AN:
Re-uploaded due to a small slip-up at the very end. (Like anyone really noticed…) Azuma would not have gone to the Source. Not yet, anyway. (…shh…) The (practically) untouched fic is below.

***

AN:
(The AN has to be up here, or it’ll ruin the mood) It came and stuck. I should do that more often. ^^; Anou… I dun own Megami Kouhosei or anything related to the series. And… have tissues with you if you’re overly sensitive. (Probably no need for them, though) There’s a dab of Jewish mysticism in this one. (Couldn’t help it…:D)

*sniff sniff, teary (IRL)* Y-You all just… HAVE to visit Dual Potential and read the first two Myths in Tank 5. *sniff* Inspiration…

It happened.

With blasts, tremors, and shockwaves, it ever-so-quickly happened. It was ironic how it seemed to happen quickly, yet at the same time it seemed to take an eternity.

There were large chunks of debris scattered around him, as well as several bodies of people that had been in the room with him at the time. G.O.A. Instructor #9 Azuma Hijikata could barely move his legs. It took a great effort on his part to get himself to sit up against the wall, partly because he had a large amount of debris on him, and partly because his upper left arm was severely injured. He was sure he’d broken a few ribs. It hurt to breathe.

Panels and chairs and other such things nearly covered the floor of the medical examination room. One of the first things to catch his attention was the sight of the nurses. Not the nurses themselves, since they were burried under some things he couldn’t make out to be familiar, but the fact that their arms were outstretched, fingers at the other’s palm.

Yukine Simmons and Mitche Lucas. They had always been so close and alike. They may as well have been twins.

*flashback*

Candidate teams 88 and 89 were escorted to the medical wing for a general physical examination after someone came down with the common cold. After finishing up with Kizna, Yukine and Mitche had gone on to Saki and Clay, respectively. The green haired nurse was trying to keep the redhead’s attention with her instead of on the needle that she was using to draw blood from her arm. She was doing a good job, too. Saki was smiling and laughing through the whole thing.

Mitche was checking Clay’s eyesight. She had a bit of a struggle with getting the boy to take off his glasses, but through gentle persuasion and a bit of cuteness she got him to obey and let her proceed with the test. It was sort of like a factory line-up: the checks were begun by Dr. Rill, then Mitche checked the eyesight, and Yukine drew blood for other exams. It was all very un-modern, but effective nonetheless.

“…But don’t you dare think that they’ll always be that way! It’s a trick. Boys are sly, sly people,” Yukine joked, extracting another giggle from Saki. “Well, most of the time, anyway.”

“…So I’d say that yeah, glasses are a good thing. I personally think men look cuter that way, but maybe it’s just me,” Mitche went on, winking as she pulled the manual device away from Clay’s face.

“Mitch, don’t forget the other eye,” Yukine said as she checked the glass tube where repairer candidate 89’s blood was going.

“ ’Kay; but don’t you forget the other arm,” replied the pink haired nurse.

The redhead’s eyes widened, and she shot a questioning glance at the nurse with her. Yukine looked at Mitche; Mitche looked at Yukine. And then they broke out into laughter, which Saki joined into after she realized it was all just a joke.

Yukine pulled out the needle and bent Saki’s arm after putting a bandage on the speck of blood that passed through the almost invisible puncture that remained where the needle had been.

And then the force of the impact shook the G.O.A.

The first Victim shot was enough to send everyone a few feet back or forward or sideways —depending on how they were standing in relation to the direction the blast came from—, but not so strong that all the occupants of the large craft were were knocked off their feet.

The second shot came from another direction, as did the third and fourth, which followed shortly after. From then on, the blasts became more powerful —apparently full-powered close-range shots—, and in no order whatsoever. Three or more could hit the G.O.A. at once, and none could hit for as long as eight seconds.

No one thought much of it first. They suspected it was part of the Goddess’ Verdict. But when the next ones came in, reality decided to hit fully.

Had the Goddesses been lost…? And what of Zion? Victim… had been victorious?

The nurses looked at each other, fear deeply embedded into their eyes and faces. G.O.A. shook with another blast, and they had only time to drop whatever they were holding and reach out for each other’s wrists amidst their screams and those of others. They held on as if for their very lives.

And then a part of the ceiling collapsed.

*end flashback*

The fact that sick bay was the safest place on the G.O.A. ment that it was the most reinforced area. And that meant that only two things could happen should the vessel be under a severe attack: either it would suffer the less damage because of the extra metal alloys, or it would suffer the most damage because the extra alloys were destroyed. Azuma found himself forced to admit that the latter was the true one.

Shattered glass covered with a darkening red fluid was near the wall Kizna had stood by. The blood stained the floor and the wall.

The instructor looked for the pink haired girl. He was unable to see all of her. What could be seen was a bruised and gashed right leg and an outstretched and scratched right arm. Her head was turned in the direction opposite him. A smear of dark red tinted the girl’s left ear and a patch of her hair. He dared not want to see her face, and was glad that he had not seen those of the nurses.

Unfortunately, Zero’s face was clearly visible. His expression seemed to be frozen in serious force of will and, at the same time, fear. He was a few feet away from the cat eared girl, and it was obvious that they had been trying to reach each other during the barrage.

Zero Enna and Kizna Towryk. They were like siblings, both extremely annoying, yet so full of energy and determination. They would have been wonderful with one of the Ingrids.

*flashback*

Kizna had been the first one to be done with the medical checks, mostly because she was less of a coward than her classmates and partner. She leaned against a wall, crossed her arms, and watched Zero struggle with his unique choice of whims and fears. Fortunately for him, Dr. Rill was well aware of those fears and knew just how to get to him. The thought of seeing one of the nurses give it a go was enough to bring a smile to the pink haired girl’s face and a look of fondness and sincere, friendly affection to her eyes.

Zero had been upset with the fact that they had to get a check-up. He never really liked doctors much, and since Dr. Rill had been so violent the first time he met her, he wasn’t too keen on seeing her of all medics. However, she appeared to be a relatively normal individual, so Zero cooperated, but not without giving her a bit of trouble with coaxing him to sit down.

“What are you gonna do to me,” he asked flatly and trying to hide fear, which he miserably failed to do.

The blonde gave in to half a giggle and shook her head.

“I swear I won’t hit you,” she said.

“But you’ll poke at me, and you’ll stick needles in me, and—”

“Damn it, Zero Enna!” Rill interrupted, smirking a bit. “How do you expect to become a Goddess Pilot if you’re so afraid of little things? Besides, I’m not the monster you make me out to be. What are you so afraid of?”

Zero blinked his blue eyes at her. The sapphire circles had shrunk a bit with disbelief and insecurity. Their usual cheeriness gave them a certain shine that was just too cute not to laugh at. He shut them tightly when he felt the pale woman’s hands on his shoulders push him down; he opened one of them to look up at her through his dark brown bangs.

“So you promise you won’t hit me,” he stated more than asked.

She gave him a stern yet soft look.

“Promise.”

Kizna shook her head and laughed. Zero seemed to have an aura that wouldn’t let anyone hate him. Well, mostly everyone, but that was just a special case she’d rather not think about. He was popular and great at all the tests and simulations. Someone had to pose as a rival. She had heard somewhere that your rival always goes to your funeral feeling horrible because now that his rival was dead, he had no one to compete with. It made perfect sense to her and fit very well with Zero’s magnetic personality. Sometimes he acted too dumb for his own good, but if that was his way of making friends and keeping everyone’s morale up, who was she to ask him to change?

She found herself being flung forward. Her arms spread out to help her regain her balance along with putting a foot before herself. She instictively looked around to see if everyone was all right or if it had just been her —which she highly doubted—; feeling secure, she resumed her position on the wall. The Goddesses were probably in battle.

It happened again. And again. By now she had stumbled onto one knee and supported herself with one hand to keep from falling completely. A table and a few chairs had fallen over. Looking around at everyone’s faces, the same emotions they felt all surfaced within her.

“No,” she whispered to herself. Zero was stepping over things in an attempt to gain his bearings; a thin red line on his cheek was clearly visible to her. Another violent tremor ripped through the G.O.A., and that was when the truth of it all took its toll on Kizna and she tried to get to her partner, who was, in turn, trying to reach her.

But then a large piece of heavy debris fell.

*end flashback*

Number 89’s glasses were no longer in existence. Instead, pieces of the glass that were stained with his own blood lay scattered on the cold floor. A few larger pieces of the sharp material were embedded into the skin of his forehead and the bridge of his nose. It must have looked even more horrifying up close, Azuma thought.

Repairer candidate 89’s arm bandage was an ugly, painful shade of wine. A brighter colored liquid that originated from somewhere within her nose was beginning to dry. The instructor could only see half of the girl’s face because she had fallen face down. That explained the nose injury. Both her arms were held out. That was all he could make out. The rest of her was hidden behind and under an overturned examination table.

Clay Cliff Fortran and Saki Mimori. A smart —annoyingly smart— team that may not have had what it took to become pilot and repairer of a Goddess, but had just the right amount of charm and good chemistry between themselves and with others to keep any potential haters from becoming such.

*flashback*

“Take off your glasses!”

But Clay liked his glasses. He liked them just where they were!

It was a pretty stupid thing, he realized, to complain about having to take off his glasses. But he happened to like seeing well with their aid. He wasn’t in any hurry whatsoever to have to see a big blur, even if it was for a little bit.

“But I don’t need a new prescription,” he tried.

The pink haired nurse sighed and shook her head.

“That’s not the point, Clay Cliff Fortran,” she said nicely. She gave him a sincere smile and pulled his hand away while reaching for his glasses. He used his free hand to hold her hand down and looked at her in a very serious yet comical style.

The nurse giggled and stopped trying.

“Y’know, I’ve always liked boys that wear glasses.” She leaned in a bit to whisper, “I always thought they looked cute. Who knows? Maybe some of the girls here think so, too.” She stood up straight again and held up her index finger while winking. She went on about how men looked smarter that way. She reiterated —several times— that he had to let her check his eyes for any irregularities. He finally complied, and even as she was examining him, she kept talking to keep Clay from any other attempts at pushing her away.

At least she was nice about it. He smiled a bit to let her know he wasn’t about to run away.

Saki had been afraid of this kind of needle usage. She didn’t mind getting a shot. She never minded anesthetics for surgery. She never minded the IV. It had to be the blood, then. None of the other procedures involved that much blood, let alone pulled out of her body. The fear must have been evident in her expression, because the first thing the green haired nurse did was try to calm her down.

“Don’t worry, Saki Mimori,” she said with a smile. “It won’t be for such a long time.” She cast a sideways glance at Clay and continued in a lower volume, “I wonder if he’ll be worse about this than you. Most guys usually only act strong and tough.”

“Clay isn’t like that,” said the redhead, not having noticed that the nurse had already put the needle in her arm.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t say it was all of the male population in space.” Here she winked. She went on about the few guys she had met that were like that, and how this was not always the case.

Saki was glad that the nurse was being so considerate about her little fear. It was over before she noticed —though after a kind little prank played by the nurse with Clay—, and the small wound was patched up as well. She smiled her thanks and stood.

But she fell back against the table she had been sitting on. She looked around and stood up, only to fall again. Clay was on the other side of a group of medical utensils that had fallen with one of the impacts.

The grim reality of the situation loomed over them and refused to leave, just as the attacks refused to stop coming. As the craft trembled, Saki took a desperate leap forward and toward her partner. Clay tried to run to her, but tripped over something —or someone, he couldn’t tell which— and fell. His glasses were on him when he hit the ground. They shattered, but he didn’t hear it, and neither did Saki.

Because they had no time to think as things of different sorts fell on them.

*end flashback*

A short-circuit sound reached Azuma’s ears. Looking in the direction it came from, he encountered a flickering console. The one next to it was shooting out sparks as well. The stench of burnt cables started to fill the room. He squinted, casting another quick glance at his surroundings as he worked on lifting away a rather heavy piece of ceiling. He ignored the intense pain in his left side and threw all his weight into shoving the metal away.

He almost regretted having done that.

There she lay. Right next to him, on her left side. A motionless body whose top half had been hidden from view only moments ago.

“My God…”

Rill’s otherwise immaculate white coat was stained with an indescribeable shade of blood at her arm. Farther away from him, her beige pants were torn and sported specks of the ugly red color. Almost next to his hand was her golden blonde head. That was good, because he could check her vitals without moving. The candidates were most probably dead. He couldn’t get to them if he wanted to, anyway.

He thoroughly hated having let himself slip into that thought.

Carefully, he pulled back the gold mane, clearing the way to her neck, not all too surprised at the sticky feeling of drying and fresher blood mixed together. They stained his fingers and they, in turn, as they moved back and forth with hair between them, made a sort of trail of the substance on the doctor’s pale skin. Some of the gold strands were stuck together and wet from being in close contact with the fluid. Once he was sure that all the hair was behind her, he pressed his index and middle fingers against the side of her neck, where the jugular vein would be.

And he waited. For about a minute, he waited in absolute silence for a pulse, a sign of life to come and go, even if it were so weak that it could barely be felt.

But he got no such response.

No response… from Dr. Rill Croford.

*flashback*

Zero was just too cute to hate, even if he had said she wasn’t “her”, the woman he was screaming for. He was acting cute, and she couldn’t help but be won over by his senseless fear of either medicine in general or just her. He made her promise not to him. A candidate, making her promise him that she wouldn’t strike! Who ever heard of such a thing?

He probably didn’t do it on purpose, but it was that innocence and purity that won the White Gowned Madonna over. Had he known the true “significance” of this, he would’ve considered himself very fortunate. But alas, the boy didn’t know.

“Why do they call you ‘White Gowned Madonna’?” he spontaneously asked as she was gathering the tools needed for her part of the exam.

She looked at him when she finished setting up, putting her wrists in contact with her hips. Then she shook her head, smirked, and grabbed his jaw, leaning in closely so that he would get a good look at her eyes.

“That is not your concern,” she said. She nodded at him and he opened his mouth, perplexed look in his eyes. “Besides,” she said while she looked. “It’s just a nickname.”

The boy simply nodded when she released him and proceeded to look into his ears.

“Why don’t you just use machines rather than do everything manually? It’s harder this way, and it’s kind of old fashioned.”

She sighed and pulled away.

“I trust the human mind more than I trust computers,” she said, walking to his right to inspect the corresponding ear. “And if I remember correctly, you hated the tank.”

“Well who wouldn’t?”

“The cockpit of a Goddess is pretty much the same thing. It’s this gel-type thing that you can breathe in.”

“Oh really. And you know this how?”

“I was a repairer.”

“But repairers don’t go inside the cockpits…”

The doctor giggled and ruffled the boy’s messy hair a bit.

“Your grumpy old instructor was the pilot,” she said, closing a violet eye into a wink.

“Hey. Watch what you tell that kid,” came Azuma’s semi-chastisising command.

“Just the facts,” she said slowly as she shone a light into Zero’s pupils. She pulled the device away and gave him a smile that closed her eyes. “There. Done. See? I told you I wouldn’t hurt you.”

The candidate rubbed his jaw and looked at her in mock accusation. She saw what he was getting at and felt his forehead and pushed his head back a bit. She chuckled at his reaction —saying “Ow! Watch it!”. If she ever had a child, she wanted him or her to be like him. Someone cute and funny, and who would be able to help out and get him or herself out of trouble quickly.

The examination tool fell with a clang, and a few of its pieces fell off with the impact. She looked back at Azuma, then around at the nurses and their patients, and then the direction the G.O.A. had been pushed from. Then it happened from the opposite direction, and another time from another side. Purple eyes shrank with realization.

Reaction time was cut to a sliver with the collision of metal against metal, people against metal, and other such unnatural encounters. Eyes closed tightly, she felt a sharp edge hit her side, then felt that she was flying against the wall. No longer concious, a large table that had hit many things throughout the barrage decided to land right over her, and in a not gentle manner.

*end flashback*

His hand had moved so that it was in choking position; his grip around her neck involuntarily tightened, partly to get a better feel of the pressure points, and partly out of anger.

The air was getting thinner. He was surprised that the gravity systems were still functional. But for some inexplicable reason, he didn’t think it was real. It just didn’t seem real. G.O.A. was not designed so that it could be taken down so easily. Surely the Goddesses would have won long before an attack on the vessel could have begun.

The more he fought with the facts, the more grim and real they became. Gone was his small set of glasses. Gone were the candidates he had brought in, who were so full of life only moments before. Gone was G.O.A. Gone was his collegue. His friend since they met. She lay dead beside him.

“Damn it…”

He cursed Victim.

He cursed the Goddesses.

He cursed their pilots.

And cursed their repairers.

He cursed G.O.A.

He cursed Rill.

And cursed himself.

And cursed his luck.

Why did he have to be the one who was still alive? The one to die last?

Because the one who died last died alone, and the one who died last had to be strong. None of the people in the room would have been able to last this long in silence.

Silence…

He shouted and ended up coughing. Something wet dripped out of his mouth and down to his chin. The taste of it told him it was blood. He moved his right hand from the doctor’s neck to her lips and was not shocked to find the same substance on them. His hand came to rest on her shoulder.

Yukine or Mitche would be crying if one of them had been so unfortunate as to survive. Kizna would cry, but more softly, waiting for death to come and wisk her away. Clay would curl up into a ball and shudder and whimper, praying for his life to be ended quickly. Saki would weep as well as wait and pray for the sleep of death. Rill would sob loudly, curse everything in sight, beg the Angel of Death to take her life, and threaten to take it herself if he didn’t hurry up. Zero… would scream.

Zero would scream, just as he had. If their reaction would be the same… then why couldn’t 88 be the survivor? That question was answered far too quickly by Azuma’s logic. Because Zero was still a child and would have been unable to keep himself sane under such an amount of stress and, ultimately, chaos. Because that was what was around him. A room in complete and utter disorder. The lifeless bodies of people he knew, most of which he never really let know what he thought of them.

He cast another glance in the general direction of the door, struggling to keep his eyes from closing. But he gave in to the sudden heaviness of his eyelids and let them close as he leanedhis head against the wall. Mere seconds later, his eyebrows seemed to twitch into a frown and almost immediately return to normal. His head lowered, and the Angel of Death guided his soul out of his body.

Xtreme Nuisance 2002-06-06 . chapter 1 wow. speechless. wow. one. word. sentences. WOW. ^.^ [report review for abuse] Nate Grey 2002-05-31 . chapter 1 Wow. Um...wow. Safe to say I've never seen a fic like this. Can't really decide whether that's good or bad just yet. The title definitely fits, and everyone seemed to be in character, so that's good, but... Wow. I mean, some writers will do one or two main character deaths, but five PLUS the supporting cast. That's...different. And it's also, apparently, The End. But I have a strange feeling that I liked it, anyway. [report review for abuse] zero 2002-05-27 . chapter 1 O.O YOU KILLED MY FVORITE LITTLE BISHIES!!!! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO MY POOR DEVENSLESS (ok no defensless) LITTLE RIO? OR TO ZERO *sobs* BUT anywho good fici ^_^ [report review for abuse] Kay Willow 2002-05-27 . chapter 1 (Not part of the actual review: POOR AZUMA! *sobsobsob* Poor EVERYONE!!) This was horrible. In a good way. It was almost POETIC in describing the dreadful evil things that you did to my poor beloved characters. I love this fic in a masochistic sort of way, because it's beautiful and manages to portray (posthumously >_ [report review for abuse] ravendream 2002-05-25 . chapter 1 that was SO sad!!! Really well written though... [report review for abuse] Digimon Empress Yaten 2002-05-25 . chapter 1 *whimpers* This was sad...very..very well w-written. *sniffles* If you had killed off Hiead-sama, I would have cried..(I almost cried..) I'm going to go read some happy fics n-now...*runs off sobbing* [report review for abuse] KLMeri 2002-05-23 . chapter 1 Damn. So palpably tragic I almost feel distressed. Great work! [report review for abuse] Jaden 2002-05-23 . chapter 1 I'm a sadistic, angsty lil **. But you wrote angstier stuff than me. For that, I applaud you. That was very well-written. Now, I mighta flamed ya if you had killed of my Hiead-sama (or at least written his death) but since you didn't, it was wonderful! Everyone needs a good dose of angst now and then. *grumbles* 'Specially those perpetually happy people... Hate them... gr... [report review for abuse] WingZerox1 2002-05-23 . chapter 1 that... was... great... you should write about what happens to zion. [report review for abuse] Chevira Lowe 2002-05-23 . chapter 1 *sniffs* Sad...stuff... Oh well, it's a good thing I didn't cry! My mascara would have ran -_-; It was very good, extremely well done, and an all around (kill) joy to read...*giggles quietly* Even though it was sorta sad...well, okay, really sad, but I'm an emotionless B*** (think Hiead only with green eyes...and slightly blonder hair -_-) But it was good! Honest! I'm just digging myself a hole, aren't I? *giggles again* I'll shut up now...and wander away...and...er...never ah...show my face again... *wanders away*