Young Writers Society

"M-Maggie!"

The door slams shut in response, leaving me stunned. I stand alone now, still in my dress uniform in a part of the Jeweloid Sector that I have never investigated before. It's now that I look around. Doors line the hall, each numbered. It doesn't take much to figure out that each room belongs to a Jeweloid. I must have followed Maggie to their barracks.

After standing there a moment longer, I sigh, rubbing the back of my neck as I turn to go back the way I came.

How did I get myself in yet another predicament with her? Well, there's a simple answer; she told me off.

After her official introduction, she was acting normally. Allowing me to escort her, she and I met many of the visiting officials that had come to gawk at her, and to my surprise, had kept a relatively tight hold on me. Whenever we'd reach the few minute mark with a group, she'd nudge me, and telepathically ask that I get us out of the conversation. I did successfully five times, and she appeared very grateful, and gave the chance to see glimpses of the Maggie I know in return. She made commentary about some of the people that made me chuckle, smiled at me, and even mouthed a thank you. It didn't take an engineer to see that Maggie wasn't a big fan of the rather pompous individuals that were surrounding her, but to think that after the things that have been happening, the thought that she'd attach herself to me seemed rather odd. But, I didn't care about that at the time, I was just happy to finally see the girl I know come out. It was wonderful.

At least, it was until we had spoken to the final official; Kasami. He was smiling from ear to ear, so happy to see that Maggie and I were finally acting like we used to. He gave me the usual pat on the back, then took her hand in his, complementing her dress in a much more wholesome way than anyone else had. After a few minutes of speaking, he gave us the ok to leave the mixer, and departed. Almost instantly, Maggie's warm countenance dropped, and she requested that we go. I protested for a moment, but Maggie insisted, and I conceded so to save the positive atmosphere of the evening.

Unfortunately, my attempt was futile. Maggie allowed me to escort her out of the room, but once we got to the hall, she began to speak differently.

"Isugoro."

"Yes?"

"Now that we are alone, I can explain the truth about your position holding," she said, her voice dry of compassion.

My brow furrowed in confusion, and I looked down at her. "What do you mean?" I asked.

She met my gaze for only a second before she went on, "To be honest, I was unsure if I wanted to let you keep your candidacy. My options, or shall I say, the lack there of, though made me realize that I couldn't simply throw you away, so as you can imagine, there's a bit of a predicament."

My eyes widened slightly as the revelation hit me. My heart stalled for a moment, and a sickening feeling of dread and confusion slowly began to poison my body. I shifted my gaze to the floor as I allowed the thought to cross my mind. She was trying to throw me away.

"Then, of course, you have to take into account what may happen if I were to refuse you," Maggie continued unphased, "Numerous higher up idiots would try to grab for the spot of being my Partner, and I'm not interested in getting wrapped up in that kind of chaos. Not to mention Kasami would be so disappointed to see that it didn't work out after all that happened prior."

I was speechless, unable to do anything but listen as I felt my value beginning to crumble.

Then, the nail in the coffin, "So it looks like I'm stuck with you at this point."

I stopped dead in my tracks, actually catching her off guard. She looked over at me, studying my face with a too innocent expression. There's no way that she couldn't know that what she just said struck me right in my pride. Letting her words sink in, memories of the past six months flashed through my mind.

All that training, all the blood and sweat I had poured into becoming a better soldier so that I could take on the role of Partner and not be looked down on . . . all the work I had done to keep my promise to her, now . . . it meant nothing.

My stomach twisted inside out and an almost nauseous sensation spread through me. I didn't know if I should have been angry or sad, the only emotion I could read clearly in my state of shutdown was confusion. I could feel rage boiling deep in me, but something else was drowning it; despair.

"Isugoro?"

Her voice jolted me, and before I could fully compose myself, I cracked a little.

"So, that's it?" I said quietly through gritted teeth. Her eyes widened, unsure how to respond to my words, making the crack grow. "You're just gonna say shit like that and not even going to try to tell me why?" I continued in my hushed tone, "I don't even get a damn hint?"

I could sense her becoming uncomfortable, as her relaxed hold on my arm started to become rigid. I softened my expression, then turned my gaze to meet hers, and for the first time, I saw something flash through her eyes. I couldn't lay a finger on what exactly it was, but it was only there for a millisecond before her cold exterior reformed.

"You don't deserve one," she stated simply.

With that, she let go of me, and hurried down the hall way. Without thinking about it, I raced after her, as I definitely wasn't finished. I was impressed that even in that gown, she was able to keep up a decent pace ahead of me, until she came to a stop all of a sudden, still facing away from me. I didn't know why until I caught up, and met with a slap to my face. I stumbled back a step, before I looked up, surprised to see HERA standing between Maggie and I. Her glare was menacing, and slowly, a devious smile rose on her lips.

"What do you think you're up to Jintez?" she asked slowly, her velvety voice dripping in venom.

Despite my sanity alarms screaming at me to stand down, I stood my ground as I met her stare. I wasn't in the mood to deal with her. "HERA . . . this doesn't involve you." I asked with a coldness in my tone.

She raised an eyebrow, "You're still such a stubborn young man. I guess some things never change."

"Step aside, HERA," I said.

"Excuse me? When do you forget your manners?" HERA asked, her eyes narrowing dangerously, "You are a bug under my shoe, and under her's as well. She finally realized that."

"What kind of bullshit did you feed her-" I started.

"Me?" HERA interrupted, "This wasn't any of my work. I just told her what she needed to know."

I glanced from HERA to Maggie, seeing that she still wasn't moving. I stepped forward slightly, "Maggie, please just talk to me-"

"She will not speak to the likes of you-" HERA interrupted, stepping closer to me.

"Than let her say it!" I snapped, looking straight back at HERA. For the first time ever, I saw intimidation in HERA's eyes. I will admit, I have never acted so forward with her before, because well, she could probably karate chop me in half. But, considering the stress of the situation, I was fed up her antics of trying to degrade me. To my surprise, she seemed to understand that, and didn't move, she simply returned a deadly glare.

"You are a stupid man," she spit.

I paid no attention, I turned my thoughts back towards Maggie and tried forward one more time.

"Maggie, please-" I began.

"LAPIS."

Both HERA and my eyes widened, stunned. Maggie turned her head slightly, just enough so I could see the tattoo on her cheek, but not her eyes. Then, in a quiet voice she simply said, "You will call me LAPIS, understood?"

It went quiet for what felt like ages, before I tried to speak again, "Please-"

"Enough!" she snapped, before her shoulders fell a bit, and in a calmed tone, she replied, "Maggie Smith no longer exists. Address me as LAPIS or else I will make your crime known to the Commander himself."

I couldn't move after that. I was so unsure that I wasn't able to react when Maggie turned toward HERA, and gestured to her, "Come along, HERA."

HERA even seemed taken back by Maggie's actions, but she quickly regrouped herself and walked past her to open the door ahead. Once she passed the threshold, Maggie spoke one final time, "Go to where you belong, Isugoro. They'll let you know when they need you."

Her words broke my stance, and as she walked through, I said only what I knew to say.

"M-Maggie!"

And that's when HERA slammed the door shut.

As I try to retrace my steps, a depression settles over me. I'm so confused, I don't know what to think. Hell, where do I even start? One minute, she won't let go of me, the next, she acts like she hates my guts. What could I have possibly done that would justify any of this?!

"Ack!"

Suddenly, my foot catches on something. Before I end up falling flat on my face, which would've been the perfect icing on my crappy day, I'm able to catch myself, leaning on the wall. I sigh in relief, then look back to see what it was I tripped on. Once my eyes catch it, I'm taken back.

Laying abandoned on the floor is a shoe, a very expensive looking low heeled stiletto, trimmed with small blue and yellow stones. I pick it up and look it over, seeing that the navy fabric has small gold threads sewn in that reflect the light. Seeing it up close, the style and size of it tell me that the owner of it is obviously Maggie. She must have kicked it off while running away from me, and in my own haste I didn't even notice. I walk further and it's not long before I find the other shoe, and I chuckle depressingly to myself.

"No wonder she was able to run so fast . . . " I trail as I study them.

My eyes linger on them a bit longer before something rather odd happens. I start laughing, and it's not a normal chuckle this time, I just begin dying right there in the hallway. To any sane person that could happen to walk out or cross my path, I look like I've lost it. But to me, I suppose you could call this my version of defense. If I weren't to laugh, I suppose I'd fall apart at some point.

I pull myself together eventually, and make my way back to my room, walking in to find my clothes neatly folded at the end of my bed. I suppose they brought them back here after they ripped them off of me earlier. I yawn slightly, walking over to my bathroom. Once I flip on the light, and close the door, I'm shocked by my reflection in the mirror. It's strange, I can tell it's me, but something about the combination of the uniform, the work of the women, and the my slightly red cheek, still warm to the touch from HERA sharp slap, makes the person I see feel foreign. I quickly get out of the jacket, hanging it from the door handle before I unbutton the undershirt a bit. After about five buttons, I pause, and sigh.

"That's a bit better," I mumble to myself as I run a hand through my hair, messing it up a bit to look normal. Staring a bit longer, I start to feel the sensation from before starting to creep it's way back, and I do my best to distract myself. I turn the faucet and cup my hands together as the water begins to flow out steadily. The cool liquid calms my nerves a bit and I lean over splashing some of it in my face, making the spot feel better under the colder drops. After a few more times, I turn off the water, and look back up at the mirror. Water still drips down my face, and it's now I see just how bloodshot my eyes are, making the blue hue even more pronounce than normal.

I groan, and reach for the towel, washing off my face as I walk out, turning off the light as I cross the threshold. Once I'm close enough, I basically fall onto my bed, my face sinking into the soft blanket. I stay there a moment before I turn over to lay on my back, and I find myself studying the ceiling again. I do this way too often.

I bring a hand up to my face and I message my temple. Today's been long.

Within moments, I feel my eyelids becoming heavy, and I let sleep take me.

Luckily I don't really have a dream, I'm more or less just stuck in a dark void of some kind, which after everything that happened, I am ok with. But, as time passes, at some point, it feels like something has engulfed me, not the void per say, but something warmer. I feel all my muscles relax, and my mind is lulled into a state of calm as I hear a far off melody. I don't recognize it, but honestly, it's not the melody or words I'm intrigued by, but the voice itself. Never before have I ever heard something like it. It's sweet, but strong, each curve in the melody carved gracefully by the beautiful tone. Though, one thing does make me curious.

The voice, female, sounds sad . . . why is she upset?

What happened?

. . . I'm sorry.

My eyes burst open, surprised to see the sun shining through the cracks in my blinds. After a second to grasp myself, I sit up, surprised that I'm under the blanket, and no longer laying ajar on the bed. I'm still in my undershirt in dress pants, but my shoes have been taken off, sitting neatly on the floor beside my bed. I blink, and look around. Nothing else has been touched, as all my things sit in the exact locations I last saw them in before I passed out. Looking a moment longer, I start to debate with myself what happened. I don't sleep walk, and I would've remembered some point of being away to getting in bed, so I definitely didn't put myself to bed. Cent may have done it, but I don't know if he still has a pass key.

And there's no one else I can think of.

My mind shifts to my dream, and I freeze as I recall the last part. The hair on my arm stands slightly as I think it over.

"That voice at the end . . . " I trail, "That was definitely Maggie's voice."

My first thought is that I'm pathetic. Seriously, I'm so screwed over by this that I'm having weird dreams with her involved? Though, the longer I think on it, the more I start to think it was more than a dream. Just the way it sounded, I don't how to explain it, but it felt too real to just be a passing part of a dream. There was substance behind it.

It's then that a small shine catches my eye. I look over to see Maggie's heels sitting in the corner by the bathroom door. I suppose I was so distracted that I brought them all the way to my room. I get out of bed and walk over to pick them up, looking them over once again as I try to think of what to do with them. Well, I can't just give them to anyone, someone will want to know what exactly happened to make her lose both of her shoes, not to mention how I got a hold of them. After a few minutes of thought, I decide I'll just keep them stored in my room, and at some point, I'll tell Maggie herself that I have them.

"You will call me LAPIS, understood?"

I pause as I recall her words. She doesn't want me to call her Maggie. I run a hand through my hair as I think about it. I know I'll slip. I can't called her LAPIS, I promised her I'd call her Maggie. Even if she's against it now, I know that there is a part of her that doesn't want things to be like this. I know I've gotten the mental crap beaten out of me, but I can't just give in because there was one obstacle. Something very serious happened to Maggie, even if she won't tell me about it, just knowing that it affected her this bad means she was really hurt by whatever it was. And, I don't know why, but I feel like I have a duty to figure out what happened.

I pick up the shoes and put them in one of the empty higher drawers of my dresser, closing it silently as I remember my position.

Even if she doesn't want me to be right now, I am the first candidate to become her Partner. With that in mind, it is my job to keep her safe, and to do so, I have to figure out what's going on.

And once I do, I need to make amends with Maggie.

With my mission in mind, I quickly change and rush out to breakfast. To Cent and the others' surprise, I don't talk much, too busy trying to eat my food as fast as possible. Anna looks a bit grossed out, while Sammy and Savannah seem just . . . confused. I don't really help when I barely sign off a goodbye when I stand and leave soon after. Once out, I hurry over to Kasami's office, walking in without a knock. Kasami looks startled, surprised by my actions.

"I-Isugoro, what are you doing here so early-" he starts.

"Where is she?" I ask.

He blinks, "What?"

"I know HERA wouldn't let her sleep in, do you know where she is?" I reply.

Once he understands, he nods, "Oh, LAPIS, ok . . . um, I believe she's doing weapons testing this morning."

"Weapons testing?" I repeat.

"A lot of Jeweloids do it right after being introduced, it's round one of the Final Test," he explains, "But you'll hear more about that later." He walks over to his desk and pulls out a map with a vertical layout of Gelus. After a moment, he points to a shooting range close to Marcus' training area. With a grin he says, "She'll be somewhere in there."

"And HERA?" I ask.

"She just left, she has meetings with the Commander that she had to attend today so she won't be back till 16:00," Kasami replies, "Anything else you need?"

"No," I reply, before I look him straight in the eye, "Thank you for this."

Before he can say anything, I'm out the door. I follow the way I know to get to Marcus' training room before I turn a different direction down the hall, and miraculously, I find the shooting range. I take some ear buds from the shelf and walk in, looking to see only one cubby is currently preoccupied. Maggie stands facing the targets, aiming with a larger gun than what I've seen her with before. Though, it's not long before she pulls the trigger and she lands within the kill zone. Not a bulls-eye, but still deadly.

I walk over to the keeper, and pull out my tags, "I'm her Partner, can I get the same simulation artillery?"

He looks over the tags to see I'm telling the truth, then goes to the holograph screen nearby, pressing in some codes. Then, he looks back at me and nods, "Your weapons will appear in the same order as hers. It appears she checking out everything, you good with that?"

"Yeah," I reply.

"Ok, you're in the cubby next to her," he says, handing me goggles, "Wish ya good shooting."

"Thanks," I answer.

With that, I take a deep breath, and head over to the shooting range. To my surprise, it seems Maggie hasn't even noticed I'm here, which helps me feel better I get set up. I show my tags to the screen, logging me into the system, before targets start to move into identical position as Maggie's, and a large portable machine gun appears.

I sigh, "Go big or go home I guess."

I look over, and see that she's having some difficulty loading, which makes me feel bad. I start to speak, but I stop myself. I want her to notice me first before I say anything.

So, in the only way I know how, I load the gun, and prepare to get her attention through nothing other than noise. I set it up against my shoulder and aim down range at the farthest target, a good hundred yards away.

Simple.

I switch the safety off, and pull the trigger, sending bullets flying. The recoil reverberates through my body as I move from target to target, putting a good fifteen shots in all six targets before I run out. I sigh, and set the gun back on the stand, looking over without thinking. I'm startled to see Maggie just staring at me in shock and occasionally looking down range at the tattered targets. I then look at hers and see she only took out four of the six.

She looks a bit depressed by the sight, but I grin, "Is this your first time with that gun?"

She doesn't speak a word to me, simply staring at me. Though, after a moment, she nods a bit robotically. I chuckle, "That's impressive, I couldn't take down a single one until my fourth try at it."

I receive no reply, but it does seem that my words do make her feel better about the run. It's then that our guns disappear, as well as our targets, before replaced with new targets at different angles and distances, and a smaller .22 caliber rifle. I pick mine up in sync with Maggie, and it's easy to see that she has some experience with this gun.

Both of us cock and raise at the same time, and it's not long before our shots begin to ring throughout the shooting range. Once the mirage of bullets settles down, we both get standings. Each of us delivered instant kills to all of our targets, but it seems I was faster than her. The fact causes her to send me a glare, and I grin. "Hey, it's just practice," I say kindly.

Not saying a word, she shrugs me off. This is how our time at the shooting range goes for the good part of the time, both of us shooting, and while waiting for the change out, me saying something to her. At first, I just get glares and the occasional nod or head shake in reply to a yes or no question, but as time passes, she seems to relax enough that she grins, and even giggles quietly when she sees that she finally did better than me in a category (it was a pistol of course).

Finally, I try to make a move. "So, you don't seem too freaked by guns," I say as we set up a sawed off shot gun.

". . . Why would I be?" she finally speaks, looking up at me.

"I mean, I know that there are girls that don't normally grow up around guns-" I start to explain.

"My dad liked to go hunting, and I sometimes went with him," she interrupts as she looks back down at the gun and pops in the magazine, "In fact, I was normally the one he took."

"Oh? What about your brothers?" I ask cautiously.

"Nah, Charlie was more into fishing, whereas Dawn and Sean were more into throwing mud at each other and climbing trees," Maggie replies casually.

"Ah, I see," I answer, "It that why you're so good with the .22 caliber rifle?"

She nods, looking me right in the eye. "Yup, it was my dad's favorite . . . " she says, before she smiles, feeling nostalgic, "He adored that gun, sometimes I think more than us."

"You don't mean that," I chuckle.

"You don't understand, that man, when "teaching my brothers a lesson"," Maggie explained, laughing a bit to herself as she made air quotes, "would say "Now boys, see this gun? It does what I say. Know why? It's a smart gun!"

I laugh at her attempt to mimic her father's voice, and soon she's laughing too. The tension has subsided for the time being. We finish off the current gun then joke back and forth a bit more before the other gun comes up. I grin, happy to see the AA-12 Convert. I look over, and stop, seeing Maggie's expression becoming hard again. Another second passes before I sigh, sitting down the gun.

"Hey . . . you ok?" I ask.

She doesn't reply quickly, choosing her words wisely. "How did you know I was here?" she asks.

"I asked Kasami," I say honestly.

"I see . . . " she trails.

It goes quiet, neither of us knowing what to say next. Finally, I speak. "Hey," I say.

"What?" she asks.

". . . Can I ask one thing of you?" I answer.

She pauses, before she replies, "What is it?"

I take a deep breath, then run with my gut, "Please, can I just call you Maggie?"

My question seems to have caught her by surprise, her eyes widening in shock as she meets my gaze once more. I hold her eyes, searching for something that I can hold on to in this brewing argument. I speak again as I watch her countenance start to grow darker, keeping my tone controlled and calm. "I don't know what you are upset at me about, but I do want to stay by you," I say, "I've done nothing but train these late six months 'cause I wanted to be able to help you if you needed me in some way. I know that you're much stronger than you were, but I'm not going to let you use that to deter me from doing my job . . ."

Her expression turns from the edge of anger to a look I can't exactly pin as simply surprise, as laced in her eyes are traces of what looks like irritation, stress, sadness . . . guilt. I watch her a moment longer, seeing the gears in her head trying to turn with no success of creating a decent response. The only thing she's able to manufacture seems to be a reflex she picked up in the past, only escaping through her confused state, " . . . Goro."

This time, my eyes widen, taken back by hearing her say my nickname after so long. It had become normal for me to hear her call me by it before, but now, it almost sounded like doing so was a taboo. The warmth and comfort I remember radiating from her has been made cold and foreign, even her voice doesn't flow the same. Honestly, as things stand now, it's almost baffling to me to think back on how we used to get along, and then to think that it actually happened. Even though by time standards, it wasn't that long ago, these past few days have begun to rewrite the memories I have and replay them not as a reality that I used to know. Now, all of it, every smile, laugh, success, failure, promise, is slowly morphing into lost moments in a dream. Trying as I might to hold them in their true place, seeing my reaction to something so small as a nickname makes my stomach sink a little. To show any sign that we had once been close, maybe even too close by Gelus' standards, didn't feel right anymore.

This is going to be hard.

My thoughts are soon drawn to her face, diverting her eyes as she begins to shut down in response to registering what she just allowed to cross her lips. Her brow furrows and her hand clenches into a tight fist, to the point that her knuckles start to turn white. I don't know what to do other than to stand there and watch her silently, a look of concern taking shape on my countenance.

"Go."

I blink, surprised that instead of sounding angry, she just sounds defeated. Slowly, I make out that her shoulders are shaking, making me feel on edge.

I cautiously reach my hand out to her, speaking quietly, "Maggie-"

BANG

I'm caught completely off guard by the loud ringing that takes over my senses. But, I'm even more shocked that when I open my eyes again, staring back at me is the short barrel of a strange looking pistol.

Maggie's Soul Weapon.

I can feel the color draining in my face as I realize what just happened. I turn my head slightly and see a large hole in a steel ceiling beam, the shot angled in a way that the blast passed by my head by only an inch at best. Slowly, I return my gaze to her, seeing that she is now faced away from me, but holds her gun tight and ready in her grip.

"M-Magg-" I stutter.

"I said go."

Her voice is off, menacing in it's own way. Without realizing it, I begin backing away, and oddly enough, my conversation with the girl Anyola comes back to mind. The day Maggie returned, she took me to see the original, and destroyed, Power Processor. She went on to tell me about how so many human soldiers had lost their lives to the new insane Jeweloids, and how HERA brought it down, and killed Anyola's older brother Deran in the process. What made the truth even sicker was that HERA had been in a relationship with Deran, maybe even loved him-

"She'll kill you!"

"Now!"

Anyola's words pierce my confidence, and Maggie's presence shatters my will over my body. Instinct takes over, and against my mind's orders, I book it out of the shooting range. I don't even stop to acknowledge the Range Keeper who I run into on the way out, even though he shouts at me to halt as he stumbles.

Unmoved, Maggie does her best to keep from crumbling into herself. She shakes horribly as she lowers her arm, her Soul Weapon dissipating to mist as she brings her hands to her face. Alone, she shrinks, tears forming at the rims of her eyes.

"You damn idiot . . . don't be nice to me," she whispers, her voice trembling, "It only makes it harder for me to feel justified." Tears slowly fall down her hidden cheeks, but she wipes them away quickly, calm returning as she composes herself. She looks over to the door, and her brow furrows, "It's best that you be scared of me, Goro . . . I know I am."