Another year later, Reyna paced nervously back and forth, worried out of her mind. Oscar and Kait, along with JD and Del, were partaking in the first Outsider raid in over a year in order to get power for the village.
When she heard the sound of hooves on dirt, she waited as the cart pulled up, and saw that the four people she had sent were still in one piece.
She walked up to the horse, Chuzz, and patted him on the muzzle and said, "Thank god you're safe. I was just about to head to Settlement 5 myself."
"We, uh, we hit a few snags," Kait said.
Reyna felt immense fear at this statement, but refused to show any sign of it. "What happened?"
"The short version? The COG is on its way," Oscar said, making Reyna even more nervous. JD and Del had assured her that they could easily steal a fabricator without provoking Jinn. They needed the fabricator desperately to power the village, and now they were about to pay the price for it.
"How long do we have?" Reyna asked, afraid to know the answer. Almost as if on cue, a giant helicopter, more commonly known as a Dropship, flew over the mountains surrounding the Outsider village.
The Dropship dropped a blue hexagonal ball and Reyna sighed as the ball exploded to reveal First Minister Jinn's personal Shepherd bot, complete with a screen that showed her face.
Reyna walked up to it and told the others, "I'll greet our guest."
The bot and Reyna were face to face and Reyna said bitterly, "First Minister."
"Reyna," the Jinn-bot said. "I am here for my people. Stand aside."
"You're out of your jurisdiction First Minister."
"So, here's what happens next. Anyone who resists COG justice will be dealt with."
"Like Settlement 2?"
"That's your choice."
"You're forgetting one thing."
"Oh! And what's that?
Reyna then unsheathed both of her knives and cut across the chest of the bot, making sparks fly as Jinn's connection was lost. She kicked the bot away as it fell to the ground.
Reyna then said bitterly, "This isn't Settlement 2."
"Okay!" Del exclaimed. "Good meeting."
"Oh it's not over. You two go grab the fabricator and follow me." She gestured to JD and Kait as another Dropship could be heard overhead. She then yelled to the person arming the wall mounted turret, "Carmine!"
Bullets flew and hit the helicopter as it exploded in midair and fell to the ground. The entire group, minus Reyna, watched in awe as the bird fell to the ground, Oscar feeling immensely proud of his pupil.
Reyna had started walking away, yelling orders to everybody. She knew what was coming, but she was absolutely ready for it all.
Once the firefight was over and she had told the group of three to restore the power to the village, she went into her private living quarters. She knew that another group of DeeBees were eventually coming, but they were ready for all of it.
They had lost the archive of books Diaz had salvaged from Jacinto, and Kait was incredibly sad about this. Reyna had been at the time as well, but there was nothing she could do about it. That was in the past, and she needed to look ahead to the future.
As Reyna thought this, she realized how much she was sounding like her mother and considered the irony. Ever since she was a little girl, Reyna had dreamed of growing up and leading an army against the COG, and that was exactly what she was doing. The former princess had no doubt her mother would have been furious that her daughter was leading a group of humans after her human husband had died and left her with their human daughter.
As Reyna thought about this, she picked up a piece of crystal on her desk. It was the same piece of crystal that had been on Adam Fenix's desk, the crystals of the Lambent mouse he had experimented on.
As she studied the crystal, Reyna sighed. She had had hope long ago that the Locust would eventually return, that they would burst out of their crystals and hail her as their new leader.
But it has been twenty five years. Whatever hope Reyna had that her subjects would come back had all but died. And, now that she thought about it, Reyna wasn't sure she wanted them back. She had been next in line to lead a species of genocidal monsters under the guise that they were in the right, due to the lies Queen Myrrah told her.
Reyna then took her necklace in her hands and sighed. She studied the ornament and wondered why she had never removed it. The necklace was nothing but a reminder that Reyna would never be fully human, that there was always a part of her that was Locust.
But the necklace was also a reminder of every single lie her mother had ever told her. That the humans were wrong, that they had a remote chance of winning this war. Reyna grimaced at the necklace and tucked it back under her shirt, not wanting to see it. She also debated removing the skirt tied around her waist that she had worn the day the Locust were killed, but decided against it.
She looked at her arm and studied her tattoos. The tattoos had been given to her by Oscar when Kait was still young. He had insisted it was a Diaz family tradition to eventually get a tattoo somewhere on their arms. Reyna had drawn this symbol and asked if Oscar was up to the challenge. She had never told anybody that if you unscrambled the writing, it was the lullaby Myrrah had taught her in Locust script.
Kait had a tattoo on her arm as well, much to Reyna's dismay. Reyna had been almost thirty when she was given this tattoo, but Kait was merely sixteen. She got it just after her father died, and lied to Oscar to get it. He asked her if Reyna had said yes, which she didn't.
As Reyna examined her tattoo, the crystal she had set down started to shake. Reyna got up from her chair and slowly backed away. The crystal exploded and Reyna ducked behind her bed.
Where the crystal once was there now stood a large mouse with crystals on its tail. The mouse was now larger than any mouse Reyna had ever seen and looked much more vicious.
The mouse lunged out at her and Reyna quickly used her knife to cut it in half, ending the mouse's life.
Reyna then thought about what JD and Del had said angered Jinn so much and Reyna realized what was happening.
"Jinn accused us of 'taking' her people," JD had explained.
Reyna had just regarded that as an off handed remark, more to save their own skin than anything. But now she realized exactly what was happening to the missing Gears and COG civilians that Jinn had mentioned.
Reyna knew, right then and there, that the Locust were back.
Reyna ran out of her room and immediately sounded the alarms. Oscar came running to her and asked, "Reyna?! What the hell are you doing?!"
"We need to evacuate immediately," Reyna said, struggling to maintain an even voice, for her worrying was getting the best of her.
"If this is about Jinn, relax. We have more than enough to take her on."
"It's not about that. We need to leave now. We can't stay."
"Why? What the hell is going on?!"
"You need to trust me Oscar."
"No! I'm sick of this shit! You've been keeping something from me and my brother since the day we met you! Spill it now!"
"Oscar, I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Yes you do! I'm sick of all this bullshit! Tell me the truth or I'm leaving! Why do you shoot like that?! Who were your parents?!"
Reyna sighed and said, "If I tell you, you can't tell a soul. Understand?"
Oscar nodded and Reyna sighed again. "You're right," she told him. "I haven't been completely honest with you. I never grew up on Azura. I grew up in the Hollows."
Oscar's mouth fell open and he stared at her, jaw hanging. After a minute, Oscar asked, "Why the hell were you in the Hollows?"
"Because that's where my family was."
"You lived with those Stranded who lived down in the Hollows?!"
"Not exactly. Look, let me say this a different way. My mother's name was Myrrah."
Oscar's mouth fell open again and he stared at her in shock, unable to form words. "Myrrah?" he was funfair able to ask. "As in, Queen Myrrah?"
Reyna nodded slowly and Oscar stood there, unable to say anything. "I was next in line to rule the Locust after my mother. I am the Locust Princess."
"Princess?" Oscar asked, his voice sounding like he couldn't believe what he just heard.
"Yes, now you need to listen. You know those crystals that formed around the Locust?"
Oscar nodded and Reyna continued. "Those aren't just there to look pretty," she explained. "I talked to Adam Fenix during my time on Azura. He explained that these crystals were acting as somewhat of a cocoon. The Locust aren't truly dead. They're hibernating. And their hibernation just ended. They're coming. We need to leave now."
Once again, Oscar was at a loss for words until he finally said, "How the hell do you even know they're coming?"
"This." Reyna then showed him the crystals that had been around the mouse. "This was similar to a timer. When this exploded, the Locust were back. And it just exploded. And don't you remember what Jinn said? COG people have been disappearing. This might be why. The Locust are taking them and the COG doesn't even know."
Oscar then said, "How do we know that Jinn isn't just screwing with us?"
"Oscar, you need to trust me. But listen. When they come, they will come after me. I'm next in line to rule. So, when I'm taken, I need you to make sure Kait is safe. She'll be their next target if they find out about her. You need to keep her safe."
"What about you?"
Reyna looked down in despair. "I'm already gone."
Oscar thought about what she said and said, "No."
"No what?"
"You're not gone yet. My brother loved you, and even if you lied to us, I won't let you be taken. I owe that to him."
Reyna now had tears in her eyes and said, "Thank you Oscar. Now we need to evacuate."
They then heard the sound of clattering on the dirt road. The sound was too coordinated to be someone knocking something over and Reyna knew what was happening. She ran as quickly as she could to the power shed where JD, Del and Kait were restoring the power.
She saw something with a glowing red stomach dart in front of the shed and Reyna ducked, hoping it hadn't seen her. She was within earshot of the shed and saw that the power went on, only to go out seconds later.
Reyna watched as Kait ran into the shed to warn JD and Del and saw her opportunity. She heard Kait say, "Come on!" as she slammed the door shut, sealing them in.
Kait ran to the door and tried to push it open, but Reyna slammed it shut again. She looked at her daughter through the small opening, a look of worry on both of their faces. "Mom?" Kait asked.
Reyna held the door shut as she grabbed one of her knives and stuck it in the lock hole, locking the three of them in and keeping them safe. "Mom!" Kait exclaimed.
Reyna faced her frightened daughter and said, "Kait -listen. You need to hide, and then you need to run."
"What are you doing?!" Kait exclaimed.
"Kait, you have to listen-" Reyna was cut off as Kait saw something behind her.
"Mom!" Kait tried, but by the time the words passed her lips, Reyna felt a large hand closing in around her throat, picking her up.
The creature carried her away from the shed and Kait screamed again, "Mom!"
Reyna struggled in the creature's grasp but managed to use her second knife to cut off it's hand, freeing herself. She heard the villagers screaming but couldn't focus on any of them. Her main focus was on the creature in front of her.
She noticed that the creature had several crystals on its face and body and was growling menacingly at her. It ran at her and Reyna quickly sideswiped it with her knife. She heard screaming behind her and saw a creature with a glowing red stomach swallow one of the villagers.
The creature with the crystals saw she was distracted and hit her, causing Reyna to fall to the ground.
Reyna fell into a mud puddle and grasped her face, feeling where she was hit. The creature slowly walked towards her and she stuck her knife in his chest, making the creature fall back in pain.
Reyna pulled the knife back and attempted to stab the creature again, but it was ready this time and grabbed her by the wrist and spun her around, eventually throwing her into a barn.
Reyna groaned as she made contact with the wooden wall. Reyna tried crawling away from the creature, but could hear him walking up to her. She waited for it to grab her, but never felt anything. Through the ringing in her ears she heard shotgun shots and sat up. She saw Oscar, shooting the creature in the side and back with his gnasher.
"Reyna!" he yelled as the monster grabbed the gun and overpowered him. "Run!"
The creature threw Oscar to the ground and Reyna ran up behind it, stabbing it in the back. It backhanded her and she fell to the ground, her knife still in its back.
The creature pulled the knife from its back. Reyna saw Oscar crawling towards his gnasher, one arm clutched on his shoulder. The creature kicked him to the ground and used the knife to stab Oscar in the shoulder, making him shout with pain.
"Nooooooo!" Reyna yelled, extending her arm to Oscar in a futile attempt to save him.
The creature picked up Oscar again and threw him to the side, where another creature with a glowing red stomach swallowed him.
"Oscar," Reyna said quietly, voice laced with a combination of terror and sadness. Her brother in law, the brother of her deceased husband, one of the few humans she trusted. Gone.
The creature with crystals walked up towards Reyna, growling menacingly. Reyna attempted to crawl away, but didn't have the strength anymore. She crawled up to a pile of lumber and sat up, back against it. She grabbed her necklace once again and stared at it.
The only thing she could think was You did this to me as the creature picked her up, carrying her away from her new life, dragging her back to her old one.
I finally got to write this chapter! This was one of the chapters I had been looking forward to since I started this story, which is part of the reason it's so long. But man, have I wanted to write about how Reyna gets taken to the cave where she was at the end of Gears of War 4. My main reason for wanting to write this so bad was ever since I started this story, I've been thinking about this idea and I kept editing it in my brain until I finally got to the part of the story where I could actually write about it.
Also, as a side note for anyone wondering about the ages in this story. Oscar is 58 in Gears of War 4 and Reyna is 42. Oscar is 33 after Gears of War 3. Diaz is around 21 or 22 when he meets Reyna. Reyna would be around 19 when she had Kait. Kait is 22.