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entrancelogs2007-08-13 01:58 am
pinkribbonmagic.livejournal.com) wrote in entrancelogs2007-08-13 01:58 am
[ AIM LOG ] completed;
Who: Sheena Fujibayashi (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pinkribbonmagic) and Zelos Wilder (charmthegirls)
Where: Zelos' confessional booth / the hallway right outside of it in the SH!Mansion
When: During the second day of the event, right after her voice post.
Rating: I would say PG-13. There's a curse word here and there, and a bit of romaaaance~ 8D
Summary: Running from monsters running rampant, Sheena finds herself hiding in the closest booth she can find... little does she know that it belongs to a certain ex-Chosen...
the Story:
Sheena felt the ground beneath her feet as she ran down the hallway. Everything reaked of blood and rust; the summoner glanced behind her, panting heavily as she saw what looked like a large deformed and bleeding dog chasing after her, tongue hanging out hungrily as it's dead eye sockets were aimed straight for his target.
"Not good... not good...!" It was getting a bit harder to breath -- she had been running for so long, trying to avoid any other different monsters that she had encountered on. Pulling out her card seals, Sheena slowed her running and turned around to face the monster, letting out the words, "PYRE SEAL!" escape her lips. Her eyes widened as the cards did nothing. They sat in her hand, flapping in the wind as the hound closed in the space between her. Eyes frantic, Sheena waited until it was close enough before she did a roundhouse kick to the monster's face, watching as it flew off to the side and whimpered in pain. She turned back around, knowing she only had a few seconds to find her way out.
AHA! A door! Racing too it while the monster was temporarily confused, Sheena opened up the wooden door and slammed it shut, holding it tightly with her one hand as she stood perfectly still, her lungs burning in her chest as she kept her breath waiting for the monster to race past.
There were mixed emotions as he, using his little mitten-encased hands, patted the snow to keep it as perfect a circle as he could manage. His mind, now that it rivaled his mind all those years ago, focused on the moment of accomplishment as the snowman was finally completed. “It’s done!” he had announced to the female figure behind him, her eyes watching every little move he made. “Mama, look!” The very same words he had spoken… Recognizing them in his mind, his eyes grew wide, and he turned his head to look at his mother. His expression bore laughter, but behind that, he felt fear and anxiety.
Then it had hit. Zelos had fallen back into the snowman, sending chunks of packed snow over the ground. The small mound beneath him hurt him; his back was sore, and the pain of his landing felt as if he were bruising almost immediately. Wincing, he opened his eyes, shocked, stunned and yet expectant. Ah… red snow.’ This was why he hated the winter. He became more focused upon the scene, upon the pain in his back, the red snow that had fallen and the warm blood splattered on his left cheek and clothing.
Just as he had back then, the child?s eyes welled with many tears as he called to her. "Mama!?" he shouted at her though she covered his body to protect his life. 'Why did this happen?!? He wanted to know, but he was silenced completely as her hand brushed against his scarf, his cheek, his hair and his ear. His mother?s hands were always so soft, and her nails always so perfectly manicured. Suddenly, she had a grip so tight on his shoulder that he wondered if this really was Mylene Wilder. At this point he knew what was coming, and the tears he fought had already run down his cheeks, more threatening to follow in their tracks.
"You should never have been born."
Mylene’s head fell into her son’s lap as he sat there stunned, staring down at her lifeless body as the tears mixed with the red snow that had taken the white snow’s place. His tears, reddened now, fell into her beautiful, light-colored hair as he gazed upon his fault. His sin. He could hear a voice going, “Chosen… You should never have been born. You should never have been born." Other voices joined, all sounding like voices he recognized from his youth, though the loudest was his mothers. But she was dead; her head was in his lap, and she was dead! Though dead, he could hear her as if she were speaking into loudspeakers at a rock concert. It sunk in quickly, even as the red tears continued to fall down his face, staining his cheeks and his clothing.
The woman who had done this. She was there, her hand held up with her head down. As soon as he had left his mother's body, Zelos had seen her, and she looked up with an imaginable amount of insanity dancing in her eyes. Her eyes were teary, too, and she had already begun to cry and spit words of hatred and contempt. Even so, he stepped closer to her, and stared up into her crazed gaze with his own lifeless, self-loathing one. He hadn?t done this as a child; this was his will as the twenty-two-year-old man that he was.
“Kill me,” he told her. When she did not, he repeated himself again and again, each time his voice growing louder and angrier. “Kill me! Kill me! Don’t you want to? You killed her; kill me! KILL ME! At his last demand he ran at her, hands stretched out to grab hold of the woman. However, she disappeared, and instead he came into contact with something that felt like a door in the wall of white endlessness that looked to his room. Zelos looked over his shoulder, saw that the woman was preparing to fire at him just as a clone of his mother jumped in front of him yet again. Not wishing to view it a third time, he opened the door and ran inside.
He came to collide into something hard as soon as he had closed the door and began running. He was enclosed, this much he knew, as he had yet to look. Whatever he had bumped into had been rough on his face, and Zelos had a hand up to rub away the pain. He slid down, finding out that there was a hard seat for him to rest on. His hand slipped from his face, gloved fingers messing up the tracks of old tears that hadn?t disappeared as he stepped inside wherever he was. At that moment he didn?t care. Looking up at the ceiling of wherever the hell he was with the emptiest of eyes, he repeated what he had asked of his mother's murderer.
"Kill me."
Sheena shut her eyes tightly, her ears perking up as she heard the soft padding of the dog's feet roaming the hallways, sniffing, searching, wondering where his prey had gone off to. 'Don't sense me. Don't sense me. Don't sense me.' She whispered to herself in her head, tensing up completely as she FELT the monster animal stand right in front of the door. She stilled -- not knowing what to do, or where to run. As if not noticing the fear that was permeating from the booth, the animal continued it search down the hallways for prey. When she knew that it had left her area, the summoner felt her knees go weak and she fell against the seat of the confessional booth, gasping for breath. "Where... where the hell am I? Is this still in the mansion?" Sheena had vaguely remembered such things having occured but only through what others from the mansion had relayed over the network. Rusted walls, monsters everywhere... the idea of that place made the numbers that were still scarred on her back itch.
Reaching up, she wiped the sweat from her brow with her back of her purple fingerless gloves and leaned back, letting her head thump against the wood. She was safe for now, but Sheena knew she'd have to leave eventually. She sat there for moments in the silence before she stood up and dusted her backside off. "Alright... let's tr-" THUMP. The sound of something colliding into the wall of the booth made her jump, turning to see that there was a small window there -- the screen was so dark and small you could barely see who was on the other side, but it was enough that she heard a small voice speaking to her.
"... 'kill'...'me'...?" The summoner stepped forward and kneeled down towards the screen, trying to see if she could get a good look inside, "Who's there?"
Someone had heard? Turning his head to face the wall that had sounded like it spoke to him, he frowned before rubbing his forehead. It pounded, whether from the sudden, odd change in temperature and climate or all the crying he had done Zelos had no idea, but it was pain all the same. He shifted in his seat and drew in a deep breath to calm himself.
"I get it, I get it," he said to the other person in the confessional booth, the hand that was not rubbing to send his headache away against the wall. "You want to rub it in more, don't you? Whatever the hell you are." Turning him into a child and then sending him back in time? Who had the power to do that? "What are you getting at, pulling stunts like these?" His voice, still somewhat under the influence of his previous childlike mind, had cracked near the end of that last sentence.
The post-Chosen fell silent, allowing him a break away from reliving the beginning of his sins. No, that wasn't the beginning. The beginning went back to the moment his father and mother were forced together. That was the beginning. The moment information about needing a new Chosen was the beginning of his end; it led to forcing his parents together, it led to forcing them to couple, and in the end he had been forced into the world.
Shattering the silence, Zelos found himself laughing and his rubbing hand halting over his forehead. "Now I think I understand what's going on here! You want to torture me! Why didn't I see it before? I would have stood there, you know," he explained to the innocent Sheena, "But she blocked it again. She did then, too." His chuckling ended. "I know I deserve it. I killed her, after all. The second she discovered that she would bear me, I had killed her!"
There was a pause, when a familiar voice filtered through the screen. Sheena's mouth dropped wide open, her eyes following in their wide open shock. Was... was that Zelos?! Her hands reached up around the frame of the screen, clinging tightly as she heard his voice -- the self loathing and almost insane tone -- hitting her like hard bricks. She looked confused, who was he talking about? But when she listened, waiting until he reached the point he was trying to make, the Summoner realized that the ex-Chosen was speaking about his mother. "Zelos....? Zelos, listen to me! It's me..! Sheena!" She swallowed hard, overly concerned about the man on the other side of the screen. She had to search for words; she needed to reassure him that whatever had happened was not his fault, "It's not your fault! You weren't the one behind the scenes pulling all the screens, Mithos was!" That was the true beginning; when Mithos had snapped when Martel had died. "You can't.. you can't place the blame on yourself for that!"
Zelos removed his hand from his forehead and stared into his palm. The black of the bottom of his glove suddenly became interesting as he couldn’t take his eyes away from it. "Sheena, huh? Either someone’s playing another trick on me or it’s really you.” He felt the throb start again in his head and grunted. “If it really is you, baby, don’t mind anything that I just said.” Odd that he should turn into the regular Zelos at such a time, but it was the only way he could keep himself to himself.
"No, really, Sheena!" the red-haired usual-philanderer continued, taking on that annoyingly cheery tone as he spoke to her. “Surprise, baby! You know how I love playing jokes on you, don’t you?” The atmosphere, despite the forced chipper tone, was definitely not the same as it would normally be, and Zelos did his best to try and change that. Why wasn’t it working? “You’re always so gullible!”
Sheena's eyes widened in shock; after how much pain she had felt from his voice... the way he was just so GENUINE when he said he wanted to die... it made it feel like her heart was dropping to the bottom of her stomach. He was trying to hide. He was trying to hide behind his mask again! "DON'T YOU DARE TRY AND LIE TO ME, ZELOS WILDER!" She screamed at the screen in front of her, knuckles turning white with how tightly she was squeezing at the frame.
The stupid idiot. That stupid stupid STUPID IDIOT! "When I find the door to where you're at, I'm demanding a straight answer from you!" Her eyes lifted up and she began trying to search for a switch.. a hidden door knob, anything! "We've gotta get you out of there...!" But in reality, she didn't want him to suffer in there anymore. .. and it made her try searching even more. "See if you can't find a door on your side!"
He had expected some sort of statement on how he was being an idiot, but Zelos hadn’t expected her to get so angry about it! It caused him to jump, his nerves being what they were after viewing the scene with his mother again, and he began to look as soon as he stood up. His hands spread over the separator between them in search of some way to get through. In the end he could find nothing, but he felt that he shouldn’t— couldn’t give up. He wondered for a moment… If he went back into that room, at the end of everything, would his mother continue to save him? Or, in the end, would he really end up dead?
“Sheena,” he called to her, still searching for some way to join her. They weren’t completely and officially together, but damn it all if Zelos didn’t want to hold her right now! “There’s nothing on this side. I can’t find anything. It’s like we’re stuck here.” He pressed his right hand closer to the wall, wishing with all that he was that he could sink through and fall against Sheena in an accidental tackle. “…I really messed up now.”
"What do you mean you really messed up?" Sheena asked softly, having not found anything. She was directly across from him, seperated by the thin yet rather durable wall. The summoner had felt nothing, no shelves, no decorations to grab onto and instead held herself up against the wall. She continued to squint through the screen, hoping that maybe it was gonna be nice and allow her to see the ex-Chosen that was beyond ears calling.
She bit down on her bottom lip, trying to wrack her brain for any solution. "You didn't do anything! This world... this whole PLACE is messed up! You can't let it get to you!"
Zelos leaned forward, the white cloth around his head the only thing separating his forehead from the cool divider. He was glad, in a way. Then it wouldn’t remind him of the snow, the winter and Mylene Wilder. He squint his eyes while willing himself to do as Sheena said. Why couldn’t he let it go?
“Since it looks like no one else is going to give a damn, it looks like you’re the only person I can turn to.” His eyes relaxed and he looked down along the wall to see his feet, imagining snow beneath them- snow that had turned red from shed blood. “Before Wonderland and before this, I’ve always had this feeling. You can’t blame it on what’s going on now.” Where was the flamboyant young man that he was, he wondered. The one that would never have admitted to this. “Guilt is normal when someone you love dies for you. Come on, Sheena, you of all people should know how that feels.”
The fact that Zelos was poking at her first failure to capture volt -- the fact that Corrine had died to protect her from Volt for the SECOND time made an invisible dagger twist in her side. How could she NOT know how it felt? "I..." She nibbled on her inner cheek, feeling helpless that she didn't know how she could help Zelos.
Her chestnut colored eyes stared hard into the wall, almost trying to imaging what this Zelos looked like. How did he look like when he wasn't trying to hide behind smiles and jokes and jabs to get her to look the other way? ".... but... it's not your fault." Through her travels, it had taken a lot for her to admit to that, even with Kuchinawa always blaming her for the death of his parents; the death of most of their village.
He continued to stare down at the floor, listening to her speak to him so nicely. He swore that one day she would speak this nice to him every day for the rest of their lives. Zelos liked he she was so calm and quiet, though he loved the Sheena that told him to knock things off and to grow up. It brought a smile to his face.
“You really think so, don’t you?” the ex-Chosen asked of Sheena and also wondered out loud. Somehow grunting out a laugh, he closed his eyes and nodded before straightening himself where he stood. Briefly he wondered if what he had said was going too far, but it seemed to get his point across well enough. He opened his eyes and stared ahead as if he could actually see her.
“…After I get out of here, and donÂ’t get a kiss, do I at least get a hug?”
Sheena could only turn bright red at the suggestion of a hug. She sputtered out a reply, trying to form her words before she went, "Y-you'd probably just try and put your hands in places that they don't need to be!" She answered, falling back on old habits. Although, she felt her heart race, she had to try and resist it...
"A-anyway! We still need to figure out how to get you out of there!" There was much willing of self control and she wondered what they were there for, "... ... Zelos.." She began gently, "... I know... I don't know much about you asides from what you put out as a front.... but... you were only a child... right?"
"I was," responded the flirty Chosen, amused by the reaction he had gotten. So his hands liked to wander. Had he not been distracted by answering Sheena, he would have wondered if Sheena would be opposed to a wandering hand in the heat of the moment. "Before I understood what being the Chosen meant. Would you believe that I had short hair?" Zelos laughed, imagining the twenty-two-year-old that he was now without all that hair on his head.
"It was the first time that I met Seles. I didn't know who she was until Sebastian told me later, but she looked a lot like me." The little sister that pretended he had always been a fool when, once upon a time, he had been her best friend in the world. "I found her crying in the bushes. She was sick; she had a fever. That's when Sebastian told me that she was my little sister."
She sat down on the wooden seat provided by the confessional booth when he began his story. Had she known he was still idling thinking about roaming hands, Sheena would have given him another verbal talking to. "You with short hair would be like Lloyd not getting bored with new places as easily." Her thoughts wandered back to the young swordsman who she hoped wasn't out there in this whole mess.
Seles? Oh yes, Zelos' half sister. The child that had been locked away in the Abbey for so many years, unable to leave. Sheena knew who it was, after having caught a glimpse of her from the doorway. "What was it like, knowing that you had a sister?"
"Hm." Following her lead, though he had no idea that Sheena had also taken a seat to listen to what he had to say, Zelos sat and folded his arms. He began to relive his past, head tilted up in the direction of the ceiling. Not that he was actually looking at it.
"Knowing Seles was my sister," he told her, "Was a surprise. I don't think I wanted her at first. In fact!" Remembering this made him smile. "I was angry that my father had a woman on the side. I felt like I wasn't good enough for him. But once I talked to Seles more, I learned to love her. Even after what happened later, I still liked her." His smile faded. "Her mother scared me. She always had her eyes downcast, and she looked like she was half-dead. But when she looked at me, her eyes wide open, I froze."
".... she sounds really creepy." Sheena mentioned off handedly as her hand lingered on the wall between her and Zelos, leaning to the side to lie against the cold wood. Staying in here was much better than being outside. Her eyes closed, trying to imagine a young Zelos... a more innocent Zelos than the one who was right next to her.
Sheena reached into her sash and pulled out Corrine's bell. She let it roll around in her fingers, letting the metalic sound break through the slight silence, "... So? What else happened?"
"Sheena," Zelos started in a begging voice. He had begun as if he were going to plead with her to take back her question. This could not be done, however, and he had nothing else to do other than to return to the hell beyond the door next to him. "All right. I'll tell you."
"The winter in Meltokio that year had a snowfall that went into the record books. My mother usually refused to accompany me places, but she agreed to go outside with me to play in the snow." He saw all of this in his mind as he relived everything over. "I finished making a snowman when Seles mom tried to assassinate me. My mother took the hit. The first thing I saw was red snow."
Zelos thought that he could feel the snow falling on his face, melting against the heat of his blood-spotted cheek. "I had fallen into the snowman and it fell apart. My mother was on top of me, dying. The last thing I remember of her- besides her soft hand grabbing my shoulder and her panting- was her voice. Her last words were, 'You should never have been born.'"
"I hate winter and everything associated with it."
Sheena felt bad for having him continue on... but... she wanted to know. She wanted to know this side of Zelos that he kept so locked away behind the mask of his life. As the story unfolded, Sheena's hands began clenching tightly until the climax of the story. The bell fell from her hand and onto her lap with a soft metallic thud.
".... You... still think that way about yourself?" Her eyes were covered, and it felt like she was shaking, "... that you should have never been born?"
Guilt spread throughout his body as he became rigid and then relaxed, and he couldn't look at the division between them. If he did look, even more shame would come over him. How he would be able to face her after escaping Zelos did not know.
"Hate to break it to you, baby," the still complimenting man said, "But at a time like this, I can't lie. Not after I told you everything else." Caring little if someone or something could see his actions, the ex-Chosen's back slid down the wall a little as he proceeded to slouch. "I'm guilty of that. If I hadn't been born, Seles and her mother would be happy with my father, and my mother would still be alive. It should have been me, anyway. I should have been alert; I could have saved her instead."
"You were only just a kid! You couldn't have been expected.... to just trade your childhood for a life of servitude to the church!" Sheena turned quickly to look at the screen between them, having forgotten about the bell that had now fallen to the floor with a loud CLANK.
Her voice rose in worry, as she leaned forward towards the screen, her face about an inch or so away from it, "If you hadn't been born, then all of us would have never met you!"
"Hm?" Amusement rather apparent in the way he had hummed, Zelos dared to glance at the wall sitting between them, and the screen that allowed them to communicate. Sheena couldn't see, but he was most definitely smirking. "Sheena, I don't believe my ears! Does that mean you're glad to have met me?" He inhaled deeply and dramatically. "I had no idea, what with the way you're constantly insulting me and my advances! I'm glad."
Sheena's face turned bright red when he made mention of what she had said. "I... I didn't mean...!" Oh how she wanted to hit him right now! "... I just..." She leaned her forehead against the screen again, staring at the floor, and yet staring at nothing. "... You drive me crazy, you idiot!"
That small sound of movement and the noise of something leaning just a little against the screen made him wonder. Eyebrow raised, Zelos brought his hand up to lightly touch the screen with his fingertips. Something was most definitely pressing against it, he knew, as the screen felt as if it were under some sort of pressure.
"Sheena." He smiled, pulling his hand away from the screen, his previously flirty tone fading to a calm and almost content one. "For all the times I thought we would all be better off if everything suddenly ceased to exist, you were always there to change my mind." Sensing, almost knowing, that Sheena was the one pushing against the screen, he pressed his lips to it, not caring whether or not there was some kind of dangerous bacteria there. "At least you can forgive me. That's all I want."
Blinking, Sheena felt as though there were a pressure against her forehead and her heart began beating wildly in her chest. Glancing upwards, she thought she could almost see the red of his hair right next to her, small single hairs sticking out through it. "... that's it? You're not going to ask for my undying love... or... a free grope.. or... or something? Just that?"
"Nope, nothing like that!" answered the completely honest Zelos as if assuming that she had already agreed to forgiving him for what he had done. "None of that will do me any good as long as I'm stuck in that place. I might as well ask for you to try to understand me." He didn't want to return to his room, but it was obvious that this confessional booth would not release him. "Undying love sounds nice after facing that room, though. In the end, I'll have to go through there to try and get out."
There was silence from the summoner. She was almost at a loss at the sincere Zelos that she was now talking to. It had been easier for her to talk to him here in this room... but, him having to search for a way out reminded her of the dangers that she faced when she chose to exit out of this booth. ".... If... that's what you want... ..." Sheena sighed and pulled her head away from the screen to look at it fully, "...I forgive you, Zelos. Try to be careful, alright?"
Heaving himself up and off the seat, the ex-Chosen of Tethe'alla turned to face the door that he had stepped through to enter the booth and stared long and hard at it. Sheena was right there behind him; he could just stick to the booth and never have to leave her. But... "I won't die. I'll live for you."
As soon as he set foot into his room, his tiny feet crunching the snow beneath him, he was met with the guilt that still plagued him. Glaring at the snowman in front of him, and at the woman standing nearby it that was only a mirror of his mother, Zelos did not give in. Not even as, true to the childs mind that he possessed, hot tears ran down his face, a face that already had the fake Mylene's blood splattered on his cheek. Closing his eyes tightly, he pressed back against the wall where the door lie, and followed the wall he knew to be there.
There! After a while of having searched along the walls, he came upon another door, different from the one he had last opened. Eyes wide, more tears threatening to spill over, he grabbed the knob but not before he saw blood splatter over the wall and door in front of him, and on his back. And a hand, one that he knew so well, grabbed his shoulder, tugging him back and down, the owner of the hand repeating over and over, "You never should have been born, you never should have been born!"
"You're not my mother!" Zelos shouted back, pulling closer to the door as the womans grip tightened and her jerking of him increased. "You're lying! I should have been born! I should have! I was born!" He hadn't realized that his eyes closed again until he opened them and jerked the door open at the same time. The woman continued to scream at him, even as he released himself from her and shut the door quickly.
Free. He was free of that room. His sins and guilt had been forgiven; it hadnt been his fault. Years of thinking it had been, however, would be hard to erase. With a long, jagged gasp of air into his lungs, he leaned back against the door he had closed. Out here, away from the frozen wasteland that had been his room, the tears didn't feel so scalding on his cheeks. It was a decent temperature; he needn't worry any further. He hoped.
Sheena sat there for a little while, waiting there until she heard him walking away into what sounded like snow crunching beneath his feet. "You had better not Zelos!" She yelled into the screen, knowing full well that he could hear her. "If you don't, then I'm going to come right after you!" She stood up, glancing down at it in determination, "That's a promise!"
kuramon kick (11:08:14 PM): bell and placed it back into her sash before turning towards the confessional door, "... alright..." Taking a deep breath, she reached up and hesitated on the door knob for a moment before she opened it up and peered outside. No monsters. Good.
Slowly, she stepped out of the booth and then began sprinting the way she was heading originally. Sheena got only a few steps from her safe haven when she saw the figure of Zelos standing there with tears in his eyes, looking utterly freaked out from his escape from his guilt ridden prison.
"... Zelos!" She called out -- her feet taking over and racing over to the ex-Chosen.
His fingers, spread over the door as he rested his tired body against it, curled when he heard his name. For a moment he doubted he had escaped, and expected to turn around and see his mother sacrificing herself just to say that she hated having ever given birth to him. But it was Sheena, and the man was exceptionally glad that she was coming to him.
In a flash Zelos pushed away from the door in her direction. "Sheena!" he called back to his savior, his arms stretched out to wrap around her middle. His right hand he placed on her left hip, and his right left hand pressed between her shoulders, holding her up as he proceeded to kiss her as if he hadn't seen her in years. Like he had just fought a war that began the moment he was born and ended the moment he closed that door.
The summoner was so glad to see him; the sight of him alive in front of her allowed relief to spread through her whole body. It didn't even register to her that he was heading in her direction at a quick speed until she was in his arms. Blinking, Sheena looked up, and opened her mouth to say something in return but was met with his lips capturing hers in a deep and rather relieved kiss.
Her face turned red with embarrassment as she was held so tightly. She should have pushed him off -- should have yelled at him that this was inappropriate timing -- SOMETHING.. but Sheena stood there, unmoving for a moment as slowly relaxed against him, her arms falling limp to the sides and her eyes closing. She had been in mid step when he had chosen to kiss her as she balanced on a foot and the tip of her boot, all the while returning the kiss shyly.
That Zelos had needed more than anything else in all the innumerable worlds in the gigantic universe. Removing his lips from hers, the ex-Chosen stared down at the summoner in his arms. To be honest, he hadn't expected her to fall into the kiss so easily. He had anticipated a quick and sharp slap to the face and a scream about how he was taking advantage of his situation to hit on her. But he had really needed her, needed the kiss and needed to know that she was willing to be in his arms.
Refraining from a second kiss, he pulled the woman to his body (not to feel her chest against his, though he really liked that feeling) in a tight embrace, one of his hands on the back of her head. He had his head pressed against the side of hers and couldnt help how he breathed into her ear, ragged with the emotion that he had felt before leaving the room.
"Thank you."
Sheena's face felt very hot compared to Zelos' cheek. She wasn't used to being held so tight. Swallowing, she peered at his long red hair before leaning in. Like the status he was born with, Sheena smelt the sweet perfume from his hair as it touched her face. Reaching up, she let her arms lightly cling to his upper arms, hesitating for a moment before she turned her head to look into his face.
Maybe if he had been like this with her in the beginning, they wouldn't have fallen into the habit of 'tease first, get hit second and then maybe have a moment in a blue moon after the world's being plotted against'. "D-don't think that this is gonna change anything, Zelos!" Sheena sputtered embarrassedly, even though she was not even a few inches from maybe getting a second kiss, "It's not like I just confessed my feelings to you or anything!" ... or DID she?
"I know, I know!" replied the now content red-haired man, giving her one of his infamous grins (not lecherous, for once in his lifetime). "You don't have to confess anything. I can wait. Until then, I'll just assume." Though he spoke teasingly, he was quite obviously more happy than flirty.
Zelos knew that Sheena was used to having her space, and that she'd prefer to keep her distance while in the presence of such a pervert. So he let her go, though only enough to keep her at arms length. He didnt want to let her go entirely. She had become a bit of a 'comfort object' for the time being. Having her around made him feel nice! "I know you love me. It's not that hard to see. Or tell! I could feel your love a mile away, Sheena."
".... YOU. Are an IDIOT." Sheena said in exhasperation but with a grin on her face. She leaned in a little bit, reaching up to pinch his cheeky little face. It was easy to tell that she was a bit more relaxed in his arms, and it was a good first step to a better relationship. "The only thing you could feel was my boot in your a-" She was cut off by the sound of a growl a good few feet behind her.
Blinking, Sheena slowly turned her head, eyes wide with shock. There standing, watching them and ready to pounce was a sniffer dog, having re-found its prey when she walked out of the confessional booth... and with a new chew toy! ".... ... damnit... Zelos... we need to get past the dog...!"
"Damn." That dog was ugly. Really ugly. Nothing like that had ever crossed them before, even in Shadow's domain. Like any good swordsman, Zelos had his sword and shield with him for the ride, but he discovered that the power he gained from using exspheres had disappeared. Giving that dog a nasty look while twirling hair around his finger, he stepped to Sheenas side.
"All right. We'll play like regular humans!" he decided, drawing the sword that rested on his left. "We'll take this monster out and keep going." Releasing his finger of the constricting hair, Zelos smirked over his shoulder at Sheena. "Let's stay alive together."
All Sheena had with her was her own physical strength and her magically enfused cards... which were much like regular pieces of paper now. Reaching into her sash, she looked down at her seals that flopped around with no magic attached to them. Her head zipped back up as she saw the dog growling even more menacingly, and jammed the cards back in, unaware that she had pushed Corrine's bell up from its safe spot to near the top of her sash, "... Oh yeah, I forgot. You're not used to being like us normal kind."
Sheena grinned over at him, letting her chestnut colored eyes flash amusement over to him before getting serious. She turned back towards the dog which was starting to paw forward. "I don't plan on dying this time!" She wasted no time darting forward and then flipping over the dog while Zelos took the forefront. Corrine's bell slowly rolled out of her sash and onto the floor with a small -tink- which went unnoticed as the two began their fight for survival. Together.
pinkribbonmagic) and Zelos Wilder (charmthegirls)Where: Zelos' confessional booth / the hallway right outside of it in the SH!Mansion
When: During the second day of the event, right after her voice post.
Rating: I would say PG-13. There's a curse word here and there, and a bit of romaaaance~ 8D
Summary: Running from monsters running rampant, Sheena finds herself hiding in the closest booth she can find... little does she know that it belongs to a certain ex-Chosen...
the Story:
Sheena felt the ground beneath her feet as she ran down the hallway. Everything reaked of blood and rust; the summoner glanced behind her, panting heavily as she saw what looked like a large deformed and bleeding dog chasing after her, tongue hanging out hungrily as it's dead eye sockets were aimed straight for his target.
"Not good... not good...!" It was getting a bit harder to breath -- she had been running for so long, trying to avoid any other different monsters that she had encountered on. Pulling out her card seals, Sheena slowed her running and turned around to face the monster, letting out the words, "PYRE SEAL!" escape her lips. Her eyes widened as the cards did nothing. They sat in her hand, flapping in the wind as the hound closed in the space between her. Eyes frantic, Sheena waited until it was close enough before she did a roundhouse kick to the monster's face, watching as it flew off to the side and whimpered in pain. She turned back around, knowing she only had a few seconds to find her way out.
AHA! A door! Racing too it while the monster was temporarily confused, Sheena opened up the wooden door and slammed it shut, holding it tightly with her one hand as she stood perfectly still, her lungs burning in her chest as she kept her breath waiting for the monster to race past.
There were mixed emotions as he, using his little mitten-encased hands, patted the snow to keep it as perfect a circle as he could manage. His mind, now that it rivaled his mind all those years ago, focused on the moment of accomplishment as the snowman was finally completed. “It’s done!” he had announced to the female figure behind him, her eyes watching every little move he made. “Mama, look!” The very same words he had spoken… Recognizing them in his mind, his eyes grew wide, and he turned his head to look at his mother. His expression bore laughter, but behind that, he felt fear and anxiety.
Then it had hit. Zelos had fallen back into the snowman, sending chunks of packed snow over the ground. The small mound beneath him hurt him; his back was sore, and the pain of his landing felt as if he were bruising almost immediately. Wincing, he opened his eyes, shocked, stunned and yet expectant. Ah… red snow.’ This was why he hated the winter. He became more focused upon the scene, upon the pain in his back, the red snow that had fallen and the warm blood splattered on his left cheek and clothing.
Just as he had back then, the child?s eyes welled with many tears as he called to her. "Mama!?" he shouted at her though she covered his body to protect his life. 'Why did this happen?!? He wanted to know, but he was silenced completely as her hand brushed against his scarf, his cheek, his hair and his ear. His mother?s hands were always so soft, and her nails always so perfectly manicured. Suddenly, she had a grip so tight on his shoulder that he wondered if this really was Mylene Wilder. At this point he knew what was coming, and the tears he fought had already run down his cheeks, more threatening to follow in their tracks.
"You should never have been born."
Mylene’s head fell into her son’s lap as he sat there stunned, staring down at her lifeless body as the tears mixed with the red snow that had taken the white snow’s place. His tears, reddened now, fell into her beautiful, light-colored hair as he gazed upon his fault. His sin. He could hear a voice going, “Chosen… You should never have been born. You should never have been born." Other voices joined, all sounding like voices he recognized from his youth, though the loudest was his mothers. But she was dead; her head was in his lap, and she was dead! Though dead, he could hear her as if she were speaking into loudspeakers at a rock concert. It sunk in quickly, even as the red tears continued to fall down his face, staining his cheeks and his clothing.
The woman who had done this. She was there, her hand held up with her head down. As soon as he had left his mother's body, Zelos had seen her, and she looked up with an imaginable amount of insanity dancing in her eyes. Her eyes were teary, too, and she had already begun to cry and spit words of hatred and contempt. Even so, he stepped closer to her, and stared up into her crazed gaze with his own lifeless, self-loathing one. He hadn?t done this as a child; this was his will as the twenty-two-year-old man that he was.
“Kill me,” he told her. When she did not, he repeated himself again and again, each time his voice growing louder and angrier. “Kill me! Kill me! Don’t you want to? You killed her; kill me! KILL ME! At his last demand he ran at her, hands stretched out to grab hold of the woman. However, she disappeared, and instead he came into contact with something that felt like a door in the wall of white endlessness that looked to his room. Zelos looked over his shoulder, saw that the woman was preparing to fire at him just as a clone of his mother jumped in front of him yet again. Not wishing to view it a third time, he opened the door and ran inside.
He came to collide into something hard as soon as he had closed the door and began running. He was enclosed, this much he knew, as he had yet to look. Whatever he had bumped into had been rough on his face, and Zelos had a hand up to rub away the pain. He slid down, finding out that there was a hard seat for him to rest on. His hand slipped from his face, gloved fingers messing up the tracks of old tears that hadn?t disappeared as he stepped inside wherever he was. At that moment he didn?t care. Looking up at the ceiling of wherever the hell he was with the emptiest of eyes, he repeated what he had asked of his mother's murderer.
"Kill me."
Sheena shut her eyes tightly, her ears perking up as she heard the soft padding of the dog's feet roaming the hallways, sniffing, searching, wondering where his prey had gone off to. 'Don't sense me. Don't sense me. Don't sense me.' She whispered to herself in her head, tensing up completely as she FELT the monster animal stand right in front of the door. She stilled -- not knowing what to do, or where to run. As if not noticing the fear that was permeating from the booth, the animal continued it search down the hallways for prey. When she knew that it had left her area, the summoner felt her knees go weak and she fell against the seat of the confessional booth, gasping for breath. "Where... where the hell am I? Is this still in the mansion?" Sheena had vaguely remembered such things having occured but only through what others from the mansion had relayed over the network. Rusted walls, monsters everywhere... the idea of that place made the numbers that were still scarred on her back itch.
Reaching up, she wiped the sweat from her brow with her back of her purple fingerless gloves and leaned back, letting her head thump against the wood. She was safe for now, but Sheena knew she'd have to leave eventually. She sat there for moments in the silence before she stood up and dusted her backside off. "Alright... let's tr-" THUMP. The sound of something colliding into the wall of the booth made her jump, turning to see that there was a small window there -- the screen was so dark and small you could barely see who was on the other side, but it was enough that she heard a small voice speaking to her.
"... 'kill'...'me'...?" The summoner stepped forward and kneeled down towards the screen, trying to see if she could get a good look inside, "Who's there?"
Someone had heard? Turning his head to face the wall that had sounded like it spoke to him, he frowned before rubbing his forehead. It pounded, whether from the sudden, odd change in temperature and climate or all the crying he had done Zelos had no idea, but it was pain all the same. He shifted in his seat and drew in a deep breath to calm himself.
"I get it, I get it," he said to the other person in the confessional booth, the hand that was not rubbing to send his headache away against the wall. "You want to rub it in more, don't you? Whatever the hell you are." Turning him into a child and then sending him back in time? Who had the power to do that? "What are you getting at, pulling stunts like these?" His voice, still somewhat under the influence of his previous childlike mind, had cracked near the end of that last sentence.
The post-Chosen fell silent, allowing him a break away from reliving the beginning of his sins. No, that wasn't the beginning. The beginning went back to the moment his father and mother were forced together. That was the beginning. The moment information about needing a new Chosen was the beginning of his end; it led to forcing his parents together, it led to forcing them to couple, and in the end he had been forced into the world.
Shattering the silence, Zelos found himself laughing and his rubbing hand halting over his forehead. "Now I think I understand what's going on here! You want to torture me! Why didn't I see it before? I would have stood there, you know," he explained to the innocent Sheena, "But she blocked it again. She did then, too." His chuckling ended. "I know I deserve it. I killed her, after all. The second she discovered that she would bear me, I had killed her!"
There was a pause, when a familiar voice filtered through the screen. Sheena's mouth dropped wide open, her eyes following in their wide open shock. Was... was that Zelos?! Her hands reached up around the frame of the screen, clinging tightly as she heard his voice -- the self loathing and almost insane tone -- hitting her like hard bricks. She looked confused, who was he talking about? But when she listened, waiting until he reached the point he was trying to make, the Summoner realized that the ex-Chosen was speaking about his mother. "Zelos....? Zelos, listen to me! It's me..! Sheena!" She swallowed hard, overly concerned about the man on the other side of the screen. She had to search for words; she needed to reassure him that whatever had happened was not his fault, "It's not your fault! You weren't the one behind the scenes pulling all the screens, Mithos was!" That was the true beginning; when Mithos had snapped when Martel had died. "You can't.. you can't place the blame on yourself for that!"
Zelos removed his hand from his forehead and stared into his palm. The black of the bottom of his glove suddenly became interesting as he couldn’t take his eyes away from it. "Sheena, huh? Either someone’s playing another trick on me or it’s really you.” He felt the throb start again in his head and grunted. “If it really is you, baby, don’t mind anything that I just said.” Odd that he should turn into the regular Zelos at such a time, but it was the only way he could keep himself to himself.
"No, really, Sheena!" the red-haired usual-philanderer continued, taking on that annoyingly cheery tone as he spoke to her. “Surprise, baby! You know how I love playing jokes on you, don’t you?” The atmosphere, despite the forced chipper tone, was definitely not the same as it would normally be, and Zelos did his best to try and change that. Why wasn’t it working? “You’re always so gullible!”
Sheena's eyes widened in shock; after how much pain she had felt from his voice... the way he was just so GENUINE when he said he wanted to die... it made it feel like her heart was dropping to the bottom of her stomach. He was trying to hide. He was trying to hide behind his mask again! "DON'T YOU DARE TRY AND LIE TO ME, ZELOS WILDER!" She screamed at the screen in front of her, knuckles turning white with how tightly she was squeezing at the frame.
The stupid idiot. That stupid stupid STUPID IDIOT! "When I find the door to where you're at, I'm demanding a straight answer from you!" Her eyes lifted up and she began trying to search for a switch.. a hidden door knob, anything! "We've gotta get you out of there...!" But in reality, she didn't want him to suffer in there anymore. .. and it made her try searching even more. "See if you can't find a door on your side!"
He had expected some sort of statement on how he was being an idiot, but Zelos hadn’t expected her to get so angry about it! It caused him to jump, his nerves being what they were after viewing the scene with his mother again, and he began to look as soon as he stood up. His hands spread over the separator between them in search of some way to get through. In the end he could find nothing, but he felt that he shouldn’t— couldn’t give up. He wondered for a moment… If he went back into that room, at the end of everything, would his mother continue to save him? Or, in the end, would he really end up dead?
“Sheena,” he called to her, still searching for some way to join her. They weren’t completely and officially together, but damn it all if Zelos didn’t want to hold her right now! “There’s nothing on this side. I can’t find anything. It’s like we’re stuck here.” He pressed his right hand closer to the wall, wishing with all that he was that he could sink through and fall against Sheena in an accidental tackle. “…I really messed up now.”
"What do you mean you really messed up?" Sheena asked softly, having not found anything. She was directly across from him, seperated by the thin yet rather durable wall. The summoner had felt nothing, no shelves, no decorations to grab onto and instead held herself up against the wall. She continued to squint through the screen, hoping that maybe it was gonna be nice and allow her to see the ex-Chosen that was beyond ears calling.
She bit down on her bottom lip, trying to wrack her brain for any solution. "You didn't do anything! This world... this whole PLACE is messed up! You can't let it get to you!"
Zelos leaned forward, the white cloth around his head the only thing separating his forehead from the cool divider. He was glad, in a way. Then it wouldn’t remind him of the snow, the winter and Mylene Wilder. He squint his eyes while willing himself to do as Sheena said. Why couldn’t he let it go?
“Since it looks like no one else is going to give a damn, it looks like you’re the only person I can turn to.” His eyes relaxed and he looked down along the wall to see his feet, imagining snow beneath them- snow that had turned red from shed blood. “Before Wonderland and before this, I’ve always had this feeling. You can’t blame it on what’s going on now.” Where was the flamboyant young man that he was, he wondered. The one that would never have admitted to this. “Guilt is normal when someone you love dies for you. Come on, Sheena, you of all people should know how that feels.”
The fact that Zelos was poking at her first failure to capture volt -- the fact that Corrine had died to protect her from Volt for the SECOND time made an invisible dagger twist in her side. How could she NOT know how it felt? "I..." She nibbled on her inner cheek, feeling helpless that she didn't know how she could help Zelos.
Her chestnut colored eyes stared hard into the wall, almost trying to imaging what this Zelos looked like. How did he look like when he wasn't trying to hide behind smiles and jokes and jabs to get her to look the other way? ".... but... it's not your fault." Through her travels, it had taken a lot for her to admit to that, even with Kuchinawa always blaming her for the death of his parents; the death of most of their village.
He continued to stare down at the floor, listening to her speak to him so nicely. He swore that one day she would speak this nice to him every day for the rest of their lives. Zelos liked he she was so calm and quiet, though he loved the Sheena that told him to knock things off and to grow up. It brought a smile to his face.
“You really think so, don’t you?” the ex-Chosen asked of Sheena and also wondered out loud. Somehow grunting out a laugh, he closed his eyes and nodded before straightening himself where he stood. Briefly he wondered if what he had said was going too far, but it seemed to get his point across well enough. He opened his eyes and stared ahead as if he could actually see her.
“…After I get out of here, and donÂ’t get a kiss, do I at least get a hug?”
Sheena could only turn bright red at the suggestion of a hug. She sputtered out a reply, trying to form her words before she went, "Y-you'd probably just try and put your hands in places that they don't need to be!" She answered, falling back on old habits. Although, she felt her heart race, she had to try and resist it...
"A-anyway! We still need to figure out how to get you out of there!" There was much willing of self control and she wondered what they were there for, "... ... Zelos.." She began gently, "... I know... I don't know much about you asides from what you put out as a front.... but... you were only a child... right?"
"I was," responded the flirty Chosen, amused by the reaction he had gotten. So his hands liked to wander. Had he not been distracted by answering Sheena, he would have wondered if Sheena would be opposed to a wandering hand in the heat of the moment. "Before I understood what being the Chosen meant. Would you believe that I had short hair?" Zelos laughed, imagining the twenty-two-year-old that he was now without all that hair on his head.
"It was the first time that I met Seles. I didn't know who she was until Sebastian told me later, but she looked a lot like me." The little sister that pretended he had always been a fool when, once upon a time, he had been her best friend in the world. "I found her crying in the bushes. She was sick; she had a fever. That's when Sebastian told me that she was my little sister."
She sat down on the wooden seat provided by the confessional booth when he began his story. Had she known he was still idling thinking about roaming hands, Sheena would have given him another verbal talking to. "You with short hair would be like Lloyd not getting bored with new places as easily." Her thoughts wandered back to the young swordsman who she hoped wasn't out there in this whole mess.
Seles? Oh yes, Zelos' half sister. The child that had been locked away in the Abbey for so many years, unable to leave. Sheena knew who it was, after having caught a glimpse of her from the doorway. "What was it like, knowing that you had a sister?"
"Hm." Following her lead, though he had no idea that Sheena had also taken a seat to listen to what he had to say, Zelos sat and folded his arms. He began to relive his past, head tilted up in the direction of the ceiling. Not that he was actually looking at it.
"Knowing Seles was my sister," he told her, "Was a surprise. I don't think I wanted her at first. In fact!" Remembering this made him smile. "I was angry that my father had a woman on the side. I felt like I wasn't good enough for him. But once I talked to Seles more, I learned to love her. Even after what happened later, I still liked her." His smile faded. "Her mother scared me. She always had her eyes downcast, and she looked like she was half-dead. But when she looked at me, her eyes wide open, I froze."
".... she sounds really creepy." Sheena mentioned off handedly as her hand lingered on the wall between her and Zelos, leaning to the side to lie against the cold wood. Staying in here was much better than being outside. Her eyes closed, trying to imagine a young Zelos... a more innocent Zelos than the one who was right next to her.
Sheena reached into her sash and pulled out Corrine's bell. She let it roll around in her fingers, letting the metalic sound break through the slight silence, "... So? What else happened?"
"Sheena," Zelos started in a begging voice. He had begun as if he were going to plead with her to take back her question. This could not be done, however, and he had nothing else to do other than to return to the hell beyond the door next to him. "All right. I'll tell you."
"The winter in Meltokio that year had a snowfall that went into the record books. My mother usually refused to accompany me places, but she agreed to go outside with me to play in the snow." He saw all of this in his mind as he relived everything over. "I finished making a snowman when Seles mom tried to assassinate me. My mother took the hit. The first thing I saw was red snow."
Zelos thought that he could feel the snow falling on his face, melting against the heat of his blood-spotted cheek. "I had fallen into the snowman and it fell apart. My mother was on top of me, dying. The last thing I remember of her- besides her soft hand grabbing my shoulder and her panting- was her voice. Her last words were, 'You should never have been born.'"
"I hate winter and everything associated with it."
Sheena felt bad for having him continue on... but... she wanted to know. She wanted to know this side of Zelos that he kept so locked away behind the mask of his life. As the story unfolded, Sheena's hands began clenching tightly until the climax of the story. The bell fell from her hand and onto her lap with a soft metallic thud.
".... You... still think that way about yourself?" Her eyes were covered, and it felt like she was shaking, "... that you should have never been born?"
Guilt spread throughout his body as he became rigid and then relaxed, and he couldn't look at the division between them. If he did look, even more shame would come over him. How he would be able to face her after escaping Zelos did not know.
"Hate to break it to you, baby," the still complimenting man said, "But at a time like this, I can't lie. Not after I told you everything else." Caring little if someone or something could see his actions, the ex-Chosen's back slid down the wall a little as he proceeded to slouch. "I'm guilty of that. If I hadn't been born, Seles and her mother would be happy with my father, and my mother would still be alive. It should have been me, anyway. I should have been alert; I could have saved her instead."
"You were only just a kid! You couldn't have been expected.... to just trade your childhood for a life of servitude to the church!" Sheena turned quickly to look at the screen between them, having forgotten about the bell that had now fallen to the floor with a loud CLANK.
Her voice rose in worry, as she leaned forward towards the screen, her face about an inch or so away from it, "If you hadn't been born, then all of us would have never met you!"
"Hm?" Amusement rather apparent in the way he had hummed, Zelos dared to glance at the wall sitting between them, and the screen that allowed them to communicate. Sheena couldn't see, but he was most definitely smirking. "Sheena, I don't believe my ears! Does that mean you're glad to have met me?" He inhaled deeply and dramatically. "I had no idea, what with the way you're constantly insulting me and my advances! I'm glad."
Sheena's face turned bright red when he made mention of what she had said. "I... I didn't mean...!" Oh how she wanted to hit him right now! "... I just..." She leaned her forehead against the screen again, staring at the floor, and yet staring at nothing. "... You drive me crazy, you idiot!"
That small sound of movement and the noise of something leaning just a little against the screen made him wonder. Eyebrow raised, Zelos brought his hand up to lightly touch the screen with his fingertips. Something was most definitely pressing against it, he knew, as the screen felt as if it were under some sort of pressure.
"Sheena." He smiled, pulling his hand away from the screen, his previously flirty tone fading to a calm and almost content one. "For all the times I thought we would all be better off if everything suddenly ceased to exist, you were always there to change my mind." Sensing, almost knowing, that Sheena was the one pushing against the screen, he pressed his lips to it, not caring whether or not there was some kind of dangerous bacteria there. "At least you can forgive me. That's all I want."
Blinking, Sheena felt as though there were a pressure against her forehead and her heart began beating wildly in her chest. Glancing upwards, she thought she could almost see the red of his hair right next to her, small single hairs sticking out through it. "... that's it? You're not going to ask for my undying love... or... a free grope.. or... or something? Just that?"
"Nope, nothing like that!" answered the completely honest Zelos as if assuming that she had already agreed to forgiving him for what he had done. "None of that will do me any good as long as I'm stuck in that place. I might as well ask for you to try to understand me." He didn't want to return to his room, but it was obvious that this confessional booth would not release him. "Undying love sounds nice after facing that room, though. In the end, I'll have to go through there to try and get out."
There was silence from the summoner. She was almost at a loss at the sincere Zelos that she was now talking to. It had been easier for her to talk to him here in this room... but, him having to search for a way out reminded her of the dangers that she faced when she chose to exit out of this booth. ".... If... that's what you want... ..." Sheena sighed and pulled her head away from the screen to look at it fully, "...I forgive you, Zelos. Try to be careful, alright?"
Heaving himself up and off the seat, the ex-Chosen of Tethe'alla turned to face the door that he had stepped through to enter the booth and stared long and hard at it. Sheena was right there behind him; he could just stick to the booth and never have to leave her. But... "I won't die. I'll live for you."
As soon as he set foot into his room, his tiny feet crunching the snow beneath him, he was met with the guilt that still plagued him. Glaring at the snowman in front of him, and at the woman standing nearby it that was only a mirror of his mother, Zelos did not give in. Not even as, true to the childs mind that he possessed, hot tears ran down his face, a face that already had the fake Mylene's blood splattered on his cheek. Closing his eyes tightly, he pressed back against the wall where the door lie, and followed the wall he knew to be there.
There! After a while of having searched along the walls, he came upon another door, different from the one he had last opened. Eyes wide, more tears threatening to spill over, he grabbed the knob but not before he saw blood splatter over the wall and door in front of him, and on his back. And a hand, one that he knew so well, grabbed his shoulder, tugging him back and down, the owner of the hand repeating over and over, "You never should have been born, you never should have been born!"
"You're not my mother!" Zelos shouted back, pulling closer to the door as the womans grip tightened and her jerking of him increased. "You're lying! I should have been born! I should have! I was born!" He hadn't realized that his eyes closed again until he opened them and jerked the door open at the same time. The woman continued to scream at him, even as he released himself from her and shut the door quickly.
Free. He was free of that room. His sins and guilt had been forgiven; it hadnt been his fault. Years of thinking it had been, however, would be hard to erase. With a long, jagged gasp of air into his lungs, he leaned back against the door he had closed. Out here, away from the frozen wasteland that had been his room, the tears didn't feel so scalding on his cheeks. It was a decent temperature; he needn't worry any further. He hoped.
Sheena sat there for a little while, waiting there until she heard him walking away into what sounded like snow crunching beneath his feet. "You had better not Zelos!" She yelled into the screen, knowing full well that he could hear her. "If you don't, then I'm going to come right after you!" She stood up, glancing down at it in determination, "That's a promise!"
kuramon kick (11:08:14 PM): bell and placed it back into her sash before turning towards the confessional door, "... alright..." Taking a deep breath, she reached up and hesitated on the door knob for a moment before she opened it up and peered outside. No monsters. Good.
Slowly, she stepped out of the booth and then began sprinting the way she was heading originally. Sheena got only a few steps from her safe haven when she saw the figure of Zelos standing there with tears in his eyes, looking utterly freaked out from his escape from his guilt ridden prison.
"... Zelos!" She called out -- her feet taking over and racing over to the ex-Chosen.
His fingers, spread over the door as he rested his tired body against it, curled when he heard his name. For a moment he doubted he had escaped, and expected to turn around and see his mother sacrificing herself just to say that she hated having ever given birth to him. But it was Sheena, and the man was exceptionally glad that she was coming to him.
In a flash Zelos pushed away from the door in her direction. "Sheena!" he called back to his savior, his arms stretched out to wrap around her middle. His right hand he placed on her left hip, and his right left hand pressed between her shoulders, holding her up as he proceeded to kiss her as if he hadn't seen her in years. Like he had just fought a war that began the moment he was born and ended the moment he closed that door.
The summoner was so glad to see him; the sight of him alive in front of her allowed relief to spread through her whole body. It didn't even register to her that he was heading in her direction at a quick speed until she was in his arms. Blinking, Sheena looked up, and opened her mouth to say something in return but was met with his lips capturing hers in a deep and rather relieved kiss.
Her face turned red with embarrassment as she was held so tightly. She should have pushed him off -- should have yelled at him that this was inappropriate timing -- SOMETHING.. but Sheena stood there, unmoving for a moment as slowly relaxed against him, her arms falling limp to the sides and her eyes closing. She had been in mid step when he had chosen to kiss her as she balanced on a foot and the tip of her boot, all the while returning the kiss shyly.
That Zelos had needed more than anything else in all the innumerable worlds in the gigantic universe. Removing his lips from hers, the ex-Chosen stared down at the summoner in his arms. To be honest, he hadn't expected her to fall into the kiss so easily. He had anticipated a quick and sharp slap to the face and a scream about how he was taking advantage of his situation to hit on her. But he had really needed her, needed the kiss and needed to know that she was willing to be in his arms.
Refraining from a second kiss, he pulled the woman to his body (not to feel her chest against his, though he really liked that feeling) in a tight embrace, one of his hands on the back of her head. He had his head pressed against the side of hers and couldnt help how he breathed into her ear, ragged with the emotion that he had felt before leaving the room.
"Thank you."
Sheena's face felt very hot compared to Zelos' cheek. She wasn't used to being held so tight. Swallowing, she peered at his long red hair before leaning in. Like the status he was born with, Sheena smelt the sweet perfume from his hair as it touched her face. Reaching up, she let her arms lightly cling to his upper arms, hesitating for a moment before she turned her head to look into his face.
Maybe if he had been like this with her in the beginning, they wouldn't have fallen into the habit of 'tease first, get hit second and then maybe have a moment in a blue moon after the world's being plotted against'. "D-don't think that this is gonna change anything, Zelos!" Sheena sputtered embarrassedly, even though she was not even a few inches from maybe getting a second kiss, "It's not like I just confessed my feelings to you or anything!" ... or DID she?
"I know, I know!" replied the now content red-haired man, giving her one of his infamous grins (not lecherous, for once in his lifetime). "You don't have to confess anything. I can wait. Until then, I'll just assume." Though he spoke teasingly, he was quite obviously more happy than flirty.
Zelos knew that Sheena was used to having her space, and that she'd prefer to keep her distance while in the presence of such a pervert. So he let her go, though only enough to keep her at arms length. He didnt want to let her go entirely. She had become a bit of a 'comfort object' for the time being. Having her around made him feel nice! "I know you love me. It's not that hard to see. Or tell! I could feel your love a mile away, Sheena."
".... YOU. Are an IDIOT." Sheena said in exhasperation but with a grin on her face. She leaned in a little bit, reaching up to pinch his cheeky little face. It was easy to tell that she was a bit more relaxed in his arms, and it was a good first step to a better relationship. "The only thing you could feel was my boot in your a-" She was cut off by the sound of a growl a good few feet behind her.
Blinking, Sheena slowly turned her head, eyes wide with shock. There standing, watching them and ready to pounce was a sniffer dog, having re-found its prey when she walked out of the confessional booth... and with a new chew toy! ".... ... damnit... Zelos... we need to get past the dog...!"
"Damn." That dog was ugly. Really ugly. Nothing like that had ever crossed them before, even in Shadow's domain. Like any good swordsman, Zelos had his sword and shield with him for the ride, but he discovered that the power he gained from using exspheres had disappeared. Giving that dog a nasty look while twirling hair around his finger, he stepped to Sheenas side.
"All right. We'll play like regular humans!" he decided, drawing the sword that rested on his left. "We'll take this monster out and keep going." Releasing his finger of the constricting hair, Zelos smirked over his shoulder at Sheena. "Let's stay alive together."
All Sheena had with her was her own physical strength and her magically enfused cards... which were much like regular pieces of paper now. Reaching into her sash, she looked down at her seals that flopped around with no magic attached to them. Her head zipped back up as she saw the dog growling even more menacingly, and jammed the cards back in, unaware that she had pushed Corrine's bell up from its safe spot to near the top of her sash, "... Oh yeah, I forgot. You're not used to being like us normal kind."
Sheena grinned over at him, letting her chestnut colored eyes flash amusement over to him before getting serious. She turned back towards the dog which was starting to paw forward. "I don't plan on dying this time!" She wasted no time darting forward and then flipping over the dog while Zelos took the forefront. Corrine's bell slowly rolled out of her sash and onto the floor with a small -tink- which went unnoticed as the two began their fight for survival. Together.