WARNING: THIS STORY IS NOW AND OFFICIALLY RATED T DUE TO THE WAYS OF WHICH CHARACTERS PERISH AND SPEAK. I APOLOGISE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE - BUT IT IS ALL SWEARING IN CONTEXT, PLEASE REMEMBER.
Hiya my fellow aliens! (My really long note is at the end. Reviews are up here. :)
BAD1027: I actually cannot remember writing about earthquakes - but knowing what I had originally thought, I don't think you're right... Keep trying though. :)
Saraarena: It's certainly better, I think, to have him reveal himself when saving somebody rather than having his mask or hood ripped off his head... :P As for who said his name... this chapter will confuse you even more. Same goes for what happens with the Cyberteks. Moo Hoo Ha Ha. It gets creepier in this chapter... Seriously... I have been reading too many horror books recently. They do need a break at some time. All war and no fun can cause more problems than its worth. Trust me. :) You're from Spain and you think living in Australia is cool? What?! I certainly didn't update soon, sorry 'bout that, but I am currently pushing through pain to write this so... does that compensate for anything? I await your response... Dun dun DUUUN! :)
The1StillWaiting: This chapter doesn't show anything of Luke and what's going on on Earth, soznotsoz. :) Hey thanks, I'ma huge Percabeth shipper - don't ship any other Px or Ax actually. If it pops up on a story, I quit the story. Is that a bit close minded? As for the website design, that's what I work in. I did Work Experience as a Content Manager in a large Website Design Firm in my city - then they asked me back! Unfortunetly, I can't work for them these holidays, due to my wrist, but I'm hoping they'll let me back over Christmas break instead. *Crossing Fingers* I didn't update soon, sorry, but this is an extra long chapter (not really - I stopped it because I thought it was a humorous point to end a rather dark chapter on). BYEZZ!
Murlocs arise: Thanks!
PJOStalker: Ha ha. Thanks. Did you know a guest used to review on my stories with that exact name a few years ago? Memory lane... School's actually almost over... Wow, I have only updated once this term. Ouch. And, hey, what planet are you from, fellow alien?
SaraArenaagain: They were their enemies, and they will play a part, but they're not their current enemies this time. You're certianly right about the whole "a primordial may be helping them" thing, but why would it just be one? Why not... say... two? **Wink wink. Nudge Nudge**
CHAPTER 9:
My quickly jumped away from the blast as I watched the fight before me escalate. There was a whirlwind of swords within the heart of the fight whilst a duo stood below the throne, swords and weapons clashing in a merry song and dance. An archer, clad in metallic silver, tracing his cheekbones, chest and left arm, held his eye on the battling pair, his eyes trained upon the younger one of the two. The elder man, dressed to impress in his silver and metallic uniform consisting of dark pants and metallic shirt, nodded swiftly before dropping to the ground quickly. The archer released the notched arrow and remained stoic as he watched it sweep through the air. The younger fighter – Killian, somebody had screamed only seconds before – watched, scared, as the arrow made its way towards him. A pulsing black mist surrounded the arrow and I watched it progressively slow down until it was no longer moving through the air. A scream rippled through the air and, spinning on my feet, I watched as a hooded figure screamed in writhing agony. Steeling himself, I watched while he ripped the electric arrow from his shoulder, then threw it back to the robotic archer who instantly froze in his circuits. Snow fell softly on my nose, causing me to look down at my not shivering attire.
Like the hooded figure, I wore an entirely black attire, consisting of flowing silver shirt, black pants and flat knee high boots. Over the flowing silver shirt was a black leather jacket. It stopped mid arm length and folded over itself. I quickly spun around and looked at my appearance in a piece of shattered glass on the pillar behind me. My hair was in an array of braids, interwoven between each other, and looped into a small bun just below my hairline. "Eros…" I muttered softly.
After seeing what it was that the great god of beauty had dubbed decent, I looked around the area in which I was in. A snowy courtyard was in complete shambles, rocks and pillars broken and scattered across the snow covered floor.
Broken bodies lay across the red stained snow, lifeless and dim, as even more continued to fall. Some of the dead were covered in cuts and bruises, others had holes burnt through limbs, causing me to look away quickly, and some bodies had weapons remaining in their chests, stomachs, or even head. Feeling repulsed by that much gore, I scanned the crowd, looking for the hooded figure amongst the array of bodies, monsters and hybrid cyborgs.
A guttural scream came from the area around the throne, causing me to run towards the glowing light of the throne. Upon the stage, the duelling couple had stopped fighting, the younger with a sword in chest. The older man stood in front of the kneeling teenager, his chest heaving as he watched what appeared to be his own son bleeding out on the floor below.
"Killian!" screamed the hooded figure, pushing the hood off his head to reveal the dark brown hair and onyx orbs that I had come to associate with Prince Beta of Codex.
The monstrous man before the dying Killian laughed villainously, his red eyes glowing in technological mirth. "Did you truly think I wasn't above killing my own son? Or the other little brats that I sired?" His bulging belly protruded from his tunic as he laughed sadistically.
Beta stood in front of the maniacal king at the bottom of the stairs, rage radiating off him in absolute waves. "He was your fucking flesh and blood! You turned your back on him! Killian was protecting his people and trying to end this war before it became worse than it already was, you sick son of a bitch."
The king stopped laughing as he spun to glare into the dark eyes of the even darker prince, eyes losing all forms of maniacal and gleaming happiness. "You think that to be true, yet you stand here before me threatening to burn my home to ashes. Are you sure it was me he was fighting?"
"No, it wasn't you who was fighting, you're correct in that respect, but you're wrong as to why he was fighting at all. Killian was fighting for the twins! He was fighting so that his baby brother and sister could come home to a safe planet where they wouldn't be afraid of death!"
The murderous king stood in front of the throne, stopping himself quickly as he prepared to lie back into the velvet throne. "Pardon?" His voice was deadly and dangerous as he glared down Beta. I slowly inched my way closer to him, afraid that something may occur to my new found friend.
The dark prince, now standing in front of me, covering my body from the king's line of sight, watched the king for a semblance of reaction as he spoke, his eyes softening slightly. "My father and I took them, Rupert. To protect them from the likes of you."
Time seemed to freeze as I watched fear seep into Rupert's glowing eyes.
He gasped, looking down to his chest where a sword was now protruding. A flower of red ink began seeping through his cloak, unable to hide the gash of the deadly blade. Rupert's eyes flashed in anger, his face crunching together as he fell onto his knees with a solid thump. "Now," his heaving son, Killian, spoke, pulling both swords from his own stomach and his father's chest, "now they can return home. Unafraid." Both bodies fell to the ground again, blood finally pooling around them in dark maroon light.
Beta slowly walked forward to the two bodies, checking the pulse of Killian and completely ignoring the king. "Are you going to help me or not?" he asked stiffly, lifting the body of Killian onto his shoulder, wincing as the limp body fell onto his arrow wound.
I followed Beta carefully, pausing him to pull one arm of Killian's off Beta so that we could carry him together. We pulled him through the gleaming white snow until, as wet as we were, we stopped at a small brick cottage that was seemingly out of place within the white capped scenery. The small cottage had glowing white lines tracing the exterior, casting a harsh light upon the black stained brick. A harsh white door slid open as we walked in slowly; Beta trying to stay steady, myself looking at the interior.
"Gig!" Beta called, his voice strained and gravelly. I looked at him carefully and watched as he stumbled slightly, my free hand going out to grasp his upper arm. He nodded at me softly, then we began to stumble our way across the fire lit room to the dark leather couch.
No noise came from inside the house, aside from us, as we moved about the living area. "Hello?" I called, my voice rising at the end.
Silence.
Beta slowly pushed himself away from the lifeless body he had thrown onto the couch and pulled a sword out of his sleeve. "Stay here." He walked passed me, grimacing slightly as he walked.
I put my hand on his chest and pushed him towards the other chrome couch beside the one with the dead prince. "You're injured, Beta." He sat slowly and looked at me intently as I took his sword from his hand and my dagger from my boot; whoever decided on my apparel was obviously smart.
I slowly began walking toward an open door and looked up the wooden stairs, my ears trained for any sound. The stairs creaked under my feet as I walked, alerting anyone nearby where I was. Shit.
After reaching the top step, I slowly walked towards an open door, a sliver of light sneaking through the tiny crack. A slight dripping sound was coming from the inside of the room; it sounded like dripping water onto flooring. I slowly pushed the door open and, low and behold, almost screamed.
Hanging from the ceiling was a most likely once beautiful woman with pale skin. A circle of dried blood lay around a large gash on her forehead, still hardening. I gasped when I saw the slit across her throat, a blue wiring-like texture dancing around the wound.
Spinning around to leave the room, I bashed into a firm chest without truly knowing. Hands wrapped around my waist to steady me as I tried to stabilise my pounding heart. "Oh no." He froze in shock as he watched the beauty still swing from the roof. "Look away, Annabeth."
My vision swirled as images of the woman flashed before my eyes, causing me to stagger away slightly. Beta held my arms and pulled me towards him gently, nudging for me to enter his open arms.
Beta's voice was slightly gravelly, and, combined with the body hanging from the ceiling behind me, I pushed my head into Beta's chest, refusing to look into the dead eyes of the woman. Careful to not frighten me, Beta led me away from the room and slowly took me down stairs, arms still wrapped around my shoulders, protecting me from the world.
He walked me through a series of rooms I didn't pay attention to; too scared to bother; too shocked to care. Releasing one of my arms, he opened a door to a simple bedroom. It had warm wooden flooring, a small fireplace in the corner and soft brown walls with white skirting around the bottom of the wall. A small bed lay against the centre of the wall across from the door we just walked through. It looked to be either a double or a queen sized bed, covered in a pale blue and white striped bed spread with soft white sheets underneath. A mink blanket lay over the bottom half of the bed, folded over itself neatly.
Beta gently forced me over to the bed, allowing me to sit as he went over to the wall right beside the door and opened a dark wood dresser. He returned and pulled me to my feet, pushing me into the room whose door was just left of the dresser. Just to my right was a shower with a bath to capture the water and a small seat behind it. Beta placed some clothes on the vanity to my left and quickly walked out of the room, mumbling about changing in another room and fixing up the bodies.
I turned the water to scorching hot and begun to undress of my jeans, jacket and boots. My hand reached into the water first, quickly followed by the rest of my body as I let the scolding hot water seep down my skin. Reaching for the small blue bar of soap, I scrubbed the grime away from my skin until it was almost raw, a scratchy red discolouration in its place.
After turning off the water and getting out, I walked over to the towel rack and picked up a midnight blue, wrapping it around myself. I began sorting through the clothes Beta had left on the vanity, unable to see that it could remotely fit.
Pulling the door open slowly, I saw Beta sitting on the edge of the bed, his bare back revealed. Across his back were scars and tattoos. The tattoos were two sentences written on his left shoulder-blade, small blue borders around the writing of 'ohana'. I read it slowly. OHANA means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten. Another tattoo spread on his right hip, protruding from his sweat pants. Like branches on a tree, we all grow in different directions yet our roots remain as one.
Shaking my head, I walked over to Beta and tapped him on the shoulder carefully, pulling the towel tighter around my body. He spun around quickly and grabbed my wrist, scaring a small squeak from my lips. "Sorry." He mumbled, a faint blush covering his cheeks.
"I was wondering if you had any other clothes I could wear. The ones you gave me didn't fit at all." He laughed, his voice melodic and free.
He was still trying not to laugh as he spoke, "Are you sure?" I nodded, unsure, "Go back and check." Beta grinned, his lips curling a bit more to the left rather than the centre.
I sighed and walked back into the bathroom, muttering under my breath "I don't understand how it'll help." Slamming the door shut, I picked up the pile of clothes again.
In my hands were a pair of pale grey sweat pants that I pushed up to end mid shin, a pale blue tank top and a dark grey varsity zip up hoodie that was a few sizes too big. A pair of white anklet socks was also added to the mix. I pulled the freshly washed clothing on over my body and walked back into the bedroom, Beta still in the same position, huddled over a small photo.
"Um… They fit?"
Hello again, my wonderfully lovely fellow aliens! Long time no chat huh?
I'm going to keep this short but, needless to say, I am soooooooo sorry for not updating over the past 10 weeks. I seriously apologise for that. I was injured earlier this term and couldn't write NOR type which, for anybody who knows me, would know that just cannot be done. It is getting better, very very slowly, but I don't think it'll be back up and running 100% for a while. I have been writing this chapter basically all term - different characters, plots, hell, even a different scenario. But ultimately decided upon this one - which I seriously like.
Now, if you have any questions about anything, don't hesitate to ask on here, on Tumblr, or maybe even on my new AO3 account? Please?