Thy Will Be Done
Chapter 5 - bitterness trickles through
by Meimi

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Disclaimer: Am not associated in any way with Namco, Monolith, et al. No profit, blahblahblah.

Notes: Take a sharp turn right after Episode 1, head straight into Alternate Universe/Timeline territory, add in a few speculative theories, shake well.

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"Shion?"

"Huh, what?" Shion jerked her head up, the query startling her from some unpleasant ruminations. She had made it through the city fine, though she was starting to tire out quite a bit. However, once they had reached the Uzuki property she couldn't seem to make herself take those last few steps. As long as she didn't enter the household she wouldn't have to deal, but that was a silly fantasy, ridiculous even. She would always have to deal with Jin. He would never let her be.

"Is this not where you wished to be?" KOS-MOS asked, refraining from commenting on the fact that they had been standing in front of the Japanese style residence for several minutes while Shion has stared morosely down at her feet. Shion's actions were curious, but it would be best to inquire about them at a later date.

"No actually, it's not," Shion laughed bitterly, "But it's where I have to go anyway, might as well get it over with." Squaring her shoulders for god knows what Jin would throw her way, Shion took that first step into the yard and headed towards the house, KOS-MOS trailing after her.

Jin had this amazing way about him, of getting on her last nerve; thus, it wasn't too farfetched to say she was expecting him to have done something that would irritate her to no end. Of course, the reality of the massive amount of bookshelves literally overflowing with dusty, old books in what should have been a clean and sanitized clinic definitely had her coming up short.

"Oh my god," Shion mumbled in shock as she just stood there and stared at all the books, "It's only been two years. Two years! How in the world did he manage to get all of this?" She stopped short again as a thought occurred to her, "If he mortgaged the house I'll kill him."

KOS-MOS watched, with what her OS registered as bemusement, as Shion began to rant about her 'worthless brother' under her breath while a vaguely familiar looking man rounded the corner of one of the many bookshelves. He was certainly taller than Shion, with black hair instead of brown, and the complexion of his skin was even darker, but his eyes, his eyes were exactly the same shade of green. This could only be Jin Uzuki, Shion's older brother.

"Well, this is a surprise." Shion froze solid when she heard that well known voice, calm as usual, Jin rarely raised his voice, but infuriating to her nonetheless. "And here I thought I was going to have to resort to kidnapping to ever see my foolish little sister return home again."

"Foolish?! I'm foolish?" Shion sputtered, barely managing not to blow up at him as she waved her hands at all of the bookshelves, "What do you call this?"

"Hmm," Jin looked around with mild disinterest before turning his attention back to her, "Obviously, it's a bookstore."

"A bookstore," Shion growled as she poked her brother in the chest none too gently, "A bookstore you say? And what happened to the clinic that used to be right here?"

"Oh that?" Jin smiled, tucking his hands into the sleeves of his kimono, "Well, you know how it goes. There really isn't much business for natural healing in this day and age. Most everybody would rather have the immediate fix of nanosurgery."

"Oh yes, I know exactly how it is," Shion snarled, visibly shaking as she fought to resist the urge to slug her brother, "You can't stick with any profession for longer than six months, but now you've found a way at pretending to be responsible while having the perfect excuse for junking up the house with more of your stupid books!"

"Now Shion, what have I always told you about my affairs?" Jin asked, slight amusement starting to show in his expression.

"I wouldn't bother with it if these stupid ideas of yours didn't keep impinging on me!" Shion yelled as her irritation at him reached its breaking point. "But no! You just go on your merry way, never thinking about how what you do impacts upon me! And-," she stuttered as she began to sway, "I don't-," reaching out hastily, she braced herself against one of the shelves before she ended up falling face first onto the floor, "Believe this."

"Shion, what's wrong?" Jin's amusement faded quickly into concern. He hesitantly stretched out a hand to steady her, but stopped when KOS-MOS swiftly placed her own on the woman's shoulder.

"I'm," Shion sighed wearily as she pushed herself away from the shelves and the both of them, "I'm going to go lie down." Jin and KOS-MOS shared a long, question-filled look as she walked off.

. . .

The Uzuki residence truly was a Japanese home, constructed of real wood and paper and spread out in a tranquil pattern. It spoke of wealth, but muted in light of the history behind Second Miltia. Most would never dream of asking pointed questions of the oddball Uzuki children, especially considering their origin from Miltia. KOS-MOS did not have to ask, her databanks stored a massive amount of information, more than enough to answer certain questions. And for the rest, the records that weren't supposed to exist, well, her status granted her far more knowledge than anyone could ever guess in that regard.

Shion's bedroom was sparse, only decorated in the minimal sense, not unlike her room on the Dammerung. Keeping with the Japanese style of the house, she had a futon instead of a bed, and huddled under the futon's blankets was the person KOS-MOS had been searching for.

"Shion," KOS-MOS murmured softly as she quietly closed the sliding doors behind her. She had been curt with Jin, only explaining her identity in the briefest sense before going off in search of her charge. Perhaps a more conscientious approach would have served better, but she saw no need for it. Shion was her main concern and responsibility at this point in time. That was all there was to it.

Speaking of which, Shion neither stirred at her call or at her approach. Sleeping then, KOS-MOS thought as she crouched down and brushed a stray lock of hair out of Shion's face, half-hidden beneath the covers. The day's events had fatigued her mother more than she had originally surmised. Or perhaps it was the many stressful events of the past week that were finally catching up with the woman. If that were the case, it would be best to recalculate her responses to Shion for the time being. That way she could minimize the impact of any further stress that her presence may create.

Mumbling something incoherent, even to KOS-MOS's sensors, Shion curled herself up further under the blankets. KOS-MOS reached out again, lightly touching her fingers to Shion's forehead in what the android considered a comforting manner. She was not expecting reality to fade into total darkness upon contact.

It was cold, like she would expect in a tomb, Shion mused. Cold, cold and dark. The surface she kneeled upon was colder still, ice to the touch, metal, most likely. And black, everything was black. She could not see the walls or the ceiling in this vast place, but she imagined that they were as black as the floor. The illumination cast from the silver -silver?- Zohar behind her was too weak to reach so far.

"Shion?" She peered over her shoulder as KOS-MOS materialized out the ether to her left. "What has... happened?" The android -No, that's not right. She's something more than that.- jerked her head around, staring at the Zohar for a long moment before turning her extremely confused attention to the rest of this... place.

"It's a dream, I think," Shion answered hazily as she turned her gaze back to the beckoning darkness before her. "I heard them, they were calling me."

"Who are they?" KOS-MOS queried, but two girlish giggles wafted out from the darkness and provided something of an explanation long before Shion could have supplied one.

A long moment passed, and then two little girls, Realians, emerged from the dark, swooping down on Shion and smothering her in hugs. Cecilia and Catherine, the forbidden parts of KOS-MOS's databanks provided. Two names for two girls who, as far as the Federation and most others were concerned, did not exist and never had.

Cecily and Cathe, Febronia's younger sisters, who were, for all intents and purposes, supposed to be imprisoned on Old Miltia. And yet, here they were, showering Shion with a veritable deluge of affection.

"Shion!" "Shion!" They chorused together, drawing back now and again, only to dart forward and give her another hug in their excitement. "We're sorry." "We're sorry." "We were supposed to come play with you tomorrow."

"What?" Shion managed to get out in between one embrace and the next. Her thoughts were a complete whirlwind, never staying put long enough for her to make any sense of what was happening.

"But tomorrow never came." They stepped back from her, their hands lingering in her hair, petting the brown, silky strands. "And now, the tomorrows have all run out."

"Wha-what do you mean?" Shion asked hesitantly, forcibly placing her thoughts into some semblance of order. This was important, she knew this somehow.

"Mercy came and visited us." They withdrew from her completely now, walking backwards a few steps into the darkness they had come from. "And now we have to go." "Feb is waiting." "But we couldn't go without saying goodbye." "To little sister Shion."

"Wait," Shion called out, scooting forward on her hands as they turned from her and began to walk away. "Don't go."

"Goodbye, Shion." "We love you."

"Wait!" Shion stretched a hand towards them, helplessly. Unheeding of her cry, the girls reached up and took the pale hands of a dark, feminine figure, a stranger who appeared between them in the space of an eye blink. The long, frost white hair of the figure feathered over them, and then, they were gone.

Gone.

"What- Why are- What is going on?" Stumbling over her words and her thoughts, Shion dragged herself to her feet and took a single step towards the being before her. The woman, if she could be called that, had her back turned towards them, but Shion knew, somehow, that this wasn't a person, or a Realian, or something she could even define, no matter what it looked like.

The woman's head cocked to the side, her pale hair cascading over a black clad shoulder. -Was she wearing black armor?- "All those who follow in my wake know only grief."

"What?" Shion whispered, fear blossoming deep within her at the sound of that voice, cold, so cold. She knew who, what this was. -Didn't she?- She had heard it before -when?-, soft and so distant, comfortingly distant, behind the pulse of something -Why couldn't she remember?-, the Zohar?

"Find another path."

~*~

Time Index Unknown

Streams of ships ascended from the tiny blue planet, fleeing in the face of the strange, unchecked energy that was engulfing it, phasing it away from reality bit by bit. It had become a familiar sight in the past thousand years or so, and one Yeshua was sorely growing tired of witnessing.

They were responsible for what was happening, of course, and if the humans knew of their machinations they would surely turn upon them. But they never would, it wasn't for them to know. And so they drifted along with the fleeing dredges of human civilization, their small colony ship one among many, though far more advanced than any of the humans would guess. Science was a useful tool, if a damning one.

"That is that, I suppose," Wilhelm commented as he walked up to stand beside Yeshua and watch the evacuation. The planet wouldn't last for much longer, even now it was fading in and out, translucent even when it was solid. Still, it was an improvement from the last time. The Gnosis hadn't made an impromptu appearance. In fact, he was almost certain that they had isolated the specific phenomena necessary for their summoning. That knowledge would prove quite useful later on when Abel's Ark would again be needed to play its part.

The humans would be no problem, they would find another planet to make into their new cradle of civilization and move on, ever onwards. They were remarkably flexible in the face of what would appear to be insurmountable tragedy to their species. They would 'bounce back', as the saying went, with their typical ease.

"That it is," Yeshua murmured, looking away in thinly veiled shame. He would have to tell Wilhelm of his plans soon, he couldn't keep putting it off. He didn't want to, but he couldn't keep on acting as if events didn't bother him. He couldn't... stay, it would end up destroying him. "There is something I wanted to discuss with you," he trailed off at the end, unsure of how to broach the subject.

"You're leaving," Wilhelm stated matter-of-factly as he stepped forward, placing his hand against the glass as he watched the planet fade from view, leaving nothing in its wake. Only the stars remained, tiny, glimmering flames in an empty and vast cosmos.

"Yes," Yeshua hung his head, ashamed that he had been so obvious about his discontent that it would register to Wilhelm. Then again, his old friend had always been the one who would notice the tiniest of details, one of the factors that made him such a perfect candidate for the job at hand. "Tomorrow, I think."

"Ah," Wilhelm closed his eyes to the darkness without, as if savoring the moment, before turning his attention fully to Yeshua. "I'm actually quite surprised that you remained so long. The others never seem to be able to stand to be in my presence for any extended length of time."

"You're my best friend, my oldest companion, I had to try," Yeshua sighed, unable to look up. Wilhelm would never accuse him of being weak, but his own guilt drove that point home well enough on its own.

"And yet, you will still leave," Wilhelm said simply, reaching out and tilting Yeshua's chin up until their eyes met. His own widened a fraction in surprise as a tear traced its way down Yeshua's cheek.

"I'm sorry," Yeshua jerked away from his touch, fleeing in light of the emotions that threatened to bring him to his knees.

"Of course you are," Wilhelm whispered as the door closed behind his lost friend. He rubbed his thumb and forefinger together, salt water coating the tips of both, as he turned his eyes back to studying the emptiness of space.

. . .

Present Day

chaos flinched as memories long buried rose to the forefront of his mind. Nothing seemed to phase Wilhelm, ever. It was simply the way he was, the way he had always been. It was why his old friend had never fallen victim to the curse of this reality, much unlike himself. But that begged the question, if he was the same as he had always been then how could he possibly attract the attention of that?

If Wilhelm had changed somehow, then why had he not sensed it? Why hadn't any of them? Even Nephilim didn't know what was going on. And why did he have this sinking sensation that one way or another it was all his fault?

Because it is, chaos flinched again at that little voice of conscience and shoved it, and the guilt attached to it, back behind a little locked door in his mind. If he allowed himself to wallow he'd never be able to get anything done and it was his responsibility to fix this, whatever this was. Wilhelm would always be his responsibility.

Thus, it ultimately all fell back to one thing, he'd have to go directly to the source. That was going to be excessively difficult, especially in light of his run in with Voyager. The Black Testament would most likely be keeping an eye out for any activity from him in concerns to his god. That complicated matters far too much for his liking.

And in that vein, how was he going to get onboard the Dammerung without attracting the attention of any of the Testaments? He wouldn't be able to use his powers, they'd notice that, which left him with more mundane modes of transportation. If he used a charter flight to the Vector colony ship, that would most likely set off red flags all over the place. Smuggling, then? Talk about difficult.

"chaos?"

chaos whipped his head up, the call startling him more than it should have. He should know better than to lose himself so far in his thoughts that he lost focus on the here and now. "Canaan?" He blinked in confusion as the orange-haired Realian peered down at him with his typical blank expression. chaos had ended up huddled down in the corner where the U.M.N. and the wall met after Voyager had taken his leave, he probably looked very... odd.

"Yes," Canaan said simply as he offered his hand, which chaos gladly accepted as he climbed to his feet. A quick scan of his memories indicated that he had never seen chaos in such a strange position before, especially with such a forlorn expression on his face. He could almost say that his friend appeared as if he were lost. Interesting.

"What are you doing here?" chaos asked curiously as he brushed himself off. The floor around the U.M.N. terminal was starting to get a little dusty. He should let the droids know about it later so they could clean it up.

"Looking for you," Canaan answered blandly as chaos tilted his head to the side in surprise, "You were not with the others and Rubedo had no idea where you were. In fact, he seemed somewhat alarmed that you were not present."

"Oh, I see. I'm sorry," chaos smiled gently. He hadn't meant to cause another odd occurrence concerning himself, but this couldn't wait for the proper time when he could more easily avoid raising suspicions. "Something important, for me anyway, has come up and I needed to deal with it."

"Events have a way of falling in a convenient manner around you," Canaan stated plainly, crossing his arms as he continued, "When something 'comes up' for you you have a tendency to vanish and yet your friends never seem to be concerned about this unless it's brought to their immediate attention. None of them are callous, chaos."

"You're far more perceptive than you let on," chaos laughed weakly as he reached up and scratched the back of his neck self-consciously. "But I'm sure it's just a coincidence."

"No, I don't think it is. There is no such thing as coincidence where you are concerned," Canaan rebuffed, the corners of his lips turning down in what appeared to be the beginnings of a scowl. "Something is bothering you greatly for this to happen. So what is wrong?"

"Everything," chaos sighed morosely and hung his head.

~*~

He had not been summoned. Kevin knew this. And if recent unsettling events were not so urgent, he wouldn't dream of bothering Master Wilhelm. However, whatever it was that was happening to the Abyss was too severe to just leave it alone. The black holes had already swallowed up Old Miltia and even now were starting to expand beyond the boundaries of the Miltian solar system. Something had to be done.

Steeling himself for what could possibly turn into an unpleasant confrontation, Kevin materialized into his master's office and bowed, "Master Wilhelm-"

"He's not here."

Kevin jerked up in surprise, but stilled instantly when he got a good look at the speaker standing behind his master's desk. The Black Testament was quite a mystery to him. The man never deigned to speak with Kevin unless it was absolutely necessary, but perhaps that could be attributed to the fact that he was the oldest of them and had been serving Master Wilhelm on his own for quite awhile before Kevin had come along. Still, his devotion to their master seemed a little fanatical at times.

"What are you doing here?" Kevin asked, keeping the suspicion out of his tone as much as he possibly could as he walked over towards the desk.

"Waiting," Voyager smirked condescendingly before turning his attention back to the Compass of Order, "And watching."

"What-" Kevin stopped short upon getting a good look at the device. Taking his mask off, he leaned forward so he could get a better view. "What is it doing?" The compass was completely still, the only indictation that it wasn't broken was a steady pulse of light at the center.

"It is waiting as well," Voyager explained, stepping a little to the side to avoid any contact with Kevin, "There is no need for concern, this has happened before. For events to continue in their proper course, the master must make a decision. It is simply waiting for him to do so."

"What sort of decision?"

"I would imagine," Voyager began, extreme unconcern very evident in his voice, "That with the events concerning the Abyss, his decision would be on the state of the continued survival of this galaxy. Specifically, whether it is worth the effort to salvage it or not."

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God be between you and harm in all the empty places you walk. - a blessing of the Eighteenth Egyptian Dynasty