Chapter 1 / 37
Written by Jessi Maxwell - send C&C to Megami_no_Remon@hotmail.com
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
Click.
The boy whirled around to face the door, crouching back defensively. There was another series of noises as the locks were disengaged and the door swung open. He hissed and turned his head away at the bright light shining on the other side of the doorway before shifting position so he wouldn't look directly at it.
Treize felt a brief moment of disconcertment as those clear and sharp sapphire eyes quickly scanned him and the four armed guards he had brought with him. He felt, in that moment, as if he had just been measured...as if many things he had tried to conceal had just been ripped bare and examined under the fire of that scrutinizing gaze. The boy likewise flicked his glance over the guards. The general saw no change in the expression save a deeper frown of scorn.
With a low growl, the boy sprung at Treize. His movements were deceptively fast, and he actually had his hand around the taller man's throat for an instant before one of the guards fired. He let out a shocked hiss and fell backwards, staring at the bloody hole in his leg in disbelief. He eyed the guards warily as he slid back across the room, suddenly much more cautious.
"Are you all right, sir?" one of the guards quietly asked Treize, who was rubbing his throat. Treize nodded absently as he swallowed. The boy's grip had been crushing, almost impossibly strong. // He clearly saw the guards and the guns aimed at him...but they didn't deter him. You'd think he'd never saw a gun before. //
Treize strode into the room another step, though he kept a respectful distance between himself and the boy. His voice was hard when he finally spoke. "Who are you?"
The boy glanced up briefly from the examination of his wound and his lip curled in derision, but he otherwise ignored Treize. The bullet had lodged itself in his calf.
Treize frowned. "If you answer some of my questions, we'll get you cleaned up and I'll get one of my doctors in here to tend your wounds. Tell me who you are, who you work for, and how you managed to destroy one of my mobile suits. We found no weapons on you when we pulled you from the wreckage."
The boy spared Treize a withering glance but remained silent, tenderly probing the flesh around his wound.
Treize's frown deepened into a glare. "If you do not answer me, I will have you executed. Your crimes are more than sufficient to warrant --" Treize was cut off when the boy locked eyes with him and lifted one hand in exasperation. He spoke, and his voice was soft, thick with an accent Treize couldn't place offhand.
"Viq nalathicori vaq. Lyai aurilca tutharis?..."
Treize blinked slowly, suddenly feeling foolish. // He doesn't speak our language. I should have known that was a possibility. However....what language IS he speaking...? // Of course, Treize didn't let on to this feeling outwardly. He asked the boy for his name in English, Japanese, French, and Russian before the boy scowled at him impatiently.
Treize had no idea what conspired in the next moment. The boy murmured something softly to himself, his fingers jerking in a few swift, precise movements. As his hands fell back to his sides, Treize saw his eyes rolling as he nearly lost consciousness, suddenly seeming incredibly drained. He regained his composure after a few moments and then looked back up at Treize.
"What...did you just do?" Treize asked with a frown. He was surprised when the boy answered him.
"...It doesn't matter."
The general immediately gave the boy a dark look. "You WERE ignoring me then? And here I assumed you simply didn't speak my language."
"I was not ignoring you." the boy replied sharply. "Repeat your questions."
Treize suddenly felt somewhat out of control of this interrogation, but he drew himself up and began anew. "Who are you?"
The boy eyed him for a moment before responding. His tone was acidic, condescending - the tone of a prisoner who does not want to answer questions but feels he needs to comply for his own good. "Shaiyra."
"Just Shaiyra?"
Shaiyra gave Treize a vicious glare, his lips curling back in a snarl. The question seemed to offend him deeply. "Yes."
"Who are you working for?"
"I work for nothing but my own survival."
Treize paused and eyed his prisoner. Shaiyra's words were starting to get a bit slurred and his eyes were growing cloudy from pain and potentially blood loss. He knew he needed to get the boy treated for his injuries, especially taking note of the slowly growing puddle of crimson.
"Tell me how you destroyed my mobile suit and I will see you are cleaned up and treated by a doctor."
Shaiyra gave Treize a bleary glare, fighting to stay conscious. "I do not understand."
Treize blinked. "What do you not understand? It was not a complicated question."
"Mobile suit...the red beast that attacked me when I came here?..."
// How can anyone not know what a mobile suit is in this day and age? // Treize pondered, wondering if this enigmatic boy was pulling his leg or not. For arguments sake, however, he nodded and simply responded with a "Yes."
Shaiyra frowned slightly at the memory before slowly holding up his hands. "It came at me and I tore it apart." The boy abruptly hissed at Treize in anger. "I wanted no fight with you! I just want to go back."
Treize scowled. "You expect me to believe you tore a mobile suit apart with your bare hands." It was really more a statement than a question.
Shaiyra nodded and appeared to be concentrating for a moment before he slumped back against the wall, the effort plainly exhausting him. Treize almost thought he wouldn't answer, that the boy had surely lost consciousness. "I was...something more than this...at the time." he said, coughing weakly.
"What do you mean? Tell me."
Shaiyra managed a derisive laugh, though the effort cost him. "You...think I'm...human?..." Before Treize could question him any further, however, the boy had finally slipped into unconsciousness.
// Not human? Impossible. // With a sigh he nodded to his armed guards. "See that he's cleaned, treated for his injuries, and fed. He's to be kept under the tightest security until we unravel some of his secrets that he seems unwilling to divulge. This remains strictly confidential."
The guards saluted smartly in response. "Sir, yes sir!"
Treize nodded again and slid off down the hallway towards his office. He had hoped to gain some answers. He had, but for every answer, there were two more questions.