Aftermath by Justin
__
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 ^_^
And now, the conclusion!
GALERIANS
A F T E R M A T H
Chapter 12: This Is Goodbye
The console looked much like the one from the original Hand of God. It had no
buttons, and an oval-shaped screen emanating a bluish pulse of light. Cain and
Lilia stood before it, looking into the blue and green patterns of its screen.
Cain placed his altered left hand on it, as he turned and nodded to Lilia.
"Cain… I…" she muttered, as tears began to well in her eyes. So this
was goodbye. She knew Cain would not back down now; he was too determined to
stop Dorothy's menace once and for all. Getting a hold of herself, she
reluctantly held his right hand, and began to send him the virus. Cain relayed
it to Dorothy via the console, as electricity encircled his forehead like a
vicious crown of thorns.
"GOODBYE, MOTHER!!" he cried to the wires at the ceiling's center,
the remnants of Dorothy's stem. Meanwhile, the insidious Mother Dorothy lay
unconscious several yards behind them, unbeknownst of her own existence coming
to an end. Her skin began to fade, and became a transparent dark-blue, as
Godhand, the violated re-incarnation of Rion, could be seen through her,
peacefully at rest. The boy was but a tool used for Dorothy's plans, nothing
more than a puppet now. For the moment, he was not dead, he was not
unconscious; he was merely de-activated.
Cain continued to upload Lilia's virus program into Mother's database, as
sparks flew from the metal plate on the back of his hand. "I… will… not…
let… you… live!!!" he struggled, knowing the end was near. Lilia just
stood there, holding Cain's hand, as tears rolled down her cheeks. "DIE,
MOTHER!!!!" yelled Cain, as body began to weaken. Just then, everything
around him faded away. He was alone, surrounded by black depths of nothingness.
He floated there in a fetal position, harnessing the energy he needed to
unleash the virus. He glowed with dim white energy, as he broke from his fetal
posture, spreading his limbs outward and sending forth the virus of Mother's doom.
Hundreds of thousands of prismatic sparks flew from his body in every
direction. He heard Dorothy's last words echo in the far distance.
"Cain… Please… Stop… I will treat you better-"
"SHUT UP!!! JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!!! YOU TOLD RION THE SAME THING AND LOOK
AT WHAT YOU DID TO HIM!!! JUST DIE!!!"
"I promise-"
"YOU WILL DIE!!!!!"
It was over as soon as it began. Cain's consciousness returned to Dorothy's
chamber. He was still standing before the console, Lilia holding his hand.
"I did it… I…" he said, before collapsing to the floor. Lilia caught
his fall, cradling him gently. Mother Dorothy faded away behind them, leaving
Godhand. With his last ounce of strength, Godhand regained consciousness, and
stood to his feet, beginning to walk toward the two severely weakened Galerian
protagonists.
"Lilia…" he struggled to say. He fell to his knees, glowing with
blinding white energy. His entire figure was now a white silhouette. It shrunk
somewhat, and faded, revealing the young Rion. He remained on his knees, too
weak to move. Lilia stayed at Cain's side, looking to the renewed Rion.
"Lilia… I'm so glad I finally got to see you, one last time… Please, don't
hate me… I wasn't… myself…" And with that, he collapsed to the floor. His
entire body became crystalline, shattering with thousands of prismatic shards.
They floated above him, rising several feet before fading out of existence. It
was all over. The Galerians were no more. And there would soon be only one
left, as Cain began to lose consciousness.
"Cain… no… you… you can't die!" Lilia told him, sniffling and crying
like a little girl. This couldn't be real. He didn't deserve it; he had saved
mankind, he was a hero, and now he had to die. His life was the price for
humanity. In the eyes of many, it would seem like a good trade-off; a single
Galerian for the lives of everyone on the planet. But to a minute few, the
Northern Faction, and more than ever, Lilia, it was too much.
Just then, the rebels made their way into the room. Planting all their grenades
to the room's doorway, they blasted it open, and ran in. "What
happened?!" asked Jynx. "We did what Master Cain told us, we
destroyed the underground laboratory, everything, we blew the hell out of it!
And-" he said, before he stopped to see what had ensued.
"Lilia…" Cain said weakly, "Please, just let me-"
"NO!!! Damn it Cain, I'm not going to let you die!!" she snapped
back. She would not let it happen again. Just then, her Galerian instincts told
her what to do. She placed her hands on Cain's chest, using her own energy to
heal Cain.
"Lilia… you can't… you're too weak, you'll die… you have to live for me,
Lilia…" he pleaded faintly, as she continued to sacrifice her own life
energy for him. Lightning began to surge around her forehead, as she gritted
her teeth together, knowing what must be done for her Cain to live.
"Lilia… NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!" cried Cain, as everything went white.
Cain found himself standing on nothing, the floor of wherever he was being just
as white as the ceiling. His facial scar was healed, once again nothing more
than a tan mark on his left cheek. He looked up, and about a hundred feet away
he saw Lilia, standing as well. His sky was her floor, and vice-versa.
"…Lilia?" he whispered, as they both looked up to one another.
"Cain…" she whispered, as she jumped into the air with a mere tap to
the floor. He did the same, and found that this realm held no definite laws of
gravity. They slowly floated to one another, looking up into each other's eyes
as they grew closer.
:Lilia, where are we?:
:This is my realm, Cain… I hope you like it.:
:Why are we here? What did you do?:
:I saved you, Cain…:
:You… transferred your life… to me?:
:Yes, Cain… I want you to live. My time has come, Cain… I want to go to the
beyond, I want to see mom and dad… and Rion… everyone I've lost is already
waiting for me, Cain, I can feel it… so that's why I have to go. I know we'll
see each other again someday, just be strong…:
:No! I… I want you to be with them… I want you to be happy… but I don't want to
lose you!:
:Be strong, Cain.:
:Lilia, I…: he started, before he lost to his own weakness. He started to cry,
as tears flew in every direction. Lilia finally met his gaze, she was floating
parallel as she reached to stroke the back of his neck. Upside-down to one
another, he did the same, as they pulled each other closer. She met her lips to
his, and the two joined in a deep, lingering kiss. She held his free hand with
hers, and they floated for what seemed like forever. They swirled their tongues
around one another's, as they enjoyed their last moments together. Managing to
rotate themselves sideways without breaking their kiss, their bodies were
finally at the same level, as their hands moved down to pull themselves closer
to one another. They held each other tightly, yet gently, in a passionate
embrace. Slowly, they broke the kiss, and gazed into each other's eyes.
:I love you, Cain-sama.:
:I love you too, Lilia-sama.:
It was all too quick. Lilia's beautiful dreamworld broke away and returned to
harsh reality. What felt like a wonderful eternity was but a mere second.
Lilia, cradling Cain in her gently clutch, fell on her side, unmoving. Cain
awoke and turned around, sitting on his knees, to see Lilia lying peacefully on
the cold metal floor in the Hand of God. Too peacefully.
"Lilia?" he muttered, shaking her. Her silence remained. He looked
down to her peaceful face, so calm, so quiet… a sleep she would never wake
from. Cain looked up to the room's ceiling, unable to speak. His eyes wide
open, like a lost child, he was speechless. Tears began to run down his pale
cheeks. "LILIAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!" he cried, his echo carrying
throughout the room. As psychic anger erupted from him, every monitor in the
room shattered, millions of glass shards falling along with billions of red
sparks.
She was gone. His one true love, Lilia, had given her life for his. He hunched
over weakly, crying his eyes out. His tears fell to Lilia's placid face, in the
dim light of the room. All that remained were several glowing turquoise ceiling
lights, lit by chemicals and not electricity. Sadly, he began to accept her
loss, and with his regained strength, picked her up in his arms. Drying tears
on his cheeks reflecting the glowing turquoise light, he nodded to his rebels
and began to walk out of the room. They followed, as a broken Cain looked down
to Lilia as he carried her, wishing it were all just a nightmare. He wished
that he could just wake up next to her, that they could both be happy and full
of life. But this was no dream. Reality was harsh. It seemed that for one to
live, another must die. It was a vicious cycle. But Cain knew he had to be
strong for her, or her soul would never be able to rest.
The team took the elevator back down to the 1st floor, and approached the building's
front door. As they walked out, hundreds of citizens stood waiting outside.
Apparently they learned of the rebel incursion on the news, and rushed to greet
the heroes of their time. As the others waved to the appreciative civilians,
Cain was oblivious of it all. He continued to walk forward, as the people
cleared a path for him. They watched as the last of the Galerians walked
onward, away from the crowd, away from his rebels, away from everything. He
didn't care. He just wanted to give Lilia the proper funeral that any hero
deserved. That night, while the others went out to a local tavern to celebrate
their victory, Cain set up to cremate Lilia's empty shell. High atop the rebel
hideout, a blazing fire could be seen. Cain set her body afire on a makeshift
cremation stand, gazing into the flames. As the flames danced, his memories of
Lilia, good and bad, swirled in his mind. A single tear rolled down his left
cheek, reflecting the firelight. Lilia's spiritless husk eventually became
nothing more than ashes, gathered in a ceramic urn. After the fires eventually
died down, he took the urn and placed it on a shelf in his room. He gazed at it
for what seemed like forever, before he nodded to it in deep respect. It was
almost midnight, and he knew his friends wouldn't be back any time soon. He
decided to join them in their celebration of history, even if it was only at a
rundown local tavern. He turned off his lamp and walked to the light of the
hallway, before turning back for a moment.
"Goodbye… Lilia."
With those final words, he closed his door and walked down the hallway. Locking
everything behind him, he ambled his way to the tavern, keeping in mind the
remembrance of his dear Lilia. Fate had taken brought them together, and it was
Fate that tore them apart. Cain walked on to the tavern, knowing that someday,
he would see her again.
~The End~
Author's Notes: So, what did you think? I'd like to thank anyone who actually
read this entire story. This my first "major" fanfic project, and I
hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as i did writing it. From the songfic
and the lemon chapter, to the final battle and Lilia's ultimate sacrifice, it
was easy to become immersed while I was typing. I'd also like to thank Ascii
and the rest for creating such an awesome game. Without them, the concept of
pill-popping teenagers flinging energy around wouldn't even exist (with the
exception of the anime classic Akira ^_^) So anyway, constructive criticism is
appreciated, no flames, PLEASE! Thanks for reading, and remember:
Agony. Madness. Death. Chemicals have their side effects. In other words, DON'T
DO DRUGS!!!
__