XENOGEARS: POWER, TRUTH AND LOVE
by: Joshua Loomis (jeloomis@planetx.bloomu.edu)
DISCLAIMER
This fic is being written without the consent of
Squaresoft or any of it's affiliates. I am making no
money from this endeavor, so I am in no way
compromising their copyrights. I'm simply doing
this for fun, and because I have far too much
free time on my hands. -_^ Here endeth the
lesson.
NOTES
-This fic is, obviously, based on the Square RPG
'Xenogears'. It's no problem if you haven't played
it, but you'll certainly enjoy it more if you have.
-This fic refers to incidents that took place in
Amber Michelle's wonderful fic, "Shadows Falling."
Go here to read it. http://www.zenogias.com/fanfic.html
* * * * *
CHAPTER ONE
* * * * *
Power.
It is sought by many. Be it in the form of
enlightenment, money, or pure dominantion, power
is one of the main driving forces of man. It is
a desire born deep inside us, a drive to become
the best, the greatest.
For some, the quest for power is simply a
quest for something else. To know oneself... to
protect another... to right a wrong... to better
one's position... all these could be called quests
for power. Not necessarily selfish ones, in fact
some are quite selfless, but they all are quests
for power in one form or another.
Some... a slim few... realise that true power
comes from sharing your life with one other
person. This power, the power of love, can
overcome any obstacle, defeat any foe. Faith is
also a powerful weapon, but being able to touch
the source of your power, to see their face and
hear their voice, grants more power than any
weapon or technique ever could.
And then there are those who seek power itself.
They could be called evil, misguided, twisted,
or insane. But these seekers of power, these
men or women that seek their own, either see the
error in such a selfish quest and move to amend
their ways, or acquire it and become what could
only be called evil. Beings that live only for
themselves, for their own desires, to gain more
and more power and dominance until they rule all.
They might call it 'supremecy,' 'superiority,' or
even 'the Ultimate Power.' The defeat of this kind
of self-serving power-monger, the disproving of
their selfish theory that this 'Ultimate Power' comes
from force or death, brings peace, the opportunity
for other, less selfish quests for power to come to
fruition, and for love to blossom as it should.
Unfortunately, someone always seeks the
'Ultimate Power' from a source that they can covet
for themselves, and the silence of peace and the
progess of true love are unkindly shattered... It
is a cycle, the apex being the truth and light of
peace and love, the nadir being the darkness of
war, selfishness and death.
Another nadir approaches...
* * * * *
- JOURNAL ENTRY -
I saw it again. The Red Gear, in all its glory,
presiding over a reign of destruction in the desert.
It picked up a pirate ship and threw it at another Gear.
I must discover the secrets of this Gear, and acquire it.
I feel it is my destiny...
- JOURNAL ENTRY -
I believe now that the Red Gear is useless without
its pilot. I followed it to Noturne where it assumed
the form of a black Gear. I could not see the pilot, but
I know he is now held prisoner in D Block. I acquired
several pictures of the black Gear and with them, perhaps
I can discover the identity of the Gear and its pilot.
Inquiries will begin in Noturne.
- JOURNAL ENTRY -
Further attempts to discover more about Fei Fong
Wong have come up fruitless. I will attempt tonight
to hack into the hidden databases of Solaris and see
what they have to say. I cannot trust the normal
software to evade Solaris' countermeasures...I must
jack in myself. My colleague, Dr. Hun, suggests this
is an illogical course of action, but I feel it is
necessary...
- JOURNAL ENTRY -
He thinks me mad.
Dr. Hun has opposed every cybernetic implant
I've given myself. First the neural jack, then the
nanotech systems, even this simple internal journal
program. Doesn't he realise the kind of power we
could share with the Red Gear in our possession??
Enough about my unenlightened colleague. Fei
Fong Wong has quite an interesting history. But the
records are incomplete. I must dive into Solaris
again, or perhaps Shevat. I hear Shevat's database
defenses are even better than Solaris', and I barely
avoided being brain-fried by the space station
dwelling bastards...No matter. I will find what
I am looking for. I must.
- JOURNAL ENTRY -
... acquired more records... even more
fascinating... Hun thinks I need medical help...
journal program malfunctioning...
- JOURNAL ENTRY -
... Hun is dead... had to kill him...was in my
way... had to kill... tapping into Gazel records...
forbidden files...
- JOURNAL ENTRY -
... Eldridge... Deus... Gears... Zohar... the...
key... is... Zohar... must... find... Zohar...
- JOURNAL ENTRY -
F R T
A E
G M N D
E
L G
S
O N
I
O
C S O
H I
E N
M T
S
U
F N
D
I
Z
O
H
A
R
- JOURNAL ENTRY -
I FOUND IT.
* * * * *
"Come on. Am I gonna wait all day?"
Fei Fong Wong cocked an eyebrow at his opponent.
While he'd rather spend the day painting, some people
insisted on sparring so he could keep his body in shape
and his mind sharp. His opponent came at him, and
he blocked the incoming blow, the metal feeling cold
and hard against his skin. But he snapped his arm
down to catch the metal weapon before it could
hit him again, and found that his opponent was fast,
as the weapon slid from his grip even as he
tighened his fingers around it.
Shrugging, Fei unleashed a kick for the chest
of his opponent, who ducked back and moved in for
a counterstrike. Fei had to take a step back, but
then took another one forward, snapping his head
in a decisive nodding motion. Again, his
opponent outmaneuvered him and avoided being
headbutted. Fei took another step forward...
*FEI*
Fei heard his name as if shouted by a distant
yet familiar voice. He suddenly saw, in his mind's
eye, a shaft of light falling into darkness, playing
across an empty cavern, and shining in that sunlight
was a single eye, etched into a monolithic free-
standing structure...that Fei had seen before...
"Zohar?!?"
The recognition hit him the same time the
metal rod did.
"Fei!!"
Elly leapt back as Fei staggered. She had
thought her attempted strike to his head would've
been easily blocked, but a vacant look had crossed
Fei's face the split-second before her rod had struck
him right in the cheek. She covered her mouth
with her free hand as he hit the mat.
"Oh my God... Fei!"
She rushed to his side and helped him sit
up. He looked dazed, but all right. She gently
kissed the tender spot on his cheek and he blinked
a couple times.
"You okay?" she asked.
"I think so..." he ventured, rubbing his
cheek. "That was... really weird."
"I'm sorry..." Elly began.
"No, it's all right. I was just distracted."
"By what?"
"I don't know exactly. I just felt like
someone was calling my name... it was a voice I've
heard before, but not in a while... and I saw...
Zohar..."
"Zohar? But..."
"I know, I know, it sounds nuts, but I know
that the very last thing I saw before you hit me
was Zohar. It was the big monolithic thing with
the eye in the top of it..."
"Fei, I believe you. But why Zohar? It's
been shut down for months now..."
"Papa-san!"
Fei and Elly looked up as Emeralda came
running in. While she had matured in her ways
of communication, and no longer called Fei "Kim,"
ever since they'd taken her into their home she'd
referred to Fei as "Papa-san," which Elly found
to be cute.
"I'm okay, Emmy," Fei said with a smile.
"I heard you get hit...you sure?"
"Yeah...don't go hitting Elly or anything."
"I wouldn't...!"
"It's a joke, Emeralda, don't worry about it,"
Elly said with a smile. "Need help up, Fei?"
Fei let Emeralda and Elly help him to his
feet. As they did, there was a knock on the door.
They had moved into Taura's house after the old
sage had passed on, leaving the house to Fei and
Elly. The note tacked on the door had said so,
which left Fei puzzled but happy. The place
was roomy, even more so after Citan had moved
Taura's equipment out to examine back at his house.
Fei had built this small dojo, however, not only
because Elly wanted one, but because Bart and Rico
promised to come back and "kick Fei's butt" as Bart
had put it.
They walked back into the house and Fei sat
down on the couch. Elly sat next to him, and Emmy
returned to the kitchen, where she was making dinner.
Fei figured, from the lack of black smoke and the
fact that the smells were pleasant and not cough-
inducing, that she was being successful this time, as
opposed to the two other times she'd tried to cook.
Fei was wondering what she was making when a rather
rapid knock came at the door. Fei got up and pulled
the door open.
Standing there, under a darkening sky, was Citan.
His glasses were perched on the end of his nose,
slightly precociously, and his face was a picture
of worry. Fei had never seen Doc lose his composure
like this...and it worried him, as well.
"Doc?" Fei asked. "What is it? What's wrong?"
"Fei...someone has reactivated Zohar."
Thunder rolled, as if an ominous punctuation to
Citan's statement. That's when Fei noticed what was
standing behind Doc. It was Doc's Gear, Fenrir.
Fenrir...an OmniGear...immobile after Zohar was
shut down months ago...supposedly unable to leave the
Yggdrasil...yet now standing outside his door...
Elly would never forget the way the color drained
from Fei's face.
* * * * *
Joshua Loomis ("`-''-/").___..--''"`-._
English Major `6_ 6 ) `-. ( ).`-.__.`)
& (_Y_.)' ._ ) `._ `. ``-..-'
Jedi Master _..`--'_..-_/ /--'_.' ,'
(il),-'' (li),' ((!.-'
email: jeloomis@planetx.bloomu.edu
cougar_jel@hotmail.com
homepage: http://members.xoom.com/cougar_jel/
"Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" -Percy Bysshe Shelley,
"Ozymandias"
"The lunatic, the lover, and the poet Are of imagination all compact."
- William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream
(Act V, Scene 1, l.7-8)
"Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda
"The worst foe lies within the self."
-Parasite Eve
"Faith can move mountains. Lack of faith makes them out of
molehills."
- The Sage, "Ziggy"
Follow your heart and you'll never get lost.