:.melancholy.: Gale: Chapter 3

by *OlivesOranges

[Around the same time that Gale witnesses the twisted sight of Luke, Andy is staring at the statue of his deceased Master. When Luke wakes up and sends Gale into a state of panic, Remy hears a loud, high pitched ringing in his right ear. He gnashes his teeth, breathing heavily as his body begins to feel numb. Along with the ringing, he could faintly hear the twisted Emperor’s soft cackling.

The sounds get to everyone who was ever Corrupted; even the Exes could hear the man’s laughter, and they react accordingly. An interesting case would be Frank Soughton, who stares out of the window of his classroom, a vicious glint in his eyes.

“’Ey Frank, what’s bothering you?” a student asks. It is obvious that he too heard the sound, but he doesn’t want to bring it to the surface with the fear that it would heighten the Hunter’s suspicion. Instead, he reaches past his brown hair and wriggles his finger in his ears to pretend that they’re itching. When he gets no reply, he shrugs and leaves the room to check on his brother, who is still in shock over the sudden change. As he opens the door, he gazes at his silver-haired brother, who is still shaking and staring madly into the mirror.

“Uh… Leo? You and Frank are scaring me,” the brown-haired boy huffs as he removes his cap to scratch his head. Leo slowly turns his head, and with wide eyes and a somewhat hysterical frown, he wails, “I’m AURONIAN.”

The boy shifts uneasily in his stance, a bit disturbed at his brother’s behavior. “Dude, Leo, I’m sure it’s no biggie. Maybe th’Lord’s hibernating? Come on man, you can’t keep acting like this—

He is suddenly gripped by his collar, face to face with his maddened brother. “KAHZ,” Leo hisses. “I NEED THAT VENOM.”

“Okay man, calm down! I… I’m not sure what I can do!” Kahz replies. He is actually afraid at this point.

“I know…w-what you can do…” Leo hisses lowly, his body visibly trembling. With a twitch, his sclera flushes black, and a devilish, drowsy look masks over his previously youthful features as he speaks in the voice of the Oniyan Emperor. “See to it that they don’t forget.”]

Celia suggested that I rest up for a bit. She said that she’d keep an eye on Luke. In my haze, I had forgotten to tell her that Terry dove into the World Wide Network. I lay here in the bed of my living quarters, but I can’t keep still for long. Something strange is lurking through the Network, and I must figure out what’s going on. As I roll out of bed, I stumble upon my long lost bubble wand. “How did this get here…?” I ask as I pick it up and stare at it. Even when laying on the floor, the thing still has bubble fluid flowing about in the opening. I know it’s enchanted, but to see something like this amuses me and slowly pulls me out of my haze as I get lost in its wonders. With a few gentle swings, my room is blessed with the gracefully flowing things. I actually find comfort in them.

[Luke is actually on the defensive at this point, having realized that the demon is targeting Terry, who is trying his best to hack into and reset the man’s Central Core. “FUCK,” he yells at the top of his lungs as he feels the claws of the Tainted apparition tear through his back. The Tainted Anima giggles playfully, going for another swing, only to be shot in the leg by the gruff man. He falls to the floor, rocking and hissing. Regular bullets wouldn’t bother him, but Luke just fired bullets composed of Pure energy, and that to the Corruption is venomous.

“You big friggin meanie face!” the apparition pouts as he grits his teeth and allows his wound to slowly heal. He squeaks when he feels the barrel of Luke’s gun on the back of his head, a wide grin masking his apparent fear. “Tell me why I shouldn’t blow yer fuckin’ head off,” Luke grumbles.

“Because you need me, Luke. Just like I need you…!” the Tainted Anima says softly. Naturally, Luke sneers with denial. “Yeah right. We’re like peanut butter and jelly, huh?” he growls.

“We are precisely such a thing, Luke! Think about it—how are you so flexible and nimble and durable at 48 cycles…? Normal Serians wouldn’t have such amazing agility and what have you!” the apparition exclaims. The older man shook his head. “Then let me hunch over with a fucking cane. I’m getting sick of you—

Without warning, a large gravitational force pushes the two away from each other and briefly forces them against the ground. The blackness is washed over in whiteness as the terrain is cleared. Terry stares intently between the two Animas and the Central Core, hoping that when the gravitational push let them move, the Pure Anima would get there first. The force finally lets up after 20 seconds. With this, Terry yells “LUKE, COME ON!” at the top of his lungs. The two Animas suddenly dash for the Central Core, viciously clawing and shooting at each other.]

            [“Did anyone else hear Daddy laughing or something?” Ash calls down the residential hallway of Naginata’s mansion as he rubs at his head. “That and some friggin ringing shit,” someone calls back. It isn’t long before Ash is looking down upon his son, Maxi, who had collapsed when the wave of laughter and ringing pierced the minds of many. His head set is on the floor beside him, and he is sweating and panting feverishly. “Fuck,” he huffs, “I don’t know if that was a feeling of satisfying evil or unwanted fear that rushed over me or something. I feel like the room is spinning.”

“Take it easy, honey,” Ash says as he brushes the boy’s hair back. “I’m going to see if everyone is okay.”

“All right,” Maxi says, still holding his head. “I’ll be fine… just… gh…hotta let this pass over…”

Ash nods softly and stands, proceeding to knock on everyone’s door and check up on them. Some of them had fainted, some are nauseous, and some had reacted hysterically, throwing tantrums and tearing up their rooms or themselves. “And this is why I had to get Momma Kuro outta here,” Ash sighs softly. He gasps when he realizes that he should check on the woman and see how the mental attack had affected her. With a brisk motion, he grabs his coat and swiftly leaves the mansion, heading for his mother’s cottage home in the Bloodstone Crown.]

            [Travis is panting, almost in ecstasy over having felt his father’s Tainted presence. “Oh Father… I’m almost there…” he groans quietly. “But… I feel like there is something missing.”

He surveys the area, knowing that Destiny wouldn’t have kept the answer so close. With a sigh, he settles on the floor next to the charms soaked in his pool of blood. “Perhaps you should call it a night, Sir…” Lin-Li suggests from the other side of the door. He is a bit shaken from the boy’s psychotic behavior and wanted to distance himself, but he also wants to monitor him to ensure that he doesn’t go overboard.

“You’re right, Lin-Li… I’ll just… sleep here…” Travis yawns in reply, overtaken by drowsiness. He clearly hates it; he, similar to his father, rarely got rest in the time that they were wrapped in the grasp of Corruption. Now, being an Auronian man, he runs out of energy every 4 days, just one more than Luke, when he was awake. “Perhaps it is best that you should find a more comfortable place to lay,” Lin-Li suggests, unsure of what is running through the boy’s mind.

“No. Leave me… I want to be with Father… with Mother… with…Uncle…”

Travis’ voice fades as he drifts into a deep sleep.]

            My communicator rings again. Weary of its sound but hopeful that something good would come of answering it, I check the ID. It’s Andy again. I’m not sure why he’s calling me, but under the impression that he too is hoping that the third time is the charm, I answer the call. It is hard, and I feel a lump in my throat, but I manage to get a few words out at a time.

“Gale… oh my god are you okay? I tried to call you a few times,” he says. He sounds as if he’s in pain—or at least recovering from it. “I…I’m fine…” I reply. I still feel a bit dizzy, but the bubbles are proving to quite therapeutic. “Did you… hear that laughter, man?” Andy asks me. I furrow my brows in confusion. Is he talking about Xenon’s laughter that came out of Luke’s mouth?

“I’m not… sure…” I answer softly, trying to shake the image and sound out of my mind. Andy goes quiet for a bit.

“I was looking at a statue of the Emper—Xenon, and suddenly this loud, high pitched ringing goes off in my head. I could hear his laughter, man. As if he was right next to me,” he says. I could hear his voice shaking. I struggle to swallow, my mind involuntarily processing what could have been his experience. Could he have experienced it the same time that Luke woke up?

“Gale?” Andy says. “I need to see you. I feel like if I wait, he’s going to resurrect himself, and… the Hive Mind is going to take me back. I need to see my best friend one more time before I turn back.”

This throws me into a further state of shock, and I clench my fists as tight as I could, only to feel them go limp again from my lack of strength. Instead, I gather my frustration into my voice. I need to vent. “You don’t have to turn, Andy!” I shout into the wristband. “We can find a way, just… give me time!”

“Gale, there’s no doubt you heard that devil laughing. Whatever’s happening, I don’t have much time,” Andy says. My head hurts badly from the unwanted thoughts, my throat hurts from the physical stress and the unbearable guilt. Andy’s right. I need closure before Xenon comes back from the dead and turns him back into that soulless demon that he forced him to become. But I am torn. Part of me wants to stay and see to it that Luke recovers and actually isn’t turning into what I think he is. The other part of me… wants to see my childhood friend for the last time. After I ponder in silence, Andy’s voice brings me back to.

“Gale?” he asks.

“Okay,” I sigh. “Where should we meet?”