Chapter 1: Dream of Chaos
Maieve: hello everybody, this is my first Xenosaga fic so be nice k? plz excuse if my scientific and what not stuff is a little off, I never really pay attention to that stuff.
It was a mostly normal day on the Elsa. The crew was busy collecting a payload to help pay off Captain Mathews debts, the young silver haired youth chaos wondered if Mathews would ever get out of the hole he'd dug for himself. At any rate, he didn't mind helping out. They were going to take a break once this payload was collected and transferred.
chaos ran his gloved fingers over his console to check something. A hissing sound indicated that someone was entering the command room., he turned to see MOMO. The young pink haired realian was carrying a tray of drinks for them.
"I thought you guys might be thirsty and wanted to take a break." She explained as she gave Tony, Hammer, and Captain Mathews steaming hot coffee.
"Thanks hon, I really needed the caffeine boost." Mathews reached down to take the cup from her hand. MOMO walked over to chaos and handed him a chilled cup of juice, chaos didn't really much care for coffee.
He smiled sweetly at her, taking a sip before turning back to his console. MOMO stood there for a second staring at him. If you looked real close, you could see the tiny machinery that was built into her synthetic amber eyes moving about as she scanned her friend. The pink haired girl saw that great amount of stress was being exerted from somewhere, but for some reason she couldn't locate the source. Maybe my scanners are malfunctioning, she thought. It was hard to imagine chaos in any pain with his always calm and lucid expression.
chaos realized MOMO was still standing beside him, "Is something troubling you MOMO?"
"Huh? Oh, no. I think some of my systems must be tuned again." She turned and left the bridge without another word. chaos watched the little realian until the doors hissed closed behind her. A dull throb of pain suddenly enveloped his left shoulder.
chaos managed to stop himself from making a face, his hands did froze just over his keyboard. The youth tapped a button. The clock popped up in the corner of his screen.
1200 hours GMT (general military time)
Twelve o'clock? It's too early for my concoction to wear out now. What's going on?
chaos stood up, "I need to go check something captain, please excuse me." He didn't wait for an answer.
chaos hurriedly made his way to the medical. His booted feet hardly even making a tapping sound on the hard metal floor. He made sure no one was watching in either the security cameras, or down the hall. The silver haired youth removed his orange vest and pulled his sleeve off his shoulder. What he saw made him stare in horror.
His entire shoulder was covered with bruise black green veins. As he watched, the borders of the infection slowly began to expand as another throb of pain hit. chaos wasted no more time, he quickly gathered ingredients from several different syringes and powders that were in the cabinets. His hands shook slightly as he mixed them together and poured them a syringe needle type thing. Now all that was left was to get the special supplement that would complete the concoction.
But that was in the cabins. chaos glanced once more at the sickening veins on his shoulder before pulling his sleeve back over it. He'd have to risk it.
chaos ran with the unfinished concoction in one hand and his vest in the other. Very slightly the floor began to sway beneath his feet but he didn't slow. Fortunately the cabins weren't too far away, but it was someone spotting him that he was worried about. Nobody that he could see was there, so he dashed down the hall.
How is it getting this strong? It's never been this bad. chaos thought he heard the hiss of an opening door but he didn't stop to see. For at that moment the cabin door shut behind him. Sweat beaded his forehead as accessed a hidden compartment under his bed.
chaos opened a small bottle filled with fine glittering powder known as Teelaho. As carefully as he could with shaking hands, the pain wracked teen measured out a small amount of the smooth powder and dumped it into the syringe. The liquid turned lavender.
Once more he removed his sleeve, then stabbed the needle right smack in the middle of the infection. There was a little sound of air pressure as the concoction was automatically injected. The pain ebbed away and the green veins began to recede. chaos sighed heavily in relief.
The youth pulled the empty needle out of his skin. He discarded it and hid the Teelaho once more before sitting on his bed with one hand messaging his left shoulder. This event scared him. Never before had the infection been that bad.
chaos felt a strong wave of sleepiness start to settle in. This was one of the side effects that the Teelaho concoction had sometimes. chaos' eye lids drooped, this was probably the best thing for him to do right now. Sleep.
The teen fell over onto the bed with his right hand still on his shoulder. He felt both dizzy and sleepy. Most likely from it being so bad this time. chaos sank gratefully beneath the waves of sleep.
Unfortunately it was not to be a peaceful slumber.
~~~Darkness pressed in all around, making chaos feel trapped and blind. Hands began to grab at him, the youth tried to escape the invisible stalkers but it was to no avail. They nocked him off his feet and dragged him deeper within the depths of his soul.
Flurries of images passed before chaos so fast that he could hardly begin to identify them before they were replaced by another. But he did feel the emotions that accompanied them. They wrapped him in a cocoon of pain, despair, anger, loss and hatred. chaos doubled over and screamed. He tried to rid his mind of the emotions. All the images were blurring together as a sphere with chaos suspended in the middle. The silver haired youth tried to use his magic to banish the dream but there were so many emotions clogging his brain that he couldn't concentrate. chaos threw his head back and screamed.
"chaos..."
A gentle quiet female voice pierced through the madness. chaos whipped to see two bright lights. The images and emotions stopped coming. chaos could just see a face in each light, but their features were still hidden. He knew who they were, and he was glad to see them. But something wasn't right. The light that represented their pureness wasn't the snow white it had used to be. He could see a hint of darkness within.
"chaos," one called out, "you are about to be consumed by darkness, you must not allow her to turn you."
"But what about you! What has she been doing to you?!"
"We are not as important as you. Please chaos, don't let the darkness consume you."
"Bu---."
There was an inhuman groan echoed across the shadowed chasms of chaos' mind. chaos looked over his shoulder to see watery blackness stirring behind him. He gasped and shot forward like a bullet, white feathered wings sprouting from his back. chaos reached out to grab the shinning figures outstretched hands.
"Watch out!"
Blackness shaped as tentacles wrapped around his arms and pulled him violently backwards. Glittering silvery tears flew from chaos' eyes as once more he lost sight of them.
"chaos!!" They screamed as they too were dragged away. chaos smashed onto the surface of darkness. A horrible laugh filled his mental ears. With an angry cry of desperation chaos used the last of his strength to awaken before he fell further. ~~~
chaos bolted upright and hit his head on the top bunk. Once more his shoulder was throbbing but not as fiercely and soon it was gone. The silver haired youth rubbed the pain away from his head while lying back down. chaos lay there for a moment to clear his head and calm his breathing. He glanced over at the clock across the room, 1400. Two o'clock. Mathews was probably wondering where he was.
The teen threw his feet over the edge of his bed, grabbed his vest and put it on. chaos stopped by the bathroom to splash water on his face to refresh himself. Then headed to bridge, looking as if nothing was wrong.
Maieve: what do ya think? Honest reviews plz. Remember this is my first xeno fic and I ain't good at much sci-fi. Will get better later, promise.
Maieve: hello everybody, this is my first Xenosaga fic so be nice k? plz excuse if my scientific and what not stuff is a little off, I never really pay attention to that stuff.
It was a mostly normal day on the Elsa. The crew was busy collecting a payload to help pay off Captain Mathews debts, the young silver haired youth chaos wondered if Mathews would ever get out of the hole he'd dug for himself. At any rate, he didn't mind helping out. They were going to take a break once this payload was collected and transferred.
chaos ran his gloved fingers over his console to check something. A hissing sound indicated that someone was entering the command room., he turned to see MOMO. The young pink haired realian was carrying a tray of drinks for them.
"I thought you guys might be thirsty and wanted to take a break." She explained as she gave Tony, Hammer, and Captain Mathews steaming hot coffee.
"Thanks hon, I really needed the caffeine boost." Mathews reached down to take the cup from her hand. MOMO walked over to chaos and handed him a chilled cup of juice, chaos didn't really much care for coffee.
He smiled sweetly at her, taking a sip before turning back to his console. MOMO stood there for a second staring at him. If you looked real close, you could see the tiny machinery that was built into her synthetic amber eyes moving about as she scanned her friend. The pink haired girl saw that great amount of stress was being exerted from somewhere, but for some reason she couldn't locate the source. Maybe my scanners are malfunctioning, she thought. It was hard to imagine chaos in any pain with his always calm and lucid expression.
chaos realized MOMO was still standing beside him, "Is something troubling you MOMO?"
"Huh? Oh, no. I think some of my systems must be tuned again." She turned and left the bridge without another word. chaos watched the little realian until the doors hissed closed behind her. A dull throb of pain suddenly enveloped his left shoulder.
chaos managed to stop himself from making a face, his hands did froze just over his keyboard. The youth tapped a button. The clock popped up in the corner of his screen.
1200 hours GMT (general military time)
Twelve o'clock? It's too early for my concoction to wear out now. What's going on?
chaos stood up, "I need to go check something captain, please excuse me." He didn't wait for an answer.
chaos hurriedly made his way to the medical. His booted feet hardly even making a tapping sound on the hard metal floor. He made sure no one was watching in either the security cameras, or down the hall. The silver haired youth removed his orange vest and pulled his sleeve off his shoulder. What he saw made him stare in horror.
His entire shoulder was covered with bruise black green veins. As he watched, the borders of the infection slowly began to expand as another throb of pain hit. chaos wasted no more time, he quickly gathered ingredients from several different syringes and powders that were in the cabinets. His hands shook slightly as he mixed them together and poured them a syringe needle type thing. Now all that was left was to get the special supplement that would complete the concoction.
But that was in the cabins. chaos glanced once more at the sickening veins on his shoulder before pulling his sleeve back over it. He'd have to risk it.
chaos ran with the unfinished concoction in one hand and his vest in the other. Very slightly the floor began to sway beneath his feet but he didn't slow. Fortunately the cabins weren't too far away, but it was someone spotting him that he was worried about. Nobody that he could see was there, so he dashed down the hall.
How is it getting this strong? It's never been this bad. chaos thought he heard the hiss of an opening door but he didn't stop to see. For at that moment the cabin door shut behind him. Sweat beaded his forehead as accessed a hidden compartment under his bed.
chaos opened a small bottle filled with fine glittering powder known as Teelaho. As carefully as he could with shaking hands, the pain wracked teen measured out a small amount of the smooth powder and dumped it into the syringe. The liquid turned lavender.
Once more he removed his sleeve, then stabbed the needle right smack in the middle of the infection. There was a little sound of air pressure as the concoction was automatically injected. The pain ebbed away and the green veins began to recede. chaos sighed heavily in relief.
The youth pulled the empty needle out of his skin. He discarded it and hid the Teelaho once more before sitting on his bed with one hand messaging his left shoulder. This event scared him. Never before had the infection been that bad.
chaos felt a strong wave of sleepiness start to settle in. This was one of the side effects that the Teelaho concoction had sometimes. chaos' eye lids drooped, this was probably the best thing for him to do right now. Sleep.
The teen fell over onto the bed with his right hand still on his shoulder. He felt both dizzy and sleepy. Most likely from it being so bad this time. chaos sank gratefully beneath the waves of sleep.
Unfortunately it was not to be a peaceful slumber.
~~~Darkness pressed in all around, making chaos feel trapped and blind. Hands began to grab at him, the youth tried to escape the invisible stalkers but it was to no avail. They nocked him off his feet and dragged him deeper within the depths of his soul.
Flurries of images passed before chaos so fast that he could hardly begin to identify them before they were replaced by another. But he did feel the emotions that accompanied them. They wrapped him in a cocoon of pain, despair, anger, loss and hatred. chaos doubled over and screamed. He tried to rid his mind of the emotions. All the images were blurring together as a sphere with chaos suspended in the middle. The silver haired youth tried to use his magic to banish the dream but there were so many emotions clogging his brain that he couldn't concentrate. chaos threw his head back and screamed.
"chaos..."
A gentle quiet female voice pierced through the madness. chaos whipped to see two bright lights. The images and emotions stopped coming. chaos could just see a face in each light, but their features were still hidden. He knew who they were, and he was glad to see them. But something wasn't right. The light that represented their pureness wasn't the snow white it had used to be. He could see a hint of darkness within.
"chaos," one called out, "you are about to be consumed by darkness, you must not allow her to turn you."
"But what about you! What has she been doing to you?!"
"We are not as important as you. Please chaos, don't let the darkness consume you."
"Bu---."
There was an inhuman groan echoed across the shadowed chasms of chaos' mind. chaos looked over his shoulder to see watery blackness stirring behind him. He gasped and shot forward like a bullet, white feathered wings sprouting from his back. chaos reached out to grab the shinning figures outstretched hands.
"Watch out!"
Blackness shaped as tentacles wrapped around his arms and pulled him violently backwards. Glittering silvery tears flew from chaos' eyes as once more he lost sight of them.
"chaos!!" They screamed as they too were dragged away. chaos smashed onto the surface of darkness. A horrible laugh filled his mental ears. With an angry cry of desperation chaos used the last of his strength to awaken before he fell further. ~~~
chaos bolted upright and hit his head on the top bunk. Once more his shoulder was throbbing but not as fiercely and soon it was gone. The silver haired youth rubbed the pain away from his head while lying back down. chaos lay there for a moment to clear his head and calm his breathing. He glanced over at the clock across the room, 1400. Two o'clock. Mathews was probably wondering where he was.
The teen threw his feet over the edge of his bed, grabbed his vest and put it on. chaos stopped by the bathroom to splash water on his face to refresh himself. Then headed to bridge, looking as if nothing was wrong.
Maieve: what do ya think? Honest reviews plz. Remember this is my first xeno fic and I ain't good at much sci-fi. Will get better later, promise.