Andrew: Okay, it's been long enough since the last chapter, due to trying
to work out kinks in the fic, university work...
Ruri: ...and you procrastinating.
Andrew: ...so I'll skip the pre-fic chatter. Roll camera!
Daidouji Tomoyo: Rolling!
Andrew: Aaannnndddd.... ACTION!
OPERATION: LIGHTSPHERE
An Iczer/Teknoman crossover fanfic
by Andrew Dynon
Phase 3
Chapter 6
The Iczer series is copyright Toshiki (formerly Toshihiro) Hirano and AIC.
English-language versions copyright US Renditions, US Manga Corps, ADV
Films. Distributed in Australia by Madman Entertainment. Teknoman is
copytight Saban Entertainment, adapted from Space Knight Tekkaman Blade by
Tatsunoko Productions. Shown in Australia on Network Ten.
WARNING! This fic has now been officially declared DARK!!!
OP: "Rolling Devil", from the Iczer-One Battle Music Collection CD
* * * * * * * *
"What I witnessed when Citrine was brought to me after being rescued from
Rhadam captivity wass the most horrifying thing I have seen. Poor girl,
she used to be so happy and confident. Now, she suffers from amnesia and
retardation which none of us can cure. She refuses to communicate either
by speech or telepathy, but impressions of pain leak - no, flow - from her
mind. Iczer-1, I urge you to make the rescue of Kthulhu captured by the
Rhadam a top priority! Nobody should be forced to suffer as Citrine so
obviously has!"
- Sister Grey
* * * * *
Nagisa's body hung, limp, inside a chamber in the Rhadam mothership.
Strands of her sea-green hair fell in front of her face, soaked in LCL -
and in her blood. Her eyes were open, but blank, unseeing, and yet, if an
obeserver had looked into them, they would be aware that she had
experienced - was still experiencing - a horror which most mortals would be
thankful that they would never know of, let alone be subjected to.
Inside her mind, Nagisa's psychic form differed little from her present
physical state. She was held, naked and cruciform, limp and unable to
summon the strength she needed to break free of her restraints. On this
plane of existence, though, she was far too aware of what was happening.
Iczer Zero and the Rhadam wished to use her psionic abilities to further
their agenda - Big Gold's legacy - and, since she was not going to
willingly help them, they were now wresting her powers from her by causing
massive psychic trauma.
She had no idea how long she had suffered the torture for - even if she
had known, it was likely that time here was flowing differently than in the
physical universe. Maybe, she thought, if she could resist for long
enough, her captors' agenda could be compromised. It wasn't likely, but it
was, nevertheless, a thread of hope for her to hang on to.
The first phase of her torture had been physical - she had allowed herself
the luxury of screaming in pain during that time, knowing she had to
reserve her strength of will until later. But the horror and pain of her
rigors ever intensified. Now, motionless and helpless, she awaited the
next stage of the assault on her being - not upon her physical body, she
somehow knew, but within it, upon her psyche. The breaks in between her
torture were, in their own way, just as bad as the torture itself. She
could do nothing but wait and dread what was to come, and the long sessions
of painlessness served to intensify the pain when it was being applied to
her. And, she suspected, during those times of silence her soul twin,
Raura, was having the same things done to her.
In her mind's eye, Iczer Zero appeared again, her features constantly
distorting in a disgusting fasion. As much as she wanted to shut the sight
away from her mind, Iczer Zero's psychic abilities forced her to keep
"looking".
{Nagisa, I must admit that I'm impressed at how long you've managed to
resist me.} Iczer Zero said inside her mind. {I expected what you
experienced to shatter even one with as strong a psyche as yours.} She smiled.
{It will be interesting to see whether you can survive what we do to you
next. I hope so. The longer you resist, the more satisfying it will be
when you finally break.}
* * * * *
"Blade... can you hear me?" Star whispered as she sat beside the tank of
liquid her comatose, still-naked, beloved floated in. "You're going to be
all right, aren't you? I know you are." She stared for long moments at
his unreceptive form before she realised that a Kthulhu wearing the
loose-fitting, pastel-colored uniform of a medic was standing behind her.
"Star-thihu," the medic said, using an honorific that Nagisa had told her
was used by learned Kthulhu to politely address those less learned, "I need
you to move back from the healing chamber. I must operate on the patient."
"All right." Star stood up and stepped backward, observing the room
around her for the first time she had entered - it was a medical bay, one
she presumed had been hastily set up, due to the lack of adornment which
she had been told the Kthulhu generally gave such facilities - a tradition
which stemmed from a desire to aid patients psychologically. There were
five other healing chambers in the room, but only one was occupied - by
Shara. Blade's sister stirred slightly, and Star, after recieving a nod
from the medic treating Blade, approached her.
"Nick..." Shara said in a near-whisper, obviously just regaining
consciousness.
"He's right here, Shara. He's right beside you."
"Will he... arrgh... will he die?" Shara's injuries were obviously still
terribly painful, and Star shuddered as she remembered the impaling wound
the girl had recieved.
"He won't die. He'll be okay." {He *can't* die. He *has to* be okay.
Because... if Blade dies...}
"It was... was Saber, wasn't it?"
"Yes. How did you know?" Star knew the answer before Shara replied.
"It could... only... be him."
Star felt no more need to speak - Blade's twin brother was solely
responsible for what had happened to him. Power-up or no, Saber was going
to be taken down.
*She* was going to take him down.
* * * * *
"NO!!!"
Iczer-1's voice was filled with angush and horror as she heard what had
happened to Nagisa. After the fight with Iczer Zero, her body had rapidly
slipped into a _thelrhu_ - a healing coma - and she had been awoken inside
the /Silver Noah/. Immediately upon waking up, she had demanded to know
what had happened to Nagisa. The answer had struck a blow that wounded her
far more deeply than anything she could receive in a fight.
"Iczer-1, I regret that it was definitely Nagisa who sent to me."
Nagisa's Iczel replied, also in a state of shock.
"I'm going to try to rescue her."
"That's suicidal and you know it!" Sister Grey warned, vainly hoping her
race's guardian would change her mind.
"I DON'T CARE!" Iczer-1 prepared to teleport out of the ship.
She did not move. It was several seconds before she spoke, this time in a
hushed, but just as shocked, tone.
"Nani? Sister Grey, why can't I..."
Sister Grey put her arm around Iczer-1's shoulders in a gesture of sympathy.
"You were created as the guardian of the Kthulhu. Your programming
prevents you from taking a course of action which will result in your death."
"But I've risked my life before. I've done it so many times."
"True, but those were calculated risks. What you want to do this time,
like I said, is knowingly suicidal."
"So... I can't... try to help... Nagisa?" Iczer-1 burst into tears, which
resembled liquid crystals as they streamed down her face.
"No. You can't."
"Infinite Heavenly Sisterhood, this can't be... Nagisa... I'm so sorry...
I'm so sorry... I don't deserve to be forgiven!"
Sister Grey could not think of anything to say as Iczer-1 mourned.
* * * * *
Restless, Nami walked along one of the the /Seriphos/' corridors. In two
or three hours, they would be in combat with the Rhadam forces, with her
and the other Iczelions, including Jalir, handling the main assault. Right
now, though, the only thing she could do was pace around impatiently.
Rounding a corner, she noticed that she had reached an observation deck.
She almost entered the deck, but stopped when she noticed Cyan on the deck,
with Jalir approaching her. From the expression on her face, the Saryan
girl was clearly angry at Cyan, who waited as she approached.
Then, suddenly, Jalir threw a punch at Cyan, striking her on the side of
the face, and sending her staggering backward. Cyan managed to keep her
footing, though, and continued facing Jalir.
"Jalir, I understand how you feel..." Cyan began.
"No, you don't!" Jalir shouted in barely-restrained rage. "You don't
understand anything! You just turn up now, and... and..." she paused,
trying to think of words sufficient to express her what she felt.
"Jalir, please believe me when I tell you I'm truly sorry about what
happened to Tayah. It's a risk all of us take." Cyan was not at all
confident that her words would calm Jalir.
"If you're so sorry, why didn't you help us before now? We told you we
needed it, damn you!"
"There was no way we could reach your planet to help."
"Do you even know what Pelah ment to me?" Jalir screamed, finally losing
all control. "She was my best friend ever since we were kids! And because
you wouldn't help us, she died! Damn you all!" She collapsed into tears.
{Poor girl...} Nami thought as she ceased her period of eavesdropping.
{Did I ever get like that?}
{Yes. I did.}
* * * * *
Nami's fears were confirmed as she laid eyes on the ruin that had been her
home. She had, somehow, known something was very wrong, but she never
expected *this*. Massive holes wer smashed in the walls and roof. She
rushed through the passage they made, and halted at the entrance to one of
the rooms.
The room she stood at the entrance to was once a teenaged girl's bedroom.
The smashed remnants of a bed and wardrobe were visible from where she
stood, and drops of newly-spilled blood stained the fluffy, pink carpet.
Nami rushed in, and came to a dead stop as she saw the body of a girl of
fourteen, with the same long blonde hair as her, lying in the corner with
her body slashed open in a single bloody stroke.
"Tsuko!" She screamed in anguish, cradling her younger sister's corpse in
her arms. "Oh, God, how could this happen?"
"Gomen nasai. You are Nami, correct?" Nami turned to see a small, black
robot standing behind her.
"What happened to her?" Nami demanded.
"We were attacked by a Teknoman as I was trying to synchronise with her.
Unfortunately, your younger sister's fear prevented us from properly
synchronising. I was unable to help her."
Nami shook with rage. "You wanted *her* to actually *fight* a Teknoman?"
"Hai."
"I don't believe you! She was just a kid, or couldn't you tell? What the
fuck made you think that *she* could fight one of *those* things?"
"Nami, I understand the pain that this must cause you..."
"Really?" Nami interrupted. "Well, it's your fault that this happened in
the first place!" Looking around and seeing no convenient heavy object to
throw at the Iczel, she punched it. The Iczel fell backward, and blood
dripped from Nami's fist, mingling with her sister's still-wet blood on the
carpet.
* * * * *
Tsuko... thinking about what happened to her hurt Nami deeply, even now.
Even though she knew that one of the Rhadam-controlled Teknomen had killed
her sister, it had been a lengthy and difficult task for her Iczel to
persuade her to synchronise and fight against them. She still doubted
whether she had completely forgiven her Iczel.
She only hoped that Cyan and the others could persuade Jalir to forgive
them somewhat.
{Because that's not something I can do.} She thought. {"Diplomatic and
persuasive" is not something I'm good at being. I'd just end up saying the
same things Iczel said to me.}
{And didn't *that* work well?}
* * * * *
{Where am I?}
Nagisa, hopelessly struggling against the insubstantial bonds around her
limbs, opened her eyes, and saw only a thick, orange mist. Warm and humid,
it seemed as though it was trying to float into her nose and mouth,
suffocating her with the stench of blood. It seemed as though there was no
ground for her to stand on - she was suspended, or perhaps freefalling,
inside the endless cloud of otherworldly mist.
{How did I get here?}
"Nagisa." Her name was spoken by a male voice, a voice with a distinct
tone of cruelty and coldness to it that she felt was out of place. She was
sure she knew the speaker, but she could not recall who it was.
A figure appeared, at first silhouetted in the mist, and then becoming
clearer as he drew closer to her. By the time Nagisa recognised the young,
dark-haired man dressed in a red jacket and white jeans, he was standing
directly in front of her.
"Look at you." Nick said, making no attempt to disguise his contempt for
her. "How could you have been lucky enough to survive this long?"
Nagisa tried to speak, but she only managed to make a few pained,
incoherent noises.
"Not talkative, Nagisa? I can't say I'm surprised. But you can feel
pain, can't you?" Blade slowly and deliberately clenched his hands into
fists, and sent them thundering several times into her body. Blood welled
up in her mouth, spilling out of it and down her naked chest.
"You're weak. You're so pathetically weak. Be greatful that I'm going to
finish you here." A tekno crystal appeared in Nick's hand, glinting with
bloody red light. Then, he transformed, his body becoming covered in black
and red armor.
"Nick, no... don't..." Nagisa managed to moan. "You're not Saber!"
{I remember now. Iczer Zero.} The thought appeared in Nagisa's mind.
{This isn't real.}
Blade stood, observing Nagisa's expression as the terror disappeared from
it, and the girl regained the calm expression she had struggled to maintain
throughout her ordeal. As expected, she had held out longer than any of
her other prisoners. But this time, she had panicked and was close to
breaking. He thrust his teklance through Nagisa's body, and she gritted
her teeth to stop herself from screaming before her body convulsed and lay
still.
Then, Blade's body shifted back to being Iczer Zero's. She could still
feel the sensation of Nagisa's panic in her mind. Soon, she knew, the girl
would be irrevocably owned by her masters.
* * * * *
"All right, is everyone clear on our plan of operations?" Cyan asked, and
those aboard the /Seriphos/ instantly responded in the affirmative.
"Have you memorised our contingency plans as well?" Another chorus of
"Yes!".
"All right then, all get ready for the start of our counteroffensive."
Cyan could hear her heart pounding as she prepared to command her first
real battle. She wished that someone else, such as Indigo, was
coordinating tactics and giving orders. Indigo would never make the
foolish mistakes she feared she was going to, and she would have been able
to be in the thick of battle, where she felt far more confident. Some of
her contingency plans did involve her fighting as an Iczelion, with her
second-in-command, Amber, on the /Seriphos/' bridge. But, despite her
desires, she had to do what was best for the ship and her allies. Still,
she would miss piloting her Delos Zeta Custom.
Entering the Zeta Custom's hangar's, she pushed her feet against the
floor, using the zero gravity to carry herself up to the thirty-meter-tall
mecha's cockpit. A Kthulhu girl with short white hair sat in the cockpit
examining data readouts, and almost failed to notice her commanding
officer's presence.
"Uh... Cyan-zarhu!" The pilot blurted out, snapping to attention. "Do you
want to talk to me?"
"Relax, Ivory. I just wanted to ask how you're feeling about going out in
the Delos?"
"It feels a bit strange, but I'm not nearly as nervous as I thought I
would be." Ivory replied. "For some reason I just feel so calm. I know
I've flown it in simulations before, not to mention piloting a Kithalos in
about twenty battles, but..."
"It's a good sign that you're calm." Cyan smiled. "It means the AI's
reacting well to you. Just be careful with the Rion Lancer. It's
powerful, but it's tricky to use." The weapon Cyan referred to was a
spear-like weapon with two energy blades forming a Y shape. Resonance
between the blades could create a powerful energy beam.
"I know. I think I've gotten the hang of it now, though."
"Good to hear, Ivory. Oh, and remember..." Cyan said as she prepared to
leave. "The Zeta Custom's still my mecha. If you so much as scratch it,
you'll be explaining what's going on to newly-selected Iczelions for the
rest of the war." She failed to stifle a giggle at her clearly
tongue-in-cheek comment.
* * * * *
{Where am I? Why don't I remember... why don't I remember anything?}
Nagisa struggled to avoid choking on the droplets of pale red liquid that
surrounded her. At first, she couldn't see her own body, and it took a
while before she could make it out. She felt a throbbing pain, and saw
hundreds of tiny pinpricks covering her body, her warm blood slowly leaking
out of each one.
"Imouto-chan..."
"Mizuki? Oneesan?" Nagisa turned and saw her elder sister sitting beside
her.
"Yes, it's me, Nagisa."
"Oh, Mizuki! I felt so... so afraid!"
"And you wanted me to help you. Like whenever you cried or felt scared.
And I always did, ever since you were born." Mizuki said. "Why did I do
that, Nagisa?"
Nagisa sat in silence.
"Why did I put up with a worthless crybaby like you? I put myself out for
you so many times. And you just kept on running back to me again and again!"
"Sou na... sou na..."
"What... have you EVER done for ME? You're just an ungrateful, whining
little brat! That's all you'll ever be!" Mizuki grabbed Nagisa's throat,
and Nagisa tried unsuccessfully to breathe.
"Oneesan... no, don't." Nagisa whispered. "No... you're not... oneesan..."
All faded into blackness, and Iczer Zero savored the pleasure of the
moment. Nagisa's mind was nearly hers.
* * * * *
"Okay, this is it!" Cyan commanded. "Move out, now!"
"All right, Cyan! Time to go kick these guys' asses!" Kiiro responded as
she and the other Iczelions, plus Mizuki, sped away from the _Seriphos_. A
Rhadam mothership was already visible in the distance, at least to Cyan,
who was using her psionic abilities to enhance her senses.
"Ivory, Delos Zeta Custom, ikimasu!"
Cyan listend to Ivory announce her departure, and watched the green, blue
and silver mecha launch from the ship, leading a squadron of Kithalos. It
was strange standing and watching the Zeta Custom - she still thought of it
as the mecha *she* piloted, even though, intellectually, she knew she had
different, and greater, responsibilities, now. She silently hoped that
Ivory would handle it well, and did not feel surprised when the mecha's AI
responded to her thoughts, telling her it would take care of her heir.
She had no time to dwell on such matters, though - all her concentration
needed to be devoted to the battle at hand. The Kthulhu forces were to be
the center of the counterattack, with the Lyrinae guarding their flanks and
hopefully being able to surround the Rhadam. Saryan forces would take a
suppourt role, and hopefully be able to minimise casualties.
Of course, battles rarely went as planned, and she dared not hope that
this one would.
* * * * *
Black mist.
Pitch black mist, surrounding her, choking her, entering her body every
time she dared to breathe. It was all Nagisa was aware of, and, for all
she knew, she had been surrounded by it. She screamed in terror, and
screamed again, and yet again, wishing for someone to help her, but she
could not think of anyone, and nobody came.
Through the blackness, she became aware of a girl who looked exactly the
same as herself, standing and watching her. Very gradually, the form of
the girl seemed to drift closer to her - or was she drifting toward the
other girl? She had no way to tell. It was not until the two were
touching each other that Nagisa recognised the robes the other girl wore -
the robes of an Ishuan princess.
"Raura?" she whispered, somehow remembering the girl's name.
Raura placed her hands elegantly on Nagisa's shoulders, and leaned to
whisper in her ear.
"Iczer-One's *mine!*"
As Raura spoke those words, a gash opened down Nagisa's body, running from
the top of her throat to between her legs. Her blood sparkled as it
sprayed freely out of her body, contrasting with the pitch-black mist that
flowed inside of her, supplanting it.
{Raura... no... how could you say that?}
More gashes opened on Nagisa's body, across her shoulders and waist, and
down her arms, legs and spine. The girl let out terrified, agonized
screams as her lifeblood drained out of her body, allowint it to be
replaced by the polluting blackness. Then, Nagisa's eyes blackened over,
her body fell limp, and the cuts slowly began to heal themselves.
{Nagisa...}
As the blackness flowed into her body, Nagisa thought she saw a glint of
white-green light. With her fading psyche, she strained herself, trying to
catch a glimpse of it. The white-green light briefly flickered in front of
her eyes, and she saw a feminine figure inside it.
{Nagisa...}
{Raura? But...}
{Reach into your soul, Nagisa. Trust me.}
For a moment, Nagisa hesitated. Then, she nodded, and tried to
concentrate. The first Raura stared at her, and the black mist around her
contracted, from stifling her, to suffocating her, and then growing heavier
and heavier, forcing an unbearable, crushing weight onto her body - or was
it her mind? - from all directions. It was more than Nagisa could stand-
she closed her eyes and screamed as she was crushed.
Then, her body began to glow with the same white-green light that
surrounded the second Raura. The light forced the black mist away,
relieving its terrible pressure from her body. Nagisa looked at the Raura
who had been tormenting her, and saw Iczer Zero in her place. She turned
to the other Raura, who was still herself.
"Raura... arigato."
"Nagisa... yokatta."
Suddenly, Raura's form went limp, and her eyes closed. The white-green
aura that surrounded her rapidly faded. Nagisa knelt beside Raura,
cradling her, knowing that her soul twin had passed far beyond her limits
in her rescue effort.
Iczer Zero began to glow with an orange-yellow aura, and Nagisa turned to
face her tormentor. The pair locked their gazes, and their auras expanded,
pushing against one another in a battle of willpower. Gradually, Iczer
Zero's aura began pushing Nagisa's back as the mental exhaustion from
Nagisa's ordeal took its toll on her.
Struggling, Nagisa felt a someone else's fingers brush against hers, and
glanced downward to see the prone Raura, reaching out for her hand. She
smiled in understanding, and reached her arm down, letting Raura grab her.
As the pair made contact, a wave of power rushed through Nagisa, and her
aura grew brighter and stronger, pushing its way back toward Iczer Zero.
Before it reached her, though, Iczer Zero vanished, leaving Nagisa and the
collapsed Raura alone.
"Raura... are you all right?" Nagisa asked desperately. "Come on, Raura!
Answer me!"
"You are, Nagisa. That's..." Raura coughed, and then continued, unable
to speak above a whisper. "That's what's ... important."
"Raura, don't say that! You're important, too!"
"Arigato. But ... it took ... everything I had ... to reach you. My mind
... it's burned out. I'm dying."
Nagisa knelt beside Raura, and whispered softly in her ear.
"No, Raura. You won't die. I won't let you die."
The wounds Iczer Zero had inflicted on Nagisa reopened, and the blackness
that had entered her now flowed out. Raura's figure glowed with her
white-green aura, and then the white-green light flowed into the gashes on
Nagisa's body, healing them as it entered.
{Nagisa, what's this?} Raura asked.
{Your mind was destroyed, Raura.} Nagisa replied. {So I'm letting your
soul - you - share mine. We are twins, after all.} She "said" to Raura,
smiling.
{Oh, Nagisa! Thank you so much!} Raura said.
{Don't thank me. I couldn't forgive myself if I didn't do it. Now we
have to go back to my - our - body.}
* * * * *
Nagisa reawoke inside the darkened chamber, and eventually her vision
cleared, allowing her to see the pool of LCL she was in. Momentarily
disoriented, she tried to move, forgetting that she was still restrained.
The tendrils wrapped around her limbs cut into her flesh, and she struggled
weakly, too exhausted mentally and physically to escape from them.
"What a shame. After all that effort, you're still held prisoner."
Nagisa turned her head in the direction the voice had come from, and saw a
familiar figure - a woman with long red hair, dressed in a blue bodysuit.
Iczer-2's beam sword appeared in her hand as she stepped into the pool of
LCL and walked toward her.
"You know, she's just gonna end up doing the same thing to you again.
Maybe it would have been better for you to just give in." Iczer-2 said
calmly. "It's probably better for you if I just kill you here." Iczer-2
raised her beam sword and swung it at her...
...slicing the tendrils that restrained her away. Nagisa collapsed into
the LCL, and, tired and disoriented, struggled to rise to her feet.
Iczer-2 grabbed her arm and pulled her up. Nagisa just stood and stared at
her unexpected rescuer.
"Come on!" Iczer-2 grabbed Nagisa, and flew with her in a streak of light.
Nagisa was not sure how long Iczer-2 carried her through the dark
corridors of the Rhadam ship for - they just seemed to twist and turn, over
and over again, and she felt sure that they had come to the same place
dozens of times. Eventually, though, the corridor Iczer-2 was following
came to a dead end, and Iczer-2 stopped.
"Well, Nagisa, the way out's through there." Iczer-2 said, pointing to the
organic wall. "It won't let me through with you, though."
"Then how do I get out?"
"You have to impose your will on it, force it to obey you."
"All right. Thank you for helping me, Iczer-2."
"It wasn't because I felt sorry for you. Do you know how Iczer-1 would
have been affected if you'd died, or ended up controlled by the Rhadam?
She'd have been so badly off it wouldn't have been worth my time killing
her."
Nagisa just smiled.
"No, I think there's another reason why you did this. I think you wanted
to help me."
"Matakuu... you're mind's more addled than I thought." Iczer-2 teleported
away.
"Really?" Nagisa asked aloud, not concerned that Iczer-2 could no longer
hear her.
Nagisa turned toward the dead end Iczer-2 had indicated, and concentrated,
trying to force it open. As soon as her mind "contacted" the wall, it came
up against a force of will within it. Nagisa struggled, but she was too
tired to be able to dominate it, and was forced to break contact, and sat
down, unable to think what to do.
"Well, it looks like you've almost escaped. Pity you only got this far,
Nagisa... and Raura." Iczer Zero said as she appeared behind Nagisa. "And
outside... well, even if you get out, there's nothing but vacuum. A human
won't be able to survive out there. It's better if you just give up.
"No." With all her remaining strength, Nagisa forced her will upon the
wall, screaming as the field of mental static around her intensified,
feeling like spears piercing through her mind. Despite her pain and
exhaustion, her desperation allowed her to concentrate, forcing the wall to
open. Air rushed away from the ship, and Nagisa felt her unprotected body
being flung into the coldness of space.
{Iczer-1...}
* * * * *
{Huh? I'm...} Nagisa awoke to find herself floating naked in space. {Am
I in space? How can I be alive?}
{You were reaching out for me, Nagisa... and Raura. You wanted to come
back to me.}
{Iczer-1?}
{Sou desu. Even unconscious, that was enough to keep you alive.}
{Iczer-1... arigato. I'm coming back to you.}
* * * * *
A streak of blue light shot through the cosmos, heading towards the green
light which was coming from another direction. When they had each almost
contacted the other, they stopped, and revealed their true forms - those of
Iczer-1 and Nagisa. Nagisa reached out to embrace Iczer-1, and she cried,
both from the pain of her torture and the joy of release. Iczer-1 also
wrapped her arms around Nagisa, not needing to speak, but simply to feel
her love's emotions.
*********
TSUZUKU
*********
One word...
WHEW!
And the dark part isn't over yet.
Lightsphere seems to get harder to write every chapter! This is (I think)
the longest chapter so far, I had to let some parts wait until next
chapter, and I also had to make probably the hardest decision of the fic so
far (whether or not to omit a certain passage - I did end up deleting it,
and no, I don't still have a copy which I can send to anyone, even if I
wanted to (which I don't)).
Those of you who are familiar with Joseph Campbell's "The Hero With a
Thousand Faces" may recognise this as the "Inmost Cave/Ordeal" stage of the
journey. I wasn't familiar with Campbell's work when I started writing the
story, but I am now, and am using elements of it in Lightsphere.
Thanks to Elsa Bibat for her essay "On the Necessity of Cruelty and Pain",
which helped encourage me to actually write out the nasty things I had
planned for characters in this and future chapters.
And, as always, I need all the C&C I can get!
I've got to write essays for the next few weeks, then maybe I'll write that
Nadesico fic I keep talking about. The next chapter will come after that.
NEXT CHAPTER: Cyan and her team battle the Rhadam for Sarya, and Star
launches her vendetta abainst Saber!
________________________________________________________________
Andrew Dynon
"When will those bloody adolescents learn to leave my Mobile Suits alone?"
- Bright Noah, from Kathleen Moffre's fanfic "Russian Roulette"
"Keep 'em guessing. Never tell anyone the truth. Try to confuse them."
- Stefan Elliot on dealing with Hollywood executives.
"Stories have to be told to exist. They exist in the telling and retelling."
- Itzhak Roeh