances it had been under. His face looked worn and exhausted, the long scars on his cheek never seeming to heal or go away, their presence in his reflection a constant reminder of the visitor he had had and the potential cause behind the troubles now plaguing his land. That had all seemed so long ago now; the curtain of his Greymane Protocol had gone up, isolating his colonies from the rest of the Earth Sphere. Only the odd ZAFT officer still acted out in the field, on comission of some sort, doing the work for their mother land, leaving him here to try and clean up the mess.
Pushing them from his mind, he reached for his sunglasses as he caught the image of his eyes, once sharp and bright, now dull and weary. For a second, he considered slipping the darkened glasses on, but refrained, instead returning them to the pocket of his suit. No, there was no use. She was find him tired either way, through his voice, his mannerisms - she would know, if she didn't already from the urgency of the message with which she had been summoned.
It only took a few minutes from the time the ship docked before the door at the far end of the chamber opened. Michael tried to force a smile, pushing himself through the zero gravity to greet the visitors, "Ah, Miss Virgo, it's nice to -" He was stopped by a sudden stinging slap across his face, causing slight burns to lance across the scars there. He turned towards the mercenary queen, Kazée Virgo, and forced a slight smile, "It's nice to see you too."
The shorter woman withdrew her hand slowly, settling it against the other one as she crossed her arms and shifted her weight into a stance that was very arrogant and very, very angry.
She hadn't been sleeping recently - not awakened by nightmares like she used to be, no. Now she simply could not, would not sleep. Her hair was slightly dishevelled and her posture only slightly droopy.
"Didn't our Dearly Departed Emperor once say that we'd make sure you knew what Silence was, Micheal?" she asked. There was anger smoldering in her voice, and the bald man was well aware of it. "I can quite honestly say I'm less than impressed," she dropped the stance and walked over to the window behind his desk, looking out into the space behind them, "though given the recent happenings, I can't exactly blow up at you now, can I?
"What did you call me here for, Micheal? It had better be damn important."
I didn't say a word, he thought, but he couldn't easily share that and explain it behind it. To do so would shift the blame of the matter to someone else, someone who the mercenary queen could blow up on, and it would end up in a dire and devastating conflict, no doubt. He straightened himself, pulling his suit into shape and regaining some of his old composure, a half-cocky grin crossing his face, "It's not our dearly departed emperor that we should be worried about, Miss Virgo." He emphasized the title, trying to gain control before things got out of hand; he may only be the steward, but the people truly thought he held his position as emperor and to show any weakness...
He frowned slightly, "Raziel took great measures to ensure that he would be safe, but I fear for his sake." He sighed, closing his eyes, "But your boy is no longer safe here, in the Earth Sphere. This war is spreading, Miss Virgo, and there is no where to hide. If the fact that we obliterated Orb only to have a third of our population wiped out in return were not enough, note the coup d'etat that took over so many of the Alliance's bases." He turned to the woman.
"What would you say if I could promise your son safety, apart from this war?" the stand-in emperor asked. "What if I could put him in the hands of possibly the greatest warrior living for his own safety?"
Kazée didn't turn from watching the space. Nor did she answer for a long, long while.
"You're really a fool," she began, "If you think that I'd trust a stranger - warrior or not - with the welfare of the only person that matters to me anymore. You're aware that for the greater part of this year we were separated, and I with no guarantee of his safety during then. Do you want me to do that again?"
She turned sharply to glare at the man. "Tell me, Micheal. Whats the longest you've been apart from your little one with no contact, hm? Do you know what that feels like? Do you?"
She turned back to the window with a "phe".
"You're a horrible, horrible man to ask me to do that again."
"I can ask you to do it again simply because of what you said - he's the only person that matters to you," replied the steward, gazing out the window and avoiding the question turned pointedly at him. Just how long had it been since he'd taken time out to go home and see his family? He hardly remembered anymore - there were far too many things that needed doing, far too many lives at risk to give in to his desires. Thus, he carefully danced away from the subject and pressed his attack against the mercenary queen, "Look around you! What's out there - war, famine, disease, destruction, genocide. There are few places left to hide, and everyone's proven they're not afraid of striking at civilians - unarmed civilians! - in order to win this war."
"Perhaps, Miss Virgo, you are thinking more about your own personal well being than that of the boy," he stated, crossing his arms, his tone cold. "Would it not be in his best interest to be as far from the battlefield as possible?"
"You said it yourself, Micheal," she replied curtly. There was an angry edge to her voice now, "There's nowhere left to hide, even out in L2, apparently. Wherever would this esteemed gentleman take him? Where would they hide?" she turned her eerie stare on the regent, her pastel green eyes seeming to glow from the light outside. "Don't ever think that I'm inhuman enough to place myself before my people, least of all my child.
"Moreover," she continued, "you never answered my question. Have you heard from your family recently? Mail? Phone call? Messages that say 'Daddy, I miss you?' I've been with my son for less than four months in the past twelve. He's barely over the shock of his uncle's death! You expect me to just hand him off!" Her voice grew louder as her agitation increased. "Try and see this from my point of view for a minute, Micheal! I understand the need to get him away from here, but...he's already short two fathers, and I think he feels like he's losing his mother now, too..."
