Chapter 16
I Just Wanna Live
As he entered his dark apartment, he pulled out his comlink. The solitary walk back alone had given him time to think and put together a new plan of action.
"Yes my Lord?" the voice on the other end asked.
"Keep everyone on the lookout," he instructed, "The boy could be anywhere now."
"He got away my Lord?"
The man scowled at the offending comlink.
"Just be alert," he said glaring at the device in his hand. "What ever you do, do not confront him, let him be; for now. Just find out what his next move is and…"
He paused.
"My Lord?"
"Send a new batch of men up here."
There were a few moments of silence.
"Of course my Lord."
He couldn't help but feel that he had done this before. How much weirder could things get? What sane person goes jumping into Coruscant traffic without having a death wish? Apparently he was just such a person. He must have been crazy. Maybe pulling stunts like this were the reason behind his memory loss.
Mind on the moment!
"Must focus!" he muttered.
He needed to stop his descent. He thought of his outburst with the guards. If he could do that, then what else could he do?
He thought of catching hold of one of the passing vehicles, but they went by so fast. He only ever bounced and that did not feel good.
He reached out again to a glaringly bright taxi only to have his arms thrown back sending him into a violent tailspin that put him in the path of a large freighter. Now that did not feel good. In fact, it was enough to make the skies start to fade away into blackness.
As he drifted off into the darkness of unconsciousness, he could only marvel that this hadn't happened sooner.
The walkways were crowded as she made her way around the large city. She was higher up than she normally ever went. In the past few years she had become a creature of the lower levels rarely having a reason to surface. But things had changed. She couldn't stay down there any longer. She could only protect herself so much where she had lived. Up here, as bad as it was becoming, it was still much safer than the lower levels. People still were wary of committing crimes so openly up here.
It was a nice change she had to admit. The light around her was refreshing. It was enough to make her believe that everything could be as they once had been, before things had gotten so messed up in the senate and people had started to go missing; before the world had gotten darker.
As she navigated the crowds, she held her bag in front of her, close to her chest; old habits died hard. Though this wasn't the lower levels, she wanted to be better safe than sorry. She hoped to find a new place to stay before night fall and so far she had passed by several possible apartments. Not one of them left her with the right feelings though, so her search continued on. She always trusted her feelings to lead her on the right path. They were what had kept her alive these past few years.
She walked on, stepping onto a pedestrian bridge to the next district. Now free of the shielding overhanging of the walkway behind, Iris raised her hand to cover her eyes; the random light reflections off of shinny ships were something her eyes wanted to avoid.
Up ahead, the crowd seemed to surge ahead coming right at her. She dropped her hand to protect her bag among the pushy and grabby people and was abruptly blinded by a reflection of light coming off of a passing ship.
You have got to be kidding me.
She stood her ground, pushing against the crowd to get through; she was curious what they were all rushing away from. It was one of her more suicidal tendencies; once again, old habits died hard.
Up ahead, the crowd thinned. Only the most curious remained. It was an open platform, which helped to make obvious the glaring lack of people milling around on it. In the middle of all the openness was a body. Whoever it was sure looked worse for the wear. Iris rushed forward.
It was a man.
And not just any man.
Bending down on her knees, she reached over to him and turned him onto his back. To her surprise, he was conscious and alert, cocky even.
"Fancy seeing you here," he said.
She rolled her eyes.
"Are you stalking me or something?"
She stood up and pulled her blaster out of her bag.
"Is that how you greet and old friend?" the man asked pushing himself up into a sitting position.
"I don't think you become an old friend in a matter of three days."
"Oh most defiantly," he said, looking up at her. "I may not know you so well, but I know him and he knows you quite well."
Not sure what he was talking about, Iris raised her blaster and pointed it at the man before her.
"He just hasn't realized it yet."
"You never did tell me who you are," Iris said tipping her head at the blaster in her hands.
"I thought we went through this already," he said looking at the blaster. "I don't like blasters, and you don't like being thrown around, care for a reminder?"
Iris paused. He could throw her into the traffic just feet away. But then she relaxed. There were shields to protect against that sort of thing.
"You wouldn't dare do that in someplace so public," she said motioning around with the blaster in her hand.
"Care to test me?" he replied, pushing himself up onto his knees.
She watched him closely. In the few minutes she had been with him, he had seemingly been able to heal himself to the point of being able to carry out his threats. She remembered the incident in the kitchen when he had healed his foot almost instantaneously. There was so much she didn't know about this man and just as before, she felt that she would soon know more about him. Their paths seemed to be destined to constantly collide.
In looking at the man before her, it finally dawned on her.
She had found what she looking for.
She wasn't quite sure what she had found, or rather who, but she knew, her feelings told her, that he would lead to the completion of her mission.
"Finally." The man said.
Broken out of her thoughts, Iris looked at the man confused. Did he know what she was thinking? She looked at him again. Anything was possible with him.
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
He smirked and somehow it just looked wrong on his face.
"Not you," he answered. "Him."
There was a hand on her shoulder. She turned around ready to attack whoever it was, only to find another young man with a blaster pointed at her head. He was dressed in a long black trench coat that clashed horribly with the light filled atmosphere of upper Coruscant. He looked more suited for the lower levels.
"What took you so long?" the man questioned the new arrival.
Not lowering the blaster the young man answered.
"I don't have your omnipotent all seeing powers," he said. "Give me a break."
"Yeah you just hide the shadows and make people forget you ever were there. That's a useful one isn't it?"
"You know what?" the newcomer said, fed up with the other man, "It is."
"I bet," the other man replied. He stood up, looking nothing like the injured person he had been just minutes before. "Let's get out of here."
"What do you propose we do with her?" the other man said. The look on his face told Iris that he was just itching to use the blaster on her.
"Bring her along," he answered, "She has certain 'talents' that I'm sure we will both enjoy."
Iris looked at him with disgust. How dare he! But a quick glare from him shut her up promptly. She still wasn't sure if he knew what she was thinking, but the way he was acting was doing nothing to confirm or deny that possibility. Thinking of her mission, he removed the emotion from her face and followed without complaint. The sooner she could complete her mission, the sooner she could give up this life and return to her normal one.
As they left the scene, the crowds slowly started to came back and everything went back to normal.
"You're more talkative than normal," the newcomer remarked. "Did she get you to loosen up or something?"
The other man was silent.
"What happened to you?" the newcomer persisted. "Something's different about you."
The other man smiled slightly.
"You're not as incompetent as you seem to be."
The newcomer was affronted at that.
"You got all the powers in the world, the least you could do is not insult me every chance you get." He smirked, "Or is that one of your powers; insulting?"
The other man seemed to laugh slightly.
"Touchy aren't we?"
The newcomer sighed.
"I haven't seen father ever since you two left."
Iris felt like an intruder, yet she listened intently.
"Maybe he's dead." The other man said nonchalantly.
The newcomer furrowed his eyebrows in disbelief.
"You would never let that happen."
"Such faith," The other man replied.
"You really are off today," the newcomer said, "You sound more like father than yourself."
"And pray tell, how do I normally sound?"
The newcomer paused as if to consider if he should really voice his feelings. He looked at the other man watching him walk.
"You even are walking like father."
The other man seemed to be getting tenser as the comments came.
"You really enjoy pushing me don't you Granta."
"Father?!"
Iris really was feeling uncomfortable now. It felt like she was in one of those soap opera productions. These two looked to be the same age. She didn't know what was going on with this father business.
"You had to press," he said. By now, the trio had stopped. They were walking down an empty alleyway.
"You always told me to make sure your little investment was ok," Granta threw back. "It's nothing that I haven't been doing ever since you brought me in on this whole thing."
The two men were silent as they both took in what had just happened. Iris cleared her throat. She wondered if they still knew she was there.
The 'father' turned to answer her.
"I haven't forgotten about you sugar."
Granta raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything.
Iris only fumed inside at the words spoken to her.
"How did this happen?" Granta finally spoke.
"Not a clue," the other man replied. "One moment we were fighting and then I wake up on the lower levels with her hovering over me."
"And you have his…powers?" Granta asked, looking hesitantly at Iris, not knowing if she should be hearing this.
"Not all of them," he replied. "He's here," he said pointing to his head, "He's stopping me."
"But you have him under your control."
"Not this version of him," the other man said. "It seems as if we weren't as through in our purging as I thought."
Granta seemed to think.
"Where are you now?" he said, "Your body?"
The other man shrugged his shoulders. Granta seemed to take offense at his reaction.
"What if he pushes you out?" Granta exclaimed. "What will happen to you then?!"
The other man looked at Iris.
"That's why I'm bringing her along."
"How will she fix things?"
"It seems that he has a close bond with her," he said leering at her, "More than close if I interpret it."
Granta scrunched his eyes up.
"You mean he loves her?"
The other man rolled his eyes and looked at Granta. "Your immaturity never ceases to amaze me."
Iris looked between the two men. Mission or no mission, this was getting way above her head. It was enough to make her want to run away, but she doubted that she would get too far with these two after her, even with her abilities.
"Can we get moving?" Iris said impatiently.
The 'father' looked at her and tipped his head to the side annoyed. He reached out and grabbed her arm.
"But of course," he said, forcefully pulling her to his side as he started walking again.
The rest of the walk was silent as everyone seemed to digest what had been said. Iris was slightly surprised as they walked on toward ever classier apartment buildings and restaurants. She would have guessed that they would be heading down to the lower levels. Looking at these two, she never would have thought that they would have the money necessary to live in these parts; maybe they were living off of rich parents? Perhaps they were only passing through. That must be it.
"Almost there," Iris' handler said leering at her.
Iris narrowed her eyes. This guy was sick.
Up ahead the walk way widened. It was a pickup and drop-off point for taxis and the like. They walked on, ignoring the shouting taxi drivers as they passed by.
Iris was feeling vindictive.
"I thought we were almost there."
"Someone's eager," was the reply she received.
Granta, obviously annoyed with everything, walked on ahead. Iris sighed. It was just her luck to be stuck in such a situation. She watched as Granta turned the next corner. She turned the corner soon after. They were now walking parallel to the sky lanes. Iris watched the traffic, letting it distract her from her current situation. Beside her, her minder stiffened and stopped in his tracks. His grip tightened on her arm painfully.
"Can you be any gentler?!" she scolded, looking at the man. Her protest died on her lips as she looked at him properly.
His body was completely still, but his eyes were wider than she had ever seen them. She turned to look at what he was looking at and found his gaze resting on the Jedi Temple. She looked back at him. His eyes betrayed the conflict that was going on within. Meanwhile, his grip was getting tighter and more painful. She pushed and pulled on his hands to get him to let go but all she was rewarded with was a slap that sent her to the ground when he instinctually reacted to her efforts.
"What did you do!" Granta said, reaching down to her and shaking her roughly. He had rushed over as soon as he had realized that he wasn't being followed anymore.
"I didn't do anything you crazy maniac!" Iris shouted, struggling against his grip. She looked to the other man. He was slowly walking away.
"Look!" she shouted at Granta motioning with her head at the other man.
Confused he looked over to see that his father was not standing there anymore. He let go of Iris and turned his back to her. His father was now several yards away.
He rushed up to his father.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
His father continued on in a daze. Granta stepped in front of him and grabbed both of his arms in an effort to stop him.
His father came to an abrupt stop again. He lifted one foot up as if to take another step, but it never happened. It was frozen in the air. He started shaking.
"Father!" Granta called out. By this time, Iris had gotten herself off of the ground and was now watching the scene before her with great interest. It was as if the man was fighting for control from an unseen enemy.
The man took a deep breath and relaxed. He looked around him silently. Granta let out the breath he had been holding.
"What happened father?" Granta asked relieved.
"Father?" the man before him asked, "Who are you?"
Granta's eyes opened wider in shock. He looked to Iris. Iris only shrugged.
Following his gaze, the man turned to where Iris was standing.
"I know you," he said, confused.
Iris took in a sharp breath.
"No!" she shouted.
It was too late. Granta raised a blaster Iris hadn't noticed he was carrying and fired upon the other man. She ran up to Granta.
"What did you do?!" she asked frantically.
"Relax, its only set to stun," he replied, still looking at the unconscious man's crumpled form. He gulped as if in disbelief at what he had just done.
"He'll thank me later," he said, bending done to check his pulse. He looked up at Iris. "Help me, will you?" he said motioning to the body.
Iris crossed her hands across her chest.
"Tell me why I shouldn't just run from here and leave you both behind?" she asked.
He smirked up at her.
"Because I have a blaster," he said raising his blaster up, "And because you're curious."
She sighed. The blaster was no obstacle for her. She had her own weapon to deal with that. But she had to admit she was curious. But that wouldn't be the reason she would stay. She had things she needed to find out.
She rolled her eyes theatrically then bent down to help Granta. His father was surprisingly lightweight.
"We better be close," Iris muttered. Dragging this man along wasn't that hard truth be told, but she wasn't going to let them know that.
The other man didn't say a word. Iris decided to try another route.
"Can you at least tell what his name is?" she asked, "I certainly can't call him father."
He grunted.
"I suppose you are right," he appeased.
He was silent for a few moments. Iris wondered if he would ever give her the man's name.
"Xanatos," he finally answered. "You can call him Xanatos."
Iris blinked in surprise. Xanatos? He certainly didn't look like the picture she had seen of him. Wasn't he supposed to have a scar on his cheek?
Things couldn't get any more interesting than this.
All around them, people looked at them strangely. They didn't blend in at all with the sorts of people that mingled in this area. The surrounding people were extremely well dressed, heads held up high. They looked at the small group as if they would call the local police on them. Of course, Iris couldn't blame them for that. They were dragging an unconscious body along after all.
Soon they approached a lavish looking building. It had gold accents and a grand revolving door. As they slowed in front of the entrance, Iris could feel the cold air leaking out from the revolving doors. It felt nice, especially after dragging a body along in the light of the artificial sun above.
"Are you just going to stand there all day?" Granta asked, pulling at his father's body.
Iris rolled her eyes as she was pulled along.
Inside the building was even grander. The floors were made up of marble. The chairs were thick and plush. The chandeliers were made of gorgeous shining crystals. Even though Iris saw these sorts of places enough with her line of work, it never got old for her.
Granta on the other hand rolled his eyes at her adoration of their surroundings.
"You would think you were raised in a village in the middle of nowhere."
Iris glared over at him.
In truth, she had had what many would call a privileged childhood. It was because of that privileged childhood that she was doing what she was doing now. Call it twisted, but it was a long story.
The guards around them didn't look at them twice. They seemed to recognize Granta. They walked to the elevators. Once inside, the elevator asked them which floor they wanted to go to.
"Penthouse," he ordered.
Having briefly researched Xanatos, Iris wasn't surprised that he would live in the most expensive of apartments. It took a few minutes to get the top of the tall building. Once it stopped, Granta stepped forward to allow the sensors to scan his eyes.
"Have a nice day."
The elevator opened.
Iris tipped her head and almost whistled. Money sure could buy you anything these days, even a polite elevator.
On the other side of the door was paradise.
"Let's lay him over by the window," Granta said.
Which window? Iris Wondered. The whole apartment was surrounded by sheer panels of glass. She didn't voice her question however, instead letting Granta guide her along.
He pulled her over to the left where an oversized bench-like couch was sitting along the same wall that the elevator laid behind.
Once they had laid Xanatos down, Iris had the chance to observe him once again. He really didn't look like the Xanatos she was expecting. He had some of the familiar qualities, like the hair, but even then it not as long. The scar was nowhere to be seen. She reasoned that he could have had it removed, but why now after so many years? Even more obvious was the man's age. He certainly didn't look at old as he should be, even with good genes. He looked to be in his late teens or early twenties. Calling this man a father was laughable.
On her belt, her comlink started vibrating. She looked around. Granta had disappeared into another room. She pulled the comlink off her belt.
"I'm here," she answered.
"I have a job for you," came the reply.
"This isn't exactly a good time-"
"I don't care," the voice interrupted. "You be there, or else I'll activate the chip and you won't have a life to live anymore."
Iris frowned.
"I'm the one in charge here, without me you have nothing."
"Think again honey," the voice countered. "Times are changing; I'm getting tired of your attitude."
Iris licked her lips nervously.
"I'll do it, but-"
"There is no but, I own you and your just gonna have to realize that." With that the transmission ended. Seconds later she got the details of the job. It was to take place in an hour, not far from this building.
She quickly memorized the address and placed the comlink back on her belt. She readjusted her bag on her shoulders. When she looked up, Granta was in front of her looking at her strangely.
"Going somewhere?" he asked suspiciously.
"As a matter of fact," she said. "I just got called in for a job."
"A job?" he asked. "Father never told me exactly what you did for a living."
Iris sighed.
"I dance," she said simply.
"Dance?" Granta questioned.
Frustrated, Iris dropped her hands.
"Look, are you going to let me go or are you going to make me fight you?"
Granta smirked.
"Me , fight you?" he said, "I'll let you go on one condition."
Iris raised her eyebrows in impatience.
"Let me come and watch you."
Iris narrowed her eyes at him.
"What about your father?" she asked.
Granta looked over at the unconscious form on the couch.
"Him?" he pulled out his blaster and fired. "That should keep him under for the next couple of hours."
Iris looked at Granta in disbelief.
"He's your father?!" she said, "Is that how you treat him when you want him out of your hands for a while?!"
He laughed at her outburst.
"I wouldn't dare so that normally," he admitted. "But these are unique circumstances."
Iris stood there shocked.
"Don't you have someplace to be?" Granta asked raising his blaster.
Iris gulped and nodded.
"Lead the way princess," he ordered.
Iris turned her back to him quickly and walked toward the elevator. She hated how people treated her because of her beauty. She couldn't wait until this was all over and she could go back to being her normal tomboy self.