Please guys, reviews are really treasured, and I will review one of your stories in return because it's only fair. It really helps me write quicker and makes me happy! Please, feel free to ask questions, answer them, predict or anything else - tell me what you liked, didn't like, I care about these things.
Between the fires on the mountain and the stream through the forest, there was a hole. Time had passed but it was like the space of sleep. It had felt like forever, but instant all at once. Dark, quiet and slowly maddening. Coming out the other end of the abyss of the dead time had been both accompanied by terror and admiration. For a brief, fleeting second he believed he'd been thrown back out into the flaming mountain to burn.
Zim stood in a forest; lush and thick and green. Trees huddles together, tall and short, roots protruding from the ground, shrubs alive with vibrant red and purples and blues and whites of blossoming flowers.
He glanced cautiously at a small stream a couple of feet away. It twisted like a snake, getting wider into a tiny pool further upstream, but still in view. It was fed by a miniature waterfall, probably no more than a foots fall where the land rose and it made it's origin in a spring under the ground.
Zim had bad relations with water - he didn't exactly trust the substance. However it seemed to attract small groups of butterflies and dragonflies that hovered and darted and fluttered. Apparently oblivious or unafraid of a tiny green alien suddenly among them.
The silence was golden - no cars, no machines or voices. Zim was brought into a trance by the very sounds around him - birds, the trickle of water, the buzzing of the wings of insects. Never had he imagined that such things could subdue him. He figured it was something to do with the cool air on his skin soothing away the memory of the heat from his previous encounter.
His trance was broken by the snap of a twig - he looked around to see Rax sitting on a moss covered log, mushrooms sprouting at his feet and a thicket of small, white-barked trees and white flowered shrubs behind him.
Zim sighed and looked away again. "You are the real Rax, right?"
The albino let a short and gleeful laugh escape him. He watched Zim with calm but cautious eyes. There was much he was still concerned with. "I assure you, I am the real Rax." He ran a finger across the smooth metal of all four of the cuffs on his left ear - his right was symmetrical to it.
"What now? Will the whole forest start burning? Will the water swell or a bear lunge out of the woods," Zim said, sardonically. He turned to face Rax. "Or are you actually lying to me and are a devil in disguise?"
Rax did not reply. For the host of a power matching God, he didn't look like what Zim'd seen from human depictions - and those were rare enough. He wore a simple grey t-shirt underneath a complex black and sangria red parker with an inner red collar and a hood lined in white fur. It had two breast pouch pockets and two simple jacket pockets around abdomen height. The parka was short sleeved, the dark colour of the black contrasting with his pale skin. His jeans were a dark grey with patches of faded brown, a leather strap up around his left and right thigh and right calf. A pair of leather red gloves were adorned on his hands, lowly cut with a button fastening. His shoes were simple trainers.
He had four piercing on both ears - although only one ear was always visible, due to one side being closer cut than the other, with a fringe that passed just above his left eyebrow - and a layer of bandages around his throat. Zim hadn't even noticed Rax's bottom framed glasses until he pushed them up his nose.
Zim was still not wholly accustomed to the way this world worked. He sighed and shifted his weight. "Zim asked you a question. I expect an answer."
Rax shuffled along the log and patted it. "Sit with me. I want to talk with you, is all."
"And you only wanted me to climb a volcano," Zim replied, but sat next to Rax anyway, keeping a fair distance between them.
"It's okay that you don't trust me. Not many do at this point." Rax's voice was softer now.
Zim spoke without looking at him. "Were's Gaz? She's supposed to be…what… my jury?" Zim took another quick glance around the forest to check for the purple-glad girl - young woman now. "Why do humans employ such tedious methods of justice?"
"Justice? This is nothing to do with punishing you," Rax said. "It's to determine if you deserve to be punished. It is the Courts code of conduct. And Gaz is listening and watching. She just isn't too keen on getting her heels stuck in mud."
Zim frowned. "Since when did the Gaz-human wear heels? Surely she is much too…above such matters."
"She grew up, Zim. That's what humans do. They change as they learn and find new interests, new ways of thinking." Rax leaned forward and shut his eyes, a smile coming to his porcelain coloured face. "I've no doubt she could still terrify the living daylights out of the majority of the population. She just does it while being fashionable I guess."
"What are we going to do, Rax? Sit here and talk for the rest of the eon." He was preceded by silence.
Rax stood and went over to the stream, cupping his hands in the cold water and bringing them out again. He did not spill a single drop as he headed back towards Zim. "You consider water a weakness of yours, don't you?"
"Yes." Zim paused. "Humans do not seem to be able to keep their waters clean. Filthy monkeys don't even understand how to look after their own planet."
The albino let the water trickle through his hands and onto the forest floor. He went back to the stream and crouched next to it. "But you're fire proof… have you ever been in contact with clean water in your life?"
Zim cocked his head to once side. "I wouldn't know. Was Earth's water clean?"
Rax dipping his fingers into the water - it was freezing cold and clear as diamonds. He didn't move, letting the cold of the stream bite into his fingers and hands. When he did pull his hands out, they were a strange orange colour, but immediately began to return to normal. "No. Definitely not. Was yours?"
Zim remained silent.
"Ah, okay. I expected as much from an advanced race," Rax stood up, bracing his hands on his thighs.
"Why are we here? Is this another illusion?" Zim asked after an extended period of silence.
Rax smiled. "We're here in one of Ark's many biomes, and we're here to talk. Or, more specifically, you're here to ask me questions. You passed the first test." He stuffed his hands into his pockets and crossed over the stream with a wide stride, and disappeared into the thick forest.
Zim guessed that he'd be back, and stayed put on the log, listening as Rax's footsteps drew ever further away. I'm supposed to be asking you questions? Zim thought. I can't do than when you're… wandering off.
A minute or so later, the footsteps returned - a faster, pacing rhythm - and Rax immerged again from the trees. He frowned and braced his hands on two trees as he leaned forward. Two pairs of red eyes met and stared, neither of them said a word, waiting for the other.
A monarch butterfly passed in front of Zim's face. "Why'd you walk off?"
"You were supposed to follow me," Rax replied hastily. "Now get up and come with me." He seemed to dive back into the forest without staying to wait for Zim.
The Irken slid down from the log and proceeded towards the waterline. He pulled a rock out of the ground after having to claw at the dirt that cemented it down, cursing at the amount of filth on his gloves. It was a medium sized thing, and he hurled it into the stream, jumping back away from the spray. Once he was satisfied that he would not get wet, Zim made two small jumps to the other side.
Rax was waiting behind one of the trees, his eyebrow raised. "A bit extreme."
Zim gave Rax a sharp glare. "It was water," he said, and let Rax lead him forward - further into the forest or out of it, he wasn't really sure.
"Jeez, how long are they going to be," Dib said as he finished his second bowl of chicken noodles - GIR currently halfway down the table in search for more pasta and bacon.
Tony shrugged and poured himself another glass of champagne. "Patience is a virtue, which I do not possess. This food, however, is in itself a virtue."
From across the table, Benzaiten let out a single laugh, slamming her fist on the table, which bent the bottom of the fork in her hand. She pointed it at him as if it were a trident and began to rock back and forth. "And it's…it's the last time… you'll ever get it!" She stuck her tongue out at him and snatched a bowl of Tai green curry from Ryujin's hands.
"I don't know why they let you drink, Benny. You get wasted faster than Dib does," he gave Dib a smirk. "And he doesn't even drink often."
Benzaiten was flushed red with the alcohol. "And I like…getting drunk, thank you…Stark."
"Okay, Princess, but I'm not going to carry you home."
Benzaiten gave a childish pout, and began scooping great heaps of curry onto her plate; Susanoo snatched it away from her before she overfilled her plate.
Dib looked across the table to Vincent and Claire, who looked content enough. The blonde goddess was doing well to keep her hair out of her food and the food off of her silk dress. He glanced to his watch, which read 14:05 pm. It couldn't be much longer now - unless Zim was being uncooperative and refused to speak. The thought gave him extra confidence that Zim would not pass his trial. He trusted Gaz to make the right judgement and not land herself as Zim's tutor.
Vincent caught his eyes. The two stared at each other for a good while, until Vincent stood and gestured to Dib to follow him - not too closely.
Dib trailed Vincent to the back of the room, and into a hallway leading to a beamer which was connected to the control room, some hundred miles above them. Dib looked around him to make sure no one was watching before he slipped into the corridor and leaned against the wall opposite a now normal sized Vincent Szark.
The god pulled a thin piece of Perspex out from the inside pocket of his jacket - it was roughly the same dimension as a piece of A5 paper. He made a half oval shape with his finger on the Perspex before handing it to Dib.
It was a portable information drive. One big touch screen.
The device lit up around the edges, before a name appeared on the screen in capitals. 'EZEKIEL'.
Dib looked up at Vincent. This was about business. He got himself into Secret Servicemen mode, pressing a button on his watch that would distort his voice in any recording. "Is this a new assignment, Leading Star?" It didn't take him long to get into the mood, remembering to use codenames when talking about Service business.
Unlike the others, Vincent was known to all agents, even though some agents were unknown to others. He had a name that made it obvious he was leading the team - assigning them - but not that made it obvious who he was. Leading Star.
"It sure is, Ezekiel. One three two ten five." Vincent tapped his fingers twice. Times two.
Dib wrote the numbers is sequence, repeating them in his head eight times so he would not forget it. Two six four twenty ten.
The screen turned into an interface, with three icons down the right side and a word across the bottom that made Dib frown and raise his gaze to look questioningly at Vincent.
"I'm afraid so, Ezekiel. TRADITORE. I want you to find out who it is that's been selling our information to Sultan. Mikaboshi has no doubt already infiltrated Ark."
Dib sighed nervously. "Have you got anybody working on that?"
Vincent nodded. "VIOLAZIONE belongs to Malachi, Three Song and Isaiah," Vincent looked towards the table from the shadows and then back at Dib. "You will be accompanied by Chronicle and Esdras. Ruth, Kings and Esther's got RAPPRESAGLIA. You start tomorrow. Converse with your team mates and go through the data on the info drive. This is serious, and I need results. Eight two seven two minus four." He tapped his fingers four times.
Dib saluted as Vincent walked away, joining the feast once more as a number of waiters came out with desserts. He wondered if he could handle this job, and began to walk out of the corridor when his phone rang - or buzzed rather. He pulled it out of his pocket and slide the info drive into it. Dib answered the call.
"Leviticus? What are you calling me for?" Dib lowered his voice and backed into the shadows.
"Leading Star told you? No, don't answer that. I know he has," his voice was rushed and quiet. "I can help you with leads, Ezekiel. Leading Star told me that I wasn't to get involved with TRADITORE, VIOLAZIONE or RAPPRESAGLIA. No, I'm on all of your teams, and there's something we need to talk about."
When the talk was over, Dib strode out of the corridor, laying a suspicious eye over the entire room. Everyone was suspect as he ran those words over in his head.
TRADITORE. Traitor.
VIOLAZIONE. Breach.
RAPPRESAGLIA. Retaliation.
Rax had led him to an opening; wide and green and open. Wild flowers bloomed in hundreds of different shades of colours; reds and yellows, blues, purples and whites and different grasses hued green. The trees had thinned as they had approached, showing a clear blue sky above them.
Zim had seen a stag back in the forest, with its massive white horns and fawn coloured fur. It seemed to glare at him, unafraid and suspicious. It had eventually turned and galloped off into the woods.
Rax led him further out into the opening, before seating himself of a rock that jutted out of the ground. He looked comfortable enough, and gestured to Zim to sit bellow him, on the ground.
Zim did so without complaining. "So, I'm supposed to ask you questions?"
Rax nodded and leaned back. "Anything you can think of."
"Okay answer me this - what is Ark? You said you built it - is it some kind of dome on an inhospitable planet?" Zim tilted his head to one side and watched Rax closely. The god smiled and let his head roll back on his shoulders.
He laughed. "Ark… my greatest creation. Ark is a ship - a massive vessel travelling through dead space and time. What is within it - Vita and the surrounding landscapes - is all that is left on a colossal island system. Elysia. Heaven." Rax paused, but only to think. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Ark is the home of those who are human - who can be saved. Not in a Biblical sense. I am not Yahweh, I do not require worship. But I judge the arrivals, make sure they get the best start they can. I am also a figure head for Ark. People revere me, although my powers are limited."
Zim frowned. "You're the embodiment of the Power of God."
"You misunderstand. I'll explain godhood to you," he spoke with a hearty tone, but underneath it Zim could sense an odd, out of place sadness. "Gods function by the Rule of Mass. The more mass you have, the more power you can conduct - the more power you can produce. When gods use their powers they grow to their full size. Being fat does not help, but muscle does, and so does height. Being at their full height does two things," Rax lifted a hand and listed off the points with his fingers. "One, it allows them to conduct power at maximum capacity, so when they use their authority - their area of power - they are able to do more. Two, it acts as a warning to other gods who may challenge them. The bigger the god, the stronger their authority."
"Okay, and?" Zim interjected, not sure where this was going.
"I cannot enter my god form. The one time I did, it was unintentional," Rax shrugged and shut his eyes for a brief second. "However, my god form was… immense. Ultimate power needs a lot of mass to be conducted through."
Zim nodded and crossed his arms. For a couple of seconds he thought, organising the questions in his head and setting them out in relevance and usefulness. When he'd got it he looked up at Rax and sighed. "How did I get here? Not just me, though… but the Dib-human, Tony and West. They're not from here."
Rax smiled and laughed. He liked the question. "That's a tale and a half," he whispered to himself. "The only time I entered my god form was under pressure of extermination by a behemoth representing extremist religion - out of the three we were placed under attack by at Elysia, this one could not be destroyed. It managed to follow Ark into space. It was going to devastate Ark, and it forced me into my god form. I fought with it until I managed to access my powers - to create all, know all, destroy all. Needless to say the unstoppable forces collided and I won. The force of the final blow caused a ripple throughout the fabric of existence. Every other universe collapsed; parallel, multiverse, extension. All of it gathered in one place, the shining light we call the Nexus, probably the only energy source left in the universe. It ejects souls - collections of memories - frequently. Some of them die in the vacuum of space to return to the Nexus. Some arrive here, or on Sultan. The Nexus itself contains all of existence. Only this universe remains intact, and it is dying quickly. That all happened eight years ago."
Zim blinked - that was quite a tale. It sounded like it belonged in a fable, or a space opera novel. To know all of that had happened less than a decade ago made it seem so personal, so close. It frightened him a bit. "Okay, this one's been plaguing me," Zim started.
Rax smirked. "Your last question!" He proclaimed. "After this one, you'll have to ask elsewhere. And not everything is public knowledge - I'll tell you anything here, but not out there."
The Irken stared, taken aback by Rax. One more questions… he had many. Where any other Irkens on Ark? How long had Dib and Gaz been here? Was GIR here? What was Sultan? What kind of people were there?
After a long while deliberating, he finally sighed and pressed his fingers into his forehead. "What was the volcano about?"
Rax leaned forward. "You tell me. How did you feel when I saved you?"
Zim shook his head and bit his lip. "Empty."
"You gave up your pride, Zim. You're a murderer, a liar and a coward among everything - but that's not really you." - That made Zim look up sharply, both in anger and in confusion - "Your pride was a vicious thing, eating away at you like a parasite. Out of everything that made you, that unassailable pride, while torn an tattered by the moments before your death, was your only and greatest sin." Rax stood up and began to walk away. Then he stopped and turned back. "It was all symbolic. The mountain was the Irken hierarchy, the thunder the anger and hatred towards you by your own race, and the fire was your destructive nature - the false nature you are."
The world went blinding and white, the trees and sky disintegrating once again, a rumbling grew louder and louder, and then he was back.
He opened his eyes to a crowd of gods feasting who stood and clapped, and two humans - one raising a glass of champagne, another looking haunted.
Gaz stepped down from her seat and stood before Rax. She was proud and bright in her clothes, both beautiful and powerful. A glance was thrown in Zim's direction and then she went back to Rax. "He is not who he is. I guess under the code that means he's innocent, although to be monitored daily until we can find a way to remove the false nature. Then, we're here again. Isn't that fun?"
Zim was too busy thinking to react. The false nature you are. He had a hard time grasping what that meant, and knew he couldn't ask Rax, he'd refuse. But he would not ask Gaz, since she'd likely lie to him - that and she was still terrifying. Dib would lie to him too.
Tony strode up to the thrones and shook Rax's hand and clapped Gaz on the shoulder, before she looked at him with a harsh, fiery stare. He stepped away and let her go. Dib intersected her and was obviously beginning to argue with her.
"Heya, boss," Tony said with a smile to Rax. "You mind if I take the bean sprout to the tower? I got something in mind for him." Tony looked at Zim and smiled. For some reason, Zim smiled back.
Phew, took me a while to get this one up, eh? I've been supporting the home team for the Olympics (Go team GB!) and being very patriotic, since it's not every day the Games come to your home country, is it?
This chapter was a nightmare to write; If you noticed I got three sub plots started at once \o3o/
Anyway, I was wondering yesterday while I was in pain and hindered from writing what song could act as the 'theme' for this story... and anyone who watched the Pandemonium section of the London 2012 Olympics Artistic Opening Ceremony would have heard it; And I Will Kiss by Underworld feat Dame Evelyn Glennie (she's deaf!). Seriously, it fits with this story really well - the atmosphere, the scale of the plot, the characters - and it's a beautiful piece. Look it up. It's seventeen minutes long but it's a wonderful piece of music.
Thank you to the people who review this story! You keep me going ^-^ (Remember to look up that song dammit .)