Exaltation
A/N- This is a 1,000 words or less prompt fic, with the prompt being "Monster!"
Darkness.
Then a chill in the air.
Jaal wearily opened his eyes. Where...
He saw through the haze and grogginess of stasis awakening the tall skeletal figure, black skin, and white bony armor of a Kett; an Ascendant.
Resistance training and years of experience kicked in, bringing his senses into sharper focus.
He attempted to move, to defend himself, but found himself unable to. His arms and hands were folded over his chest, and his entire body felt like it was bound by invisible steel restraints.
Now fully awake, he realized he was naked, in midair, and in the green well-lit central chamber of a Kett Exaltation facility.
Jaal drew a shuddering breath, his heart beating faster. No! The Angara saw the syringes in the Kett's hands, his voice filled with terror. "No!"
The Kett's arms unfolded, a syringe in each hand.
Against his will, Jaal's own arms unfolded as well, and hung outward like they were suspended by puppet wires. He still couldn't move an inch of his own accord. "Sakura!" Tears of fear stung his eyes. "Please!" They rolled down his face and his voice shook. "Sakura! Help!"
The Kett Ascendant raised the syringes, deaf to the Angara's screams. "To Exaltation." They were swung downwards.
The syringes pierced the blue flesh of his chest, Jaal groaned in pain and squeezed his eyes shut.
The Ascendant pushed on the plungers of the syringes.
A burning sensation spread from the penetration points, Jaal screamed."Sakura!"
The Kett pulled the syringes out.
The burning feeling became worse, his very insides felt as if they were morphing and changing. His arms and legs begun to twitch while his bones cracked and broke. Jaal's screams were full of pain and terror.
Seconds passed, and the spreading black lines gradually became an oily sheen of black, his entire body twitching and convulsing. Pain beyond imagination ripped through his entire body and his screams grew louder.
Moments later, Jaal lifted his head upward in a silent scream, his skin an oily black sheen.
The pain gradually faded out.
Jaal opened his eyes and found only darkness.
Moments later, images of his most precious memories flew by in front of him, starting with his young days. His time with his family, his truemother Sahuna Ama Darav, his missing father Vajen Ama Darav, and others he'd never see again.
He then noticed glowing blue threads being 'cut' by something he couldn't see.
And saw something out the corner of his eye- the black skin, bony armor, and pale eyes of a Kett Chosen; an Exalted Angara. The Kett looked transparent but appeared to be slowly becoming solid.
Jaal looked over his own arms and body. He drew in a deep shuddering gasp and his eyes widened, he was slowly fading. He took a look at the images, now showing his time in the Resistance. And came to the horrific realization of what the threads being cut were- his attachment to those memories.
"No!" He looked at the Kett, eyes narrowed. "I won't be like you, I refuse to become a monster!" He faced the Kett and dashed forward, arm pulled back to punch the creature.
Instead of his fist meeting with the Kett's face, he just phased through like he wasn't there. "No!" He looked at the memories flashing by, helplessly watching.
It was going through his time on Aya, Sakura Ryder's arrival, and his time on the Tempest.
Tears formed in Jaal's eyes. "No!" He saw it was now flashing through the time Akksul nearly killed him, bringing Sakura to meet his family, the Archon's flagship, and the time on Aya with Sakura. "Please! No!" He looked into the darkness around. "Sakura! Mother!" No answer. "Please! Help!" He never felt so powerless, so helpless.
The images were flashing through the battle of Meridian, his killing of the Archon to save Sakura's life, and beyond.
Jaal sank to his knees, then all fours, despair and deep bone chilling fear setting in. Sobs wracked his body while tears streamed down his face. "No! Sakura! Mother!" He screamed in anguish, his heart heavy and shattering to pieces.
He was going to be one of them. He was going to end up hurting his friends, friends on the Tempest, family, his truemother Sahuna, his taoshay Sakura.
And there wasn't a skkutting thing he could do.
He faded away, and screamed out loud in despair and terror, tears streaming down his face.
Only the Kett Chosen remained.
The Kett Chosen, skin still an oily black sheen with bony armor forming in the same color and neck flaps collapsed into a thick neck, dropped to the ground and landed. The Kett bent down to one knee with both hands on the floor.
The bony armor finished forming, turning white while the skin became the typical black skin of the Kett.
The Kett Ascendant was firmly on solid ground again. "Rise."
The Kett Chosen stood upright. "Orders?"
I know...I am a monster…
My next prompt will be a Sakura Ryder/Jaal fluff story, to make up for this one. And what I wrote, I hope that never happens to Jaal in a future game, that'd be so sad, I'd cry.
Would love to hear what you have to say in the comments whether it be suggestions for improvement, to yell at me for doing this to Jaal, etc.