Let Me See Your Smile • Phantasy Star: Fringes of Algo

Let Me See Your Smile

Fan written stories based on Phantasy Star II, the PS II Text Adventures, or their remakes.

Let Me See Your Smile

Postby tilinelson2 » Fri May 20, '11, 3:16 pm

Another part of Anna's Series, it is the follow-up of a fanfic not yet complete, but I'm publishing it anyway, as I've not been publishing the series in order before.

This one doesn't have a dark and gruesome tone, so you don't need to run away from it.


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It was still dark in Motavia, but the teleport station clerk had to stay alert. The Mother Brain's decree obliged all the stores and services to work 24 hours a day, so the teleport station had to be open, even if no one has showed up since midnight. The clerk was yawning, fighting back the sleepiness, waiting for daybreak, so she could go home. She hated being assigned to the night turn, mainly on Saturdays; all her friends were having fun and she was there, alone, feeling depressed, in the loneliest place in the whole Motavia. The graveyards at least had their ghosts to shake up the things a bit. Even the Dezorian plateaus had the howling wind to distract the fools who tried to brave them. If only there was someone else to chat, to make the time run faster, or an entertainment like a TV set or radio, she would be satisfied. But not, she was not allowed to do anything; she had to stay seated behind the counter, waiting for someone to come. And she knew no one would come. No one was stupid enough to teleport to Paseo on a Sunday, at 5am. So, she laid her head on the counter and covered her eyes with her pink hair, in order to dim the light that reached her eye lenses. That was a clever strategy because, if caught, she could say she was not sleeping, but resting her head in the counter due to a strong headache. Not even the supervisor would show up in a Saturday night, but he would randomly show up twice in a year and fire whoever was caught sleeping. So she had to be prepared, either awake or with a good excuse ready for the supervisor, in case he showed up. And he preferred the latter.

Before she could start dozing, the alarm in the panel startled the pretty clerk. She opened her eyes and stared at the panel, but they looked like some ancient Dezorian runic writing. It took some seconds for her eyes to finally focus on the information written in the panel. There was an incoming person, from Zema. At 5am. It had to be a mistake. They used to say Mother Brain was making more mistakes than the usual recently; that should be it. The old hag became demented. But then, no. The panel asked for the confirmation of the teleporting process. The pink haired girl adjusted herself in the chair and started trying to undo the mess she had made with her hair before accepting the teleport. She had to hurry because if she took too long, the customer would complain and she would be fined. Those whiners could not wait three minutes before throwing a tantrum. Damn, no one would care how she looked like at 5am, so she confirmed the teleport. Immediately, she could hear the loud hum of the teleport machine working. The lights inside the teleport chamber didn't let her see who was coming before the process was complete, but her curiosity would not last long. In less than a minute, the machine stopped making that loud noise and she caught a glimpse of the damned customer who had had the brilliant idea of teleporting at 5am. The pink haired clerk saw a pair of blue eyes through the small glass window in the teleport chamber's door. The eyes had a fierce look, making the young girl shiver.

As soon as the door opened, the clerk was surprised to see an improbable figure step out of the teleport chamber. It was a young woman, with long blonde hair, shining blue eyes in a fierce stare, wearing a military uniform. It was more awkward that she didn't look like a military officer, but a gorgeous daughter of a rich family. The clerk had heard men say women were attractive wearing uniforms, but that was too sexy, even for the clerk who was straight and not interested in girls. No, she was certainly in a costume party. Or she was an expensive hooker specialized in fetishism. The only thing that linked the blonde bombshell to the military was the "bombshell" literal meaning. The clerk grinned at her own thoughts.

The incoming woman ignored the clerk. She hurriedly left the teleport chamber and didn't even look at the girl. She just looked around the room, trying to find the exit and then was ready to leave the teleport station. But the clerk was supposed to be friendly and greet every customer. She was not in the mood for that for she blamed the blonde for not letting her doze, so she tried to use sarcasm in her greeting, something she would regret for the rest of her life.

"Hello, lady. You are up early today, aren't you? Wasn't the party that good? Maybe you were not up to your lover tonight?"

The pink haired girl watched the blonde girl turn back slowly, without saying a word. The sarcastic grin on her face disappeared immediately when she noticed the fierce look in the blue eyes, which were staring into her own eyes deeply. As the girl started walking towards her, the clerk grew pale and cowered in her chair. Before she could say anything, the military girl grabbed her hair and hit her face violently towards the counter. The force of the blow stunned her, so she could not even protest the harsh treatment. Moreover, she felt the cold blade of a slasher in her throat. A calm, but authoritative voice filled her ears.

"I'm Anna Zirski, Rank III Special Operations Guardian. Do you know what it means? It means that you must keep your damned mouth shut lest you want to have this pretty head of yours hanging on the first lamp post outside, do you understand it?" The blonde girl said so pressing the clerk's face harder towards the counter and pressing her slasher blade harder towards her throat.

The pink haired woman tried to protest, but no words would come out of her mouth, so shocked she was with what was happening to her. The hand, which was pushing her face to the counter violently, pushed her head away, making the clerk hit her back in the chair, almost breaking it. Feeling extreme pain, she didn't move until she noticed the guardian had left the teleport station. Then, the pink haired girl took her hands to her nose, wondering if it was broken, so painful it was the feeling. She wasn't sure if she was injured. She was not sure if that woman had the right to do what she had done or if she had just went mad. But one thing she was sure. That would be her last day on her current job.

Anna left the teleport station and walked down the Paseo streets while it was still dark. She had never been in Paseo before, but there was nothing exciting or new to see. All the large cities shared the same functional building designs. The only difference between the cities was the layout: how the buildings, roads, walls and grass tiles were disposed in the city area. And Anna hated the design of the cities; they had no logic and they were not even beautiful. Her path from the teleport station to her destination should be a straight line, but she had to take many turns because of the random road and grass tile placement, making her way longer.

The longer walk provided Anna some time to think. The fierce look in her eyes reflected her trouble state of mind. She had done it again and she couldn't understand why. She had no need of attacking the poor teleport station clerk; she should have ignored her instead. The blonde guardian's biggest desire was to leave the past of violence and sorrow behind, but, at the first opportunity, she acted with unnecessary roughness towards a harmless and defenseless girl. It had to stop. Wasn't it the reason why Anna was in Paseo? To leave her past behind her? To forget about her barbaric vengeance against the rogues for what they had done to her best friend? But no, she was doing it again.

The vengeance itself was a sham. Anna knew Lizzie would condemn the guardian's actions if she was alive to voice her opinion, for she would never seek vengeance against anyone. Ironic, wasn't it? If she was alive. Anyway, the girl had reproached Anna for trying to seek vengeance on her behalf before. Wherever she was now, she would loath Anna for what she had just done. Everybody would, her actions were unjustifiable. Anna knew she would be immediately fired and sent to a mental institution if her superiors discovered the abominable torture and murder acts she had just committed. God would hate her. Anna knew she would be sent straight to the deepest depths of hell when she died. So God did know it and she was beyond salvation.

However, Anna still believed she could redeem herself, but she had to stop her evil acts immediately. And what she had done at the first opportunity? Smashed the head of a fragile girl against the counter because of a silly joke. Maybe she really deserved to be locked in a mental institution, isolated from human contact, for the rest of her life.

It was with these thoughts in mind that Anna walked the distance between the teleport station and her destination. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't pay attention to the state-of-art design of the Central Tower, to the hummingbirds singing the dawning of a new day, the beauty of the sunrise in the Motavian horizon. The guardian just walked mechanically, with the same fierce stare in her eyes. If there were people passing by the streets at that time, they would easily mistake Anna for an android. With an emotionless countenance, Anna finally reached her destination. She didn't hesitate, she didn't sigh, and her heart kept beating at the same slow rate as before. As if she was doing a trivial thing, Anna rang the bell from the door which, if opened, could provide her a chance for redemption and for beginning a new life.

Inside the house, the bell rung through the alarm clock, placed in a small table near the house owner's bed. The intelligent system detected where people wEre inside the house and rung the alarm only in the room where the person with the top priority was. In that house, it was Rolf. The blue-haired agent woke up in distress because he was not expecting any visitors, especially at 6am, in a Sunday. He expected to sleep well that night because it has been days since he had his last decent night of rest. He planned to use that Sunday to recover his forces before returning to his mission, investigating the anomalies in the Climatrol, but then there was someone ringing his bell at 6am. Besides, his dream was so pleasurable. He was dreaming of Nei. In a special way. Nei was no pretty, her body was so warm...

Wait! What he was dreaming! Rolf came immediately to his senses and felt ashamed of himself. No, Nei was his sister; he was a monster for dreaming of her that way. He felt such disgust for himself that he hurriedly got out of his bed. If he was inclined to ignore the person ringing the bell of his house before, for that person should be a beggar or someone trying to invite him for a Sunday cult, now he considered a good idea to deal with the person, trying to erase the images of his dream from his mind. Rolf put on a t-shirt, uselessly tried to comb his hair with his fingers and rubbed his eyes to get rid of the rheum while walking to the front door. Arriving there, he heard that the person was lightly knocking on the door. He pressed a button on the led screen in the control panel to make it display the images of the camera. The images formed and Rolf felt as if he was watching a video of a surrealistic painting being transformed in a realistic painting. When the image finally became clear, the blue-haired agent jumped back, startled.

The image of the blue-eyed blonde woman was not what he expected. Why would a beauty queen be ringing the bell of his house at such early hours of a Sunday? Her eyes had a fierce expression, but her overall image was stunning. Rolf was really impressed by her good looks, enough to dissipate the memories of his wicked dream. The agent regretted not having prepared himself better to answer the door, but it would be too rude now to leave her waiting. As he guessed she would hardly be a threat, he opened the door instead of talking thought the intercom.

As the steel door lifted up, producing a loud his with its pneumatic mechanism, Rolf was more impressed by the woman by his door. The blonde was not only pretty, but also gorgeous. Too gorgeous. Her body seemed to be drawn by one of those manga authors, with large and round *, a thin waist, large hips and long legs. The blue-haired young man could not see her back, but judging by the rest, it should be as perfect as her front. What would the most attractive woman he had ever seen doing by his door? Rolf was speechless and waited for the woman to announce her business.

Anna satisfied her curiosity. She had heard about Rolf Landale, but she had never seen him. She knew he was the leader of a group who was investigating the recent anomalies in Motavia. As she was a government agent, she saw the mission as an opportunity to start a brand new life and forget about her tragic past. Meeting Rolf was something she anticipated anxiously, though her countenance couldn't betray any sign of emotion. Now, there was a handsome blue-haired young man wearing pajamas, with a sleepy face in front of her. Would he be Rolf? It didn't mattered much, she was not there for a party or looking for a boyfriend; she wanted to be far away from the people and places from her past, and concentrate in a very important mission, which would enable her to keep her mind occupied with something else than her own demons.

“Rolf.” Anna paused, but her tone indicated it was not a question. As the young man didn't interrupt her, she continued. “I have long wanted to meet you. I am Anna Zirski. I am known as a guardian. You know what it means, don't you?” Anna paused again, waiting for some answer from the blue-haired man.

“Well, yes, Anna...” Rolf was embarrassed. If the gorgeous appearance of the blonde girl was intimidating for a young man like him, the fierce look in her eyes and the cold tone of her voice was much more menacing. He would never confess it, but he was somewhat afraid of her. He was also surprised by her knowing him and stating she wanted to meet him. Besides, he didn't know very well what was to be a guardian, but he knew it had something to do with the government. “What do you exactly do?”

The guardian kept in her cool tone. “I'm a Rank III guardian and they call me a counter-hunter. Although most hunters are good, some have gone bad; I track them down. My job is to hunt evil hunters.”

“Alright, Anna…” Rolf was still trying to organize his thoughts. He was having a hard time reading the blonde guardian. Her impassive countenance caused discomfort in the blue-haired agent. He didn’t know what she was there for, he didn’t know what to ask her, but he was annoyed by the presence of the stranger in his house early in the morning, so he couldn’t help asking her why she was there. “Anyway, what are you doing here at my house?”

The blonde guardian’s hesitation made Rolf regret his last words. He should have been more polite and asked it using other words. Now he feared to have mistreated the newcomer and made her feel angry or upset, but she didn’t seem to be either, as she calmly answered to his question, “I think I must change my ways. I need an opportunity for starting over again. I’ve heard about you, Rolf, and your mission, so I wondered if I could join your group.”

Anna silenced. For the first time she reacted, by looking down. Finally, Rolf could see some emotion on her face, and it was deep sadness. He felt uneasy. That mysterious woman was probably much more fit to join the group than his current companions, but there was something very awkward about her personality. All the other people how volunteered to join the group seemed to be friendly, sure about what they were up to; Anna, on the other hand, was still a mystery for him. “What can you do to help us?”

“From what I've heard, your journey is filled with dangers, with many biomonster attacks. I can hunt anything! I've been a hunter before and I can hunt biomonsters again. I dislike guns, but give me a weapon with a blade, and I am deadly. I can help you in whatever you are up to, Rolf.”

The guardian returned to her usual cold tone, staring fiercely at Rolf. The blue-haired man frowned. He was uncomfortable with the idea of Anna being a hunter, for he feared for Nei's safety. Rudo had been a hunter in the past, but he was a completely different case; he was frank about being a hunter and having nothing against Nei. The guardian, however, seemed to be a disturbed person. And the thing Rolf feared most was for the safety of his beloved sister.

Rolf had a difficult choice to do. He knew he needed strong people in his group to help him achieve his goal and Anna was surely someone fit to fight biomonsters and help them on their way. However, he could not trust her completely; she was too mysterious for his tastes. The young agent stayed in silence for some moments, thinking. His sense of justice stepped up and demanded that he treated the unknown girl fairly, giving her the benefit of doubt. He sighed deeply. “Will you obey me and follow my orders?”

Anna just nodded. She stared blankly at the ground again. Rolf was not sure, but he thought he had seen the girl crying. He tried to be more compassionate to her, acting more friendlily, as he realized he had been very harsh to her without any proper reason. “Anna...” The blonde guardian stared into his eyes. He tried to smile at her. “If you are really willingly to help, I think it I have no objections. Are you ready to join us?”

Anna answered with some hints of emotion in her voice. “Yes, Rolf, I am. Please, if you wish give me a new name, choose a new name, and I can forget the past and concentrate on the present...” Anna sighed deeply and stared down again. “All I want is to forget my past...”

Rolf was touched by the blonde girl's lament. He tried to reach her and touch her face with his right hand. The pretty guardian was looked very fragile without the fierce look in her blue eyes and Rolf couldn't resist consoling her. Therefore, he tried to act like a friend, a man that would give her the protection she longed for, after all every woman wants a man to protected her. So Rolf believed. And he wanted very much to impress that pretty girl; his instincts told him to do so. For a moment he wondered if his instincts were not putting him on a shameful situation, but then he tried to concentrate on Anna. And his tone was very comforting, to make her sure he was also good-hearted. “Why, Anna? Tell me what happened to you.”

Anna, noticing that she was acting like a fragile woman, immediately forced a cold and impassive gaze, making Rolf stop. “No, Rolf. I'll follow you blindly; doing everything I can to help you, even if it costs my life. But don't ever ask me about my past. I don't want to connect with anyone, make any friends. Respect my privacy and I'll be your best companion.”

Rolf almost let out an insinuating grin on his face with the thoughts that the beauty queen would follow him blindly, but it was not a good time to play the pathetic teenager. Rolf shrugged. He was uncomfortable with the idea of someone in the group who wanted to be left alone, because he believed that team cooperation would only exist in a friendly environment, but he had no options. “Well, so please, Anna, come in. There is only one thing I want to ask you before I can accept you, but I'll ask it later.”

The young agent stepped back and motioned the tortured guardian to enter his house, while he took advantage of the situation to confirm his suspicions about the girl having a perfect back. The blonde girl walked slowly inside the unknown house. She was not particularly curious about the house, but a purple-haired girl, wrapped in a towel, attracted her attention. She stared at the girl with no emotion in her eyes, but her fierce stare sent shivers down the purple-haired girl's spine. As Rolf turned his back, after closing the door, the sight of his sister, almost naked, standing in the living room, startled him. Memories of his disturbing dream with her came immediately to his mind at the sight of the Numan girl and the awareness that she was attractive made him feel even guiltier, so he avoided looking at his sister, though he couldn't avoid his cheeks growing redder and redder.

The Numan girl, who was unaware of her brother's confusing thoughts, and surprised by the newcomer, asked his brother. “Looks like we have a visitor, Rolf, don't we?.”

Rolf, who was feeling embarrassed for many reasons, answered with his voice filled with tension. “Oh, Nei, are you already up? Why don't you rest a bit more? Tomorrow will be a long day, you should save your energy.”

The Numan answered in a nonchalant way. “I've heard the bell ringing and it woke me up. When I noticed you were up, I thought it would be a good idea to take a shower and then prepare the breakfast for you.”

Rolf was annoyed because the last thing he wanted to see that morning was the beautiful curves of her sister wrapped in a thin towel. Why did she have such a good hearing? He shook his head instinctively, for he had more pressing matters in his head to take care of than to think about how attractive was his sister. The thing that worried him more about the members of his group was their reaction towards his Numan sister. He knew most people felt extreme prejudice against her, classifying her as a dangerous biomonster. She was technically a biomonster, but no evil person. In fact, she was very kind, good and lovely; a human soul trapped in an animal body. Now that Anna had met Nei, it was the perfect opportunity to observe the guardian's reaction to his beloved sister's presence. “Anna, this is Nei, my sister.”

The guardian was not affected by the presence of the Numan girl. She just answered coldly. “Okay, nice to meet you, Nei.”

The Numan was a bit uneasy by the cold reaction of the guardian, but she was not that worried about her own safety as her brother was, so she tried to dismiss the first negative impression smiling. “Is she joining us, Rolf?”

Rolf nodded. “Yes, she is.”

Nei shrugged. “Well, so, Anna, feel yourself at home. See you around.”

As the Numan left the room, both Rolf and Anna stayed in silence. As Rolf had accepted her, Anna was partly relieved for having the opportunity that she longed so much for; the opportunity to start her life over again, the opportunity to put an end to the endless stream of violence, tragedies, crimes and atrocities that punctuated her life, since her parents' murder while she was still a child. On the other hand, she was put out of her comfort zone, mixing up with people, being forced to connect with them against her will. Her mission would not be easy, but she feared more dealing with people than dealing with the dangers of her journey.

As for Rolf, he was still uneasy. The guardian was surely a competent fighter, for she was a high-ranked official. However, she seemed to have a very difficult personality and Rolf wondered if it would outweigh the benefits of having her in the group. Besides that, her extreme good looks would add some undesired tension among the men and even the women in the group, sparking desire and jealousy. Rolf admitted she had already sparked desire on him and he was trying to avoid that kind of feeling inside his group, for it would distract more than help. In addition to that, he was still unsure about the blonde guardian's feelings towards his sister, and it was what would made him lose his sleep for many days to come.
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