Warning: This is a sequel to Fever. Reading 15 Seconds is not necessary.

*New quest step!*

Heartbroken

*Step One: Get knocked senseless by a freak explosion*

"Well, I bet is was fun seeing Uldren again, at least? Did he glare at you? Yup, he glared at you. Him and all his atomic-glaring glory. Same old Uldren. His hair grown back much yet?"- Silverhawk's Ghost, ship comms to Timey-Wimey-03 from Wibbly-Wobbly-01

Variks was furious. He was so angry, he had left his tent, where he usually stayed most of the time, and stormed along the docks, so as to prevent himself from raging and breaking any of his possessions whilst in the grips of his anger. He had been too angry to even grab his staff on the way out.

Why was Variks angry, one might ask?

Because he was stupid. The answers and clues had been right in front of him the whole time; all the signs were there, all the tells. Yet he'd failed to see the truth right in front of him. He paced furiously in front of a wall of crates. A few passerby's and dock workers gave him curios looks, but gave him a wide breadth, knowing full well it was a bad idea to talk to a raging eliksni.

For the past few months, the House of Wolves, who knelt to the Queen of the Reef, had bee building back up again. OUTSIDE the Reef. A newer version of the house, headed by a member that had eluded capture? Or a new house entirely, stealing a name and banner that did not belong to them? He'd bee searching and searching, searching for a new Kell, a name, someone to tag as in charge of the reborn House of Wolves. The fact the house had risen at all was a closely kept secret between himself, the royal family, and a few select commanders.

This was done solely to keep the fact the house lived again in the wild away from the former Wolves that lived here at the Reef; former Wolves, most of whom would kill to be free from this place. Not that he could possibly understand why they would want to leave. Ever since betraying Skolas, and the end of the Reef Wars soon following, Variks had been enjoying a peace that(he often suspected) very few eliksni had experienced in the thousand-plus years since the Whirlwind.

He'd even found, to his immense joy, two lost members of his house. Crow probes had found them among the House of Winter, beaten, tossed about, and as reclusive as much he had been while in the House of Wolves. A Crow strike team had immediately been deployed, bringing an excited Variks along with them to negotiate with his two long-lost housemates.

The two eliksni had been extremely confused when the small Winter camp was attacked, awoken in full stealth gear firing silenced weapons from the trees and undergrowth, until all but the two scribes were dead. They had been even more shocked still when Variks had stepped from the jungles with Prince Uldren at his back, and told them of how he'd been living peacefully among the awoken for over a year. They had reluctantly agree to come with him, perhaps their cooperation only owing to the fact that they'd at last fond another member of their house, and by the end of the next month, they had both sworn loyalty to the Queen, accepting her as their new Kell.

That had been like docking vandal; it had taken him a very long while to convince them not to see him as their Kell, him being the one that offered them shelter and taught them the ways of the Reef. But, eventually, after much talking and persuading, they had agreed.

"Kell-Queen, my leader; am quite content with arrangement." he'd said in english. Back then, he'd tried to use it as often as he could, to try and get the hang of it and provide example to other eliksni struggling with the language. Now, it came as naturally as breathing, though he still has some trouble with proper grammar.

But the trials and troubles of learning to speak english were well worth the peace he'd found in his new home. At first, he'd expected to be treated the same way he'd been in House Wolves; scorned and taunted, having to stick to the shadows, always fearing the wrath of the Kell. But while the surrendered Wolves did treat him with scorn, there were no beatings or threats; they weren't allowed, lest they face the wrath of their new Kell.

The Queen had granted him a special place among her people, privileges that the surrendered Wolves weren't allowed due to trust issues. He was treated with respect, and she'd even had him supplied with the parts he needed to make his new arms; they'd been his fist priority, after Skolas was gone. Lower arms could grow back, but upper ones...well, those didn't, and they were needed for proper balance, connected too deeply with the shoulders and spine to grow back. The docking of an eliksni's upper arms was the ultimate mark of shame and humiliation.

Skolas had pinned him to the ground, in front of all the barons, after an assault on a small awoken mining town. One of the barons had caught him aiding in the escape of two awoken, a mother and child, leading them to a hole in a wall through with an eliksni couldn't fit to chase after them. Variks had seen the violence of the Silent Fang against the citizens of the Reef, and he'd seen some stolen footage from a rampage in a residential area of the Last City. It had made him fell sick, and driven him to aiding in their escape.

It was there, on the Wolfship, that Skolas took his upper arms and ripped them clean off, twisting them, breaking them, not even using a blade to cut them off. No, the Wolf Kell had been much crueler than that. He could still remember the agony of Skolas digging his claws in, ripping his flesh and breaking his bones. The mere thought of Skolas made him want to throw something or violently dismember the large, floppy-leaved plant that was nearby.

Skolas. Fool. All fight, no talk. He thought I was weak, useless; never did think about the "big picture", as the awoken would say. What Skolas hadn't counted on, was that the fleeing mother and child had carried a message with them from the scribe; a message that would lead to Petra Venj eliminating the Silent Fang, and land Skolas in a cell with the Nine.

If only. Oh, if only.

That was why Variks was so angry. He'd finally figured it out, why the Wolves were rising again. He'd checked the cells of the Silent Fang members a thousand times. But last night, he'd opened one. He'd had a hunch, and it was, too his horror, correct; the Fang were gone. After opening the first one, he'd opened the rest of them. All empty. Someone had busted them out, and programed the cells to continue displaying a looped vital signs and video feed, giving the illusion that the Fang members were still there.

And since then, he'd been looking at every report, every Crow probe feed, anything to do with the Fallen. And what he'd found had both terrified him, and caused his current rage.

He'd found Skolas. Freed. Still in a stasis pod, but freed non-the-less, being carried and escorted along the Ishtar Cliffs by a group of Silent Fang members. the feed was from months ago, when the reborn house had begun to rise again. They'd been rebuilding all this time in secret around their old Kell. A Kell who probably wanted revenge. How many times had Skolas sent assassins after him in these past few months? That had been the first question in his mind when he'd figured it out. Variks had come to the conclusion that, while killing him would certainly be priority, he wouldn't do it for a while.

Because he wishes to stay in the shadows. Hidden, until it is time to come out and play with his food again. Skolas was raising his house from the background, probably stealing members from other houses, or absorbing others entirely. A few minor houses had disappeared since the rising began; the House of Stone was now officially extinct, and he'd found mentions of a very tiny House, the House of Waters, disappearing as well.

Skolas was rising again; he had to tell the Queen immediately. He was still trying to wrap his brain around the discovery, but he had to get a grip on himself and report this as soon as possible; he couldn't afford to get lost in the shock and anger of it all, but taking a while to calm himself down had seemed like a good idea at the time. Approaching the "morning monster" of Queen Mara Sov with world-shattering news whilst in the throws of his own extreme, initial rage, he had deemed, would be a very, very bad idea.

He took a deep rattling breath. I must go tell her now. It would not do to keep this information from her for long. He turned one last time, to leave the dock, when something caught his eyes. He did a double-take, making sure he was actually seeing what he thought he was seeing.

I am not mad. But still...Certain that what he was seeing was real, he tried to pin exactly what about it unsettled him so and why. It was a guard, large, male, in full body armor and standing near a stack of cargo on the other side of the docks. He seemed to be watching Variks intensely through his helmet, and it seemed like, to him, though he wasn't too terribly good at reading humanoid body language, that the man was waiting for something.

Or someone. Variks turned back tot he task at hand, trying to shed the unease that the man had cast on him.

But Variks wouldn't have to locate the Queen. In fact, he wouldn't have to take more than a few steps. For the second time in the space of a minute, he had to mentally check himself to make sure he wasn't loosing it completely. Has the world gone mad, or have I?

The Queen was striding towards him, guards and all, looking peeved and half-asleep. She was making a be-line for Variks, and he suddenly wondered if he'd done something wrong. Perhaps it is about opening the cells? But I was checking them, surely she shall understand? Hi-jacking Prince Uldren's Crow feeds? I had good reason for that, as well; perhaps she shall overlook it?

She marched up to him, her guards hanging back a little ways. She halted in front of him, and he gave a deep bow.

"Get up!" she snapped, arms crossed, obviously still in the middle of her morning crankiness. This...is not going to be very enjoyable. "I don't have all day! Whatever it is, just say it. And next time; tell it to Uldren first, not me, not at this time of day."

"How did you know I wished to speak with you?" he asked, confused. He'd only just figured it all out an hour ago, and he hadn't sent for her or told anyone yet. Something is not right here...

"What do you mean?" the Queen demanded, eyes narrowed. "You sent for me to meet you here half an hour ago."

"I did not request an audience. Why would I desire for us to meet he-"

A roar like a million thunderclaps consumed him, and he felt himself flying. He screamed as burning air blasted his face and many small, sharp, somethings embedded themselves in him, stinging where they pierced his very light armor. He was cut short as his head made impact with something hard and solid, and he slumped to the floor, vision blurred and darkening. Ears ringing to the point he couldn't hear anything, he felt something, a crate perhaps, topple over onto him, and when he tried to lift himself to his feet, his arms gave away as his whole world spun around him.

He could see blurred figures through the darkness that was engulfing him, running, muted screaming, none of them seeming to notice him. Or maybe, they didn't care. Where is Queen? He thought dizzily. He tried to lift his head, but his body wouldn't obey. He tried to keep his eyes open, to stay conscious, but he could barely see more than a few blurry, dark shapes rushing through a white haze of smoke.

He could still remember the smoke and fire, the slaughter of his House. The murder of his Kell, the explosion. Variks had been there. He'd been helpless to do anything about it, as the House of Judgement shattered and died all around him, forced into servitude of the other Houses or otherwise left for dead.

Now, he was forced to watch as his new Kell met a similar fate, as a dark shape wrestling a smaller one, in the same colors as the Queen, overpowered her. He tired once more to get up, but all he could manage was barely a twitch.

I am failing my Kell, once more.

With a low groan that came out more as a faint whimper, Variks sank deep into the blackness.

You all like, yes?

Poor Variks :(. He really isn't having a good day, is he? This is his PoV on the events leading up to those final moments in Fever. I decided that Variks needed a little screen time in this fic. He had a few short scenes in Fever, but I really plan on including him more in the future, he's such an interesting character.

But yeah, I posted this because I'm feeling happy; I got Xbox Live Gold for my birthday, so I've finally been able to go on all the strikes and raids and whatnot, and I've even done some Prison of Elders and Crucible(I was decent Crucible with Nightstalker; then I tried with my Stormcaller and I was lost without my smoke bombs and Dusk Bow; I usually, in regular combat, prefer a sword/bow combo where I just go all "Legolas" on everything). I decided to leave you guys with a little treat before starting my summer writing binge(when I'm not playing Destiny, that is ;) ).

It's been nearly a month since I posted the last chapter of Fever; perhaps the greatest landmark in my whole fanfic life. By posting Heartbusters, or, at least, it's prologue, I see this as a way of securing a foothold in the continued legacy of this series. Also, people who weren't interested in Fever because of the summary might be brought in by the ominous summary of this fic, and, curious to know what's going on, they might go read Fever, and leave a wonderful, magical REVIEW at the end of it!

Anyway, you lot let me know how much you squealed and drooled when you saw this was up, and you rabid Judgment fans let me know how hard you cheered when you saw Variks. And someone...someone kind-hearted get our favorite eliksni a hug and some waffles; he really needs some. What do you guys think of the little bits of background I've given to him?

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this special little treat; a special shout out to Order and Chaos - Qui Iudicant, MaybeALittleBroken, Writer's Pen 77, and Shuriken16, for being my most faithful and frequent reviewers!

See you all at the end of summer!

Cheers!^^