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 Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 2:06 am
He could... he could hear a battle cry. Who... was it? Was it... him? I couldn't be... he wasn't... wasn't making any noise... it was impossible to... felt like he was flying... warm air all around... no... hot, scorching air, like a volcano... uncomfortable... and in front of him... ahead of him in the air... a figure, giant and hulking... moving away... he had to catch it... he had to catch it, to destroy it... destory it... once and for all...
Allen's feet left the ground as he plunged forwards, right arm extended with left arm supporting it. The red tendrils flickered like flames through the air, reaching out at his target with showed its back to him as it ran. It was no use, though, it could no longer escape. Not now. Sure enough, as soon as one prong of the creature touched it, a massive slice ripped through its hull. Its skin. That green substance again, and that roar, that terrible roar. The creature lapped up the blood hungrily before moving in again, reaching inside the hulk and cutting through the wires and cables that connected it. There was a slam, and Allen was in the air again, as the S-1 fell to its knees, powerless. The roar had long since gone. What was left was a thin, aching whimper, a whine like the screech of metal on metal. Not nearly as loud, but just as painful. One, large spine emerged from the machine, rearing up with the patience of one that is assured of its victory.
A crash. The whimper disappeared abruptly. Allen fell to the ground.
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Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 2:15 am
Matarael's shoulder hit the corridor wall hard, and his arms suddenly fell limp at his sides. Hair hanging forlornly across his features, breath ragged under some unknown strain, he appeared as one who had run for all eternity. His right hand crept up slowly, taking hold across his chest. His heart... burnt. A mysterious pain flooded him, no mere physical thing but something that filled his whole being with fire. It exhausted him.
Up ahead he could see nothing but an inky blackness, but that hadn't stopped him yet. What guided him was not his sight, but the smell of blood that eminated somewhere out before him. Eerily familiar, so it was. He could also hear voices, faint as if from a distance, but somehow he felt as though this too was an illusion, and they were closer than he reckoned. He had to reach them, for he knew there were two, and help them. After all, he had a fair idea who it was. He shook his head violently, his right hand leaving its place at his heart and slamming against the titanium wall. The sound was pitiful, the surface had been monstrously reinforced. Emitting a sound not unlike a growl, he levered himself up and stuck one foot in front of the other, walking slowly towards the scent.
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Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 9:04 am
She finally caught up with him in the red corridor; it took a while for her to realise why it was red, he main concern was Marcus who stood in the middle of it all shuddering. Anne looked all around to make sure no-one else was around before taking a step forwards, it wouldn’t do for anyone to see her as anything but a workaholic dragon.
“Mark…?” she didn’t like the way he just stood there, “Mark… are you alright? Mark?”
It wasn’t the whole corridor that was red, just the floor and the walls; that wasn’t right, the red didn’t go all the way up the walls either. It was blood; Allen’s blood.
She staggered back a few steps, away from Mark, -Did Mark do this, is that why he’s shaking, is he angry… no, it couldn’t be, it’s Mark.- Her stomach convulsed and she tasted vomit, it wouldn’t do for her to…
She turned her head almost involuntarily and threw up; so much for it not being done.
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Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 9:45 am
His bones stretched and twisted, his whole body was on fire, Marcus couldn’t hear what Anne said, couldn’t hear her concern, he was in his own world, about the same time as his friend rejected her last meal, Mark fell into all fours. He wasn’t surprised to note that his legs and arms were the same size and that there was fur everywhere. Allen’s blood was everywhere but there was something else as well, Mark could smell his personal scent and, more importantly, he knew where Allen had gone.
Mark looked at the pool at his feet and discovered that he couldn’t see in colour but he could still tell what colour it was from the shade of grey and that he could see clearer than he’d ever been able to. His focus shifted and he could see his face; now that was strange; it was the face of an animal, similar to a wolf but with bigger ears and a longer snout. His hair, now completely covering his body was white with red flecks like his normal hair colour.
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Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 11:59 am
Her gun clattered to the floor as Cyriel rushed forward, nearly slipping on a patch of something that could have been machine oil, could have been blood. On closer inspection, she would have found that it was something else entirely. She called Allen's name as she approached, falling to her knees and taking his head in his hands.
"Allen! Hey! Allen!!" she yelled, oblivious to the distance between them, "What's wrong with you! Hey!!"
Beside her, the great metal hulk that had been the S-1 lay quiet and lifeless, fixing her with a stare from its one, dead eye. It unnerved her, but she knew there was nothing more it could do. She felt water against her cheek, and hurredly wiped it clean with her hand. A mistake, she found, as it was a hand covered in Allen's blood, soaking his hair without cessation. She looked at the blood-stained hand for a long time, not daring to breathe, before letting it fall to her side, burying her face in his chest and crying openly.
Around her, the Arias that remained moved closer, expecting a further order. Or maybe trying to offer their sympathies.
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Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 12:09 pm
The voices seemed so close now, close enough to be his own. Matarael stagged forwards a couple more steps before grasping the side of a doorway in his left hand. He pulled himself the last few paces and peered inside. What he could see was obscured by the death-like blackness all around him, but he could still see a little. Two figures... only one human. The smell of blood was excrutiating. And there, in the far corner, lay his sword, glowing with a faint blue light. Very faint... frighteningly faint. With reknewed vigour his pushed himself from the doorway and into the neighbouring corridor, blatantly ignoring the two inside, oblivious to the fact that he didn't know what one of them was. He slipped on a puddle of... something on the floor and fell face first to the ground, inches from his prize. he just had to touch it with his weary arm and...
"S-system... analysis." he murmered. The sword sprang to life, filling the room with a calming blue. It spoke to him in a strange, robotic tone.
"Vital signs low, no structural damage. 7th level alert. R-R-R-R-R-Refer to f-f-f-f-file A2 o-o-o-o-of system guide for further d-d-d-details."
A2... Matarael's faintness came with reinforcements, and the darkness covered his vision once again.
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Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 12:21 pm
Now he was swimming, swimming in a sea of red. Deep below the crimson tide. A figure floated just before him, mimiking his movements. The figure was human, completely red, two piercing eyes of deepest black inspecting him callously.
"Who are you?" Allen tried to say, but though the water ("?") didn't enter his mouth he couldn't hear his own voice. The figure just stared back. "Where am I?" he tried, getting louder. Still no response. Then...
Welcome, host. You are welcomed. A thin, whispy voice, that which Allen would expect to hear from a ghost. It seemed clumsy, though, as if inexperienced. You are welcomed to my side of life.
"Your... side?" Allen asked, having heard the words though the creature hadn't opened its mouth.
I am you, you are I. it continued, Together we vanquished my brother. My brother who broke the rules. My brother who took a human into itself.
A strange spark of recognition flew across Allen's mind. "What is your name?" he asked.
I am Organum the Second. I am Fortisserite.
Blackness once more took control.
There was an intense ringing in Allen's ears as his eyes slowly began to open on the aftermath of the battle. He tried to breathe in deeply but it was painful to do so, as though there was a weight on his chest. Everything... everything hurt. His vision was at first blurred, but soon he began to see things clearly. The sky was red. That was a bad sign. He lifted his head so that his chin touched his chest and saw a head of blonde hair, blood-stained and in disarray.
"C..." he tried, failed, and began again, "Cyriel...?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 12:45 pm
She lifted her head hurredly when she heard her own name. Blinking away the tears, she looked at Allen with forlorn eyes. Her hand still quivering, she flung her arms around his neck and hugged him close, once again bursting into tears. Her hair had long since lost its means of staying in place and now fell about her shoulders in a cascade, falling across his chest and spreading his blood across his uniform.
"Allen!" she just about made out between sobs, "I... I thought you were dead!"
Thoughts plummeted through her mind, a tangled mess. How could she have mistrusted him? Why did she let herself be led astray by feeling of jealousy? What would she have done if he really had died? That last one didn't matter anymore, so she just let herself be, and cried.
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Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:18 am
He laughed quietly, letting his head fall back to the floor. Then, slowly, he brought his right hand up to his chest and gently stroked Cyriel's hair in an attempt to calm her down.
"It's okay." he said, a little wearily, "It's over now. Everything's finished."
He breathed in deeply, trying to calm his shaking nerves, and for the meantime it seemed to work. His body relaxed and the pain subsided. He gently rolled his head to the side, and the smile on his face wavered and then died. The S-1... there would be no salvaging it now. It lay in a thousand pieces all around them, covered in the green ooze that had at one point provided the fuel and the pilot for the machine. Organum One, the Flandamerite. It wrenched his heart to see it so; the culmination of his life's work in tatters. He should have been used to it, this was definately not the first time. Not since The Rejection at Lahrgetto. For now, however, he was able to relax in the company of his coll- of his friends, and fret about how he would break the news to them. Aria2 was a secret no more.
"Where's M?" he asked with a strained voice, "I need to talk to him... to both of you."
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Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:32 am
"E-Em?" she said, lifting her head a little so that she could see him. He wasn't looking at her, and that unnerved her. "I-I dunno, he was here before the battle. He was with his sword a-and then he... he left."
With a hand either side of him, she lifted herself off and looked around the yard. There was no sign of him, just a massive gathering of Arias, all silently standing ready for instructions. She closed her eyes, steadying her breathing, and 'felt' for him. They had always been able to do this, to find each other across great expanses. However, and this made her even more afraid, she couldn't feel him at all.
"We should go loo-" she began, before looking down at Allen once again, "Oh, right. I'll go find him." she corrected, a little upset that she couldn't nurse him back to health herself. Giving him one last forlorn expression, she smiled sadly, rose to her feet, and looked over at the Arias.
"Code E, serious casualty. All units move him to the medical bay for treatment."
She could have heard a thousand of the same voice speaking "Affirmative.", when really it was only a couple of dozen. The Arias moved in, cradling Allen in their arms as if he were their father. Strangely close to the truth... Cyriel moved away from him at a jog, snathcing her rifle from where it lay on the ground and heading towards the supply lift to the research area. Though she had no idea where he was, it seemed right to her that this should be the first place she checked. As soon as she set foot on it, the lift started to move steadily down into the abyss below. A strange urgency gripped her, as if Matar were really in danger. But it was Matar, surely he'd be fine.
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Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 1:12 pm
The shuddering figure of her dear friend fell to its knees. Ashamed as she was to admit it, she couldn’t watch and turned her eyes away. There was something in the air, some horrific tension as if existence itself was arguing that what Mark was doing was wrong.
There was a shuffling noise, heavy breathing and the occasional grunt coming from the other side of the corridor; from the other side of Marcus. That meant she had to look. Laboriously, she turned her eyes to find the form that she once associated with Marcus gone and a bizarre wolf-like creature in his place, gazing in seeming fascination at the floor. Her eyes rose further and she was confronted with something far more horrifying.
Matar’s battle worn body staggered into the hall he held out his hand in her direction and muttered something. A strange blue light surrounded them; Anne couldn’t see the source from where she was. She rushed past the strange creature in the middle of hall towards Matar and fell to her knees beside him.
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Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2007 3:33 am
Allen awoke slowly, the sound of a raging fire thick in his ears. But he wasn't hot, or even remotely warm, and when he took a lingering gaze about his surroundings he saw no need for there to be a fire at all. He lay on a bed in the medical wing, the lights dimmed and the door closed. He was alone. The walls were white, but in the dim of the room they appeared a musky grey. He reckoned that he would have heard the soft hum of the machinery at work had it not been for the sound in his ears. A sound still unexplainable. He then looked down at his own body. He heavily bandaged along his right arm and around his waist. His left arm fared better, with only a few smaller bandages to cover the wounds. As far as he could tell, his white hair had been near suppressed by a thick layer of medicinal tape that ran around his head, though he couldn't see it. He was still wearing his uniform trousers, tattered and bloodstained, though his shirt and his gauntlets were nowhere in sight. His left arm, he found, felt cold without its metal casing, his right having been compensated for with a thick layer of bandage. He sighed, and let his head rest upon the pillow again. There was nothing he could do for now, just lie in wait for his body to repair itself. Yes, the human body was a machine beyond comparison.
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Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2007 4:40 am
Mark looked up when the blue light shone and spotted Matar and Anne, he moved towards them cautiously, aware that he might look scary to them. He slipped and skidded through the blood on the floor without noticing it, intent on his friends when he came across the source of the strange light; Matar’s sword. It was announcing what seemed to be a stats report; Marcus gently picked it up in his mouth and skidded a little further to Matar’s side. He lay it down within easy reach of M’s right hand then looked up at Anne to see if she recognised him for who he really was.
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Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2007 4:53 am
Anne froze as she heard the creature’s unsteady approach, Matar was too weak to defend them and his sword was too far away for her to reach, they were venerable to any malicious attack. The blue light got closer as the creature did until she saw, in her peripheral vision, the creature with the sword in it’s mouth.
-Surely a creature like that doesn’t need a weapon?-
Her confusion only grew when it lay the sword down beside Matar and looked at her. Those eyes were so familiar and so worried; she decided this must be Mark, scared witless that she’d got it wrong, she slowly reached out her and to rest in on his head to show him that she meant him on harm, that she believed him.
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Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2007 6:36 am
He rubbed his head against Anne’s hand whilst wondering what on earth he’s going to do about his new form; there’s no way he can live like this and keep his job. The best thing he could hope for was to be someone’s pet. A tear dropped onto the still glowing sword. All he wanted to do was work for Allen, to do his best and raise through the ranks to a better position, there was no-one in the business with less responsibility than him. His dream was to be in-charge of a few people; not many, maybe five and report to his boss every couple of days, to be trusted. It doesn’t look like hat’s a feasible dream anymore.
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