Her

Panicked breathing stirred the mist veiled air with drenched sweat dripping down beneath a trail of oozing electric green chemicals. The steroid-like acidic chemicals melded with the loose foundation of stone underneath the fleeing man, where they vanished out of sight after being soaked in with the mist's assistance. Clutching his frail and injured arms together, the fleeing man's trail was covered up as he sped through a darkened alleyway breathing abnormally from the toxicity of his energy boosters malfunctioning from his prior battle.

"How...?" His deepened voice arose after realizing his strength proved nothing to his competitors. His breathing cut his voice off as he leaned his injured back against a mist-covered brick wall. He stripped his armored nanosuit off after realizing its functions ceased from prior injury. His slicked-back white hair appeared drenched with more sweat, combined with his nervousness from being defeated. "How is this possible? The power of my mistress and the suit combined... and that man still stood a chance against me?" He slammed his fist against the brick wall, clenching his teeth after realizing his utter failure. "Damn it all! This couldn't possibly be the way that this would end!"

"Zack?" The man's earpiece connected to his neural uplink remained. Lucia's usual menacing tone appeared more high-pitched and laid-back due to their partnership together. "Zack? Are you there? Are you okay? Where are you? Why are you not here?"

The white-haired man known as Zack shut his eyes as he inhaled deeply to process the pain of his toxic injections, along with his opponent's barrage from his unknown unique fighting stance. "I'm... I'm fine," He spoke out, pretending to Lucia that his condition was normal. "I don't understand how that man managed to defeat me. Who are they? And why did they have your suits?"

"They're the thieves who entered one of our hideouts in Libra just now," Lucia said, referencing Sumire. "Lucky for us, we received the coordinates for one of their associates who tried to assist her. She's such a pathetic human being. She could never understand my pain, yet she insisted on helping me. Only you know my pain, isn't that right, Zack?"

"I told you before that I don't remember anything about that," Zack said, bearing through the agony of his untended injuries. "And what do you mean she didn't understand your pain? What exactly did she say to you?"

"Does it matter?" Lucia retorted. "The fool she is, interfering with our plans to destroy those who made us suffer for so long. She believes there's another way out of this; through peace. Utterly laughable. There is no peace in this unjust society hellbent on crushing the weak."

"Lucia, she's..." Zack spoke without much thought. "She... she might be right."

"What?" Lucia's baffled voice exploded in anger. "What did you say to me? Are you saying that everything that we've worked for at this point, gathering the ancient machines of our time and rallying our soldiers and people for this one final push has been for naught?"

Zack closed his eyes even tighter after Lucia continued lecturing him as if he expected the surge of violent insults pushed onto him despite his loyalty to her cause. He continued to tune out as Lucia spoke about his unjust behavior and mindset.

"I knew it. I knew it all along," Lucia continued speaking quickly. "You and Charlotte were always against my wishes. I should never have trusted any of you. How could you say such a thing to me, Zack? Don't you love me? Did you not pledge your soul to my side? I am your everything! Everything you say or do is under my forbearance and my rules! Did you forget who took you in?"

"No," Zack muttered. "I'm just worried about you, that's all. This plan of yours, the plan to take over Aries... it just doesn't seem like you."

"Doesn't seem like me?" Lucia replied with an antagonistic and condescending tone. "What do you know about me, Zack? Have you ever tried to understand my perspective? Don't tell me you're siding with this black-haired nobody who thinks she can save me from this!"

"Black-haired nobody?" Zack asked, wanting to know more about the person involved in the Bellastraza raid incident.

Lucia projected multiple holographic screenshots for Zack to view on his neural uplink, detailing Sumire's presence on the ninth floor of the secret building. Pictures of Sumire rummaging through the files, audio files of her sympathizing and speaking to Lucia, and videos of her escaping the building while battling her wyrm surfaced on his interface. Zack's expression and reaction to Sumire's convincing speech and attitude were shockingly similar to his thoughts. Sumire's brown jeweled eyes placed him into a trance after reading deep within, like a psychic would.

"This is the girl? But those eyes of hers..." Zack whispered while observing Sumire's facial and body features to familiarize himself with her. "I've seen this pain before. I've seen this before in you, Lucia. The girl is right. We don't need to get hurt anymore. I've already pushed myself to the brink of death after nearly losing to that brat. Any more like this, and..."

"And you'll give up?" Lucia intervened. "Your power has always placed me at a disadvantage. I despise it whenever you read people's eyes like that. You could never get enough of this, could you? And you believe that this girl is correct? You think there are other ways of dealing with this?"

"There has to be, Lucia," Zack confirmed. "This girl... she could..."

"Then do not return home." Lucia coldly stated.

"Lucia!"

"If you believe that the word of this nobody matters more than me, then you have overstepped your boundaries," Lucia said. "My word is obsolete. No one shall shadow over me. This pathetic girl shall never defeat me! I shall take her associate and force her to come out of hiding. And you will watch as I kill her and strip her pride from limb to limb. Right here at the gallery! Right now!"

"Lucia, wait!" Zack called in regret. But it was too late; Lucia disconnected all communication with his neural uplink, forcing him to interpret what she had stated prior. He slammed his back against the brick wall in a harsh manner, contemplating whether or not his statements and words were meaningful to her, or whether or not she omitted them as meaningless vile talk. He continued braving through the toxic acidity of his chemical injections, watching his skin trickle down with remnants of his energy boosters.

There was an abrupt breakthrough in his mind that made his pain numb for several seconds. "Lucia..." He spoke to himself as he gently lifted his back off of the brick wall with his fingers unraveling the last of his shattered pieces of armor. He lifted his right hand over his shoulder to rip off his acidic pauldron as his mentality suddenly shifted after his defeat. Observing Sumire's eyes and the true nature of her pain in comparison to Lucia's began to make sense. Her precious words and suggestions resonated with Zack's thoughts, and as someone who devoted his life to protecting Lucia as her second-hand man, he knew that her survival would be for the best. "Damn it!"

Zack ejected his back off of the brick wall and sprinted down the alleyway while braving through the pain. His mind raced through the intensity of his wounds and Lucia's final words involving Sumire's associate. The gallery, he thought, piecing together the information of their previous hideout locations. As he leaped out from the alleyway, he entered the sidewalk of a street in the Virgo District separate from the highway running towards the Hullbreaker Tunnels. The sun was gradually setting, and so was his time.

"Meister Art Gallery. That's where she'll be." Zack whispered to himself, darting towards the street after piecing together the information successfully. He swept his right hand over to his chest and activated a button that transmitted a faraway signal to summon his private vehicle; a slim and compact motorcycle outlined in electric green trims with a shimmering silver primary color automatically sped through to Zack's current position. He leaped on, linked to his neural interface, and proceeded to drive against traffic to the Meister Art Gallery in the Libra District.

As he sped through traffic without much regard to his speed limit, Zack only had one thought in his mind that perpetuated and branched out to multiple; what was his purpose in life if the one he cherished was lost forever? His mind and Lucia's intertwined with one another; one could not exist without compromise. And yet, as Lucia's emotions continued waning, Zack was the one receiving the loss on the opposite side. He was built for her. Her joy was his joy. Her love was his love. And when Aries is decimated and all life is reduced to dust, the only thing standing strong will be Lucia, not him.

He knew this was not the way to live, yet he was clueless about the appropriate way to settle for his independence. He longed to understand the perspective of the one obligated to help his mistress and the way of life. Zack believed that if an outsider with no background knowledge about his mistress sought to rescue her from her delusions, then surely he wanted the same mindset. He suddenly realized after driving across multiple street intersections that there was no going back to his decision. Once he was recognized as a rebel for Lucia's organization, he would stay this way for Lucia's chaotic mindset would prove to be immutable.

Yet this was not only for her. This was for Zack as well, a man with no memory of his existence trapped in the depths of evil for eternity who broke free of his chains with Lucia. A man with no conscience, and a man with no regard for his sanity as long as it satisfied his mistress. And as the night settled and the destination was closing in, Zack longed to save her as well, even if it meant dwelling on enemy territory.

The Meister Art Gallery in Bellastraza was a block away, prompting Zack to create a sharp turn to the left into another empty alleyway. He immediately docked his motorcycle and utilized a claw-type mechanism to latch on top of the building above him to gain the high ground for recon. Once above, Zack peered down to the art gallery's main entrance to see beaming orange lights shining against wealthy individuals and couples entering the royal gallery like a cascade. Utilizing another head-attachment gadget that enhanced his vision, Zack used it to scan the front gates and found a strange shadow silhouette lingering behind a mosaic-designed wall a story above the entrance.

In the not-so-far distance near the gallery's docking station, Zack witnessed the Melody Dragon being moved in secrecy. He realized that Lucia was prepared to enact her final move against these unknown people that showed an interest in her plans, and it would end lives lost if nothing was done about it.

Zack kept his eye on the silhouette as he prepared to leap off of the rooftop with his claw gadget. Before he began, he watched the silhouette faded after exiting on the opposite side of the gallery. He sprinted across the rooftop and leaped to gain distance before firing the claw gadget on the rooftop of the gallery. He pulled himself in and placed his gadget away before sneaking towards a glass rooftop opened to allow air circulation.

He spotted Sumire at the front counter of the gallery speaking to a wealthy couple. He entered the establishment in secrecy and utilized his head-attachment gadget to hone in on her position, tuning into their conversation as the gadget amplified sound at the designated location.

"Excuse me for eavesdropping. But where was this stolen ancient item that you two mentioned? I am greatly enthusiastic about the… uh," Sumire cut herself off, and Zack was confused about what she was about to perform. "Legendary blueprint that you fine couples were speaking about. Do you know where I may find it?"

Black hair, custom nanosuit, slim figure, brown eyes. This girl's an idiot, Zack thought, shaking his head in response to Sumire's fake wealthy accent. They're never going to answer to someone who wants to find the piece to the particle accelerator, especially with that kind of tone.

"Why yes, but the area's completely off-limits now," The wealthy man responded." You're only going to find a 'Do Not Enter' sign there. I guess you are curious about the blueprint as well, yes? Unfortunately, it was only part of the legendary blueprints."

Zack opened his mouth wide in aghast. "You've got to be fucking kidding me." He silently churned in a whisper in such disappointment. After receiving the necessary information about what Sumire planned to do, Zack removed his head-attachment gadget. However, before he finished, his gadget detected numerous miniature sensors across the main hallway that scattered across the darkened areas of the orange-lit establishment. He scanned them using his gadget and found out that they were micro-sensors used to pick up sound frequencies.

"Perfect…" Zack said, tampering with one of the sound sensors. Now that his gadget could pick up every sound that the sensor played through a frequency, he no longer needed to remain inside the establishment. He returned to the rooftop and listened closely for closer instructions by eavesdropping into her conversation. "Now where the hell is that person Lucia took?" He asked himself, wiring into her voice through a dial that phoned in.

"Okay, and where the hell is it!?" Sumire's aggressive voice picked up through Zack's head-attachment gadget, catching him off-guard as the loud frequency transmitted her abrupt rage.

"She's spunky, I'll give her that," Zack whispered to himself. "This is the girl who's pledged her time to stop Lucia? This has to be some kind of joke."

"Oh my! If you want to know so badly, it's on the third floor! It should be in the painting area! Now leave us be!" The spontaneous wealthy woman voiced out to Sumire in response to her aggressive tone.

Zack tuned out of the conversation to move accordingly towards the position of the third floor. He gently stepped across the rooftops to avoid unnecessary and unwanted attention. He met with a mosaic-themed ceiling that showed a possibility of it being the third floor. The smudged individuals moving through appeared similar-looking, which Zack attributed to Lucia's mercenaries.

He remained there for several minutes until action began picking up. He reactivated his head-attachment gadget and caught Sumire speaking to another person on the opposite line of her neural uplink.

"I had to investigate myself when that lady talked about it," A voice informed Sumire. "Also, I was able to pull up the recording of Ryo and Natia's conversation during their mission at the tunnels. Turns out that one of Melody's top dogs told them about a particle accelerator that she's building to mess up Aries. But the ancient machine blueprint's separate from that. I can't find anything else regarding it. What do you think?"

"Top dogs…?" Zack spoke to himself. "He couldn't mean… Aubrie?" Did she reveal her damn plans to them? But… why? Unless… She and I think alike..."

"Guess the interrogator's gonna get interrogated," Sumire suggested as she made her way towards the second floor through a set of marble stairs. "How the hell did you learn how to do all this stuff? Have you ever thought about joining Sunlight?"

"That sounds great, seeing how I get to spend more time with Senpai," The man on the other end replied. "But sadly, it's going to be difficult. Remember, I have to take care of Miss Springwell's estate while recovering. Not to mention Star and Miss Springwell's cat."

Zack appeared impatient as his eyebrows slanted in confusion. "What the hell are they talking about? Sunlight? What is this? Ryo and Natia? A cat?" He spoke to himself once more before tuning out of their conversation. "This is ridiculous. Who are these people? They speak so differently from what I expected…"

After several minutes of waiting, Zack caught the smudgy silhouette of Sumire assaulting one of Lucia's mercenaries on the third floor. This prompted Zack to tune in back to the action with his gadget. He followed Sumire's position above the rooftops as he found her entering a vandalized location inside the gallery where the ancient machine part was suggested to be. However, he lost her position as soon as she descended a flight of stairs that led to the underground.

"Shit," Zack whispered after removing his head gadget. "I'll lose her."

Zack snatched one of his toxic energy vials from his inventory and splashed it against the mosaic ceilings to incinerate it without attracting or starting any noise. He slipped inside the third floor and landed properly before sneaking behind Sumire's position in the underground. He noticed her stopping and standing still to bask in the violent tendencies of Lucia's vandalism at the behest of the mercenaries for hire. Zack hid behind a granite pillar to hide as Sumire shook her head in disappointment.

"You know if the boss is gonna be here tonight?" Zack picked up on two of Lucia's mercenaries speaking ahead using his sound frequency. "She scares me, man. I expected her to be a pony princess from that planet of hers, but damn. All the things I heard about her are scary as shit."

She was never like this, Zack thought as he pieced together the information about Planet Vicious and Lucia's relationship with it. She is better than this. Much better.

"I guess she expected the bitch and her friend to come here tonight because that thing we hauled was some huge ass shit. Speaking of which, how'd we let her escape? Now we're gonna have to fuck up that other guy if we wanna know about what's happening with them." The mercenary indicated, leading Zack to confirm that the Melody Dragon was purposefully dragged out to kill Sumire and the others.

After the mercenaries finished their conversation, Zack took notice of multiple things in his vicinity: there was a bathroom located several feet ahead on his left, Sumire ducked in a shadowy corner several more feet behind a wall, and the mercenary began to approach the hallway where both of them remained. As the mercenary stopped his walk to head to the bathroom, Zack watched as Sumire stealthily made way for his target. Zack stepped in several seconds after, hiding behind a shattered wall filled with debris scattered across his legs.

"Where's the boy?" Zack heard Sumire's forceful voice take over her. He peeked his head and saw her armed with an energy blade on her right gauntlet aimed directly near the mercenary's neck.

"You... you're that bitch that got away," The mercenary replied. "Fuck you."

"I don't have time for this shit." Sumire impatiently said as she plunged her blade into the mercenary's thigh.

"Ah, fuck you, you fucking bitch!" The mercenary cried.

Zack wasn't sure what was happening. A woman who spoke casually about what he believed to be afternoon sunlight, cats, and friends had more interrogation skills than he had ever known in another individual. Determining Sumire's true identity seemed to be even more troublesome than usual. Using the background information that Lucia provided him about her raid at the Bellastraza Tower for more information, Zack was careful not to judge her capabilities. She may have spoken like a casual individual without a care in the world about secrecy, but she meant business despite that.

"I said... where is he?" Sumire's voice repeated once more.

"Downstairs..." The mercenary muttered. "Second floor on the left..."

"That's all you had to say, you bastard," Sumire said as she leaned the back of his head against the wall. "You wanted to torture him that badly, huh? And you didn't want to hold back."

Torture… Zack thought, piecing together the information regarding Lucia's previous quip about kidnapping Sumire's associate. This confirmed that she was indeed in the underground hangar where the Melody Dragon was kept. Luckily, Lucia could not track his location because of his weakened nanosuit that failed to create a frequency for a signal. After feeling relieved that he could hide in secrecy, Zack hearing Lucia's method of torture for information had gone much too far from her peaceful beliefs before losing her home planet. He wondered if that part in her would revive itself after dying for so long.

"Suck my fat dick, bitch..." The mercenary spat. "You and that boy deserve to die. Hope you get fucked, you stupid-"

Without letting the mercenary finish his sentence, Zack watched Sumire execute the mercenary. She plunged her blade into the man's heart and tossed him aside like trash. Zack spontaneously was impressed at Sumire's lack of remorse as he had a keen interest in those who reasonably asserted themselves. The mercenary asked to die, Zack thought. There was nothing more that could save him. This woman… means business. Perhaps if nothing goes her way, she might end up killing my mistress as well, Zack thought. Perhaps I should end her right here and-

"No..." Zack heard Sumire whimper and collapse into tears after removing her helmet visor. Her plunged princess-like ponytail swayed back and forth as she shook her head, denying the incident. Zack remained frozen as his previous identifications regarding Sumire's bloodlust went void in an instant. "No, no…" Sumire muttered again.

What is this? What am I watching, Zack thought as his bitter heart beat rapidly as he remained in denial. This can't be right. She wasn't hesitant to kill that man. She sought his blood for reasons that I understand. She's willing to project herself in any manner to get what she wants. Are you telling me… that this is all just an act? She's shaking. She's hurt. She regrets her actions. But… why? What kind of person is this…?

Footsteps suddenly arrived behind Zack's position. He would have been discovered, but Zack used the last of his strength along with his recharged nanosuit to activate its camouflaging abilities. The man that Zack battled at the Virgo Factory arrived abruptly in front of Sumire. He held his breath in after being enraged at the fact that he was defeated by such an amateur fighter. A fluke. It was a fluke!

"Sumire, stop!" The man cried, stroking her hair. "It's okay. We have to go. We have to find Naoto."

Sumire… Zack attuned to her name, finding it has a particularly soothing ring to it. Now that he thought about her name, several other thoughts raced to her head. For someone who wanted to help Lucia cut out the past from Planet Vicious by any means possible, Zack noticed that Sumire's voice and appearance were very substantial.

She appeared like an foreigner that possibly originated from Earth. This prompted Zack to peek his head out to examine Sumire even further, finding her having a sudden allure to her that piqued his interest. He couldn't tell if it was an abrupt tingle in his head that prompted him to approach the two and offer them guidance on how to defeat Lucia, or if it was just his imagination. For some odd reason, after hearing Sumire's background information, his thoughts somehow attuned and resonated with his like a conjoined mind. Both of them had the same goals of wanting to protect Lucia and end her chaotic cause.

And what's the deal with this man touching her hair like that, Zack thought as he slipped behind his position once more. Could he be her boyfriend?

"No, I can't..." Zack heard Sumire speak as he peeked back out. He noticed Sumire's eyes were reddened beyond disbelief. "Ryo, I... I killed him. I didn't mean to... I just... he just... he said about..."

So she does feel remorse over that, Zack thought. But he was a nobody. He deserved it after goading her. What kind of soft-hearted girl is this Sumire? And this person named Ryo… he will pay sooner or later. He injured my pride.

"I know, I know..." Ryo whispered as he embraced Sumire. "Listen to me, Sumire. I know how it feels to be angry. You've known for a while now. And sometimes we can't control ourselves, just like what I did. I know it hurts, but his goal was to kill you and Naoto. This was an act of defense-"

"No, it wasn't! I took his life away because I saw my father in him. But my goal wasn't to kill him. I wanted to prove him wrong that I could live freely, but I can't...!"

Her father…? What happened to her and her father? Zack pushed himself back again, thinking about Sumire's background even further. What does she mean by that? Live freely? What did her father do to her that made her break down like this?

Zack pressured his back against the shattered wall, still camouflaged from sight. I can't even remember my father, he thought. But having a father, one of the only people in your life who were destined to support you, helped give birth to you… and having him hurt you… is even worse than not having a father to begin with. This girl must have been fucked up before if she compared killing that man to her father. Goddamn it all. I want to help, but my life with Lucia...

"Yes, you can," Ryo continued speaking. You can. You overstepped. You recognized you went too far and you won't do it again. You went past your limits and you can change things now."

"So can you, Ryo...! "You can too. You can...! You can..." She cried as she buried her face into Ryo's shoulder.

"I know," Ryo said, holding her dearly. "I know."

Both of them? Zack thought once more. He watched as they silently embraced each other like lovers, and Zack had enough. He saw this as a brainwashing tactic after their behavior differed so much from Lucia's primal and aggressive personality. Having them bond was incredulously sappy and offered Zack a different emotion stirring inside him that he couldn't identify. Was it love? No. Was it family? Never had any.

But somehow, this feeling makes me warm. Much warmer than Lucia…

"We can talk about this later," Ryo said after releasing his grip on Sumire. "Naoto's right underneath us. We have to go!" He snatched her arm and began pulling her in the exit from where Zack remained to hide.

Zack watched Sumire follow Ryo outside of the bathroom. Yet, just before Sumire exited, time froze as soon as Zack met his gaze upon her from up close. There was a peculiar tingling feeling inside his stomach and mind after witnessing her up close for the first time in that split second. Her dazzling slender appearance with her bubbled, blushing, and rosy cheeks. Her unknown background made Zack much more interested in her. Her tears raining down her cheeks were salty and filled with remorse; it seemed that Lucia's description of her cruelty and strict morals were false and strictly damaged her reputation based on word of mouth. At first, she was nothing but a nobody seeking to dive into the affairs of his beloved mistress that protected him for years on end.

But things are different now, Zack thought. She's diving into unknown territory without a single fear in her heart. She doesn't know Lucia, yet she pushes herself to the very end. She has a troubled father who impacted her in some way. She suggested alternatives for saving Lucia. Why? Why is she doing this? Is this for her secret organization mission hellbent on taking her down? No, that couldn't be. Her heart's too soft. She's crying right now. Her heart isn't like that. Why? Why is she doing this?

There's just something about her that makes me feel... different.

None of this makes sense. None of it.

As Sumire's figure trailed off into the hallway, Zack's eyes followed along wanting to know more about her. However, she vanished from sight. Zack stood up from his position sensing the numbness in the soles of his feet. His heart plunged deep into his stomach after he stuck his head piqued with curiosity over Sumire's true desires and morals. She disappeared into the interrogation chamber underneath, leaving Zack alone to determine the truth of Lucia's validity.

"You..." Zack whispered to himself after the photographic image of Sumire remained embedded in his mind. Her pale face, her slender figure, and her brave personality were something he never believed to have existed in such a person. Even Lucia could not compare to her. He brushed his slicked-back silver hair after sensing a change of heart in his system. "Who are you?"

Without another word, Zack's heart triggered an arise in his movement. He stumbled back into the hallway to follow their tracks, believing that the Melody Dragon would end their affairs immediately.

Who do I protect now?