Training
Sharon, Jadyn and Alex decided to go exploring in the cave system. Rashid and Nathaniel had disappeared into Rashid's private quarters when a tiny person covered in thick brown robes arrived soon after breakfast. He or she reminded Alex of the Jawas from Star Wars but the being lacked the glowing yellow eyes and the person gave off an aura of aggression. When the adults disappeared behind the solid door, the teens had speculated as to who or what the visitor was but they gradually grew tired of the discussion. None of them were brave enough to go try and eavesdrop, so they chose to have an adventure of sorts.
The two girls, having been in the safe house for a month already, had exhausted the secrets of the rooms above theirs. So they headed down into the depths of the planet passed the study where they learned the truth of their ancestry. They continued heading downward, poking around in a room every now and then. Usually, they found nothing or a couple of dust-covered boxes, but occasionally they found rooms filled with art that should have been in museums and two entire rooms were filled to the brim with gold and platinum coins.
"Well, now we know how they can afford to have running water in the middle of the desert." Alex commented in awe when he saw the second room. "There must be more valuable items in these few rooms than on most of the core planets."
They descended another hundred feet and the air that had so far been getting cooler and damp became almost unbearably dry and hot. They instinctively covered their mouths and noses with their sleeves and continued on into the next room. In that room they found a small paved pathway circling the perimeter of the large circular room. The rest of the floor was covered with sand and in the center a thin trail of sand fell from a hole of the roof at least a thousand feet above them.
"What is this place?" Sharon voiced the question on all their minds.
Jadyn shrugged, "No clue."
They continued along the pathway. Everything was silent aside for their breathing and the steadytrickle of sand. The rocks that formed the wall were pitch black and bone dry. The sand pile in the center shifted and the small hill disappeared as the mound started building it up again. Alex glanced at the hill, now the size of a large anthill and felt a shiver run down his spine.
"I think we should go," Alex whispered.
"Why?" Jadyn inquired.
Sharon, her face pulled taut, slowly began backing toward the door. She spoke in a low whisper. "I think Alex is right, Jadyn. Let's get out of here." There was an underlying sense of urgency in her voice.
Jadyn turned around and frowned at the two. "What's gotten into you two? It's just a room of sand. And the landscape made up of sand is constantly changing."
Alex shook his head. "There's something in here…something alive." He anxiously gestured to the mound. "I think something caused that pile to spread out and that something feels very hungry."
Jadyn rolled her eyes and started down the pathway. "You're probably just sensing the rats or bats."
Alex bit his lip; he could not explain this feeling. "No, I know what I saw and something in the sand did that."
Jadyn turned around and faced the two teens with a pointed look. "If you two are so scared, you can just leave. I'll meet you later."
"No!" Sharon covered her mouth as her yell echoed in the otherwise quiet cave. "No," she whispered, "Something is going to happen." She wasn't wrong.
She suddenly screamed as a giant silhouette burst out of the sand behind Jadyn and showered the teens with sand. Sharon screamed again with less strength and reached out for Alex's shoulder to stop herself from falling. Alex's face became ashen and set in a cold expression. Jadyn froze in her place staring at the other two with her back to the sand. She stared at Alex, pleading slightly with him to help her.
"Alex," Jadyn whispered beseechingly, "Help me, please!"
Alex took a step forward but froze when a deafening roar echoed through the cave. Jadyn closed her eyes and started wordlessly praying to whatever gods were out there. Sharon lost what little stamina she still had in her legs and collapsed to the floor nearly pulling Alex with her. Alex regained his balance and peered into the darkness. His eyes meet giant yellow ones. He slowly made out the faint form of a large lizard with a very long neck and tail. Its wings were folded but nonetheless were still enormous and its teeth were like giant versions of the ivory daggers of a more ancient time.
"Jadyn," Alex whispered not taking his eyes off the creature's. "Move slowly. Do not run."
Jadyn, shaking all over, took a feeble step forward but jumped when the creature growled. Alex tensed but the creature did not move; it seemed to almost enjoy the fear it was creating. He slowly reached out with one hand and his fingers brushed against Jadyn's. He inched forward, ever wary of the creature but it still did not move. He closed his hand tightly around Jadyn's and slowly pulled her toward himself. He had her almost in his arms when something fell into his eye and he lost eye contact with the creature. It roared and attacked.
Sharon's shriek was enough to cause the creature to pull up, missing Alex's head by millimeters. Alex pulled Jadyn into his arms as they lay on the floor waiting for the next attack. Jadyn was shaking and Alex half tried to comfort her while searching for the creature. The attack had revealed the creature to be black with a dark grey underbelly. It only had two legs but its wingspan was much greater than Alex had realized. The beast was massive and made the house-sized mammals and birds of the Mesozoic system look like mere house pets.
"Okay Jadyn, we need to head for the door. That thing can't fit through the door." Alex explained simply, forgetting his search for a moment to look into Jadyn's eyes. She nodded and slowly regained her composure.
Alex stood up, keeping his eyes sharp for any movement and he was trying to focus his magical sense as well to no avail. He kept Jadyn close and started down the path toward a quivering Sharon. They made it half way to the door without anything happening. Even the sand seemed to have stopped falling. Suddenly the ground shook, and Alex felt the air circulate uncannily faster than usual. He pushed Jadyn forward and spun around. The creature roared, rearing back and struck out at Alex.
Alex raised his hand in front of himself and glared at the giant. The creature recoiled as if it had smacked into a brick wall. It bellowed but did not attack again. Alex lowered his hand and took a step backward keeping his eyes fixed to the yellow ones of the lizard. The creature took a step forward and its neck and head danced as if in a trance. It strongly reminded Alex of the cobras dancing as a snake charmer played his flute. Alex took another step back and felt Jadyn's hand slip into his. He made the mistake of looking behind himself and the dragon attacked.
It caught Alex firmly in the stomach with its snout and threw him into the middle of the mini desert. Alex landed hard on his back struggling to catch his breath and instinctively rolled to the side. The dragon landed exactly where his head had been seconds before. He flipped himself back onto his feet and called on all the training he had. He increased the blood flow to his muscles and took off in a sprint. He felt the dragon running after him and saw Jadyn and Sharon standing in the entrance watching the scuffle. He felt more than saw the shadow of the beast cover him and he dodged the attack with surprising speed. The creature overran him and he took its moment of confusion to disappear beneath the sand.
This was a trick he and Adri had perfected during a training session years ago. It allowed them to hide in the sand during the heat of midday should they ever be stranded in the desert. They used it to play tricks on their friends until their mother found out and nearly killed them for almost exposing their magic. The trick had very little to do with magic, however; it was simply very direct control of the muscles used when one shivers. Their mother could travel under sand using this technique but neither twin had ever been able to perform that feat.
Alex waited a few seconds longer until he could feel the creature lose interest and round on the two young women. He burst out of the sand in a similar fashion as the creature had when it first appeared. The beast took off and Alex made a dash for the door. He made it through the door seconds before the creature and the whole cave shook as the fiend crashed into the door.
"So what the hell was that thing?" Sharon calmly asked. They had made it back to the girls' living quarters without encountering another deadly obstacle. Jadyn just shrugged but Alex was frowning.
"What is it, Alex?" Jadyn inquired, placing a concerned hand on his tense shoulder.
He stared at the table as he spoke. "My mom told my sister and me stories back when we were much younger. She always swore that they were just stories she made up to scare us…one of them was about these giant creatures that lived out in the middle of the desert. These creatures were similar to the dragons of Earth but they only had two talons. They were pitch black and had wings like those of a giant bat. She said they were the genetically tampered with descendants of the fell-beast Ash Goth rode. Apparently, Harry bred two of them and placed them in suspended animation, very dark powerful magic. He then placed them on a ship along with his inherited fortune and sent the ship into space without a crew. The ship crashed on Arrakis long before it was ever discovered."
"Wait," Jadyn spoke up, "So that gold down below…"
Alex slowly nodded, "That is what makes me think it was not just a fairy tale. She was telling us actual history for a reason I still don't know. She never hesitated to tell us history but she always did it straight upfront. My mother … she hated deception." He felt a lump grow in his throat. His mother was dead; he would never see her again. "Why did she tell us this fact and make us think it was fiction?"
Rashid's unexpected voice answered the question. "Because she hoped you would never have any need of that information."
Alex turned around and saw Rashid standing in the door way with a man whose skin was white as marble save for his face, which was tanned rather heavily. He recognized the appearance immediately as that of a Fremen. Few ever saw a Fremen not covered in robes. The man had chocolate brown hair and it was cut very short, as was the custom on Arrakis for those with dark hair. What startled Alex were the man's eyes; they were a deep blue with the pupil simply being a darker shade of blue and seemed to possess an otherworldly glow.
"Why would she hope that?" Alex questioned turning his attention back to Rashid.
The old man shrugged. "She never explained that to me. All I know is that she started telling you those stories after she found an old journal amongst the gold." Rashid stood straight. "But we are being rude. I would like to introduce to you a very good friend of mine, Kei of the Fremen tribe of the Oasis. He has agreed to instruct all of you in the arts of sword and hand-to-hand combat."
Kei bowed his head once. When he spoke it was in perfect Common, but one could tell from the way he stressed some of his syllables that Common was not his native tongue. "Today we will start with assembling your plasma swords and I may allow you to have a quick skirmish practical between each other."
Alex studied Rashid's face to see if any of this surprised him. He noticed that as well as Rashid was at controlling his emotions and hiding them, the man struggled with surprise. That was probably because few things surprised him anymore. But nothing showed on the man's face and his body posture remained stiff and calm as ever. Alex inwardly smiled; they had rehearsed this. Rashid wanted to see if they were ready to start with plasma swords.
"Aren't plasma swords the weapons of the Imperial guards?"
Kei looked at Sharon, startled. "Correct; but witches use these weapons more effectively. After all, the weapon's creator was a very powerful telekinetic."
Now Alex was the one who had to worry about exposing his true feelings. "So how do you know how to use them, Kei? You are not an Imperial Guard and we must be the first outside the Guard to get the pleasure of using the plasma sword in a long time."
Kei smiled. "You chose your successor very well, Holy One." He cocked his head and pulled out a small dagger from a clip on his belt. He twirled the dagger in between his fingers as he spoke. "I am a weapons specialist. I was sent by my tribe to worlds in all the corners of the galaxy to gather information on other weapons to make ours better and stronger then theirs. I found a…a retired Imperial Guard who was willing to spill the secrets of his order."
Alex paused, thinking over whether or not he should call the Fremen's bluff. "Alright. I will believe that…for now."
Rashid stepped in. "You do not have much time. Our guest wishes to be on her way before anyone realizes she is gone."
They walked up behind Kei; Rashid had disappeared. They walked through a ragged curtain into the sights, smells, and sounds of an ordinary Fremen village. Well, it was almost ordinary; this was the Oasis, where water was not in short supply. Kei walked up to a door and knocked on it three times. The sound of bolts sliding past each other could be heard faintly and finally a person covered in heavy brown robes appeared on the other side of the door.
"Be quick," she hissed. "Kei, you should have hastened Rashid."
Kei rolled his blue eyes and focused them on the empty blackness of the alien. "And you should be more patient. No one but other Fremen has ever tracked someone to the Oasis."
"Your trust in the old laws will get you killed. I have seen our people do things our fathers would have never imagined."
Kei waved for her to be quiet. "This is Hannah. She is a Fremen from a tribe in the Deep South. Her family works for the Holy One as assassins and smugglers: One of the few loyal families to travel off world."
Hannah growled. "Speak anymore and I will chop your head off."
"You would not stand a chance against me in armed combat, Hannah. I am the chief weapons master for all the loyal tribes." Kei stood to his full height. "Now stop your secrecy; they are the chosen ones. And he is the new Holy One."
Alex felt Hannah's gaze land on him. She motioned with her hand and her hood fell off her head. She was a beautiful girl with the same deep blue eyes of Kei and long black hair tied up into a bun in the middle of her head. If Alex's senses failed totell him she was a hunter and much older than her appearance revealed. He would have sworn she was a normal eight-year-old girl.
"So are you satisfied with your inspection of my illness?" she asked coldly.
Alex looked into her eyes and saw the hope hidden behind years of suffering. "I did not mean any, er…disrespect. I was simply observing; something my mother taught me to do."
Kei nodded. "As well you should. The first sign of trouble is nearly always found in a glance."
Hannah shook her head. "Does not mean I have to like it." She walked forward and poked her finger in Alex's stomach. "You should be more discrete."
Kei placed a hand on her shoulder. "Could you show them the equipment? I have another assignment for them and Rashid wants me to scout the town still."
Hannah frowned. "He is still worried about them remaining?"
"Not now," Kei spoke softly and firmly.
Alex frowned, "Why are you keeping this a secret from us?"
Kei shrugged, "Rashid wishes to inform you once everything is known."
Jadyn spoke up to keep Alex from retorting. "Aren't plasma swords' power supply radioactive?"
Hannah nodded. "They are usually powered by plutonium; however, these power sources are based off of the original."
Kei continued when it became obvious that Hannah was not going to explain. "The original power source for these weapons was the witch using it. The creator was thrown out of the Coven when he was building one so that anyone could use such a weapon. The Holy One of the time did not think that a normal mortal should have such power, that they would not have the discipline to control them. The creator refused to stop his work and sold a prototype to the Imperial Guard. The Holy One had the traitor killed and the Imperial Guard decided to keep the technology for itself. The Coven forgot about the weapon."
Hannah butted in, looking annoyed. "So that is the history. My father discovered the blueprints for the energy cell two decades ago. Rashid has had half my tribe working on this project ever since."
Alex spoke up. "So where are these weapons?"
Hannah walked toward a fairly large box and pulled out a thin shiny blade. "No blood for you tonight," she whispered. She cut through the cardboard lid and the rest of the lid shot up. She pulled out a small piece of dull metal.
"Well? Come and get your equipment."
They gathered around the box and Hannah handed each of them a piece of the metal. It was heavier than it looked and freezing, so cold in fact it hurt to touch it. The metal started to melt where it touched their skin.
"A rare form of mercury," Kei explained. "You may want to place it on the table."
They did as was suggested and Hannah passed them a long strand of electrical wire, pure copper wrapped in a thin coat of clear rubber, then the piece that Alex was interested in the already assembled power generator. It was the size of a sugar cube and pitch black. There were two wires hanging from it; one was a normal electric wire but the other just felt differently to Alex. Hannah caught his eye and smiled wickedly. She handed him the final part: a large crystal that had a faint yellow glow to it.
"Why did they get canisters?" Alex inquired when he noticed he was missing a part.
Kei frowned. "Rashid said you have one already."
Alex quashed his surprise. "And how would Rashid know that?"
Hannah caught Alex's attention with a kick to his shin. "Because he is the one who helped get the package over here. He had orders from your father to send the package should your father ever die."
Alex straightened from rubbing his shin. His eyes slightly darkened. "And why would Rashid have to follow my father's orders?"
"Because he was a good friend of mine," Rashid suddenly walked through the door. "He studied under me for most of the social science courses. I was the one to introduce him to your mother … much to the annoyance of your mother."
Alex rounded on Rashid but kept his voice calm. "And why did you do that? He was against witches and my mother was probably already the head of the Arrakis coven."
Rashid shrugged disinterestedly. "Your father's genes were perfect for my plans. I needed something to tie your mother's children to the Halliwell line … your father was the perfect choice."
Alex could not suppress his anger any longer. "YOU FU—"
Rashid knocked the wind out of him with a single blow. He spoke softly and coolly. "The Halliwell line is somewhat protected from the curse. I hoped that mixing the blood with that of a descendent would allow the child to—"
Alex's dagger almost hit its mark. "How dare you use me as an experiment!"
Rashid struggled forward and slowly twisted Alex's wrist until the dagger fell to the ground. "It did not work as I had hoped it to. You and your sister showed no more potential than your mother did when she was born."
Jadyn placed a hand on Alex's shoulder. She looked at Rashid. "Why did you come here?"
Rashid smiled. "Ever the levelheaded one. I came here to inform Hannah that she has a new mission from her father."
Hannah bowed and headed for the door replacing her hood. Rashid looked at Alex calculatingly and turned away. "Meet me in the training room. I want to see just how good you are with a sword."
"Whatever you wish, sir," Alex replied, his voice dripping with venom. He composed himself a second later. "You'll be surprised."
Jadyn spoke up once Rashid passed through the door. She spoke in a low whisper. "You alright?"
Alex stiffly nodded and returned to the table. He sat there staring at the pieces and slowly mulled over all the information he'd just learned. He had taken offense to the way Rashid spoke about his mother and father as if they were just a means to an end. But the more he thought about it, the more annoyed he became with himself for his outburst. He stared at the equipment and felt the strange sensation again from the wire.
"Kei, what powers would I have?" Alex voiced questioningly, trying to get his mind off the sensation.
Kei shrugged. "Rashid told me you are a descendant of Brendin, so that would mean you'd have the power to blow objects up and freeze them. But with all the generations that passed, it could be that you've gained all five powers." Alex nodded and fell silent. "If you'd like you can go fetch your plasma sword hilt."
Alex nodded and rose from the bench. "Did anyone have the power to sense things?"
"You mean like future events or just the stuff around them?" Kei spoke softly taking his cue from Alex as they walked to the door.
"No. Just stuff around them."
Kei shook his head. "That is not a special power. Most witches in tune with magic could sense differences in inanimate object and 'see' living creatures. Some were really lucky and could sense events in the imminent future similar to Sharon."
Alex bit his lip. "Do people today show signs of more than one power?"
"Hardly ever." Kei walked with him to his room. "Rashid has his active power and the power to read people's minds to the point that it makes him look clairvoyant. Nathaniel only has the active power of conjuring, not that it is a weak power." Kei paused, "Why are you asking these questions?"
Alex shrugged as he opened his door and stepped through. Finally, he admitted it to himself. "I think Rashid was right in his hypothesis."
Kei's eyebrows rose. "That is not possible. Neither you nor your sister performed any magic except for your deep bond with each other."
Alex nodded. "But that was because we suppressed it; we did not want to believe that we were strange. I can sense things and it's more than just knowing that something alive is close. I can sense their emotions and I can sense the wire on the power cell calling to me. It feels like it wants the fuel."
Kei nodded and waited patiently while Alex dug through his stuff to find his plasma sword. "That is something unique but it could just be because you are Gryffindor's heir."
Alex locked the door. "I know, but I keep having this feeling that I can do more…that I can call on something…I can't explain it properly."
Kei waved impatiently. "I understand what you are saying. I felt the same way before I figured out how to use my telekinesis. It is unusual for a Fremen to have powers but not totally unheard of. My family and Hannah's family have had the most witches born, so that is the reason we are so closely linked to the Holy One."
Alex shoved his hand out in front of him and nothing happened. "Guess not."
Kei heartily laughed. "It is not that easy. Concentrate on the object you want to move, and then imagine that your hand actually pushed the object."
Alex closed his eyes and did as he was told. He raised his hand out in front of him palm up with the plasma sword hilt sitting in his palm. He focused on it and saw his hand lift it up and off his real hand. He felt the weight of the hilt grow lighter opened his eyes; the hilt hovered about two centimeters off his hand. When he was aware of beaded sweat rolling sliding over his skin, Alex's concentration broke, and the hilt softly landed back in his hand.
"You certainly are powerful." Kei simply stated and opened the door.
Alex held his newly constructed plasma sword, lit on his hand. The golden yellow blade was the length of the average long sword and it took a lot of strength for him to keep the blade steady. The generator that heated the plasma had a powerful kick to it and if he weakened his grip slightly the blade would fly out of his hand.
Alex closed his eyes and tried to shut down the sword without physically touching the button. There was a low crackle and then the soft hum of the generator died. Alex felt the wire that sat at the bottom of the hilt and attached itself just underneath his skin pull out.
Kei nodded his approval. "Once you all are truly concentrated as the Power of Five and have your magical powers at their fullest, the wire will no longer be necessary."
Jadyn rubbed her wrist where a tiny droplet of blood had appeared. "Good, because this cannot be healthy." She had not sounded so worried when she first ignited her very dark grey blade. Sharon had a lighter version of Jadyn's blade. Both of their hilts were almost identical, except Jadyn's was slightly curved while Sharon had kept her own straight.
Kei ignored the complaint. "All of you now have a completed working plasma sword. We will spend a great deal of our time training with other weapons though, since I do not possess a plasma sword of my own. I will tell you all the information I know on the weapon but I cannot help you any more than that."
Sharon shrugged. "So what else do you have to show us today?"
Kei walked to the door. "We do not have time for anything else. Rashid is waiting for Alex and I was meant to inform my superiors of the meeting with the Holy One." He walked through the door and started down a path. "You can find your own way back into the cave."
They nodded and watched him disappear into the crowded marketplace. The trio headed in the opposite direction, observing the lifestyle of the Fremen in mild fascinationas they passed. Most seemed pleased and smiled back at them but a few of the Fremen their age glared at them. Alex got the feeling that they were jealous and felt a vague sense of danger but it was not imminent so it went ignored. They walked past a few kids playing a game of cards and speaking very quickly in Fremen. Alex picked up a few words and stopped.
"Hey! Dat es nee gaaf nee!" Alex said commandingly. The Fremen language was half based on tone.
The oldest of the children looked up and grinned. "What are you going to do about it, rich man?"
Alex shrugged. "Vertel jou pa."
"Jy es mal." The kid stood up and glared at Alex. "You don't even know who I am."
Alex closed his eyes and took an invisible breath. "You are Kei's son."
The boy visibly recoiled and stared at Alex amazed. "You're like my father."
"I am uniquely gifted, yes." Alex said cautiously. His sense of danger was peaking.
The kid lowered his eyes. "I'll apologize. Jammer, vriend."
Alex smiled, "Wat es jou naam?"
"Ek es Teviel."
Alex held out his hand. "Well, it was a pleasure to meet you, Teviel."
Teviel took Alex's hand and squeezed it but did not shake it. "You are een samm met verlaat."
"Thank you." Alex turned around and started back down the road. The girls ran to keep up with him.
"What was that all about?" Sharon questioned.
Alex shrugged. "He called the boy who just beat him an ugly name and I corrected him."
"But you spoke in Fremen."
Alex nodded. "I know a number of languages fluently. Fremen is not my strongest but I know enough to get by."
Jadyn rolled her eyes. "And just everyone knows everything, right?"
"No, not everyone," Alex smiled, "I'm just a genius."
"Oh, he doesn't have a big head, not at all." Sharon looked pointedly at Jadyn. "You owe me that…"
Alex turned around as well. Something was going on. Out of the alley they just passed came a lumbering cross between a komodo dragon and a pit-bull. Behind it strode out a Fremen in brown robes and a scar across his right cheek. Alex felt the hatred pouring off the man. The creature — a spineray — charged forward. Alex raised his hand and focused driving out the pain from the headache. The creature slammed into the invisible barrier and shook its head, disoriented. Alex was breathing heavily.
"DIE WITCHES!" the man yelled, not caring about the crowd that was gathering.
Jadyn pulled out a blaster from her back pocket and Sharon followed suit. They took aim but the blasters dropped to the floor; Alex had motioned with his hand. Alex walked slowly up to the creature keeping one hand close to his plasma sword.
"Call this beast off and fight like a man!" Alex yelled.
"So you can use your powers on me?" The man laughed sarcastically. "No, I think my pet can prove my point just fine."
"Coward!" Alex pulled his plasma sword off his belt. "You are nothing more than a coward."
The creature recovered its anger and charged again. Alex glared at it and activated his blade. The creature, confused by this new source of heat, backed down. Its owner yelled and told it to attack in Fremen. Alex waited; he could sense the creature's fear. He muttered something in an ancient language; something to the effect of "God forgive me". He lunged at the creature and the blade touched its scaled face. The spineray pulled back and tried to rub the wound. It was not a deep wound and probably did not hurt anymore than an injection but Alex knew that it was enough to get the creature to think for itself.
"How dare you!"
Alex turned around and kicked the man in the face. The man collapsed to the floor with a bleeding nose. Alex deactivated his plasma sword and glared at the injured Fremen. "Next time, think before you act." The Fremen scrambled to his feet and ran back into the alley. The crowd was already taking care of the spineray and leading it to what Alex guessed would be a shelter. He shook his head and turned to face the girls. They just shrugged and carried on toward the training room.
Rashid was already in there meditating. "Come, sit…calm yourselves."
Alex, still not sure if he forgave Rashid or not, remained in the doorway. "What about the duel?"
"You have already proven yourself, Alex." Rashid opened one eye. "I do not need to prove to you that my experiment was a success. Hate me all you want, but controlling the genetic pool is something all Holy Ones do in order to protect their followers."
Alex nodded and turned around to leave.
"Where are you going?"
"I cannot meditate in the same room of the person I hate." Alex spoke calmly. "I'll be in my room."
The Imperial Guard stood at full alert at his front door. The Guard was dressed in full attire of the prince's personal bodyguards. He had his heavy black armor and the blue tunic with the imperial family insignia. But what got him the most was the fact that the guard had his visor on. That was something the guards only did in court or escorting their charges in public: never in the warded off private sector of the Imperial Castle.
"Did Leto already leave for the day?" He inquired.
The guard remained silent.
"I asked you a question, guard." He was annoyed now. He liked to be on good terms with his guards and servants but when they did not obey a direct command he got angry really fast, especially ever since his father died.
The guard still remained silent. He glared at the guard and raised his hand to get the person's attention. This one certainly won't be a replacement for my father's generals. He flicked his finger on the visor and the helmet teetered forward before falling off. He jumped back and stared at the head of Leto, his eyes staring up into space. The body, now moved from its exact position, collapsed and brought him back to reality. A gloved hand reached over his mouth and pulled him with ease into his own quarters. The hand disappeared once the door closed.
"GUARDS!" He yelled.
"No one can hear you, your highness." The kidnapper spoke softly and his voice was distorted.
"They'll come looking," he was getting desperate, something he was trained to never be. "I usually sign into the network before going to bed."
"I know," the person still remained in the shadows, "I already signed you in."
That really shocked him. No one knew his password except his father and his father probably did not remember it with all the stuff he had to do. "Who are you?"
The person remained silent and his breathing was deep. "A friend of your father's."
"Very funny," he taunted. He realized that this man was not here to kill him but to do something else. He needed to find out what.
"I am," the retort was half-hearted.
He tried to peer into the darkness but the person was too perfectly hidden. He knows a few tricks then. "Prove it."
"Alright, Mathew." The person paused. Mathew did not show his surprise; not many in the Empire knew his true first name. He was to everyone, even most of the Court and people in the castle, Prince Halliwell. The man continued. "Your father's death was no accident."
Mathew had to laugh, but he did not. Everyone in the Empire suspected that and in fact, the Imperial Guards had proven that the crash had been no accident. Someone had placed a tiny explosive on the left wing of the craft; just enough to caused the craft to pull out of the hyperspace too quickly. In fact most people knew it was Alia; they just did not have enough proof to bring it to the attention of the Court. "That does not prove anything."
"Alright, perhaps I could show you my face and then you will believe me." The man stepped out from the shadows and was dressed in the normal red Imperial Guard uniform with the faint crest of his father's Imperial Guard generals over his heart. He removed his helmet and Mathew gasped.
"Impossible!"
"I'm afraid not." The man replaced the visor. "Your father suspected that something was going to happen on that trip. He ordered me into an escape pod and then ejected it seconds before entering hyperspace. I crash landed on Zen-Zoo and went undercover as an Imperial Policeman. Your father had sent up a contingency plan should anything happen to him. This was one of them. I was to lay low until you came of age then I was to help you regain the throne through whatever means possible."
"What do you mean regain the throne?" Mathew questioned. "Alia will step down when I require her to, Jason."
Jason frowned. "I have not used that name in a long time."
Mathew's eyes widened. "So what is your name now?"
"Leto, if I am to protect you and train you I will need to be an Imperial Guard again."
"You are going to take the identity of someone you murdered?" Mathew shivered at the thought. "You are even more heartless than I remember you."
Jason laughed. "I am not heartless, Mathew. I just never allowed my emotions to overcome logical thinking. Leto was an excellent lieutenant and it is a pity he was the one on duty tonight but I had to act now. Alia has planned an attempt on your life."
Mathew shook his head. "Alia hated my father because he was soft. She knows I'm not like that. She knows I won't allow my father's bill pass through the Court."
"You really think she assassinated your father just to get you into power faster?" Jason flexed his fingers, something most Imperial Guards did when agitated. "No, silly boy; she wants the throne."
"Impossible!" Mathew almost shouted. "Even if she is that power hungry the laws of the land strictly state that a Halliwell must be on the throne, a direct descendent of the Twice Blessed One."
"Don't fool yourself into believing that the Emperors were above having sex out of wedlock. There are more descendents to Wyatt Halliwell than you. You are just the lucky one to be born from the Imperial Queen. Alia has traced her lineage back to Wyatt and she will argue that she has more royal blood than you."
Mathew laughed. "And Nihilus will just allow her to take the throne? Or have you forgotten that Nihilus still only answers to Wyatt himself?"
"No, but things are changing in the Empire." Jason looked at the door. "We had best move the body in here. I don't need more blood on my hands tonight."
Jason got up and walked to the door replacing his helmet. Mathew pondered attacking him; after all, his story was barely believable. Now would be the perfect opportunity to…Jason turned around and snapped his fingers. A protocol droid walked out of the shadows and held a gun to Mathew's chest.
"You need to hear everything before you lock me up." Jason stated and turned back to the dead body. After a few minutes the body, including the severed head, was lying in the bath and the protocol droid was deactivated.
"How are things changing?"
Jason hesitated. "Have you ever heard of the prophecy of the Power of Five?"
Mathew shook his head. "But why does it matter? No one can trace their roots back that far thanks to the destruction of records. The Power of Five as far as anyone knows died at the hands of Harry Potter."
Jason stood. "That's what everyone believes. But your father was researching the area…constantly returning to the Imperial Records…searching for answers. He found out that the spell that has so far kept the Empire from the eternal conflict of good and evil was weakening . . . . That the Power of Five was still alive and about to be reconstituted."
"How?"
"I don't know. He never trusted us with that secret. But I do know that he was getting more and more uptight about it. He worried for your safety; that if the prophecy came true that they would kill you in order to restore "peace" to the universe." Jason stopped pacing and Mathew's eyes met his. "Your father started practicing Wicca."
"SHUT UP!" Mathew was on his feet and charging at Jason. Jason sidestepped and tripped the prince.
Jason spoke calmly. "Alia found out about this and tried to get the Court to bring up charges against your father and in so doing so discredit your entire family, leaving the throne open for her taking. But Nihilus refused. So she designed the assassination attempt that I supposedly died in. I was never replaced but your father gave another Imperial Guard my armor; that guard as you now know was actually me. Then two years later Alia killed the Emperor in the crash."
"Why are you telling me this?" Mathew hissed.
"Because I need you to realize the urgency; I need you to trust me." Jason removed his helmet and met Mathew's gaze. "If you don't, then everything your father died for would have been for nothing."
Mathew breathed out slowly. "Alia is my aunt."
"Correct," Jason nodded, "But that means very little to her. You probably may never see the throne but we might be able to prevent her from destroying the Empire in a civil war."
"What are you talking about?"
"Nihilus is preparing to leave his post on the Court; this will remove the last barrier between Alia and the throne. She wants you out of the picture so that no one could possibly argue against her."
"You aren't making any sense." Mathew sat down rubbing his temple. "She is going to kill me but no one is going to stop her from taking the throne anyway."
Jason nodded. "She wants to remove their temptation to argue against her claim. Nihilus is loyal to magic as much as he has condemned its practice; he wants to rule the universe himself. With the spell wearing off he sees this as the perfect opportunity to create a demonic army, and the Power of Five will have an army of their own. We are heading for a galactic civil war…unless we stop them. As a Halliwell, you can use magic; you can vanquish Nihilus before he raises an army and we will find the Power of Five and kill them as well."
"And my aunt?"
Jason closed his eyes. "She may get her wish after all. You will not be able to reclaim the throne if you get caught using magic. But if you are lucky, then I have friends who can slip her a poison in her wine."
"Why not kill her now?"
"Why are you so eager to kill all of a sudden? You were disgusted with me for murdering Leto."
Mathew sighed. "I'm not eager to kill, but if it has to be done, why not do it now?"
"Because we need someone on the throne. And despite the evil things Alia has done and her complete lack of conscience, she is the only other choice we have."
"And I have to use magic?"
"You already do. You use it to sense danger…to give yourself that much quicker reflexes." Jason paused. "You probably have even used telekinesis to get things you wanted that were just out of reach."
"But…"
"Mathew, you will soon figure it all out. But for now, just worry about helping me dispose of my armor and the body. The generals are all dead; this armor is too —"
"I'm promoting Leto to general," Mathew became distant. "Keep your armor and help me bury my friend."
"As you wish your highness."
AN: And the plot thickens or rather is cleared up a bit…depending how you look at it.
A special thanks once again to my beta reader KMS Snape a.k.a Daphne. Without her help this chapter would have never been completed.
Next Chapter – Romance and figures from the past.
