Aftermath by Justin
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Disclaimer:
I do not own Galerians, only a copy I bought at Babbages. Galerians is owned by
Ascii, Crave Entertainment, and Polygon Magic. (I think that's all of them...)
I do not own any of the characters from the game, although I do claim ownership
of my own characters, as well as any personality and/or appearance changes I
have given the (very few) surviving game characters. I am not responsible for
any Shorting deaths induced by this fanfic. Enjoy ^_^
GALERIANS
A F T E R M A T H
Chapter 8: Truth
Cain's eyes opened slowly, as he looked around. He was back in his room, with a
bit of a headache. He'd narrowly escaped death, after performing a Galerian
life-transfer to save Lilia.
"Lilia..." he mumbled, "is she okay?" he asked himself,
with no one around to hear him. They were all off in the lounge passing the
time with a pool tournament. All except for one.
"I'm here, Cain."
The words sounded like a symphony to his ears. Cain turned to see Lilia sitting
against the wall next to his bed, as he sighed in relief. So she had survived,
and he hadn't almost killed himself for nothing. Good. Now all that was left
was to return to the tower and destroy Mother Dorothy. Unfortunately, they
would need a new strategy, as simply sneaking up to the top floor wouldn't work
anymore. Dorothy had awakened, and the real menace had arrived. Right now, Cain
didn't want to think about any of it. He just needed some rest.
"Were you watching me sleep the whole time?"
Lilia nodded. "You look so cute when you're sleeping," she said,
forcing Cain to turn away and go slightly red.
"Cute? What do you mean, CUTE?!" he demanded, trying to regain his
badass image. Still, that was quite difficult with such a crimson shade over
his face.
"The others are waiting for you, Cain. Shall we join them?"
"In a little while… just let me rest…" he said, his voice still
holding an inorganic tone. He lied on his side, facing away from her to discern
her view of his blushing face.
"Cain?"
"Yeah, Lilia?"
"…What did it feel like?"
Cain's cheeks changed back to their pale tone in an instant. He turned back to
face her, before finally speaking after an awkward silence. "It felt like
I was being pulled away from myself, like I was sharing my very soul with you…
It was painful yet pleasant, since I knew that even if I died, you would live
for me."
"Cain…" she said, her voice just above a whisper. She hunched down to
stroke his cold face, before leaning in, slowly licking her lips and closing
her eyes nervously. She wanted to, and apparently so did he, as he took his
chance and did the same. He could feel her hot breath inches from his face
before the door swung open, as an impatient Jynx interrupted them.
"Cain, get your ass down here, we're all waitin'!" he said, before
slamming the door shut and stomping back off to the lounge. Apparently, even as
a rebel leader Cain still couldn't get the respect that he deserved.
"Guess we'd better move along," he said, sighing.
"Yeah, perhaps we should," agreed Lilia, as she stood to her feet and
slowly helped the dreary Cain up from bed. He was still clad in all his chains,
which he once told Lilia were more comfortable than they looked.
"You remembered," he said, giving a faint grin.
"Of course," she said smiling. They both walked down the hall to the
lounge, a little embarrassed about Jynx's barge-in. Lilia wondered if she'd
ever get another chance like that again, while Cain pondered over why he'd
followed along as he had. It didn't matter now, though, since they had an
important meeting to get underway.
They entered the room, welcomed only by a landscape of eyes staring their way.
Nervously, Lilia found her usual leather seat, while Cain just stood in front
of the group, feeling a bit uneasy from the glare of the room.
"What is this?" he asked, wondering why everyone had gone so cold all
of a sudden, not even speaking a word to him.
"Terrae told us everything," said Aden.
"…Everything?"
"Yeah, Cain… Every damn thing," Shaeda spoke up.
"Cain, how could you lie to us all along?" Jynx joined in.
Cain was speechless. He knew what they spoke of… he fought it off as long as he
could. "I… I don't know what you're talking about."
"Befriending us, getting us all attached to you… lying to them all along.
That's pretty low, Cain," said Terrae.
"…So you all know?"
"Not everyone," replied Terrae, "Lilia doesn't know. YOU can
break the news to your girlfriend."
"She's not my-" he tried, before Lilia interrupted.
"Cain, is there something you're not telling me?" she asked, with the
most innocent of voices, making Cain feel truly sick with himself.
"Lilia, I-" Again, he was interrupted, this time as Lilia held out
her arm to him and attempted to scan him. She finally saw all the memories he
was hiding from her.
~ ~ ~
"M-MOTHER??"
:Mother… I can't feel you… Are you there?? Please… give me a sign…:
~ ~ ~
"You're a Galerian?!"
"I would've told you… but-"
"You LIED to me!! You're just one of THEM! We're OVER!!!!"
"No! I'm… different…"
~ ~ ~
"Terrae… it's been confirmed… They cloned Lilia, with the virus program
intact. There's something I need you to do…"
~ ~ ~
"AAAAGGGHHHHH!!!!!"
"Cain, just try and relax… The program is almost done. Just a little
longer…"
"It… it stings… my head hurts… I……"
~ ~ ~
"They found more information… Mother has evolved. Lilia's old program
won't work by itself. I need to ask just one more favor of you…"
~ ~ ~
"Ack-"
"Don't worry, Cain… I'm almost done…"
"That wire thing you just put through my hand… is it always gonna hurt
like that?"
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it. Soon you won't feel a thing."
"You…
sure?"
"I'm sure."
~ ~ ~
Lilia's trance lasted for less than a second, ending as soon as it began. She
stared blankly toward Cain, as if she was looking at a ghost.
"Cain… what is this?"
"Lilia… Everyone… there's something… I haven't told you yet… and I have to
tell you now so you'll know what's gonna happen."
"Everyone sat silently, awaiting Cain's revelation. Whatever it was, they
thought they were ready for it. They thought wrong.
"…I'm going to die."
The room was silent. Lilia's red-brown eyes were fixed on the Galerian before
her. She couldn't stay silent for long.
"Cain?! What the hell are you talking about?!! You… you can't die…"
Her eyes began to water, but she held back the tears. She couldn't, not in
front of everyone.
"Lilia, I have to die… or else everyone will die. Michelangelo, the world,
everyone… it all depends on me…"
Lilia could not speak. She had no idea of what this cold-hearted Galerian was
holding back from her all along.
"…I may be strong enough to load the virus program, but that won't have
any effect on Mother anymore. In order to stop her, I'll need to use the
enhancement program to stop her, and that's what will kill me… I'm sorry,
Lilia…"
"……You think I'm going to help you now?? After you lied to me all this
time?! There's no goddamn way I'm gonna help you commit suicide!!"
"Lilia, you can't look at it that way… you have to be strong-" Cain
struggled, before Lilia stormed out of the room, unable to take any more of his
ramblings. She headed up several flights of stairs, to the top of the building.
She leaned over the rail surrounding the building's roof, staring out into the
distance. The Galerian tower, Cain's intended death ground, was barely visible
as night fell over the city. The sun slowly disappeared over the horizon, its
last rays gleaming in her teary eyes. Finally, a long-held-back tear fell from
her reddish orbs. It fell to the street below, dispersing as it landed. She had
no one to turn to. Cain had betrayed her, everything he'd ever told her felt
like one giant lie.
"How
could you, Cain…"
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