LOADING...RETURN TO FURYA
DATA ENTRY: THE BEGINNING
LOG 001-11/04/2514
"Fuck."
The curse was soft, but even clear across the room Riddick would swear she'd heard it. Her storm-cloud eyes came up and locked onto his, a smile dancing in the frown lines around her mouth. She'd disappeared shortly after he'd taken the Necromonger throne, nearly seven years ago now, but she was still the same wrinkled old lady he remembered.
"Hello, Richard," Aereon greeted softly, having the good sense not to use his last name, and slid into the seat next to him. She nodded politely at the bartender, who was eyeing her with a good amount of suspicion and disbelief. His establishment was one of the seediest in the entire start system. Old ladies were definitely not his regular customers. "I'll have what he's having."
"You sure, grandma?" the bartender asked, raising a brow. "It ain't yer regular ol' rot-gut. Kicks like a mule, it does."
"I'm sure," Aereon smiled.
"Your stomach lining, lady," the bartender muttered, cleaning out a dirty mug and slopping a good amount of smoky brown liquid all over the counter—though some of it actually managed to make it into the glass. Aereon nodded her thanks, glanced mischievously at Riddick for a moment, and slammed the entire thing. Riddick let out a soft whistle as she put the glass down and daintily dabbed at her mouth.
"That is truly the worst thing I've ever tasted," Aereon informed him.
"Hey, at least he cleaned the glass out first," Riddick snorted. "He ain't usually that considerate."
"It's because I look like his mother," Aereon replied tartly. "Thank you, that was lovely," she added to the bartender, who snorted so hard he nearly choked on his own spit. Riddick silently regarded the woman for a moment, his expression impassive. She had shed her white robes for a black shirt and dark grey cargo pants, tucked into dirty combat boots. Her snowy hair was woven into two braids, and her face was shadowed by a long, hooded cloak. She was even carrying a gun, strapped to her hip, and a small satchel she held securely in her lap and didn't let go of.
"What the hell are you doin' out here?" Riddick asked, tapping the table for another shot.
"I was looking for you," Aereon replied.
"Yeah, I figured," Riddick grunted. He didn't bother asking how she'd managed to find him, out here in the middle of nowhere on this shithole of an asteroid. She was a Seer, after all. "At least you actually came looking for me and didn't just put a bounty out for my head this time," he drawled. "So what do you want now?"
"You know perfectly well that I was a prisoner of the Necromongers at the time," Aereon retorted crisply. "Otherwise, I'd have tracked you down myself. But circumstances have changed, and I've got a bit more freedom."
"Thanks to me," Riddick reminded her.
"Yes, and that's partially why I'm here," Aereon said. "To repay that debt. You've been searching for Furya, yes?"
It took every scrap of willpower Riddick possessed to remain calm and relaxed. Aereon was a wily, calculating creature—she wouldn't just give him this for nothing, despite what she claimed. He'd wait for the other shoe to drop.
"What of it?" he asked, feigning disinterest.
"Have you found it yet?" Aereon asked, a sly edge to her voice. "You've been looking for, what? Two years now?"
Riddick gave her a shrewd, side-long look, though she couldn't see it behind the goggles.
"I take it you've found it," he said evenly. "Question is, what do you want for the information?"
"Well, the problem isn't finding it," Aereon explained, downing another glass of rotgut and shaking her head. "I can tell you where it is right now. When the Necromongers attacked, the entire planet was nearly blown out of orbit. It's a dead world now. But it can be restored. That's going to be the tricky bit."
Riddick's hands closed around his mug and gripped hard. He was thrumming with energy, though he remained perfectly still.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Oh, yes," Aereon replied. "Because seeing as it was the Necromongers who destroyed your world, they also know of its location. And they will do everything they can to stop you reclaiming it."
"That ain't a problem," Riddick intoned, a dangerous smirk lighting his eyes. "I'm guessin' old Zhylaw hid the records of it while he was Lord Marshall? 'Cause I never found a damn thing."
"You wouldn't have," Aereon replied. "He had them sealed shortly after decimating the planet, yes. For the record, you would never have been made privy to that information, even if you'd Converted. Being a Furyan, you couldn't be trusted not to turn on them."
"So, that's your price, huh?" Riddick asked. "Take out the Necromongers, and you'll take me to Furya?"
"That's what you wanted anyway, isn't it?" Aereon said. "Considering how Commander Vaako betrayed and abandoned you on…what did you call it? Not-Furya. Well, now I'd like to give you the opportunity to pay him back. What do you say?"
Riddick chuckled. "You're so sure I'm gonna bite, aren't you?"
"Aren't you?" Aereon smiled. "Come now. I know you haven't had any luck finding home on your own, and you won't without my help."
"That why you waited until now to tell me all this?" Riddick asked, a hard edge cutting into his tone. "Wanted to make sure I was nice and desperate first?"
"We both know you wouldn't have taken my offer before," Aereon replied breezily. "You were too busy sleeping your way through every Necro-girl you could find, weren't you? No need to rock the boat trying to get back to some empty, forgotten rock."
Riddick clenched his teeth, and a tight metal band of fury squeezed at his chest, but he was grudgingly impressed, despite himself. Not many people had the balls to smart-off like that. Not to him. Not when it hit so close to home.
"Really?" he asked in a low voice. "Well, way I see it, the only reason it got that way was 'cause of you."
"Oh?"
"Way I see it, you owe me twice," Riddick drawled, deliberately leaning into her space. "Once, for that prophecy you told Zhylaw. And again, when I let you go instead of gutting you like I should have done ages ago."
"First of all, that prophecy was told under duress," Aereon informed him crisply, not in the least bit intimidated. "When someone is tearing your soul in half, you'd say anything they wanted, believe me. And secondly, that prophecy saved your life."
"Yeah? And how do you figure that?"
"You didn't really think the Necromongers would have left your planet alone, did you?" she asked, looking at him like he'd just dribbled on his shirt. "They had plans for your people, believe me. The diplomatic discussions were already underway. The conquering of your kind would have been more peaceful, yes, but no less tragic than what happened. The Furyans they Converted would have ravaged the Universe. Mostly likely, you, yourself, would now be a Necromonger, if things had gone as they should have."
"…Should have?" Riddick echoed, his voice strained. "Wait. You mean…"
"Yes," Aereon said, looking him right in the eye. "The prophecy I gave Zhylaw was false. If I had kept my silence, of course he never would have openly attacked your world. Your people were too dangerous for that, and Zhylaw did not wish to suffer losses when there were easier ways of dealing with the situation. Only the consequences of their Conversion were too great for the rest of us."
"So you threw Furya under the bus."
"In a manner of speaking, yes. I knew what Zhylaw's actions would be. I knew he would make my false prophecy true," Aereon said. "And for what it's worth…I'm sorry."
Riddick was quiet. He didn't wonder what his life would have been; he was a creature of the here and now. Worrying about an existence that had never happened was pointless. But his life had begun with an umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. Zhylaw might have ordered it, but Aereon had set him on that path. She had pulled the trigger.
The animal inside him was snarling. It wanted him to take her by her bony little shoulders and shake her until her brains came out her shriveled ears.
He took a breath and held it. That probably wouldn't do any good, anyway. She'd just ghost right out of his hands. Fucking Elementals.
"Sorry ain't worth shit," Riddick grunted, and pushed away from the bar. "Keep your information. I'll find Furya on my own."
Aereon sighed, but she didn't follow.
.oOo.
Riddick stalked away from her, away from her fucking prophecies and the sorrow in her eyes and the infuriating way she looked at him—like she understood exactly what he felt. His heart was thumping hard against his ribcage, and his fists were clenched tightly at his sides.
He was so angry he almost didn't notice the Mercs sneaking up from behind.
Almost.
He twisted to the side as one tried to shiv him in the back. His fist came around and drove straight into the man's throat. The Merc made a strangled, wheezing sound and dropped like a stone. Two blades appeared in Riddick's hands, and he went to work on the other three. They were down in seconds, dead or soon to be. He wiped the blood off on his pants, and continued on his way like nothing had happened.
"Riddick!"
The cry was sharp, a warning. Riddick turned, and saw Aereon dashing up to him from behind. Her form was slightly translucent, which explained why he hadn't heard her approach. But then she became very solid a second later when she crashed into his chest and shoved him hard. He staggered back—just as a figure in black dropped soundlessly from the roof and drove a sword into Aereon's chest. She bit off an agonized cry, and collapsed to the ground.
Riddick saw red.
Despite everything she'd done, despite how furious he was with her, she was one of the last remaining friends he actually had, and one of the only people he (grudgingly) respected.
He killed the assassin before he even knew what was happening. A moment he'd been standing in a dirty alleyway, staring down at the woman bleeding out on the pavement, and the next—both knives were buried in her killer's eyes. The man let out a short, horrified scream, and cut off sharply when Riddick twisted his wrist and dropped him. He was dead before he hit the ground. Riddick panted for a moment, getting himself under control, before he turned to Aereon.
She looked up at him, and reached out a hand. Slowly, he bent and took it.
"You saw this coming, didn't you?" he asked quietly.
"It's…how I found you…"Aereon gasped. "I followed…the Mercs…"
"You couldn't have said something?" he snorted.
"No…This was…the best outcome…"
"What? You dying in an alley?" Riddick snapped. "That was the best fucking outcome you could come up with? Why didn't you phase out?"
"Wasn't time," Aereon smiled. "Had to…push you out of…the way."
"Goddammit, Aereon!" Riddick snarled. "Will you—will you people stop throwing yourselves into danger for me? I'm not—I'm not—"
"Worth it…?" Aereon asked, gasping through every word. "Of course…you are. You're the man…who fights monsters. We need…more people…like you."
"Didn't you say you were gonna help me find Furya?" Riddick retorted. "Can't exactly be much of a help when you're dead."
"Don't worry…I'm not…dying."
"Sorry, old lady, but I think the sword in your chest begs to differ."
"Must you be so…pessimistic?" Aereon chuckled, a line of blood trailing from the corner of her mouth. She was panting raggedly now, her eyes dark with pain.
"Comes with the life of a convicted murderer."
"Well, lighten up, son," Aereon breathed. "And step back…"
Riddick blinked, confusion marring his brow, before he noticed the light shimmering beneath Aereon's skin. Slowly he drew away, and as Aereon's hand fell away from his, she let out a heavy sigh and went still. Her eyes turned blank and filmy, and he'd seen death a hundred times, but seeing it in a (sort of) friend sat in his heart like it never did with anyone else. And it seemed to be happening more and more lately. Caroline, Imam, Kyra…
But the light was growing in Aereon. It grew and grew, brighter and brighter, until the entire alley was lit up like it was high noon. Golden, glittering tendrils of light snaked across the ground, trailing around his ankles and twining lazily up his arms. It was warm, and it made his heart pound. Suddenly, he felt like he could run a marathon.
The sword clattered against the pavement as the golden ball of energy rose up off the ground, spinning and whirling and shining up and up and up until he had to close his eyes it was so blinding—then there was a short, punchy pop like a hundred light bulbs all exploding at once—and then silence.
The alley was plunged into darkness again, and Riddick slowly lifted his goggles, blinking against the spots dancing across his vision. It took him a moment to spot Aereon standing a foot in front of him, though it was hard to make out her features.
"Ohhh, that's much better," Aereon said, looking like she was shaking out her entire body…and sounding entirely different. "My, I haven't felt this good in years. I should have done this years ago. Honestly, this is marvelous."
"The hell are you talking about?" Riddick grunted, still blinking a bit owlishly at her. Something was off about her face, but he couldn't quite place what it was.
"Later, sweetie, we need to get out of here," Aereon said airily, taking him by the arm and gently leading him away from the alley. Sweetie?
"What just happened?" he asked.
"Change, my dear," Aereon smiled. "And not a moment too soon."
She pulled him out into the street, and Riddick was finally able to clear the spots from his eyes as the light of the moon washed over them. He looked down. The hand on his arm was no longer wrinkled, but smooth and soft. Aereon's hair was still the color of fresh snow, but it seemed to glow in the silver light, full and healthy instead of brittle with age. Where before Aereon's clothes had hung limply off her thin frame, now they hugged every delicious curve and plane of her body. Then she turned towards him, and he forgot to breathe.
She was gorgeous.
Gone were the aged lines around her mouth and eyes. Instead, her face was full of color and vitality, her rosy skin clear as glass. Only her eyes remained the same, old and wise, but brighter than he'd ever seen them. She gave him a knowing smirk, and winked.
"How do you like me now, Riddick?" she asked.
"I think…I could get used to this," Riddick replied, with a slow and wolfish grin.
To be continued...
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