Cassandra Part One: By Gray Warlock

Scene 1 : Restless

"In restless dreams I walked alone..."

I arrived home in the evening. I had just come from doing some routine checks on my Gundam Deathscythe and fixing some parts which had been damaged.

Earlier, I was blackmailed to be a guinea pig for a Rommefeller Foundation scientist, to observe the effects of the Zero System on pilots. The scientist, whoever he was, apparently became mad from using the Zero System himself and wanted to know more about this strange device. Somehow, he got a file on me. He found me in my friend's salvage yard and threatened to use the Twin Buster Rifle if I didn't follow him. At that time, I wondered how could someone think of using that crazy idea just to make me test pilot the Wing Zero.

But after knowing at first hand the effects of the Zero System to a person's mind, I now understood how he lost his sanity. I still feel a slight headache even though it has been a few hours after using it. What disturbed me more are the visions that I saw while under it's influence. The last vision made me very uneasy.

"Hilde..." I absent-mindedly said my friend's name as I remebered the weird visions of her demise.

In my remeniscing state, I oblivious to the fact that I had entered the kitchen.

"Yes..." Hilde, my friend and once the only tenant of this house, was cooking and switched her attention to me.

"..." I blinked before I noticed I had voiced her name. It was the second time today that Hilde caught me off guard.

"Are you sure you're okay?" She saw that I had zoned out like I had before. She frowned at me, wondering about my condition.

"Yeah, I'm okay," I quickly put my thoughts aside and changed the subject before she gets more suspicious. "So, what's for dinner?"

"Steamed fish and vegetables," She smiled.

*****

I headed to my room just after dinner. I was both exhausted from the day's work and the encounter earlier so I needed to get some rest.

I lay down on the bed. Sleep took over a few moments later.

*****

I dreamt that night. They were all familiar, similar to the vision I had when I was using the Zero System earlier; more like distant memories rather than mere dreams.

-----

<...lying on the pavement...>

<...something under me...>

<...Hilde!...>

<...surprised look on her face...>

*****

I woke up.

I don't know why, but I just woke up.

Lying on top of Hilde on a pavement.

*...*

That wasn't a bad dream.

I went back to sleep.

-----

<...in the park...>

<...walking towards a bench...>

<...Hilde sitting on the bench...>

<...sat beside her...>

<...started talking to her...>

<...realized something ...>

<...stopped talking...>

<...she stood up...>

<...smiled...>

<...took my hand...>

<...dragged me somewhere...>

-----

<...in the circus...>

<...wasn't interested...>

<...something caught my eye...>

<...someone familiar performing...>

<...Trowa!...>

-----

<...backstage...>

<...looked for Trowa...>

<...found him sitting alone...>

<...asked some questions...>

<...he looked at me...>

<...blank stare, not answering any questions...>

<...a girl appeared...>

<...scolded me...>

<...Trowa, still staring at me...>

*****

I woke up again in the middle of the dream.

What's happening?

It doesn't matter.

I just hope it doesn't happen again.

-----

<...outside Hilde's house...>

<...Hilde standing on the doorway...>

<...happily waving at her...>

<...saying 'just gonna visit a friend'...>

<...'be home early'...>

<...Hilde smiling back...>

<...strange smile, as if hiding something...>

<...turning and running off...>

-----

<...in front of a house...>

<...knocking on the door...>

<...a beautiful young woman answered...>

<...long red hair, medium height...>

<...telling her something...>

<...she thinks for a while...>

<...asks me to come in...>

<...willingly agree...>

<...I stop in my tracks...>

*****

Again, I woke up.

Damn dreams. I'm getting tired of waking up every time.

I really wish they would stop waking me up.

-----

<...slowly walking out of Hilde's house...>

<...sad...>

<...Hilde behind me...>

<...keeping her distance...>

<...following slowly...>

<...uttering something to her...>

<...without looking...>

<...outside now...>

<...turning to face her...>

<...she was silent...>

<...a hint of anger...>

<...wasn't wearing beret...>

<...frayed hair, signs of a struggle...>

<...announcing something to her...>

<...she smiled sarcastically...>

<...asking me...>

<...'Why?'...>

<...tunring on my heel...>

<...replying...>

*****

ARAARRRGGGGHHH!!! Woke up again!

The dreams are getting weirder.

Hilde angry at me?

*?!?*

So what? They're just dreams.

Yeah, and I really need to get some sleep.

Besides, I have seen worse things before.

-----

<...space...>

<...inside my Gundam...>

<...fighting...>

<...not alone...>

<...Gundam Sandrock...>

<...Quatre...>

<...two white Taurus...>

<...Trowa...>

<...a former OZ officer, Noin...>

<...red Gundam appearing...>

<...cutting through mobile suits...>

<...facing us...>

<...confronting it...>

<...losing...>

<...too strong, too fast...>

<...felt something in my head...>

<...Zero System...>

<...retreating...>

<...Noin calling the pilot of the new Gundam...>

<...'Zechs!'...>

*****

I woke up.

I wasn't surprised.

Only frustrated as hell!

I need to sleep dammit!

How can I sleep if I keep waking up?

*...*

If I wake up one more time, I'll...

I'll think of something.

-----

<...in space again, inside my Gundam...>

<...rushing through a battlefield...>

<...Mobile Virgo were firing at me...>

<...Because of my sheer speed, they miss me entirely...>

<...something odd...>

<...not rushing towards the enemy...>

<...something else was odd...>

<...weapons were armed...>

<...not aiming at the Virgo...>

<...ignoring them...>

<...a femenine voice coming from the speaker...>

<...garbled, radio systems of the source were badly damaged...>

<...trying to push the throttle beyond its full power...>

<...cursing, "Faster, Dammit!", over and over...>

<...frustrated about something...>

<...angry...>

<...afraid...>

<...moving away from the battlefield...>

<...small points of color in a distance...>

<...one was blue and the other was red...>

<...both moving fast...>

<...pursuing the third point...>

<...a slow purple spot on the horizon...>

<...closer now...>

<...blue and red points were some kind of MS Virgo...>

<...purple spot, a damaged MS Taurus...>

<...blue MS aiming...>

<...cursing desperately...>

<..."Hilde!"...>

/* I began to understand where this dream was going to */

<...blue firing its cannon...>

/*  'This is it! I've had enough with these dreams!' */

<...its shot connecting just mere seconds before I reached my goal...>

/* W A K E  U P  D U O ! */

-----

I forced myself to wake up.

It's ironic that I would want to wake up, considering that I didn't want to wake in the previous dreams.

There I lay on the bed, my shirt soaked in sweat. I sat up on the side of the bed. With my hands on my face, rubbing it to clear my mind, I began to gather my thoughts.

Are these dreams, visions? Or are they just hallucinations created by my mind?

Either way, I have to find a way to lose them.

Then I smacked my head when I realized that I had overlooked something.

Duo, you idiot! How can you forget your medication!

I remembered hiding some of my anti-hallucination pills in my duffel bag. I smiled inwardly, Now, I would get some sleep! I reached under my bed for the bag. I began searching for the drugs. It was dark so I had to feel the contents of the bag.

Clothes...

Gun ammo...

Lockpicking equipment...

Explosives detonator...

Ah, here it is!

At last, I found the white plastic container that held the solution to my insomnia.

Or used to, so it seems. It felt light in my fingers. A quick shake increased my suspicions. A final visual inspection confirmed it.

It was empty.

 *sigh*

I throw the worthless object at a random corner of the room. Now I have two choices left. Either I sleep, get those weird flashes, and wake up again and again; or I won't sleep at all.

*decisions, decisions, decisions*

I shrugged. I stood up and left the room. I head walking towards the kitchen.

Coffee will do, for now.

Funny. Last time I checked, I still had a half-full container.

*****

As a result of living alone for a long time, Hilde had a habit of leaving the door of her room ajar to be prepared in case something would happen.

She awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of a door opening. Then, she heard footsteps. Finally, through the partially opened door, she saw the outline of Duo walking in the dark hallway. She looked at her alarm clock.

"What's Duo doing up at 1:27 in the morning?" she pondered on the situation. But her sleepiness was beginning to take over so she thought of the only possible conclusion.

"Maybe he just needs to go to the bathroom."

She shrugged and went back to sleep.

------

END SCENE 1

Written by: Kamui aka Gray Warlock
Edited by: Duo
Additional Ideas: Manji and Akira

E-mail Gray Warlock at: hikaru_no_kurai@hotmail.com!

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