"Forgiveness"

---------------------

Otooto yo (little brother). You don't get it, do you? Maybe it's because you never accepted your death. Could that be it? Does dying do something to you that makes everything you see so much clearer?

Kaze would never approve of what you've done. You remember him, don't you? Even before you died, you remember the little rivalry Kaze Ga Tsuyoi and I had, the family hatred. I remember what you said when you were little, still so innocent. You said, "Can I be like you when I grow up? Can I help you kill off the Tsuyoi clan?" I remember how young you were, and yet, how loyal you had become to any cause our family upheld, loyal to that rivalry that I had with Kaze. Is that the way you're acting now, Soleiyu? Do you really think my life was ruined by the presence of Shogi in my body? Did you think that Shogi was a bane in my life? You don't need to do this. I haven't regretted anything that I've lived through.

As the goddess, Midori, once scribed before Kaze's little brother, Kuroko, broke the world:

"Mercy is not the only justice in this world. Someday, you will understand."

End this unneeded hunt for vengeance. Join me in heaven.

Let today be your last night on earth.

...

"Soon, my brother. Soon you will have the retribution you deserve."

Soleiyu stood silently in front of a plain, unmarked gravestone that was placed on the top of a small, dusty knoll in the middle of the wastelands, the gravestone of Tsukiyo Hikoken. Behind him, Kazuki impatiently traced circles with his spear into the dusty ground.

"Now," said Kazuki. "What about my half of the bargain?" Soleiyu smiled widely, a mask of deception that he wore upon his face.

"But of course," he whispered. "You shall have your ultimate battle." Soleiyu's hand waved over the Valkair's Orb and energy began to pulse fiercely from within. It had taken decades of study to learn how to use the Orb, and even now, it was at least four times more difficult than the texts had stated. The sheer amount of energy was enormous, his teeth clenching together as he struggled to bring it under control However, he found that casting spells from the Orb was very similar to the weaving of elements for any other kind of magical device. With that information in mind, casting the magic he so desired became a little bit easier to his weightless hands.

A thin beam of light shot out from the sphere, catching a surprised Kazuki in the chest. Soleiyu smiled as he watched the Orb's luminance fade a little, and as the energy transferred to the warrior's body, they began to re-weave the threads of time and space. Kazuki laughed as he faded away, a strange maniacal sound that came from a lonely madman who had but one purpose in life: to fight.

"Thank you, Soleiyu," said Kazuki as he faded away. "The Legendary Hero Hashira shall finally meet his match." And the bloodthirsty warrior disappeared into the time continuum, only a few sparks of energy still floating in the air remained from his presence. Soleiyu absently waved his hand over the Orb.

"Hashira will be defeated," said Soleiyu. "But you too shall die, Kazuki Tenjiko. You shall die by the hand of your 'great mother,' my brother's wife, Satomi Oshikisama." Soleiyu turned to the grave before him as the Orb flared to life.

"Shall we begin, Tsukiyo?"

...

Edge could see the magnificent glow erupt in the distance, right in the path of the direction they were heading.

"The Orb," trailed off Kouryuu, her jaw set tight. "The energy readings have increased. I have a bad feeling about this." Edge nodded absently as he watched the light in the distance. He was hardly aware of Double pushing down hard on the hovercraft accelerator, increasing their speed dramatically. Edge was too busy worrying about the danger that lie ahead. Who could be using the Orb? Was it Yujin, or some other megalomaniac who sought out raw power? Was that what the people in this world really wanted? He could look at somebody like Double, his... friend, but just like everybody other living thing, he wants to become stronger. He wished to establish his dominance. That was why he trained so much, right? Could that be why he himself desired to be like a human, to become stronger?

But if being human only meant seeking more strength...?

Damn. Why did everything have to be so complicated?

...

The thin threads of life and death wove together before Soleiyu's eyes, and he could only stare, slack-jawed with amazement and delight. His dream was only seconds from being fulfilled. His brother, Tsukiyo Hikoken, would be brought back to life, and Shogi's attached spirit with him. And then, he, Soleiyu Hikoken, would slay Shogi and set his brother free…

His glance suddenly shifted to his right as his hands continued to weave the flows of energy. Somebody was approaching. But nobody, not even the wisest of historians, knew of the existence of his older brother's gravesite.

‘They must have come for the Orb,' thought Soleiyu irritably. They couldn't have tracked himself, for he was still a ghost with no energy signature. It was of little matter though. What could they do to stop him? What could they do to stop his vengeance from finally becoming a reality…?

Soleiyu was hardly aware that he had begun to spin the energies faster.

...

"We're too late," whispered Kouryuu. "Whatever's happening to the Orb, it's almost finished. I seriously doubt whatever spell is being cast could have any good impact on our mission."

"Damnit, Kouryuu!" shouted Double over the roaring noise of the hovercraft's plasma generator. "This is already maximum burn. I'm giving it all she's got! Any more and she'll burn out before we hit the first borderline!" He never noticed Edge rise from his seat in the hovercraft, hands loose with sparkling energy.

"What are you doing?!" shouted a worried Yoshime. Kouryuu whipped her head around in a sudden panic, wondering what rash thing the boy might attempt. He was staring out at the flashing light of the Orb in a daze, his hands suddenly clenching together and his feet slightly rising off of his seat, still maintaining the hovercraft's speed.

"I can make it in time," said Edge. "The Orb is my only chance to learn how to become human, I won't let it get away from me." He was suddenly pulled forward by a fierce wave of gravity that was solely concentrated on his own body. The force was so strong that for a minute Yoshime found herself struggling to breathe from the vacuum that Edge had created by pulling out the atmosphere around them. She watched his figure speed far ahead of the hovercraft, turning into a tiny dot in the distance that left clouds of dust in its wake.

Meanwhile, Double was cursed hard and angrily flipped off the departing Edge.

“YOU IDIOT!” he roared. “Why didn't you just propel the whole damn craft forward instead of just yourself?”

...

"What?!" thought Soleiyu aloud. One of his pursuers had suddenly and dramatically increased their speed, shooting towards his position like a rocket. But Soleiyu's confidence returned as he continued weaving the energy. Nobody could stop him now, for his spell was almost complete. He let out a harsh laugh as he turned, Orb and all, to face his opponent, a cyborg with blazing red armor and waves of green hair. Hadn't this been the warrior that Kazuki had fought earlier, the one who had protected Pent?

Bolts of energy began to leap out from the Orb, the purest threads of time and space, life and death.

"You are too late," said Soleiyu, addressing his opponent who approached with increasing speed. "Kazuki fought you before. Your name is Edge, isn't it?" Even at the distance he was at, Soleiyu could see the cyborg's face contort in confusion in that he knew his name. The last weave of the spell fell into place, and Soleiyu grinned. "I have been waiting for this moment for thousands of years, Edge. You will not deprive me of it."

His grin suddenly vanished as Edge's angry visage sped up to meet his own. He had miscalculated his opponent's distance and given the young boy an opening for a clean shot. He watched Edge pull back a fist devoid of substance, a vacuum meant to cave in his own head. But the Orb released a thousand serpentine bolts of energy at once, and time began to slow to a standstill.

And then, light enveloped both players of the game, and they were gone.

...

The flashing light had subsided a little by the time Double landed the hovercraft at the site of the mysterious, unmarked gravestone. The Orb was there, floating between Edge and a mysterious blue haired man who wore a samurai's sword at his side. But neither Edge nor the man seemed to notice or feel the bolts of energy that the Orb was giving off to each. Each stood as still as a figurine, Edge with his arm cocked back to strike, the man looking a bit unprepared for the assault, each transfixed by the light of the Orb. Yoshime nervously began to walk towards Edge when she suddenly felt Iesu's firm hand on her shoulder to hold her back.

"We don't know what that energy is," he said. "It could be harmful." Yoshime nodded absently, still staring at Edge's figure.

A blip in her cybernetics suddenly appeared, but only a weak signal. With a look of annoyance on her face, Yoshime hooked up her computer to her consciousness to fix the problem. She hated it when this happened; it usually meant her uplink had gotten misdirected by a random cross-signal on the same frequency. And they always managed to happen at the worst possible time---

Yoshime froze in place. The signal was faint and seemed to be moving constantly, but she could still recognize it.

"It's Edge," she whispered. Kouryuu turned towards Yoshime with a start.

"Edge?!" exclaimed Kouryuu. "But--- he's right here!" She pointed towards Edge's statue-esque figure, but Yoshime shook her head, struggling to hold her link in cyberspace and commune with her friends at the same time.

"Edge is here," said Yoshime. "But... this signal..." The signal was fading quick, but she could still see that it was Edge's unique mind and computer wavelengths that she was recognizing, the same statistics that she had first seen that faithful day when she had looked into his systems in the junkyard to reactivate his shell. "... this signal... it's... his consciousness?" That might explain why he looked at the Orb like that, for his mind no longer occupied the same space as his body.

Kouryuu looked on at Yoshime, half in disbelief and half in desperate hope that the young girl was wrong.

"Can you follow that signal?" said Kouryuu. "Maybe we can reunite Edge's body and soul if we recover his mind." Yoshime nodded and did her best to manage a smile.

"I'll try my best." said Yoshime, and closed her eyes to focus all her attention on the cyberspace world.

"If the damn Orb is causing all the problems, why don't we just get it away from Edge so it doesn't zap him with all that energy!" said Double. Kouryuu quickly turned a dark glare on him.

"Fool!” said Kouryuu. "If his mind IS lost, it could be because of aspell that was cast by the Orb. If we take it away, we could risk the chance of loosing his mind in whatever world he's been cast into, possible forever.”

Ignoring the sour face Double made at her in response, she turned her attention to the blue-haired man, apparently the one who had beat them to the claim of the Orb. Who was he? What kind of spell could this man have cast that would have separated Edge from his material body?

...

The colors constantly shifted about him, from blue to red, green to yellow, indigo to black. Edge felt himself floating weightlessly in the sea of neon lights, unable to tell which way was up and down. He checked his scanners quickly to find his position. He received only static.

"A blocked signal," muttered Edge. Where was he? The only thing that he remembered before he blacked out was the flash of energy that had come from Valkair's Orb and the blue-haired man who had cast the spell. Who had he been? What purpose was he trying to attain?

"You truly are a fool to have followed me here."

Edge spun around to the source of the voice. The blue-haired man floated off at a distance of some thirty meters, a long samurai sword drawn for battle. Edge was relieved to find that he still held his powers in this different world as he began to contour the atmosphere around him with gravitational energy.

"You think whatever power you can muster could stop me now?" said the blue-haired man with a smirk. "As the caster of the spell, I am still linked to the Orb, its power is mine to command!" The man raised an open palm at Edge. "I am Soleiyu Hikoken, son of Hideo and Kasumi, brother of Tsukiyo. Remember my name when you die."

"Hakurai!!!"

As the ancient word came from Soleiyu's mouth, an accompanyment of white lightning erupted from his outstretched hand toward Edge.

"Ch!" cursed Edge as he moved to counter. He quickly aligned the field about him to that of a magnetic field, absorbing the blast. He darted forward quickly to meet Soleiyu's attack, but found that his opponent was already gone.

"You are such an amateur."

'Up!' thought Edge as he judged the position from which his assailant's voice came from, and molded the gravitational energy into a shield just in time to keep Soleiyu's blade from slicing open his head. Soleiyu simply laughed as Edge found his technology being pushed to its full extent by a simple steel sword.

"You're slow," said Soleiyu. “...and rash. You lack the power and spirit of a true warrior." His sword suddenly slid down as he whirled about to Edge's rear. Edge didn't have any time to think as Soleiyu's blade pierced his shoulder.

"Gu--!" sputtered Edge as he flailed his left hand towards his opponent. He never physically contacted, but it hardly mattered. Soleiyu doubled over as he felt a wave of force smash him in the gut. Edge spun about to recover just as Soleiyu had raised his blade to strike again.

"Too fast!" muttered Edge under his breath. This time he didn't wait to simply block the blow. A single command forced Soleiyu's blade to jerk backward, leaving him wide open.

"What?!" said Soleiyu, realizing too late that Edge's gravity had held his weapon back. Edge's eyes flashed angrily as he brought his fist up and launched it into Soleiyu's jaw, sending the samurai warrior flying into the air. He took great satisfaction in the timing of his energy usage, pulling Soleiyu towards his fist at first, then forcing him away after the blow had connected. Several hundred meters away, the warrior looked towards his foe with daggers in his eyes.

"So," he said. "You want to play rough..." Edge's confidence faltered, then crashed as he watched Soleiyu gather magical energy around him in a huge orb-shaped aura of darkness of white lightning. Valkair's dark energy began to invade Soleiyu's body, a sacrifice willingly made to win the battle as the man’s face contorted into a visage of hell.

"You want to fight... I'LL GIVE YOU A FIGHT!!!!" roared Soleiyu. "You cannot keep me from my brother, not you, not anybody!!!" Edge didn't hear a thing, he was too swept up by the fear that ran through his mind as he watched and felt his opponent's power rise exponentially. Was this human fear that he felt? Was this what humans felt right before they knew they were going to die? His eyes blankly followed Soleiyu's dark sword, an overhead slash aimed at his own head.

“DIE!!!" he boomed, bringing the blade down like a blurring shadow.

"Stop it, Soleiyu!!!"

The sword stopped inches from Edge's face. Soleiyu himself slowly turned his head in the direction of the voice. He knew that voice, it was all too familiar... all too haunting.

Edge, finding himself suddenly safe from death, quickly moved away from the weapon and stole a glance of his savior. He had long, almost shoulder length, bangs of crimson hair that he wore in front of his face. He wore a formal dress shirt that was rumpled by the presence of a black leather jacket worn over it. A cloth belt tied about his waist held up a white weave that reached his knees as well as a pair of dark pants. His eyes were almost black, but Edge could easily point them out even in the shadows of the man's bangs.

"That's enough, Soleiyu," said the man. "I'm the one you're looking for."

Soleiyu's face lit up as he lowered the blade to his side.

"Tsukiyo..." he said.

...

"This is so stupid!!!" said Double, frantically pacing in the dirt. "We're just waiting here while Edge is a VEGETABLE, and Yoshime is----ACK~!!!" He never finished his sentence as Kouryuu smashed his head into the ground from behind.

"SHUT-UP!!!" roared Kouryuu, retracting her fist from its full swing. The problems at hand were bad enough, and Double's complaining didn't make it any better. "Can't you think of some way to make yourself useful?" Double scowled as he picked himself up from the ground.

"Well, it's not like you're doing anything more important!" he retorted. Kouryuu thought her face would have turned beet red had she been human. That much of what Double said was true enough. But what was she supposed to do when Yoshime was the only one with a system of cyberspace connection that didn't require a huge computer uplink and Edge was a helpless as a---

"I didn't think it would be like you to leave yourself this open."

Kouryuu spun around, facing none other than Yujin's hulking form. Double already had his arms full of blades and Iesu was beside him with his staff, but Zero was nowhere to be seen. Kouryuu began to draw her blades, but Yujin wagged a finger at her.

"Ah, ah!" he teased. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, because look what I have here!" He sidestepped a bit to reveal Yoshime behind him, tied up in cyberspace and unaware of the situation in the real world. Yujin's left palm was at the side of her head, sparkling with blue energy. "One move, and the human girl gets her head blown off. And don't try anything stupid---" His free arm suddenly reached over his shoulder, pulling Zero out in mid-attack from her time-regulation powers. With palm still at Yoshime's head, he slammed Zero into the ground, sending her into stand-by stasis as a hail of rock flew through the air. "---as this one just has."

Kouryuu let her hands fall to her side, protecting humans was her number one priority. From the ugly look on Double's face as he sheathed his blades, she saw that he was thinking the same thing.

"What do you want?" said Kouryuu grimly. Yujin grinned widely, seeing that he had achieved an easy victory.

"Give me the Orb," he said.

Kouryuu contemplated her choices. Giving Yujin the Orb could mean Edge's demise. But if they didn't hand over the relic, then Yoshime would die.

Yoshime was human, she was the first priority of any mech's operations. Yet, the rebel still felt her conscience toss both ways as she fought against the urge to save the green-haired mecha.

But what choice do I have?

"Take it," she said. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Double flinch violently, but he did nothing. Yujin bowed mockingly and grinned.

"Ah, thank you my dear Kouryuu," said Yujin. "You rebels always were too gracious in your generosity." His free hand reached out in the direction of the Orb and flashed with energy. The swirling sphere suddenly wrenched free of its place, and Edge fell to the ground in a heap. The blue-haired man simply faded away. The prize itself came to nestle in Yujin's huge palm as he began to back away from Yoshime.

"Look on the bright side, Kouryuu," he said. "The kid may not have anything upstairs anymore, but I bet he'd look rather nice all stuffed and mounted." He laughed as blue sparks began to materialize around him, and he teleported out of Kouryuu's sight before they could draw their weapons once more. It took all her willpower to keep herself from lunging at Yujin and breaking his neck. That certainly wouldn't help Yoshime any, especially if Yujin was faster on the draw. She could feel the tremor of Double's fist slamming into the ground behind her.

"GODDAMNIT!" shouted Double. "First we have Edge's mind lost in who knows where, then our only anchor for his consciousness is taken out from right under our feet!"

Kouryuu chose not to bother with his temper tantrum and looked first towards Edge's crumpled figure, then to Zero's. With a heavy sigh, she moved towards Zero. There was nothing she could do for Edge now. It was all up to Yoshime...

...

Yoshime reached out to the familiar light she called Edge, reached as far as she possibly could muster.

'Just a little further, a little more...'

Suddenly, the light fled from her, fleeing into the darkest reaches of the world. She sighed wearily, almost in despair, but looked ahead with fierce determination.

'I won't give up. He'll come home to me! He was nice enough to save my life, so now I have to return the favor...'

Once again, she reached out towards the shinning light...

...

"Brother! I've come to---" Soleiyu stopped in mid-speech. His eyes opened wide and the dark aura about him faded away.

"No," whispered Soleiyu. "The Orb... somebody must have taken it! It's been shielded from me!" He howled with bestial rage and swung his sword about wildly. "It's gone! The hour of my triumph and somebody has had the gall to deprive me of my victory! And without the Orb, I'm trapped in this forsaken dimension for all time, unable to recover what should have been rightfully mine!" Edge felt the fear grip him once again with Soleiyu's last words. Trapped? That meant that he too would never again see the light of day... never see Yoshime again...

Face filled with hate, Soleiyu turned towards Edge.

"You., " he growled. "This is all your fault! You and your friends planned this all along, didn't they? Planned to take the Orb from me and strand me here! Planned to leave me empty of the honor which Shogi took from my family! I'LL KILL YOU IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!!!" Soleiyu leapt toward Edge in a frenzy, blade raised high over his head to bring down a killing blow. Edge let his powers build up and prepared to defend himself, but what could he do against this? What power did he have to combat such rage...?

***

He never had to release the energy. The next thing Edge saw was the strange cresent moon 'fire symbol' crest on the back of Tsukiyo's jacket, an ancient script marking the family proficiency of holy flames, and then Tsukiyo had blocked Soleiyu's attack with his own blade. Soleiyu stepped back a pace while Edge took advantage of the distraction to retreat several meters, more than enough room to plan his next move if he ended up needing to make one.

"Tsukiyo..." started Soleiyu. "Why are you doing this? I'm doing this all for you!" Tsukiyo shook his head in dismay.

"Don't you understand, Soleiyu?" said Tsukiyo. "You don't need to do this."

"But Shogi defiled your life!" protested Soleiyu. "He took you, mind, body, and soul! God or no god, he had no right to violate the honor of the Hikoken family with the actions he made you commit!"

"Soleiyu, while he was indeed the one who brought about the death of our family, he didn't control me so closely as you may think. He was in my body, that was certain, but he did not do these horrible things that you describe. I regained control of my own senses after my battle with Kazega, and though the God's power and influence might have remained, he slowly became aligned to my own wishes rather than the other way around. And if he did violate my life with his presence, he redeemed himself a thousand times over in the heat of battle." Tsukiyo sighed as he reminisced on his past. "Fighting Jaquio before Kuroko's breaking of the world, combating my own ancestor, Kazuki, whom you sent into the past, defeating Kazuyuki in the heart of all creation, facing the Demon God himself on this very planet so many thousands of years ago... yes, Shogi has redeemed himself in my eyes. I think it's time for you to accept him as well."

Soleiyu looked at his brother helplessly, every purpose for his eon-long fight having been defeated in minutes by the words of the very man he was trying to avenge.

"But..." trailed off Soleiyu. "What about... the family honor? I wasn't even able to defend you, die for you. I have shamed not only you, but myself as well." Tsukiyo smiled as he put a warm hand on his little brother's shoulder.

"And what chance would an insect have against the heel of a man's shoe?" questioned Tsukiyo. "You fought a god, one of the ancients, and died in battle. That in itself is a task that any great, legendary warrior would envy." Soleiyu smiled weakly and sheathed his sword. Tsukiyo returned the smile with his own hard grin. "You've bound yourself to this world too long, little brother. Let go of this hate and join me and our family, our friends long past, and even our rivals, Kazega and Kuroko, in the serenity of heaven's lights. Let this be your last night on earth."

"Yes, brother."

...

Edge watched the pair fade away from the dimension's limits in a soft shower of sparks. He couldn't help but find himself smiling over their conversation.

It was interesting to see how so much hate could affect one person to the point of vengeful obsession. He hoped he would never resort to that.

but...

... if I do, will I have somebody like Tsukiyo who is willing to forgive after so much hatred had passed? Would I have somebody in my life who would be able to accept me back into their lives after I have given myself in to the black prison of revenge...?

...

Edge suddenly jolted himself back to reality, and felt a force tugging on his conscience. Something was pulling him in another direction, beckoning to him outside of this time space. Could this be a way out?

Edge never had a chance to ponder on a decision, for the tug suddenly became a swirling vortex that sucked him into oblivion.

...

"Ne ne, wake up Edge ~!"

Edge woke up to the not especially gentle ‘nudges’ of Zero's fists on his face. He barely brought his eyes fully open when he felt Zero's fist crunch into his nose. Annoyingly, he pushed her balled hand aside.

"Urgh," mumbled Edge incoherently. "I probably should have stayed asleep..." Times like this made him glad that he didn't have a 'pain' circuit.

"Be grateful that you woke up at all!" said Zero, glaring at Edge. "It was Yoshime who brought you back!"

Edge's head spun as he looked for Yoshime. He spied her drinking from a small thermos by the hovercraft, Kouryuu at her side. When he walked over to the two, a happy smile popped on Yoshime's face when she saw him. Reaching out, she gingerly took his hand and squeezed it.

“Welcome home" she said happily. Edge could only return the smile.

"I’m back," he said. "And thank you."

...

"Yujin took the Orb..." said Edge, and Double nodded. Edge sighed heavily and looked towards Kouryuu.

"Do you think you can still track it?"

"The energy signature is a lot fainter now than it was before," said Kouryuu. "But it's still there. We can still follow it." Edge nodded and felt a small smile spread out on his face. Lifting Yoshime into her seat in the hovercraft, he hopped in after her.

"Let’s go!" said Edge with enthusiasm strong in his voice. "I won't forgive myself if we loose that Orb because of my mistake." He was surprised to feel Yoshime hug him from behind.

"Don't worry, Edge," she said. "We forgive you for acting so rash..." The next minute, Yoshime's soft emotion transformed into a hard fist that smacked him on the head. "But don’t you ever do something like that again! Men always think you can do everything by yourselves. Even Double has more sense! At least he wanted you to propel all of us forward at once---"

"Hey! What do you mean 'even Double?' I pull my weight around here!"

"Please, don't flatter yourself. Even the most unorganized of rebels wouldn't accept you into their ranks, you lazy bum!"

"Oh yeah, like that's something coming from somebody who can't drive---ACK!!!"

“Shut up!”

...

Toy felt the energies of Valkair's Orb as he held it in his palm. This hand may have been turned in his favor by a wild card, but the game had taken an unexpected and unfortunate turn.

HE was moving, and there would be nothing that could stop HIM. This enemy was by far the worst Toy had ever faced, and by far the most dangerous.

"Edge," said Toy. The name rolled off his tongue in a strange way, a dangerous way. Edge was going to have to die. He could not do it himself, HE had made sure of that. But with Valkair's Orb at his disposal, perhaps he would be able to create a pawn that could not be touched by none other than himself and powerful enough to eliminate the obstacles in his path. He had to make sure he was in control.

Edge would die, and then he would be safe. Toy would be safe.

...

End "Forgiveness"