Earth Angel
By: Angelus Erreare
Disclaimer: I own nothing. All characters within this fanfiction all belong to ATLUS USA.
A/N: Re-posted as I wish to comply with ALL of 's ToS. As per that, songfics aren't allowed. Nothing has changed. Still, this fic was inspired by "Earth Angel" by The Penguins…
WARNING: OOC, LANGUAGE, WAFF, ANGST
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'Angel…' he thought as he touched his forehead.
'I do not know this name…'
That was what he had said back at the Strategy Room. And that was what he was saying now. It was true and wasn't a lie. Angel…It was a name that he did not know…
Then why was it…that it was a name that refused to leave his mind…?
He closed his eyes and willed his heart to slow down. He cursed inwardly. He hadn't even realized that it had been racing all those times…
That light…had changed them. But he had rejected the idea when it came upon himself. No. He had not changed…
His eyes shot up once more and he immediately sat up from his bed as he once more saw her face. Her angelically beautiful face…
She was crying.
'But why?' he asked himself, becoming all the more curious by the second.
He growled; he was doing it again! He hadn't changed damn it! Seeing visions of such a woman convinced him…It convinced him that he was…
'I'm too stressed…I need peace and quiet.'
He lay back down on his bed and closed his eyes…He closed his weary eyes and thought more about the upcoming battles…Yes. Those were more important…
Slowly, as the minutes ticked by, his mind began to drift away as his subconscious mind came into play…snatching away the firm control of his solemn conscious mind…
And again…
He thought of her…
He dreamed of her…
'Angel…'
xxxx
"There is someone I want to meet as well…" he spoke, feeling his chest lighten at merely saying such words.
Yes. He had accepted it now.
He too had changed. His phantom…his succubus…His angel had continued to perturb him in his dreams…Even when he was awake, he would see her saddened face…He would gaze upon her crystalline tears as they seemed to float in the air as they left her shining silver eyes.
He shook his head; he was doing it again.
But now that he had met someone like himself, who had experienced the same sensations and visions such as him, he was convinced. He wanted to meet her. He wanted to lay his emerald eyes upon her silver ones…
This time, he wanted it to be real…
Skin on skin.
Just as Lupa had wanted to reach his son, he wanted to see his angel. She was the key to the mystery of his life, wasn't she?
He just had to meet her…
She had answers to his questions.
'Yes. She does. I won't stop until I meet her.'
Yes…That was the only reason. She would set him free.
xxxx
His heart stopped as he beheld her majestic form as she stood atop the Karma Temple. It was her…There was no mistaking it.
It had been his angel.
But his angel did not possess the innocence that she had in his dreams. This one…had malevolence written all over her. At the sight…at the feel of such ill will, Gale could feel his heart ache…
It was as if his body was turning itself inside out.
But why…?
'She is a good person…' he told himself as he continued to watch her. She was speaking to Serph…No! She was…fighting him.
She was strong…His angel was strong…
But her strength was misguided. Couldn't she see that she was being sinister…? This wasn't the angel from his dreams.
But no matter.
He would not have it. He would not accept it.
'She's a good person! She is!' he kept telling himself, convincing him that her appearance before him had been false…It was a hoax…A rouse. Nothing more.
He was desperate to believe it.
He narrowed his eyes; yes. He believed it. His angel was a good person. But why was he so desperate…?
Because his soul knew her. His soul recognized her whilst he didn't…
And his soul knew…that he was in love with her.
xxxx
She had lost. He knew it and she did as well. Their world was collapsing…and the gate was closing…or was it?
No. He didn't know the answer. He was a mere pawn in this game. But regardless, he knew that they needed to leave that place. His comrades had already left.
He ran towards the staircase but stopped.
She was wounded. She had been defeated yes…but she was still alive. A part of him ached painfully as he watched her weakened…No longer the magnificent visage that he had beheld moments before, now she was a broken version of her former self.
He hated seeing her that way…
What she had done moments before, as she had decided the fate of their world…was unforgivable for him. How many lives had been lost because of her…? How many of his comrades had fallen…? Innocent lives…vaporized.
He thought that it was just his "honorable" side that was allowing him to save her. He wasn't going to sink to her level and kill innocent lives…At least, that was what his stubborn self had been telling him…
But he knew the truth.
She may have killed out of cold blood and he was disgusted but…
But his feelings for her had bypassed all of his rational thinking. All of his sense of reasoning, logic…sense…All of it were in shambles before her feet.
All of his mind's sharp tools were laid ineffective against her aura.
That was why he ran to her…
"You too!" he yelled firmly at her, his emerald eyes piercing into her silver eyes.
He had held out his hand to her. He had run to her only moments before, knowing that he must save her. She was a part of him…
And now that their hands had touched, he had known now for certain…He really did feel affection for this woman…Didn't he?
And as their eyes had met, his feelings had been strengthened tenfold. He felt it, because within her silver eyes, he once more saw a glimpse of the innocence that she had possessed long ago. The innocence that he had long marveled at within his dreams had once more shown itself to him…
He had begun to think that he would never again see it…
But he was mistaken.
But of course, he had been right as well.
She was…a good person…
Deep within…She was a good person.
He pulled her up with ease and there wrapped an arm around her waist as he ran with her. He would never leave her behind…
He could never leave her…
Because he knew…and not merely his soul…
That he really was… in love with her.
He gritted his teeth as they got sucked within a world of pure light. Directions made no sense…Where was up? Down? Left? Right…?
But more importantly, where was she?
He looked all around but did not find her…
His heart constricted at that. Had he dropped his angel…? If so…where?
Where was she?
He saw her…! She was floating far away from him. He reached for her…but she seemed to only get farther and farther away…
His emerald eyes searched hers…
And he froze.
Again, there was nothing but bone-chilling coldness within her silver eyes. What had happened…? Why had she suddenly changed…?
He gritted his teeth.
'She had changed back as quickly she had changed…'
Where was the vision that had captured his heart moments before…? He saw her smirk and he tilted his head sideways; confused. And before he could question it further, she had disappeared.
"No!"
No. She was gone…
xxxx
He leaned by the railing at Lokapala. They had been given free time…And using what little time he had, he thought of her. He looked on at the horizon before him with an uninterested face. His face, his body, his whole countenance concealed what his soul bore.
He was thinking of her once more.
He had finally reached the real world; the world that they had thought to be Nirvana.
He knew that he should be disappointed as he saw that it had not been the Promised Land…
But in another sense…he was glad.
He was glad that it wasn't paradise…For if it were, then he would no longer have the desire to seek her out. Would he?
Enlightenment would make sure of that. Enlightenment would vanquish all of a man's worldly desires. All sensation of pleasure…of pain would be forever lost…
Only the feeling of contentment would lie within.
He didn't want that.
This may be a new hell for them…But he didn't care. For somewhere within this vast jungle, laid his angel…alone…and broken.
Yes, He knew that she was alone. He had seen the loneliness within her eyes just before they had parted ways. Even with her malevolent smirk, he had seen passed it and there he saw the soft and vulnerable self that she had tried so hard to conceal.
He knew that she had been broken…
That was the reason why she had become that monster that he had seen. She was hurting…She was hurting somewhere…and here he was…unable to do anything about it. He hated being powerless like the way he was now.
But at the moment, there was nothing he could do.
Gale gripped the railing tightly in his hands; he would find her…
He closed his eyes and again he was haunted with her weeping face.
He frowned; why was she crying anyway…? Was there something that he could do…to change it…? He didn't want to look upon that face of anguish…
He wanted…
'I want to make her…happy…' he thought to himself, not fully comprehending what it was he was feeling himself…But no matter, he knew it to be true.
He wanted to change that vision. He wanted to look not upon her weeping face…but within her serene and angelic smile…
xxxx
He looked at her coldly as he crossed his arms on his chest. Their team had infiltrated the Karma Administrative building. And sure enough, they had met up with her. They had met up with Angel.
He had met up with his angel…
That was her name…
Jenna Angel.
Now, more than ever, as he thought of her name, as he now realized how her name sounded as he mentally said it…his heart felt all the more at ease.
xxxx
He was disgusted with what she had said…
Liberation…?
No. No matter how she sugarcoated it, it was plain murder.
He felt angry. He felt livid. He wanted nothing more than to go over to her and take her in his arms. He wanted to grip her tightly by the arms. He wanted to shout and yell at her and tell her that what she was doing was wrong.
He still had hope for her.
In fact…
He would never give up on her.
No matter how evil or how sinister she was, he would always keep lighted a torch of eternally burning hope in the midst of darkness with the hopes of her…seeing it when she was lost…And would find her way.
She was lost…So lost.
Lost within the very darkness that was spurned by her hardened heart.
Even in that, he believed that he could undo what it was that had been done to his angel…
He was fool. He was in love with her. That was the only reason…
He would never give up on her.
Ever.
"You…you can't be!" Jenna stammered, her eyes beginning to water, her vision becoming obscured.
Gale walked over to her, "David…is within me. David loved people…And he loved you." he spoke stoically.
That was a lie…
It wasn't just David who loved her…It was he himself. Not David. David may have been a part of him, but he wasn't David. He was his own person. He felt things to his own accord. He wasn't David.
And what he felt for Jenna was real…
It was what he, as Gale, and not as David, felt.
He saw her world beginning to crumble as she began to realize the truth within his words. She was scared…and he knew it.
That was why he walked over to her…Towards her.
He was glad at that moment as he saw, once more, the innocence that had thus far eluded him every time he would gaze upon her cold face. Once more, he saw the innocence that she had lost along the painful path that was her bitter life…
She had become his angel once more…
The angel that he had seen too many times in his dreams…
An angel on earth…
He wanted to take her in his arms and protect her from all of the pain…and the anguish that life threatened to shower upon her.
Perhaps it was the silent yet deadly beckon of her karma…
Or simply…fate.
Who knew?
All that he knew was that he was about to see what he had seen in his vision about her. He was going to see her…crying…broken…
He didn't want to see that. He didn't want to see that anymore…Not anymore…
And now that he prophesized that it would be that abysmal vision coming into fruition, he walked over to her…with his arms wide open…
He had wanted to be her knight and shining armor…Didn't she know that? That was why he had braved all of her fierce defenses…He wanted to get close to her and let her feel nothing but warmth…and affection.
Now he knew what had happened between her and David. Still, he did not know where to situate himself in between her and David.
Where did he fit in?
She loved David…that was obvious…
Thinking of David angered him a bit. She saw David within his emerald pools…didn't she…?
That was blatant…It was as blatant as the glaring sun…
Oh how he wished that she would gaze upon his eyes and feel happiness. Now, she saw only David. She felt only David.
And now, as Gale, he was the source, not of her bliss, just as David had been, but was the source of her malady…the malady that marred her beauty…the malady that had scarred her flesh, hardened her heart and corrupted her soul. Oh how he wished that she would feel happy at seeing him…him, as Gale and not as David…
He wanted so many things for her…
He, being Gale, now the possessor of David's soul, wanted to be that man whom she loved…But he did not wish to be David nor did he wish to take his place.
'No one would be able to fill in that void that David had created Jenna…No one…Not me…not anyone else…' he thought knowingly yet sadly.
But oh how he wanted to be that person who would make her happy…As happy as David had made her…or possibly even more…
That was why he had taken the chance.
He had walked over to her…Half hoping that she would accept him…
Even when she had rejected him openly and had fatally wounded him…He felt happy. He felt happy because he saw the shred of doubt float in her eyes just before she did it.
And because of that shred of doubt…he knew he had a chance. He had a chance at her affection. Not as David…but as Gale…
And so, now, as they lay together, with her on top of him, he wrapped his arms around her. He smiled as the blood from his mouth smeared his lips and then trickled down to his chin.
And for a moment, before the end of it all, he could say…that Jenna Angel had been his…even if just for a moment…even if for but a minute fleeting moment, she had been his and his alone…
And as death had continued to come nigh, there wasn't an ounce of regret in him. Now, he was sure…
He had saved her…
Even if it had cost him his life, it mattered not. He had saved her from herself. That was all that counted.
That was how much he loved her.
And now as they crossed the threshold of one life and onto another…He vowed that he would find her again. Just as he had found her within this false Nirvana, he would find her once more…
He was confident that once they met again, they would no longer be enemies.
They would be free…
They would be free to pursue their hidden feelings. There wasn't a need for power or for politics…or pretenses or presumptions.
There would only be harmony. There would only be love.
Or perhaps not…
Perhaps, she would be reunited with David and forget all about him…
He knew that that would devastate him…No. That was an understatement. It would destroy him; beyond repair.
It would drive him to frenzy.
It would push him into the eternal void of insanity…
But it was still confusing. It was all a twisted game of fate…wasn't it? How was it that he would be denied of her love, he who was the possessor of her lover's soul…? He who was, in kind, David incarnate…?
He had been as much as David as David was of him…
But alas…none of that mattered now.
The only thing that he could do now, was depart from the world with blissful thoughts…which, he realized and accepted, would only consist of her and her visage within his heart and mind, and accept fate.
He slowly closed his eyes, wearing a weary smile on his lips even as he thought of his tragic prophecy about himself and her…
He understood now. There was no longer a shred of doubt or an ounce of reluctance…There was only faith; ever lasting faith…And wholehearted acceptance.
He would find her. He would earn her respect…
He would earn her love.
Love was…Love was painful, wasn't it?
But he would endure it. No matter how long it took, no matter how hard the path was, no matter how painful…He would bear it…
For her.
She, who was his angel on earth…For her, he would bear it all…
He was a fool…
"A fool in love…with you…" he trailed off as he slumbered his eternal slumber.
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FIN