Author's Note: To anyone who is actually reading this: This chapter comes
early because I'm leaving for about a week. I'll post the epilogue when I
get back.
With a swift jerk, he pulled away a blanket that covered a small box. A light flickered on from seemingly nowhere, spotlighting onto the box, which would more appropriately be described as a cage. Behind the steel cast bars of the cage stood a hulking creature. The attributes of a Grundo could be vaguely seen through the bars of a cage-the ear stalks, the red eyes, the three digits on each hand. Yet it was too big to be normal, muscular, even duller looking, looking more like a pack mule than an elegant Grundo. I felt my jaw drop and I did not care to lift it back up. The stupid, insolent creature gazed dumbly at me, blinking its red eyes.
I drew back in horror, averting my eyes. "No.impossible!" I cried, shaking my head. "This can't be happening!"
"Oh, but it can. But don't fret your pretty little starry head, Citali. You have been a great aid to me-letting me in on small things of seers, but significant nonetheless. One of the points being that they take a full day to mourn those lost-and tomorrow they will be mourning the loss of the Elder Miltiades, and oblivious to my actions outside until it is quite too late for them.
"You will be spared from the existence of a soldier-besides, what's the point in wasting a brilliant mind? The other seers, however, cannot be said for the same-their resistance, which is quite predictable, will be dealt with accordingly-caging, perhaps forced transformation. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. At that time, anyway, I will have more than enough soldiers to deal with the comparably miniscule population of seers. And then, with this nicely designed, fully functional space station, I will bring your population away from this doomed universe and to others-many others, to bring planets into my grasp, a wonderful collection." He fingered the white collar he wore, and then pulled it out, snapping it in half, letting the pieces fall to the ground. "My period of priesthood is over-now, I am God!"
"Manipulator! User! Dictator!" I shouted, unable to think of nastier words to call him, so repeating them over and over again. Tears streamed down my face without any conscious knowledge of them. Frank passed across the machine again and tenderly grasped my hand, and for a moment I could feel the man that had landed here months ago, and my heart leapt to my throat. His eyes looked so very confused, tragic, almost, asking for forgiveness in their own way.
"This is the life I must lead-the path I must run down. I know I will never see Heaven-and so while I live, I will live life the way I will."
"It could be different, Frank, so very different." I said softly, turning my eyes to the floor. "You didn't have to become this monster.you didn't have to do this. I don't want you to do this, this backstabbing and betrayal.you can't deny the conflict inside of you, the part that doesn't want to do this. The priest!"
"The priest is dead. Besides, I know what you want, Citali, and it is something I could never offer-if I remained a priest, I am not allowed such luxuries. And even now, I cannot give you what you want, as much as I would like to-for my heart belongs to someone else."
"But I love you!" I moved closer to him, my body insistent, giving into core instincts. Frank held me back calmly, however, his grip firm.
"You can't." Once again, I found myself crushed under an unbearable weight, slowly pounding down on me. The rejection felt as if nothing in this world could possibly be worse, compiled with the awful knowledge of what was to become of my species, looming over me like a great dark vulture, spreading its wings and circling above me, waiting for me to come to terms with the realization so that it may swoop down and scrape up what remained of me.
And the wave of sadness was replaced quickly with a rage boiling deep within me, stirring in my stomach and slowly flowing throughout my body. I did not want to harm him, yet at the same time I wanted to choke the life out of him, watch him die as he struggled in my hands. But as I could not bring myself to do such a murderous feat, I could only draw back more, my fists clenched along with my jaw. I spoke in between gasps of angry breaths, my eyes narrowed dangerously. "Then we were really nothing more to you.nothing but shock troops waiting to happen? We sheltered you, healed you-and you give us back nothing! I'm sure we would all rather die on this planet then be enslaved by the likes of you! You're nothing more than a fraud!"
"And after all the kindness I expressed towards you," he said, shaking his head. "Still, you are a friend after all-if not cooperating well. You will see that there is little other way than mine. Perhaps I will just have to show it to you in a more effective way-in the downfall of your people."
"Never! I'll warn them! I'll-"
My mouth was suddenly covered by a thick hand, muffling my speech, nearly cutting off my oxygen as it covered my nose as well. My body was lifted from the ground, my feet dangling. "Ah, Jaidev, excellent timing," commented Frank, and my mind was immediately conscious to the fact that the hand that held me looked stunningly like a Grundo's, though significantly larger. I realized in horror that he had had me trapped all along-one behind me, just in case I refused to cooperate. I struggled against the Grundo, even bit into his hand, but nothing even phased him slightly. I gave up in my struggle, and was quickly transferred to a cage opposite the other Grundo, drooling slightly in his stupidity.
Frank peered at me through the bars, grasping one and leaning on it. He smiled slightly, shaking his head pityingly. "You never did understand, did you, Citali? My motives were almost always constant, heading in this direction. I thought you would be smarter than that-I thought you were just going along with me. I suppose I was wrong."
"Betrayer," was all I could mutter, glaring at him between the prison's bars.
"I believe the human called Julius Caesar stated it best, dear Citali: Veni, vidi, vici. I came, I saw.I conquered."
With those final words, he turned away from the cage and did not look back, turning off the lights in the laboratory. Miserably, I curled into a ball on the small, cold metal floor of the cage, weeping silently to myself. Through the door came the faint wail of a cello sonata, its tone increasing and then fading to nothing, the sound of an instrument dropping with a crash, never to emit beautiful music again.
I closed my eyes.
There was no sunlight that awoke me, nothing to gradually have me awaken into a peaceful little notch in my own bed. For I wasn't in my own bed, and I wasn't in my own house-I was on the bottom of a cell, a prisoner to the one I thought I had loved. Sunlight was not what awoke me, but instead the stirrings of another life form in the laboratory-Frank, of course. I pretended as if I were still asleep, but my cage got moved nonetheless-and that made it more difficult to keep up my charade, though I managed.
When I dared to open my eyes, I was still being carried along, though something had been thrown over the cage to obstruct my view of anything. With one finger, I poked at the bottom of the sheet and lifted it up a tad, peeking out. I was being carried by one of those 'evolved' Grundos so to speak, heading towards the village. I could see many villagers stirring about, already joining Frank as he strode along, but not a single seer. As Frank predicted, they would all be inside of the Great Hall, mourning the loss of Elder Miltiades. I cursed mentally. I tried to shout out, but found my vocal chords failing me-with a start, I discovered I could make little more than pathetic squeaks. Someone had tampered with my vocal chords during the night, rendering me silent. It would be too difficult to throw off the sheet as well-it was made from a considerably heavy material. I was trapped like a fox cornered by bellowing hounds. My ear stalks lowered in dismay. I could only wait it out.
Finally, my cage was placed down on something solid. There was the sound of thousands of congregating Grundos outside, most likely a crowd of them, massive. They had little else to do during days the seers weren't around to guide them through the actions of every day living. I heard someone clear his voice (Frank) and begin to speak in a loud, commanding voice. It was the voice of a man aiming to take over a population through persuasion, and considering the intelligence of the Grundo villagers, it wouldn't be all that strenuous. Plus, they wouldn't be able to understand what he was saying, and would probably merely dumbly agree.
"Grundo citizens! It has come to my attention that your population is at risk! For up within the sky, even this very morning, I can clearly see the omen of your doom! Yes, comrades, it is your sun, playing the part of a savior, while it indeed is a devil! Soon, very soon, it will decide to wipe our your population with little other thought, destroying such brilliant life needlessly!" Gasps, as if on cue, were emitted from the audience. If it hadn't been so serious, I would've rolled my eyes.
"But I have come with the answer to this problem! I cannot say that I will reverse the effects of what will happen to your murderous sun, but I can offer you refuge from this doomed planet!" he cried. I imagined him gesticulating his hands in the air, mostly as a distraction to impress the mindless Grundos. Desperate, I tried to lift the blanket, but found that my strength could not manage such a feat-my limbs seemed hopelessly weak. Probably more tampering. "Comrades, your next stage of evolution is upon you! Do not reject the inevitable-come with me into space, to rule another world! And this will be the contraption to allow you all to come with me!"
There was the sound of a dramatic sweeping-away of a cover, and then gasps as needed. They were most likely terribly confused at this point, but pretending as if they understood every word. "My comrades! File a line at this point, and find your way into the future!" he hollered, and I could hear the shifting of feet doing just as he told. I wanted to yell out and protest, to jump in front of the first Grundo in line and tell him the truth behind their savior-a demon in the shape of a figure of salvation! But my lips could only mouth the words-nothing came out. Dejected, I fell back to the floor of the cage, feeling utterly defeated.
I did not want to hear what occurred next, but I could sense what was happening nonetheless. The horrible zapping sound shuddered my bones, but the Grundos did not make any noise to signify alarm. Sound after sound came, followed by cheers from the stupidity of the Grundos, oblivious to what was truly happening behind the curtain. I knew that they would be perfectly lined up, not wanting to displease their temporary leader, like cows going to a slaughterhouse. I grasped at my ear stalks, trying to drown out the noise. Tears shed from my eyes dripped to the bottom of the cage as the cheers afterwards grew few and far apart, signifying an almost total mutation of my species.
It couldn't be happening. I didn't want to believe that this was, in fact, reality-but it was. No dream could be as real-no nightmare could be as frightening. The tears would not stop-no longer of selfish, foolish childish desires of 'love,' but at the destruction of my species, their imminent apocalypse. In the distance, I could hear the surprised cries of seers, and how I wanted to warn them! I opened my mouth and screamed soundless cries to warn them, but all in vain. The angry voice of my father could be heard, and I pictured him as I remembered last seeing him: disturbed, angry, for that was probably his expression at that moment.
"You monster! First you interrupt our day of mourning, and now look what you have done to our species! You have bastardized them all!" he cried. I so wanted to lift the blanket, and I tried and tried again, but to little avail. Again, I tried crying out, and for the first time a small little squeak could be emitted. It was hardly audible, but I worked harder on it as my father spoke in a violent tone. "We always knew your motives were nasty-and yet we still sheltered you, healed you, hoping that you would change your mind! Yet you still decide to deplete our race to only us! And what have you done with my child?!"
"Don't be so hostile, father of Citali. Besides, shouldn't you be glad to get rid of the bottom of the barrel of your race? The ignorant ones, those that can barely talk? Survival of the fittest-and now what remains of your race truly is what deserves to be left.left behind in a dying solar system, unless you decide to join your brothers in captivity. And Citali is fine, rest assured. I wouldn't harm a friend."
"Father!" I managed to cry out, my voice sounding very close to nails on a chalkboard.
"Citali?" came his voice, panicked yet relieved at the same time.
"Here!" I batted at the blanket pitifully, not sure what else to do. I could hear my father stepping towards the cage I was held captive in, then another set of footsteps intercepting him.
"Don't waste your time, old man. Will you try and save your daughter over the remainder of your species?"
"If you have even a shred of decency left, you will at least let me see my daughter!" retorted my father, the anger in his voice felt in myself. There was a pause, and then the blanket lifted, much to my thanks, allowing precious sunlight in between the cage bars. It blinded me temporarily, but as I blinked my eyes rapidly, I could make out the vague shape of my father. I lunged towards the bars, reaching out towards the figure I could make out.
"Daddy!" I wailed, as if I were a mere Grundo toddler, tears streaking my face. I could feel my father's face next to mine before I could see it. "Forgive me, daddy, forgive me," I wept, gasps of air coming in heaving gulps, leaning my face into his. His gentle hands touched my face, wiping away the tears neatly like he did when I was an infant. He did not say anything, but his presence alone was enough to bring at least a slight amount of solace to my heart. "I was wrong.I was wrong!" I admitted, feeling totally dependant on him alone.
"Enough of this melodrama. I have little time for sympathies-for all I know, your sun has already exploded and we only haven't noticed yet because the light hasn't reached here." Frank's voice was bitter, but something about it made me feel as if there was something inside of him protesting his actions, his voice faltering for a moment, and then regaining its composure. "Now make your decision, seer-will you doom the remainder of your precious species or will you live to see another day?"
My father was quiet, looking from Frank and back to me. I grazed his cheek with my fingers, swallowing back the tears so as I could talk, although my voice was still extremely weak. "Daddy.stay here.you can't go with him, see those creatures? That is what you'll become.you can't do that to our species. Stay here, please? I want to stay here. Maybe he's wrong about the sun."
"What about the sun?"
"He says it's going to explode, sooner or later. Maybe it's all a lie, all a lie to trick us to go with him.he's lied before," I finished, my voice suddenly turning into one thick with unfiltered hatred. What once held passion for Frank now held nothing but pure malice-I would gladly kill him myself if given half the chance. "Why should we trust him now?" My father nodding, seeming to understand what I was saying. He turned back to Frank, whose expression of confidence seemed more like a mask than one of reality. For some reason, it made me think he was just as scared as we were.
"I honor my daughter's words. The remainder of the seers will stay here on this planet. Please release my daughter so that she may do the same," ordered my father, his face dead serious.
"I will do as you ask, considering if you give me three things."
"You already have the majority of our population enslaved. What more could you request from us?"
"Do not defy me, Aditya, or I will have your own species that formerly listened to only your kind kill you in an odd poetic irony. These three things will be delivered before I leave you-two more of your seers for my own doings, and.Citali as my prisoner."
There were shouts of protest among the seers, the community anger in the ground at a peak. My father still had a quite reasonable look on his face. "No deal. You will release Citali, though we will give you the two requested seers." The seers, surprisingly, had not a single objection to this, their faces once again calming down. Frank raised an eyebrow.
"Haggling with the white horseman? I thought that was the black's job," sneered Frank. "In any matter, I accept your terms. I will release Citali once you give me the two suitable seers." The seers all seemed to agree, and my father rejoined the group as they discussed who should go, looks of anxiety on each of their faces, wondering if they would be deemed the one to go. It was clear they would rather die a death on their own planet than one aboard Frank's spaceship. The discussion went on for about ten minutes, Frank waiting patiently, until finally they came to a decision. Standing straight, my father turned to Frank.
"Myself and Prakash have volunteered," he replied, his voice low, almost as if he were choking on his words. Prakash separated himself from the crowd, his white hide stunning against the bleak backdrop.
My hopes shattered against the ground. Even if I were to go free, without my father I would absolutely die. And Prakash.? Oh God, not Prakash. I remembered playing with him as a child, his sweet innocence, cute little smile, even if he happened to be one of the duller crayons in the seer box. I pounded against the bars, furious at the decision. "No! No!" I cried, shaking my head furiously. "Daddy, don't! Prakash-"
"Quiet, Citali. Everything will be just fine," replied my father, although his expression displayed was one of petrified terror. Prakash gave a longing look towards the cage I was encased in, but did not say anything. He was Prakash, after all-speaking was not something he did well. He held open his arms, almost in a gesture of peace. "Do what you will, Father Sloth," he mocked, spite in the word father.
"Doctor, Aditya," corrected Frank, turning his machine so that it faced both Prakash and my father, its barrel glaring down at them. "Doctor."
With the single press of a button, the machine gave off that horrible sizzling sound that resembled 'zap,' though was unique in its own terrible way. A great green ray of light exploded from the barrel of the machine, racing straight towards my father and Prakash. I screamed, but I could barely hear myself over the noisy humming of the machine. I could not watch the ghastly transformation from normal to not-I turned my face away, covering it with one of my hands, feeling my tears soaking my hand. The tears seemed to be of an unlimited supply, unable to be ceased even by the strongest dam. I was choking on my own sorrow as I forced myself to look back-only to look away again. I could not bear the sight of the two beings I respected and cared for suddenly turned into mutants beyond recognition. I could only cry, and find a never-ending supply of self-pity.
"And so your debt is paid, Grundos-but I do not wish to separate with Citali. And so.I won't." A shock ran through my body at those words. A few days prior I would've been ecstatic to hear those words-but now they rang in my mind like bells at a funeral. My eyes snapped towards Frank, widening to enormous sizes. He had the nerve to take away two people who had cared for me, who I cared for-and then not even live up to his promise? I grasped the bars of the cage heatedly, desiring the strength to bend them and walk through to physically threaten Frank.
"You.you.son of a-you take away my father, you take away almost my entire species for your own selfish plans-and then.then you can't even keep up a bargain? You're.worse than a monster. You're." Words failed me. I could not think of a swear worse enough to describe what I felt towards him at the moment. The fury burned in my chest, an unquenchable fire. It was an abhorrence as I had never felt-I never thought it possible to hate someone just that much. "I hate you," was all that I could manage, my teeth clenched together, unable to be separated.
"Unfortunate," said Frank with a shrug. "For if you will not cooperate, you will merely be a prisoner to me-nothing more."
"I will never work for you, or with you."
"Choices is what the world is based on, my dear Citali. And if that is your choice, I respect it.my prisoner," he said, his voice quiet. There was regret in his eyes, if ever so small, but I could have no feelings for him at that moment. There was no sympathy I could offer a man who made entire species succumb to him, who let the rest who refused to come die. I could not look at him-I could not look at what remained of my father and Prakash. I did not want to look at anything, to come to terms with what was happening. I wanted to curl up and die on that prison floor-and all I could manage to do was curl up, shutting myself off to the world as my prison was lifted from the ground towards Frank's spaceship.
And that was how it ended, my affair on my precious home planet. I did not get to see whether the sun exploded or not-I did not get to even watch as we retreated from the planet, the homely orb shrinking into a point of light in the distance. And at that time, I did not want to-I wanted to forget that there was ever life on any planet, including myself; I wanted to be nothing, to shrink into oblivion. I wished and hoped that, perhaps, Frank would take a wrong turn and we would be sucked into a void to die, being crunched and squeezed into spaghetti. But my prayers would not be answered-for everything went as Frank had so cunningly planned.
With a swift jerk, he pulled away a blanket that covered a small box. A light flickered on from seemingly nowhere, spotlighting onto the box, which would more appropriately be described as a cage. Behind the steel cast bars of the cage stood a hulking creature. The attributes of a Grundo could be vaguely seen through the bars of a cage-the ear stalks, the red eyes, the three digits on each hand. Yet it was too big to be normal, muscular, even duller looking, looking more like a pack mule than an elegant Grundo. I felt my jaw drop and I did not care to lift it back up. The stupid, insolent creature gazed dumbly at me, blinking its red eyes.
I drew back in horror, averting my eyes. "No.impossible!" I cried, shaking my head. "This can't be happening!"
"Oh, but it can. But don't fret your pretty little starry head, Citali. You have been a great aid to me-letting me in on small things of seers, but significant nonetheless. One of the points being that they take a full day to mourn those lost-and tomorrow they will be mourning the loss of the Elder Miltiades, and oblivious to my actions outside until it is quite too late for them.
"You will be spared from the existence of a soldier-besides, what's the point in wasting a brilliant mind? The other seers, however, cannot be said for the same-their resistance, which is quite predictable, will be dealt with accordingly-caging, perhaps forced transformation. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. At that time, anyway, I will have more than enough soldiers to deal with the comparably miniscule population of seers. And then, with this nicely designed, fully functional space station, I will bring your population away from this doomed universe and to others-many others, to bring planets into my grasp, a wonderful collection." He fingered the white collar he wore, and then pulled it out, snapping it in half, letting the pieces fall to the ground. "My period of priesthood is over-now, I am God!"
"Manipulator! User! Dictator!" I shouted, unable to think of nastier words to call him, so repeating them over and over again. Tears streamed down my face without any conscious knowledge of them. Frank passed across the machine again and tenderly grasped my hand, and for a moment I could feel the man that had landed here months ago, and my heart leapt to my throat. His eyes looked so very confused, tragic, almost, asking for forgiveness in their own way.
"This is the life I must lead-the path I must run down. I know I will never see Heaven-and so while I live, I will live life the way I will."
"It could be different, Frank, so very different." I said softly, turning my eyes to the floor. "You didn't have to become this monster.you didn't have to do this. I don't want you to do this, this backstabbing and betrayal.you can't deny the conflict inside of you, the part that doesn't want to do this. The priest!"
"The priest is dead. Besides, I know what you want, Citali, and it is something I could never offer-if I remained a priest, I am not allowed such luxuries. And even now, I cannot give you what you want, as much as I would like to-for my heart belongs to someone else."
"But I love you!" I moved closer to him, my body insistent, giving into core instincts. Frank held me back calmly, however, his grip firm.
"You can't." Once again, I found myself crushed under an unbearable weight, slowly pounding down on me. The rejection felt as if nothing in this world could possibly be worse, compiled with the awful knowledge of what was to become of my species, looming over me like a great dark vulture, spreading its wings and circling above me, waiting for me to come to terms with the realization so that it may swoop down and scrape up what remained of me.
And the wave of sadness was replaced quickly with a rage boiling deep within me, stirring in my stomach and slowly flowing throughout my body. I did not want to harm him, yet at the same time I wanted to choke the life out of him, watch him die as he struggled in my hands. But as I could not bring myself to do such a murderous feat, I could only draw back more, my fists clenched along with my jaw. I spoke in between gasps of angry breaths, my eyes narrowed dangerously. "Then we were really nothing more to you.nothing but shock troops waiting to happen? We sheltered you, healed you-and you give us back nothing! I'm sure we would all rather die on this planet then be enslaved by the likes of you! You're nothing more than a fraud!"
"And after all the kindness I expressed towards you," he said, shaking his head. "Still, you are a friend after all-if not cooperating well. You will see that there is little other way than mine. Perhaps I will just have to show it to you in a more effective way-in the downfall of your people."
"Never! I'll warn them! I'll-"
My mouth was suddenly covered by a thick hand, muffling my speech, nearly cutting off my oxygen as it covered my nose as well. My body was lifted from the ground, my feet dangling. "Ah, Jaidev, excellent timing," commented Frank, and my mind was immediately conscious to the fact that the hand that held me looked stunningly like a Grundo's, though significantly larger. I realized in horror that he had had me trapped all along-one behind me, just in case I refused to cooperate. I struggled against the Grundo, even bit into his hand, but nothing even phased him slightly. I gave up in my struggle, and was quickly transferred to a cage opposite the other Grundo, drooling slightly in his stupidity.
Frank peered at me through the bars, grasping one and leaning on it. He smiled slightly, shaking his head pityingly. "You never did understand, did you, Citali? My motives were almost always constant, heading in this direction. I thought you would be smarter than that-I thought you were just going along with me. I suppose I was wrong."
"Betrayer," was all I could mutter, glaring at him between the prison's bars.
"I believe the human called Julius Caesar stated it best, dear Citali: Veni, vidi, vici. I came, I saw.I conquered."
With those final words, he turned away from the cage and did not look back, turning off the lights in the laboratory. Miserably, I curled into a ball on the small, cold metal floor of the cage, weeping silently to myself. Through the door came the faint wail of a cello sonata, its tone increasing and then fading to nothing, the sound of an instrument dropping with a crash, never to emit beautiful music again.
I closed my eyes.
There was no sunlight that awoke me, nothing to gradually have me awaken into a peaceful little notch in my own bed. For I wasn't in my own bed, and I wasn't in my own house-I was on the bottom of a cell, a prisoner to the one I thought I had loved. Sunlight was not what awoke me, but instead the stirrings of another life form in the laboratory-Frank, of course. I pretended as if I were still asleep, but my cage got moved nonetheless-and that made it more difficult to keep up my charade, though I managed.
When I dared to open my eyes, I was still being carried along, though something had been thrown over the cage to obstruct my view of anything. With one finger, I poked at the bottom of the sheet and lifted it up a tad, peeking out. I was being carried by one of those 'evolved' Grundos so to speak, heading towards the village. I could see many villagers stirring about, already joining Frank as he strode along, but not a single seer. As Frank predicted, they would all be inside of the Great Hall, mourning the loss of Elder Miltiades. I cursed mentally. I tried to shout out, but found my vocal chords failing me-with a start, I discovered I could make little more than pathetic squeaks. Someone had tampered with my vocal chords during the night, rendering me silent. It would be too difficult to throw off the sheet as well-it was made from a considerably heavy material. I was trapped like a fox cornered by bellowing hounds. My ear stalks lowered in dismay. I could only wait it out.
Finally, my cage was placed down on something solid. There was the sound of thousands of congregating Grundos outside, most likely a crowd of them, massive. They had little else to do during days the seers weren't around to guide them through the actions of every day living. I heard someone clear his voice (Frank) and begin to speak in a loud, commanding voice. It was the voice of a man aiming to take over a population through persuasion, and considering the intelligence of the Grundo villagers, it wouldn't be all that strenuous. Plus, they wouldn't be able to understand what he was saying, and would probably merely dumbly agree.
"Grundo citizens! It has come to my attention that your population is at risk! For up within the sky, even this very morning, I can clearly see the omen of your doom! Yes, comrades, it is your sun, playing the part of a savior, while it indeed is a devil! Soon, very soon, it will decide to wipe our your population with little other thought, destroying such brilliant life needlessly!" Gasps, as if on cue, were emitted from the audience. If it hadn't been so serious, I would've rolled my eyes.
"But I have come with the answer to this problem! I cannot say that I will reverse the effects of what will happen to your murderous sun, but I can offer you refuge from this doomed planet!" he cried. I imagined him gesticulating his hands in the air, mostly as a distraction to impress the mindless Grundos. Desperate, I tried to lift the blanket, but found that my strength could not manage such a feat-my limbs seemed hopelessly weak. Probably more tampering. "Comrades, your next stage of evolution is upon you! Do not reject the inevitable-come with me into space, to rule another world! And this will be the contraption to allow you all to come with me!"
There was the sound of a dramatic sweeping-away of a cover, and then gasps as needed. They were most likely terribly confused at this point, but pretending as if they understood every word. "My comrades! File a line at this point, and find your way into the future!" he hollered, and I could hear the shifting of feet doing just as he told. I wanted to yell out and protest, to jump in front of the first Grundo in line and tell him the truth behind their savior-a demon in the shape of a figure of salvation! But my lips could only mouth the words-nothing came out. Dejected, I fell back to the floor of the cage, feeling utterly defeated.
I did not want to hear what occurred next, but I could sense what was happening nonetheless. The horrible zapping sound shuddered my bones, but the Grundos did not make any noise to signify alarm. Sound after sound came, followed by cheers from the stupidity of the Grundos, oblivious to what was truly happening behind the curtain. I knew that they would be perfectly lined up, not wanting to displease their temporary leader, like cows going to a slaughterhouse. I grasped at my ear stalks, trying to drown out the noise. Tears shed from my eyes dripped to the bottom of the cage as the cheers afterwards grew few and far apart, signifying an almost total mutation of my species.
It couldn't be happening. I didn't want to believe that this was, in fact, reality-but it was. No dream could be as real-no nightmare could be as frightening. The tears would not stop-no longer of selfish, foolish childish desires of 'love,' but at the destruction of my species, their imminent apocalypse. In the distance, I could hear the surprised cries of seers, and how I wanted to warn them! I opened my mouth and screamed soundless cries to warn them, but all in vain. The angry voice of my father could be heard, and I pictured him as I remembered last seeing him: disturbed, angry, for that was probably his expression at that moment.
"You monster! First you interrupt our day of mourning, and now look what you have done to our species! You have bastardized them all!" he cried. I so wanted to lift the blanket, and I tried and tried again, but to little avail. Again, I tried crying out, and for the first time a small little squeak could be emitted. It was hardly audible, but I worked harder on it as my father spoke in a violent tone. "We always knew your motives were nasty-and yet we still sheltered you, healed you, hoping that you would change your mind! Yet you still decide to deplete our race to only us! And what have you done with my child?!"
"Don't be so hostile, father of Citali. Besides, shouldn't you be glad to get rid of the bottom of the barrel of your race? The ignorant ones, those that can barely talk? Survival of the fittest-and now what remains of your race truly is what deserves to be left.left behind in a dying solar system, unless you decide to join your brothers in captivity. And Citali is fine, rest assured. I wouldn't harm a friend."
"Father!" I managed to cry out, my voice sounding very close to nails on a chalkboard.
"Citali?" came his voice, panicked yet relieved at the same time.
"Here!" I batted at the blanket pitifully, not sure what else to do. I could hear my father stepping towards the cage I was held captive in, then another set of footsteps intercepting him.
"Don't waste your time, old man. Will you try and save your daughter over the remainder of your species?"
"If you have even a shred of decency left, you will at least let me see my daughter!" retorted my father, the anger in his voice felt in myself. There was a pause, and then the blanket lifted, much to my thanks, allowing precious sunlight in between the cage bars. It blinded me temporarily, but as I blinked my eyes rapidly, I could make out the vague shape of my father. I lunged towards the bars, reaching out towards the figure I could make out.
"Daddy!" I wailed, as if I were a mere Grundo toddler, tears streaking my face. I could feel my father's face next to mine before I could see it. "Forgive me, daddy, forgive me," I wept, gasps of air coming in heaving gulps, leaning my face into his. His gentle hands touched my face, wiping away the tears neatly like he did when I was an infant. He did not say anything, but his presence alone was enough to bring at least a slight amount of solace to my heart. "I was wrong.I was wrong!" I admitted, feeling totally dependant on him alone.
"Enough of this melodrama. I have little time for sympathies-for all I know, your sun has already exploded and we only haven't noticed yet because the light hasn't reached here." Frank's voice was bitter, but something about it made me feel as if there was something inside of him protesting his actions, his voice faltering for a moment, and then regaining its composure. "Now make your decision, seer-will you doom the remainder of your precious species or will you live to see another day?"
My father was quiet, looking from Frank and back to me. I grazed his cheek with my fingers, swallowing back the tears so as I could talk, although my voice was still extremely weak. "Daddy.stay here.you can't go with him, see those creatures? That is what you'll become.you can't do that to our species. Stay here, please? I want to stay here. Maybe he's wrong about the sun."
"What about the sun?"
"He says it's going to explode, sooner or later. Maybe it's all a lie, all a lie to trick us to go with him.he's lied before," I finished, my voice suddenly turning into one thick with unfiltered hatred. What once held passion for Frank now held nothing but pure malice-I would gladly kill him myself if given half the chance. "Why should we trust him now?" My father nodding, seeming to understand what I was saying. He turned back to Frank, whose expression of confidence seemed more like a mask than one of reality. For some reason, it made me think he was just as scared as we were.
"I honor my daughter's words. The remainder of the seers will stay here on this planet. Please release my daughter so that she may do the same," ordered my father, his face dead serious.
"I will do as you ask, considering if you give me three things."
"You already have the majority of our population enslaved. What more could you request from us?"
"Do not defy me, Aditya, or I will have your own species that formerly listened to only your kind kill you in an odd poetic irony. These three things will be delivered before I leave you-two more of your seers for my own doings, and.Citali as my prisoner."
There were shouts of protest among the seers, the community anger in the ground at a peak. My father still had a quite reasonable look on his face. "No deal. You will release Citali, though we will give you the two requested seers." The seers, surprisingly, had not a single objection to this, their faces once again calming down. Frank raised an eyebrow.
"Haggling with the white horseman? I thought that was the black's job," sneered Frank. "In any matter, I accept your terms. I will release Citali once you give me the two suitable seers." The seers all seemed to agree, and my father rejoined the group as they discussed who should go, looks of anxiety on each of their faces, wondering if they would be deemed the one to go. It was clear they would rather die a death on their own planet than one aboard Frank's spaceship. The discussion went on for about ten minutes, Frank waiting patiently, until finally they came to a decision. Standing straight, my father turned to Frank.
"Myself and Prakash have volunteered," he replied, his voice low, almost as if he were choking on his words. Prakash separated himself from the crowd, his white hide stunning against the bleak backdrop.
My hopes shattered against the ground. Even if I were to go free, without my father I would absolutely die. And Prakash.? Oh God, not Prakash. I remembered playing with him as a child, his sweet innocence, cute little smile, even if he happened to be one of the duller crayons in the seer box. I pounded against the bars, furious at the decision. "No! No!" I cried, shaking my head furiously. "Daddy, don't! Prakash-"
"Quiet, Citali. Everything will be just fine," replied my father, although his expression displayed was one of petrified terror. Prakash gave a longing look towards the cage I was encased in, but did not say anything. He was Prakash, after all-speaking was not something he did well. He held open his arms, almost in a gesture of peace. "Do what you will, Father Sloth," he mocked, spite in the word father.
"Doctor, Aditya," corrected Frank, turning his machine so that it faced both Prakash and my father, its barrel glaring down at them. "Doctor."
With the single press of a button, the machine gave off that horrible sizzling sound that resembled 'zap,' though was unique in its own terrible way. A great green ray of light exploded from the barrel of the machine, racing straight towards my father and Prakash. I screamed, but I could barely hear myself over the noisy humming of the machine. I could not watch the ghastly transformation from normal to not-I turned my face away, covering it with one of my hands, feeling my tears soaking my hand. The tears seemed to be of an unlimited supply, unable to be ceased even by the strongest dam. I was choking on my own sorrow as I forced myself to look back-only to look away again. I could not bear the sight of the two beings I respected and cared for suddenly turned into mutants beyond recognition. I could only cry, and find a never-ending supply of self-pity.
"And so your debt is paid, Grundos-but I do not wish to separate with Citali. And so.I won't." A shock ran through my body at those words. A few days prior I would've been ecstatic to hear those words-but now they rang in my mind like bells at a funeral. My eyes snapped towards Frank, widening to enormous sizes. He had the nerve to take away two people who had cared for me, who I cared for-and then not even live up to his promise? I grasped the bars of the cage heatedly, desiring the strength to bend them and walk through to physically threaten Frank.
"You.you.son of a-you take away my father, you take away almost my entire species for your own selfish plans-and then.then you can't even keep up a bargain? You're.worse than a monster. You're." Words failed me. I could not think of a swear worse enough to describe what I felt towards him at the moment. The fury burned in my chest, an unquenchable fire. It was an abhorrence as I had never felt-I never thought it possible to hate someone just that much. "I hate you," was all that I could manage, my teeth clenched together, unable to be separated.
"Unfortunate," said Frank with a shrug. "For if you will not cooperate, you will merely be a prisoner to me-nothing more."
"I will never work for you, or with you."
"Choices is what the world is based on, my dear Citali. And if that is your choice, I respect it.my prisoner," he said, his voice quiet. There was regret in his eyes, if ever so small, but I could have no feelings for him at that moment. There was no sympathy I could offer a man who made entire species succumb to him, who let the rest who refused to come die. I could not look at him-I could not look at what remained of my father and Prakash. I did not want to look at anything, to come to terms with what was happening. I wanted to curl up and die on that prison floor-and all I could manage to do was curl up, shutting myself off to the world as my prison was lifted from the ground towards Frank's spaceship.
And that was how it ended, my affair on my precious home planet. I did not get to see whether the sun exploded or not-I did not get to even watch as we retreated from the planet, the homely orb shrinking into a point of light in the distance. And at that time, I did not want to-I wanted to forget that there was ever life on any planet, including myself; I wanted to be nothing, to shrink into oblivion. I wished and hoped that, perhaps, Frank would take a wrong turn and we would be sucked into a void to die, being crunched and squeezed into spaghetti. But my prayers would not be answered-for everything went as Frank had so cunningly planned.