The Chosen One
AliZoe
AliZoe (c) 2014
Chapter One
What I've Overcome
"What I've Overcome" by Fireflight
I was standing in my room, staring at myself in the mirror. A look of apprehension was on my face. My hair had grown long and curly, stretching almost a third of the way down my back. My eyes, dark brown and large, stared into my reflection with intensity. My rounded face and full lips completed my tall, hourglass body shape as I sighed in anticipation. I ran my fingers over my necklace, that had a mini replica of a Stargate as a pendant, my mother had given me when I was twelve. I leaned over the small personal sink closer to the mirror. "Captain, Commander Aurora wishes to speak with you," a man spoke as he entered my quarters.
"Thank you, Tirrian, Iʼm on my way," I replied, standing up straight. Tirrian smiled as he left the room once again. I took one last glance in the mirror with a long exhale.
"Here goes, Alisia," I muttered to myself as I walked out of my quarters. I made the short journey through Atlantis corridors to the Gate Room where the round, magnificent Stargate resided. I glanced up at the Stargate Control stations where Commander Aurora stood in authority.
"Captain, please join me in my ready room," Commander Aurora announced as he turned and walked out of sight. He was a tall man whoʼs presence emitted deference. I glanced at the floor as I climbed the stairs up to where Commander Aurora indicated. As I entered the room, Commander Aurora spoke with his back towards me, "Captain, there were complications with the settlement on that planet. It is unwise and foolish for you to journey there."
"I am aware of your concerns, Commander, but I-" I started.
"You are so close to ascension. These people were unfortunate and will be investigated in a later time," Commander Aurora interrupted, turning to face me. "Your mother would be disappointed if she knew you were delaying your ascension."
"I cannot ascend if I still have these worries. You know that I must find out for myself what happened to those people. I was one of the chosen ones who helped settle the third group of people there."
"Alisia, your nobleness is well noted, but you are failing to recognize what youʼre putting at risk with your lingering here in this mortal state."
"Father! I know how it feels to have Mother leave us behind while she achieved ascension. I wish with all my heart that I could show her how much we have accomplished in the past eight years. She would tell me now to get rid of these feelings of anguish before I can fully make the mental preparations of my own ascension."
"Send someone in your place then. We are still...unsure as to what happened to those people. Can you not see the dangers in what you are about to do?"
"I am now the captain of a large warship that is armed with countless drones. I have plenty of protection at my disposal with a crew that is very reliable. I must go. Please, all Iʼm asking is a month," I begged. There was a brief pause from Commander Aurora with the air so still that I heard my own heart beat in apprehension.
"Very well, but no more than one month. If I do not hear from you in one month, I will personally come and retrieve you. I am not losing the last of my family to death," he replied in sternness.
"Understood, thank you, Father." I smiled as I embraced him tightly. "I am ready, wish me luck?"
"As always," Commander Aurora responded, releasing me. "I look forward to your report."
"I will make it thorough," I smiled again. With a turn on my heels, I headed towards my ship. Tirrian joined me on the way.
"Good luck Captain Aurora," he smiled as I stepped up onto the ramp of the large ship.
"Thank you, Tirrian, and how many times have I asked you to call me Alisia?" I winked. Tirrian just stood with a smile on his face as the ramp door shut in front of me. I raised an eyebrow with a small smirk. Wondering when he would finally admit our attraction, I turned to head towards the bridge of the ship. My crew paused at attention as I passed.
"At ease, gentlemen," I chuckled. This would be my first experience as a captain and was not used to the treatment of authority. As I reached the bridge, I glanced through the large window down to the dock where we were docked. Commander Aurora stood there with a smile of worry on his face. I gave a small wave and one last glance. "Alright, take us up."
The shipʼs engines roared in ignition as the ship began to lift off the water. The battleship shook slightly as the lifting process stabilized through the atmosphere and into a steady orbit. "We reached a secure orbit over Atlantis, Captain. Engines are holding with all systems online and working to full capacity," my first officer, Rivolliere announced.
"Set the course to the planet where the third establishment went missing," I commanded with a smile of anticipation. "Letʼs go see what happened to those humble people."
"Yes, Captain," Rivollierre acknowledged as the ship opened a hyperspace window. With a jolt into the opening, the ship jumped into hyperspace with ease as the space between spaces roared past us in a blue blur.
"How long will it be until we reach the planet?" I asked, openly.
"This ship is one of the finest. I suspect we'll be there within several hours, Captain," Rivolliere answered as if in apprehension.
"Is something wrong, Rivolliere? You seem worried."
"You and I both know of my objection to travel to that cursed planet," he replied with angst. I raised one corner of my mouth.
"I hardly think that planet is cursed, Rivolliere. I donʼt believe in curses and neither should you. Just because the last three times Atlantis has tried to colonize that planet ended in the people missing, does not deem it as paranormal. Weʼre going there to investigate why the last settlement went missing. It doesnʼt make sense that they would all suddenly disappear after sixteen years have passed," I explained in a casual manner. "I was there to help establish the third settlement on that planet when I was a child. Iʼm not about to allow their vanishment go unnoticed."
"Suit yourself, Captain. I respect your decision," he replied, looking away unconvinced. He had always been a superstitious man ever since I first met him. He capped my age by ten years, leaving me the youngest captain in Atlantean history at the age of twenty-six. Diligent in my work, I gained this position by my unmatched leadership abilities, optimism, and by the fact that I dealt with high levels of stress very easily. Many speculated that I was promoted to the rank of captain of a warship because my father was the Commander. Ignoring the gossip and ridicule, I felt honored to be placed in such a respectful position and trust by my father.
Nothing interesting befell the ship as we traveled through hyperspace until we finally came to the point to jump out of hyperspace and enter the planet in questionʼs orbit. Just as Rivolliere predicted, it only took a few hours. "Weʼre here, Captain. Weʼve dropped out of hyperspace and entered a stable orbit over the planet," he reported in uneasiness, yet he hid it well.
"Thank you, Rivolliere. I will take a small team with me in one of the smaller ships and go down to the planetʼs surface. We will begin our search," I announced with mixed feelings of nervousness and determination. I was going to get to the bottom of the mysterious vanishment of the third settlement even if it took me the entire month.
"Stay in orbit above our position and monitor our progress."
"Understood, Captain," he replied. I turned on my heels and made my way to the ship hanger with a small group of armed Atlanteans for observation and protection. We walked up to one of the cylindrically shaped ships. I tapped the back of the ship, releasing the doorʼs hatch that opened slowly. Walking up the door that now became a ramp, I entered the ship and walked to the front half of the small vessel. The door closed behind my last crew member as I tapped the control panel, turning all of the shipʼs controls on. I sat down in the pilotʼs seat and with a single thought, the shipʼs engines gaped open and ignited.
"All systems are working to full capacity. Rivolliere, you may open the hanger bay doors. We are ready," I announced using the shipʼs communication systems.
"Understood, Captain. Good luck," responded Rivolliere. The bay doors opened. The atmosphere remained intact with a shield that was permeable only to the ship my crew and I were in. Turning and moving the ship towards the doors, I piloted the craft through the shield with ease and down to the planet. The protection of its own shield kept the ship from dissolving in the atmosphere with no difficulty. We reached the planetʼs surface without delay and landed safely. Opening the back door once again, my crew stood up and exited, guns in hand. I was the last to exit the ship.
"You two stay here and guard the ship. Weʼre still unsure as to what happened to the settlement," I commanded two of the crew members. They nodded their heads and stayed behind. Cloaking the ship, the rest of my team of five and I began our search through the forest and heavily populated cave area.
The landscapes were eerily quiet, but just as I remembered sixteen years ago. The stillness was alarming, not even a fowl was to be heard. The only sounds that came were the buzzing of unseeable insects. The droning was intimidating, but we continued onward. Several hours passed in vain as our search ended with no results. "Alright, weʼll cover more ground tomorrow, hopefully, with evidence as to where these people went," I sighed. It suddenly went silent, not even the insects were audible. Pausing at the oddness, we turned around to make our way back to the ship when one of my team members was snagged into the foliage with a shriek. I gasped as the other members of my team encircled me with guns pointing in every direction. Once again, another member of my team was grabbed right off his feet and into the trees. Everyone began shooting, blindly into the treetops, hoping to kill whatever was ambushing us. A slight terror engulfed my entire body as one by one, my team was easily taken until it was only me left alone. I groaned with anxiety as my gun jammed. I hit the butt of it several times, without success. Throwing it to the ground in frustration, I yanked out my knife from my belt and circled around on my feet in anticipation as my adrenaline pumped me to full alert.
"Weʼre not here to harm you. Weʼre here to help. Please, return my people and we can negotiate peacefully what you want," I announced to the forest. The only sound heard was my quickened heart beat, uneven breath, and a slight breeze through the trees. Looking up too late, a giant, black insect pounced from the tree above me and smashed my body to the ground, knocking me on my back. Puncturing my neck with its sharp teeth, it began drinking my blood. I gasped for air, but the insect made it difficult with its long, strong arms wrapping themselves around my chest and back, crushing my torso and immobilizing me. I tried to stab the knife into the insectʼs body, but its carapace was too thick to penetrate. I lost more strength every second. Helpless, my eyesight began to blur. The pain was so intense that it started to numb my senses as I lay there dying.
Feeling like all hope was lost, I contemplated my life up to that point, never being able to reach ascension. Just then, I heard footsteps, slowly walk up to me. Barely able to see, I looked up at the man standing by my side. "Please...help me," I gasped.
The man cocked his masked face to the side and bent down. He reached his right arm over my body and placed his hand underneath the insect and on my chest right below my collar bone. He pressed his palm into my skin. I gasped once again as the insect shrieked. My body slowly felt as if it were shrinking into itself with all the energy and adrenaline leaving me even faster. The man growled loudly through the mask as the insect loosened its grip around me. Feeling the strength and energy return to my body, I pushed the insectʼs now dead, shriveled body off of me. I gulped in air as the man removed his hand from me and leaned his face closer to mine.
My vision returned to its full capacity as I stared at the large insectoid. It's carapace was hard and black with a soft orange underbelly. It's face resembled that of a spider with it's fangs on either side of it's jaw as opposed to the front. There were big scales that waved over each other starting at the neck joint and flowing down the long, thin tail. It had large, thick wings, that didn't look built to fly, on either side of the shoulder joints. It's four legs were long and tough with pincer-like spikes on the forearms just under the joint. I shuttered at the sight of it.
I turned to look at my rescuer. His greying black hair was long and dangled past his chest. He wore a peculiar fashion of body armor that resembled somewhat the insect that was just petrified. He wore a grey, grooved mask that covered his entire face with no visible holes for ventilation or sight. His young, muscular build confused me as I contemplated his elderly age. He mustʼve been at least fifty, I determined by his hair color. His skin was extremely pale, almost white with long, pointed fingernails on his hands.
"Thank you," I said, standing up with soreness. I continued examining the man as he did the same to me. He stood at most six feet, seven inches in height. Feeling an overwhelming dizziness come over my body, my legs gave out under me as I fell unconscious. The man caught me before I hit the ground.
I gasped in air as I shot upright from laying on a cold, damp cave floor. The walls of the cave were surprisingly comfortable, cushioned by some smooth, red muscle which grew all along its surface. My muscles ached with a throb pounding in sync with my heartbeat as I scooted my body to a cave wall, leaning my aching back against it. I breathed heavily, trying to bring my accelerated heart rate down out of dangerous speeds.
"Are you alright, young Queen?" asked a deep voice from a dark corner of the cave. I jumped as my body became cold with sweat. The voice was strange to me. It had two different tones in it: one, a normal deep male tone, and the other sounding almost like a growl. "My Queen?"
I widened my eyes, not knowing what to reply. I heard the figure stand up and walk into the light. It was the same man as before, large and muscular in stature with aged long greying black, straight hair. He gracefully walked over and crouched down next to me. His countenance was still concealed by the faceless, ventless, grooved grey mask.
"Who are you? And why did you save me? Don't misunderstand me, I am grateful you did," I asked, wiping a large amount of sweat from her brow. Feeling pale and ill, I started shivering with a fever. I gasped, flexing my fingers and hands, attempting to prevent the growing numbness from taking over them. The man gently placed one of my hands in both of his. He began massaging it with utmost care. My hand twitched as the manʼs palm glided across the top of mine. Pulling away, I glanced at his palm, trying to figure out what made the strange sensation. He allowed me to turn his hand over and run my fingers along the red slit that stretched the entire length of his palm starting just below the joint of his middle finger and ending right before his wrist, widening slightly in the middle. I was full of puzzlement as I continued feeling the sides of the split which had tiny holes lining its edge that had an overgrown effect as if the skin was grafting over the injury much like a large scar. It felt as if something had peeled away enough layers of skin to reveal the soft tissue underneath. "You are injured! Did that beast hurt you?"
He chuckled through his mask. "Your eyes changed, which intrigued me, and no, my Queen. I am not injured at all. This is how I feed."
"This? You eat, through this? Is that how you breathe as well?" I cocked my head in curiosity.
"No, my Queen." he chuckled again. "I breathe the same way you do."
"But how with that mask covering your face? And you said my eyes changed? What does that even mean? Are they not brown anymore?"
"They were when I first found you, but they are like mine now. A metamorphosis took place."
I scrunched my eyebrows, perplexed. I shook my head and decided to move on. My head was pounding too heavily and I didn't want to dwell on it any further. "Why do you keep referring to me as ʻyour queenʼ? Forgive me, but I donʼt even know your name. We are not acquainted in such...elegant, let alone, casual manners. I am Alisia Aurora of Atlantis."
"Lantean? Iʼm not so sure that you can call yourself Lantean anymore," he trailed off.
"What do you mean?" I questioned furling my eyebrows again in confusion. The man seemed to study me through whatever way he saw me. Tilting his head, he picked up my hand once again, continuing the massage. "I appreciate your efforts, but I have no feeling in my hands anymore. The numbness is spreading up my wrists and arms."
He gave a soft chuckle in his throat. "It truly is happening then. I speculated it might have not had time to inject enough to do so."
"What? What did that monstrosity do? What is happening to me?"
"Your transformation, of course. The insect that attacked you has been genetically mutated and evolved into that state. The toxins in its suction left the Wraith genetics inside your body. You are well on your way to becoming a Wraith."
"Wraith? I do not know that species." He stood up and tilted his head the other way.
"You are weak and must feed. From what I have observed, you cannot eat as Wraith do at the moment. I will hunt down some compatible food for you to gain sustenance from." He turned and headed towards the entrance of the cave.
"WAIT! I donʼt understand! What are Wraith?" I hollered, feeling panicked.
He paused and turned to face me again. "I am Wraith, young Queen Alisia. And it is a Wraith that your metamorphosis will bring you to be." With that said, he exited the cave in a sprint into the forest. Feeling overwhelmed, I allowed my body to slide to the ground again, laying on my side. Without warning, my heart accelerated a second time. I gasped for air but none came. In a matter of seconds, my heart stopped beating. Blackness instantly filled my eyes as my mind faded.
Dead.
Screaming, my body filled with life again. The woman standing beside me removed her hand from just beneath my collar bone. I panted as I felt my heart beat stabilize. The woman gazed at me with sadness in her eyes and returned to her own gurney. Noticing the chains around the womanʼs ankles, wrists, and neck that connected themselves to the gurney itself, I tried sitting up myself, but to no avail. I was bound in the same way, except mine were pulled tight for immobility.
"I see he has not spared another experiment," the woman spoke out loud to no one in particular. She had the same two toned voice that my rescuer had, except with a feminine sound.
"I donʼt understand. Who did this to you? Why are we bound?" I responded. My voice had changed. It sounded very similar to the womanʼs next to me, which startled me. The dark room concealed most of the womanʼs face and figure, but I knew there was something different about her. She placed her hand on her stomach and caressed the enlargement. She was pregnant.
"That Lantean scientist," the woman began. "He has been experimenting on my people for nearly fifty years. We are still learning technologies and are far outmatched. We never stood a chance against the weaponry and tranquilizing powers he bears." She paused. "He has also violated me!"
"What? How repulsive! Lantean...wait. Thatʼs what the man who rescued me from a horrible beast referred to as the people of Atlantis, my people."
"Your people?!" the woman questioned in anger. The lights flickered on as a quarantine suited man entered the room. My attention went back to the woman. Gasping, I couldnʼt help but stare at the womanʼs terrifying beauty. Her skin was a pale avocado that made her golden brown cat-like eyes stare intensely. Her platinum blonde hair was extremely long, lengthening down to her waist with an elegant wave to it. Her eyebrow bone protruded more over her eyes than any normal human I had encountered, creating a rather eerie skeletal effect with the shadows in the intense light above. She had the same slitted openings as a snakeʼs sensory organ visible on her face just below her eyes and next to her nose. She had a black tattoo over her left eye that was unbroken, reaching up to the middle of her forehead and down over her eye, passing around her sensory pit on her cheek. It looked like brandished wings with jagged waves as the feathers on the sail of the appendage. Bizarre enough, it was deja vu to my eyes. Her nostrils stretched to a point as they reconnected with her face, and her teeth were sharp and almost shark-like in formation with her full lips parting over them. She had clawed fingernails on her hands that gracefully draped over her legs as she sat with her knees up, leaning one of her extremely high and sharp cheekbones on them. She wore a simple brown dress that covered her tall, thin, impregnated body perfectly.
"What have they done to you?" I asked in horror.
"Alisia! Thank the stars youʼre awake!" the suited man exclaimed. I squinted my eyes to try and see him. He began unshackling me. I sat up and rubbed my wrists where I was bound. "This monster did not hurt you in anyway, did she?"
The woman hissed at the man as I peered through the windowed opening of the suit where the manʼs face was visible. "Tirrian?"
"Yes, Alisia. I saved you from a savage and brought you here. I had to bind you to keep you from being taken into captivity again."
I rubbed my eye with the palm of my hand and gasped. Looking to find the sensation, I discovered the same feeding organ there as I examined on my rescuer. I kept staring with utmost confusion. "Whatʼs wrong?" Tirrian asked with concern on his face.
"Can you not see and hear? Iʼm changing into something, Tirrian! The man who rescued me from this giant insectoid deduced that I was mutating into a...Wraith!"
He grabbed my hand and studied it. "Fascinating..." he mumbled.
"What?"
"We discovered that the missing settlements were fed upon by a leech-like insect we named, the Iratus bug. These insects fed upon enough humans that their young began taking on human characteristics. The result created these beings known as the Wraith, solely named by the fact that theyʼre tall, thin, extremely pale, and that death follows them everywhere. Odd enough, they can also create hallucinations that resemble ghosts," he expounded glancing over at the woman. She hissed again. "That, my dear, is a Wraith queen. Disgusting isnʼt it?" Tirrian asked with an arrogant confidence as he stepped up next to my chained gurney. The woman hissed with a furious irritation. He ignored her. "I see one of my experiments took a feeding off of you. Naughty thing escaped my lab and killed your entire away team. Of course, if it wasnʼt for a faceless savage, you would have been killed as well. Iʼm afraid you have been infected with a most horrible condition that I do not have a cure for," Tirrian replied with a false worry in his voice.
"What have you done to me?"
"Like I said, I have done nothing. I found you dead in a cave. This female abomination here restored your life. Fascinating, isnʼt it?"
I closed my eyes in disbelief. "I donʼt believe you."
"But I would never lie to you, Alisia. You see, when the first settlement on this planet went missing, I was one of the scientists who came to investigate. I was only twenty-five at the time when I discovered the Wraith," Tirrian walked over to the woman, who was growling under her breath and baring her sharp teeth. He mockingly caressed her face. She pulled away and thrust her hand at his chest. Wearing a personal shield, Tirrian laughed as her hand rebounded, much to her frustration. She hissed at him again, returning to a nearly upright fetal position.
"Wait, the first settlement went missing over fifty years ago. We didnʼt attempt to colonize the planet for another twenty years due to thinking there was an outbreak of toxins in the atmosphere that killed the people. I read that in a log entry when I was only a child. How is it that she claims you have been experimenting on her people for fifty years!? That would make you..."
"Seventy-five? Yes, another fascinating discovery I made upon...studying these creatures. They feed off life force, which is how they maintain their youth. I created a serum by extracting their blood just after they partake of life force. Itʼs quite ingenious actually and can restore life when someone has passed on, or keep one young like the way I use it."
"You mean, you could have restored my life, but chose to drag me here and chain me to this operation table as a corpse?" He shrugged his shoulders in a ridiculed manner.
"That is the nature of this fiend!" the woman snarled to me.
"WHAT HAVE I SAID ABOUT SPEAKING?!" Tirrian roared as he swung the back of his hand at her face. She took the blow with a cringe of deep sorrow in her eyes.
"ENOUGH! Tirrian! What has gotten into you?" I questioned in a rage. "Your obsession has gone too far! These poor people are tortured by your presence here!"
"His obsession has taken what too far, Alisia?" I heard my father say as he entered the room with the same style of suit on that Tirrian was wearing.
"Father?" I gasped with great surprise. "You knew about this?"
"He was the one who allowed me to carry the work forward, in secrecy, of course. The experimentation would never have passed well with the Council, but I knew that there would be great advances in medicine, biology, and genetics that it would be shameful to pass up. Isnʼt that right, Orion?" Tirrian began to clarify.
"Do NOT speak to my father in such a casual manner! He is your commander and demands that respect!"
"On the contrary, I supersede him in age, making me an elder. I demand respect. We both came to this planet so long ago. It was I who discovered these aberrations, and it was he who agreed to let me start my work. He was the Chief of Security at the time, and concocted that lie about the toxic atmosphere in order to allow my work to press forward uninterrupted. We installed a Stargate in this base so as to travel back and forth with valuable data undetected."
"Tirrian, why must your mouth always get away from you. She did not need to know all of this. If I had just listened to my instincts, she wouldnʼt even be here in this state!" Commander Aurora scolded.
"How long were you going to allow this? How long were you planning on keeping this from me? From Atlantis?!" I begged my father in a tortured pain.
"It was necessary, for your own good."
"ʻFor my own goodʼ? My body is mutating, Iʼve died once already, and I was strapped to this table like some science freak ready to be opened up, and this is ʻfor my own goodʼ? You knew! You knew and still allowed me to come here, knowing some of my crew would die! Both of you knew!" I blamed with tears of rage and sorrow filled my eyes as my voice quivered.
"Of course we did! The savages are getting hungry again and needed a fresh supply of food. I sent a distress signal which brought your warship out of orbit and landed them near here. I canʼt have hungry test subjects," Tirrian said matter-of-factly.
"What?"
"That is how these creatures eat, Alisia. They feed off life force and we needed a large supply to keep them satisfied," Commander Aurora tried convincing.
"So you sacrificed my crew?! How many more people must die for you to complete your unethical experiments!?"
"Please! Alisia, I had no intention on sending you down here! You were supposed to send a team down and remain on board the warship. Once you figured out they went missing, you would send another team, then, another! Until there were few left on the ship itself. Then, you were supposed to return to Atlantis, defeated," he continued.
"You murderer! You are the Commander of Atlantis whoʼs soul purpose is to protect us!" Furious, betrayed tears continued flowing down my face.
"Please, Alisia, you must understand."
"I understand plenty."
He glanced at my hands in a surprised puzzlement. He turned my palm upright and scrunched his face in anger. "Tirrian! What is happening to her? Sheʼs turning into one of them!"
"NOW you notice? Father! Can you not hear the difference in my voice?"
Commander Aurora ignored me and continued interrogating Tirrian with vexation. "What happened?"
"She brought one of the smaller shuttles down with a small away team. She left two at the shuttle and continued with the other five to search the forest. The escaped test subject attacked and killed the two men and quickly pursued Alisia and her team, snatching them one by one into the trees. It sucked their blood until there was none left for the heart to pump. It tackled poor Alisia to the ground and began the feeding process when a faceless savage sucked the life through Alisia and out of the insect leaving it a shriveled husk. Alisia fainted at the scene. The savage carried her unconscious body to its cave dwelling to rest where it left her to retrieve food. Alisia died inside shortly after its departure. That is when I dragged her body here. She was revived by this creature, and here we are."
"YOU WATCHED THE WHOLE THING HAPPEN?! AND DID NOTHING?! MY CREW IS DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!" I roared. Commander Aurora took several steps back with a look of horror on his face. "FATHER!"
"Tirrian! You must find some way to cure her! We must take her back to Atlantis to get her medical treatment immediately!"
Tirrian took several steps backwards towards a table behind him. He grabbed a stun gun from the table and pointed it towards my father. "Iʼm afraid I canʼt let you do that. My work has come so far. Bringing her to Atlantis would expose me and I cannot be stopped now. We must all make sacrifices, Orion, and yours is now." Tirrian shot my father in the chest, stunning him until he fell limp to the floor. His breathing was staggered as he gazed up at Tirrian in disbelief. I roared as I ran over to my father, trying to find some way to help him. "I wonder..." Tirrian muttered behind me as he wrapped his arms around me, immobilizing me. I struggled, but to no avail. He took my right hand and forced it into my fatherʼs chest. My father wailed in pain as I experienced my first Wraith feeding. My eyes widened as the sensation flowed from my hand into my body. My body slowly gained strength. I closed my eyes, indulging in the delicacy of the experience. To my horror, I was enjoying the sensation. I couldnʼt describe what I was feeling.
It suddenly stopped. I opened my eyes instantly to see my father pale and lifeless. I yanked my hand off of him in terror. "Father...?" I whimpered, tears filling my eyes once again.
"Truly fascinating," Tirrian whispered with satisfaction in his voice. I scrunched my eyes with rage and broke through his grip. He stumbled backwards in surprise. I quickly stood up and faced him.
"WHAT DID I JUST DO?" I roared.
"You fed upon him. He is dead. Unfortunately, I must kill you as well," Tirrian said pulling out his gun. "You mustnʼt stop my work. I cannot be discovered. We are settling another planet this week. Iʼll graciously name it after you, Alisia. To honor your memory and bold sacrifice." He shot me, but to both of our surprise, I was still on my feet, unharmed. I started walking towards him. He shot again and again until I dropped to the floor, feeling my life fading away.
"YOU INSOLENT EXCUSE OF A BEING! SACRIFICING YOUR OWN KIND TO SAVE YOUR OWN SKIN! YOU DISGUST ME! VILE BETRAYER! MURDEROUS TYRANT! FOUL PLAYER OF ETHICS! DESTROYER OF INNOCENCE! MAY YOUR LAST BREATH BE TO A PAINFUL SUCTION OF MY PEOPLEʼS FEEDING! YOUR DEFIANCE WILL FOREVER RUN THROUGH OUR VEINS! A NEW REIGN IS BORN UPON YOUR ARROGANCE!" the woman shrieked at Tirrian.
"ENOUGH!" Tirrian roared as he pulled out a sword from his belt and began swinging it at the woman. She sent an ear splitting screech as his sword flew through her. Her cry stopped instantly as the sword cleanly decapitated her with a nauseous gash, knocking her body over in a disturbing pile.
I gasped as I continued sobbing. A burning fire ignited inside of me. My head began spinning, forcing me on my back, fighting for air. I grabbed my head, screaming intensely from my emotional, mental, and physical trauma. Tirrian walked over to me and gazed down at me. "Pity, you were so beautiful." He lifted his sword. I slowly outstretched one of my quaking hands towards Tirrian. A loud crash came from the neighboring room. Tirrianʼs attention went towards the entrance way that connected the two rooms to the hallway. "What? It cannot be! This building is completely cloaked!"
The same man who rescued me from the insect bolted through the doorway, catching Tirrianʼs swinging wrist with ease. The man growled, crushing Tirrianʼs wrist. He dropped the sword to the ground. He quickly pulled his small gun from his belt using his free hand and shot the man several times. This caused his escape as he dashed towards the Stargate. Three more men entered behind my rescuer as he stood up again, his wounds regenerating quickly into themselves, fully healed.
"You..." I mumbled, turning on my side as my vision blurred once again. The leader of the three men stepped over to the womanʼs dead body. He stared at her carcass in disbelief. He roared to the ceiling in a rage as the man I acknowledged quickly came to my side. He carefully picked my limp body off the ground. I rested my head against the manʼs chest. Gazing in the direction Tirrian hastily exited, I muttered, "Coward..."
I passed out once again in his arms.
"Luna? My Queen?" the manʼs voice came into focus as I lay on the cave floor. I came to, my mind focussing once again. I tasted blood in my mouth, realizing that I had bitten my lip during my time of unconsciousness. I ran my tongue along the edges of my teeth, feeling their elongated sharpness. I curled my eyebrows at the strange sensation.
"Where am I?" I asked shifting my stiff muscles.
"My Queen, you are safe once again." The man was sitting cross legged next to me, leaning close as to protect me from any harm that might befall me.
"Mnnn...what did you call me?" I moaned in exhaustion.
"I gave you a name in Wraith which means ʻangelʼ. Forgive my boldness, but that is how our Hive sees our new Queen."
"ʻAlisiaʼ does not work anymore? No matter, the name my father gave me lacks a purpose now...I am no longer a part of Atlantis. I am pronounced dead in their sight, nothing but a cover up."
"It would seem so."
"ʻAngelʼ? Your Hiveʼs new Queen? Iʼm truly flattered and humbled, but I am no royal highness."
"Our former Queen perished in the room where we recovered you. You are the obvious replacement." My eyes had remained closed the entire conversation. I rolled my head to the side, bumping against one of his hands. He placed his hand on the top of my head, sliding his palm across my hair.
"At least the...physical pain is gone." I opened my eyes as the tears began to form. I looked up at the man who continued to caress my hair. "Why do you wear that? I wish to see your face."
The man removed his hand and interlocked his fingers. "My Queen, I am an undistinguished Soldier Drone. One of many. My identity means nothing to the Queen. Do not burden yourself with such meaningless wonders," the man explained with frustration in his voice. His frustration wasnʼt towards me, but due to some ranking system I didnʼt know, he was faceless, nobody. Just a bulk of muscle in the Hive.
"This is my Hive now. You said so yourself. Please, what is your name?" I insisted, thoughtfully.
"You are fatigued from the trauma that the transformation is causing your body. You must rest," he avoided the question.
"Your name first," I smiled. He let out a sigh of defeat.
"Very well. My name is Zerrix."
"Zerrix? Thatʼs a very handsome name. What does it mean? Why not use it?"
"My name means 'guardian.' Our identities are kept secret from the Lanteans in order to prevent them from using our names against us. They are sacred, you see."
"Very understandable. I shall call you ʻWraithʼ then, which is what I thought your name was when you first brought me here, or at least until I find a more suitable title."
He shook his head with a small chuckle. "As you wish, my Queen, but that is not necessary. You are becoming a Wraith now and may use my proper designation. You must rest."
"Very well, then, Zerrix," I smiled again and closed my eyes. He placed his hand on my head and began caressing once again until I drifted into a deep sleep.
I awoke abruptly with my face and mind ablaze. "I THOUGHT THIS WAS OVER!" I shrieked, cupping my face in my hands. My cheeks and nose throbbed as if something unknown was growing just underneath the tissue. "WHATʼS HAPPENING TO ME?!"
"Your sensory organ is developing...and I feel your brain is also advancing to psychic levels." He yanked my body upright into his lap, wrapping his strong arms around my waist, trying to keep me steady. I arched my back with sheer torment, clutching the hem of his pants tightly, all the while stuttering half breathed screams. Setting the back of my head on one of his shoulders, a large force of energy bubbled inside of my Cerebral Cortex and began expanding exponentially. I inhaled quickly. The mass erupted, killing my brain, shutting down the rest of my body instantaneously. My body fell cold and limp once again.
Dead.
He roared, hoisting me into a cradle. He slowly pulled off his mask, being extremely cautious when guiding the connective tissues of the mask out of his slits that opened to his sensory organ on his face. He carefully placed the mask over my face. The interior of the mask reached for and formed around my facial contour, puncturing my skin through the underdeveloped sensory pits until it fit perfectly. He, then, gently placed his hand, palm down, onto my chest just below my collar bone. Softly he pressed his feeding organ into my skin. He poured life force back into my body. I breathed life once again, seeing everything with an extreme sharpness. My brain and conscious mind felt broadened, as if I could see everything around me without opening my eyes. My sense of smell heightened in a way I didnʼt recognize. I sensed everything around me crystal clear with more than just scents.
My attention went up towards Zerrixʼs face, which was concealed by his large hand. "Iʼm pleased to see that worked, but I must remove my face from you. I can barely sense, let alone see anything and am having difficulty breathing," he panted.
"Please, take it. I donʼt want you to be in discomfort," I granted. He removed the mask from my face with vigilance and slid it back on, taking in a deep breath. Once he removed it, I felt blood dripping from my nose. I wiped it away with the back of my hand as I realized that the newly developed sensory pits were also bleeding. I groaned from the soreness of my face and mind. I ripped part of the edge of my shirt to catch the drainage. "Tell me...how many times have I died?"
"I have revived you four times, three you were unaware due to you dying in your sleep. Your transformation has and will kill you until it is completed. Wraith do not come completely from human biology; therefore, the alien DNA overwhelming your body is overloading all your systems and taking over. The human part of you is dead or dying; whereas, the Wraith part of you is being born."
"That means Iʼve died five times already since that woman in the lab restored my life once..."
"You are physically drained and must rest."
"I donʼt want to die in my sleep again!"
"If that should happen, I will revive you. Please, my Queen, your transformation is almost complete. You need your strength for when it is over." I sighed, turning over in his arms, snuggling up next to him for warmth. The blood loss ceased as there was a brief moment of silence between us.
"Alright, but Iʼm distraught as to what Iʼm becoming, what I will do, who I will be..." I said in an almost whisper. "I donʼt even know who I am anymore. Not part of Atlantis, not part of your people fully. Who am I? What will become of me?"
"Time is all you need, my Queen. You will discover those things eventually, but for now, you must rest," he responded, graciously. Even though his words werenʼt profound, they comforted me. I shut my eyes and allowed my sore body and mind to relax.
My breathing was deep and smooth as I came out of my rem cycle. My heart was beating to its full health. I sat up and looked around, seeing, smelling, sensing, tasting the air with my new sensory, feeling the caveʼs wall with my mind with a sharpness that intrigued and amazed my entire being. No pain was felt, nothing. It was over.
I peered down at my hands, studying the same feeding slits in my palms as Zerrix had. I closed my eyes and felt my face. Every detail was there, so clearly: the sensory pits just under my eyes and next to my nose, the new shape my nostrils formed, my sharpened teeth, the smooth formation of my eyebrow and forehead structure. It was all there.
Carefully standing up, I saw Zerrix kneeling on the ground in front of me, his head in a bow. "My Queen, you are born."
