"Tell me more about your," he pauses for a moment, "Pain, legacy." I sense a hint of amusement in the Beloved Leader's voice. I feel so small next to him; an ant standing beside a god. His superior stance had me so mesmerized that I barely heard what he said.
"My pain legacy," I repeated, trying to collect my thoughts before continuing. "I start by reaching out with my mind, looking for," I stop. "I'm not really sure. Energy, I guess? Loric energy."
"Interesting," He nods, his eyes piercing into my soul, willing me to go on.
"Once it's found, the energy, it just kinda lures me in and as soon as I'm there," I breathe, realizing that I've never fully understood how it worked, but just saying it out loud made perfect sense. "I have complete control."
"You use this control to cause immense pain," He grinned, flashing me his monstrous teeth. "I have watched video footage of this,"
"Yes," I nod, thinking briefly back to when I had first discovered my legacy, the day I had ended my horrific torment and began my rise to power. The pain that I inflicted always threw me into a euphoric trance.
"Have you tried to do other things with your legacy?" Setrakus Ra asks me, and I shake my head in response, suddenly feeling very dumb for not thinking of that. "The legacy you have is very rare, and very powerful." He places his hand on my shoulder, sending a cold chill down my spine whilst he stares into my eyes. "I wonder, have you figured it out yet?"
"Mind Control," I grin, putting the pieces together. All of the pain I had caused to the others hadn't been physical, at least not till Evan. It had all happened because I had control of their minds and they felt what I wanted them to feel.
"That's correct," Setrakus Ra nods. Suddenly, I think back to when I had first felt Setrakus Ra's power, when I had been searching for Four and Nine.
"How did you do it?" I frown. "When I tried to reach for Four and Nine, I found your energy instead and my mind just shut off like a switch had been flicked. What happened to me?"
"Your legacies are gifts that can be taken away by those with the power to do so. I blocked your and Five's use of them during the chaos cause we were unsure about what was going on." He explains.
"You can just cancel out our abilities?" I ask, and it seems impossible. Ever since I learned about my powers, I had become so dependent on them that losing them would be a nightmare worse than losing my family.
"It's within my ability," Setrakus Ra nods. "There is little that is not." Without our legacies, we were about as useless as humans. Does Five know? Do the others? Did my cepan? Is that why my cepan never bothered to train me, because he knew just how futile the outcome would be? The thought of the rogue garde, confident in their superpowers, discovering that their enemy can take away their abilities with barely lifting a finger, is amusing.
"The others don't stand a chance," I smile. "Five and I chose the right side."
"You and Five have trained well, and once Five completes his mission, you can both ascend." Setrakus Ra tells me. "Commander Ten and Commander Five, my right hand and my left," he grins. "How does that sound to you, Ten?"
"That sounds great," I grinned, beaming with excitement. Commander Ten. It had such a good ring to it that it made me feel giddy, and that feeling didn't stop, not even when I was dismissed and sent back to my room. Laying in bed, it was hard to sleep with the excitement, all I could think about as I dozed off was Five and I ruling alongside our Beloved Leader. Conquers of Earth.
"How was your trip?" I ask Five when I awake to find him sitting near our computer. "I didn't even hear you come in,"
"It was farther than I thought it would be," he shrugged, and I detected a bit of sadness in his voice. Ethan was his friend; he must be in a lot of pain from having to kill him. I won't pester him about it.
"I found out that I have Mind Control," I tell him, and instantly his grimace fades and becomes his usual, wild grin.
"No way?" he laughs. "Are you serious?"
"Setrakus Ra told me," I nod. "I can do way more than I thought I could." Taking a deep breath, I reach out for Five with my mind. Once I have him, I wait for a moment before using my legacy to control him.
"What the hell?" Five scoffs, fighting against his left hand, to no avail, as his index finger extends and crawls its way into his nostril. "Andy, cut it out."
"Digging for gold?" I can't stop laughing, breaking my concentration and allowing Five to free his finger from his nostril prison.
"That's disgusting," Five scowls, but even he can't help but laugh. "That's pretty cool though. Imagine the things that you can do with that."
"Number Four and Number Nine won't stand a chance when we face them again." I grinned, fixing a button on my uniform that had somehow become undone. I had been so excited when I went to sleep that I forgot to change out of my uniform.
"Nine is mine," Five scoffed.
"Sounds good to me," I shrugged.
"I had a good chat with Deltoch," Five tells me. "We won't be staying at this compound anymore."
"No?" I raise an eyebrow. "Where will we be going?"
"He says there is a compound in the Everglades, a place for us to use until a location for our Command Central is determined." He explains. We get a Command Central?
"When will we be leaving?" I asked. It's been so long since I have seen anything other than the gray walls of this boring compound.
"Today." Five replies, his eyes sparkling. "I was told to collect you once you awoke and we are to make our way to the ships."
"Why didn't you say so?" I scoffed, swinging myself off my bed. I had no possessions so there was nothing that I needed to bring. "Let's go."
"I just have to grab my chest," Five nods, hovering over to his bed, where he kept it safely hidden. Not like anyone else could open it anyways. Once he was ready, we opened the door and stepped into the hall, leaving our room behind for good.
"This is so weird," I mumbled to Five as we walked through the halls of the compound. Every single Mog soldier and officer that we passed greeted us with a salute, recognition of our ascension among their ranks.
"I know," Five nods. When we reach the ship's bay, Commander Deltoch stands waiting. As we approach him, he too salutes. We're Deltoch's superiors now too? I want to grin, but I think briefly about all the other Mog officers that I had seen throughout my time here. None of them ever smiled, so I decided against it, keeping the coldest expression that I can muster. I wonder if it's anything like Deltoch's, and then something else crosses my mind. Did Deltoch have to prove himself like Five and I did to achieve his rank? Probably not, he's not Loric.
"Welcome Commander Five, Commander Ten." He dips his head. "I will be accompanying you to the new compound. Also, I have been assigned to the two of you to aid in your officer training, there is much you will need to know about commanding our armies. For now, we will leave for the Everglades. We will take one of Earth's helicopters to remain inconspicuous."
"Will Beloved Leader be joining us?" I asked, and instantly regretted it. I can't appear to be attached, it could be a sign of weakness.
"He sends his regards." Deltoch shrugs. "He is busy interrogating the human that was captured when Four invaded and escaped with Nine. He will join us eventually." He turns towards the helicopter and without another word, starts to climb in. Five and I follow suit.
"This is it," Five grins at me once we have been strapped into our seats, I can barely hear him over the whir of the helicopter. As we rise into the sky, I watch the ground below us grow smaller and smaller. This is it. Hard to believe that I was just a scrawny, defenseless little twerp with no legacies when I first arrived here. Now I'm an officer in the Mogadorian ranks. No one except Beloved Leader and maybe Five could take me on. If I'm going to survive, I need to think like a Mogadorian, not like a Loric, and not a human. Anyone who stands in my way must be killed.
