Prologue II
Thessia
Since she had been of age, Benese despised going to school. If it hadn't been for her mother's incessant nagging, she would gladly have skipped away, using her time for more important matters. It wasn't that her classes weren't challenging, far from it, it was the fact that Benese was never able to engage in the true studying she desired. Nothing there seemed to appeal to her, the teachers were dull and dimwitted, the other Asari students only mocked and teased her. The only satisfaction she found throughout the day, was watching the sun set as she awaited her mother's arrival to reclaim her daughter.
Her attitude remained unchanged throughout most of her education. She always held her mother in the position of her main teacher, always willing to indulge her more science and history questions. Benese was never bothered by her lack of social friends, believing the other girls in school were too attached to bizarre ridiculous notions such as romance or adventure. This was, until, she met the Elcor.
There was a specific group of girls, three of them to be precise, who always seemed to stir up what ever trouble they saw fit. Benese attributed this to their lack of intellect, forcing them to resort to more barbaric means of communication. They would often taunt her, mock her from afar, as they did with almost anyone. However, they had a peculiar fear of Benese, which kept their idle mocking to a rather minimum. Their fear of her, did not stop them from trying.
Though it was rare, their were, on occasion, aliens who frequented the school. Children who, for one reason or another, would come to learn and study. Since Asari matured rather slowly, in comparison to other species children, most would only remain in the same grade for a rather short period of time. Of course, the group of three would always love to point out the alien children's differences, mocking them for nothing more than their own genetic code.
It was on a particularly uneventful day, in which Benese's attention was entirely absorbed by a rather fascinating chemistry book, that her focus was directed up from the book. With the school day over, the kids all gathered around their respective friends and social groups, chattering away about the day's events. The group of three would always sit alone, snickering among themselves about the jokes they made about others. Benese sat by herself, as she so often did, reading her leather bound book, an oddity for her generation.
Something blocked her light though, and she was surprised to look up and find an Elcor standing before her. He was large, but obviously not full grown, barely half the height of an adult of his species.
'Another transfer alien,' she thought to herself. 'Should be interesting, most of these girls have never seen an Elcor before.' She was about to speak up, only to ask the alien to refrain himself from blocking her sun, when he moved himself away, shrinking back way from the crowd as best he could. It was all for naught, for he had already been noticed by every other Asari girl present. The gossip now changed topic to him, every girl wondering why an Elcor would be among their ranks. Unfortunately, this Elcor attracted the attention of three rather unpleasant individuals.
The triad stood up from their bench at the far end of the crowd, eager to have every focus on the scene they would create. They walked with a particular swagger, something they contributed to their own signature of crudeness.
"Hey," the lead girl shouted, as all three surrounded the Elcor against a wall. "What's a big ugly Rachnar like you doing here?" The other two laughed, believing the insult to be the funniest thing their limited minds could conjure.
The Elcor seemed to stutter, flustered by the sudden insult. "Peacefully: I'm only here to finish my primary studies. I don't wish for any trouble." Though the Elcor were known for their lack of emotion, this one just reeked of it. Apparently, he was young enough to still contain the hormonal changes that came with adolescent teens.
"That didn't answer her question," the second girl spoke. "Thessia is for Asari only. My mommy says so, and you are most obviously not Asari."
"With a slight pang of fear: My father is a diplomat, he thought moving here..."
The trio didn't care what his response was going to be, they had already developed their scheme long before he spoke. Without provocation, the three girls used their strength and weak biotics to knock the Elcor on his side, laughing as the alien fell to the ground hard. His bag, which had been on his back previously, broke on the impact, sending papers and tablets flying across the concrete. By now, the confrontation attracted the view of the other girls, most of whom giggled at the loud thud made by the impact between creature and ground.
By now, Benese had seen enough. Throwing her book aside, she pulled herself up, and marched over to the still laughing girls. The Elcor still remained on the ground, trying to turn his face away from the laughing crowd. It almost looked as if he were blushing.
"Hey! Pick on someone your own size!" she shouted, launching a weak biotic warp at the lead girl. It smacked against the back of her head, causing her to fall to the ground, landing on her own face. This brought about startled gasp from the crowd, all surprised Benese had bothered to do anything at all, let alone knock the girl to the ground. She hadn't meant to, she completely underestimated the power her warp would have on the girl.
The other two helped her up, and all three turned to glare at Benese. They towered over her by a good three inches, easily intimidating the otherwise reclusive girl.
"Well now Benese, if you like the alien so much, you can go down to the ground with him!" the lead girl shouted, as her two side-kicks grabbed Benese by the arms. They threw her to the ground, where she skid across the way to lie next to the Elcor. The entire confrontation only brought about more shrieks of laughter from the crowd. "Take care of your new pet now, Benese," the triad mocked, walking away to an awaiting bus.
"With much gratitude: Thanks for trying," the Elcor stuttered, struggling to stand on its legs once more. Once she was back on her feet, Benese bent down to help lift the alien up, struggling under the weight of his leg.
"Just don't mention it," Benese responded, wiping away some blood and dirt from her face. She wasn't looking forward to explaining this one to her mother. Turning around, she started to walk away, hoping to forget the day's events ever happened. She was surprised when the Elcor tried desperately to keep up.
"In a friendly manner: My name is Wheatlen. In case you were wondering."
"I wasn't," Benese blurted, bending over to pick her book back up.
"With intimate curiosity: I happen to love that series, I've the entire collection of sciences from that author. Apparently, he was some kind of xeno-biologist during the Reaper war."
"Fascinating," Benese said sarcastically. Though she was trying to repel Wheatlen, she made sure to take special note of his knowledge in books.
"You don't seem like the kind of person to help out like that. Why did you?" Wheatlen asked, forgetting to include his species trademark emotional quote.
Benese sighed, knowing that no matter what, the Elcor would now remain her responsibility.
"I don't know. It's just wrong for those girls to treat others like that."
"With complete sincerity: Well thank you very much, um. What was your name again?"
"Benese," she said with a smile.
"Thank you, Benese. I hope to one day repay the favor."
She spent the rest of that day with Wheatlen, discussing everything from the weather to new advancements in space flight. Though she hated to admit it, it felt wonderful to Benese to talk to someone her intellectual equal. The only time she would ever talk to someone this long, was when her mother felt particularly chatty.
"So what is your age?" Wheatlen asked. He had given up stating his current emotion with words a long time ago, much to the delight of Benese. She found it fascinating to try and guess the Elcor's feelings, without him blatantly stating it.
"I'm 60 now," she answered.
"Asari life spans have always boggled me."
Turning to him, Benese asked, "Why, how long does it take for your species to mature?"
"Slower than most, but much quicker than yours. I'm only 21, but I'm just considered an adolescent."
Benese shrugged, she wasn't completely familiar with Elcor biology, it hadn't been something she took any real interest in. However, she did love to learn, and nothing was a better well of knowledge, than directly from its source.
"So why exactly are you on Thessia?" she asked, changing the subject away from biology for the moment.
Wheatlen sighed, or whatever the Elcor equivalent was, before responding. "My father is one of the Courts' ambassadors. He decided moving to the Asari homeworld, would allow him to better negotiate for their aid."
"Where did you live before?" she questioned, her curiosity peaked.
"On Ekuna. It was mainly mother and I, father would always be off world for work. But, that was fine by us, gave me and my mother more time together."
Despite his impressive stature, Wheatlen's voice was rather high pitched for an Elcor. However, as he spoke of his mother, his tone grew more somber and serious, as if he were repeating a story he wished wouldn't continue. Again, this was all very odd for Benese, who had the impression that all Elcor emotions were only detectable through words.
"What changed?"
"Mother died."
The bluntness in his answer surprised Benese, she was caught completely off guard.
"You should consider yourself lucky, I never knew my father at all," Benese uttered, not knowing what the appropriate response for this type of situation.
"Puzzled: Do you know if your father was Asari?"
Benese shrugged, "All I know is that he was Human, but he probably died a long time ago." She chuckled, "Human years are like Kowakian years."
"Kowakian, what are those?"
"Vermin mostly, but some people keep them as pets. They don't live a long time, so they're used to teach children the meaning of cherishing something while it last."
Wheatlen looked over to her, "Are your lifespans that horrible?"
"Yes," her response came out solid and cold, she didn't wish to be reminded of the family she had already lost. Shaking her head, she continued, "You don't know much about Thessia, do you?"
Wheatlen shook his head no.
"I can teach you, show you how everything works," Benese thought for a moment before continuing, "if you want me to."
Looking away, Wheatlen pondered over her offer, starring at the sun as he did so. "Cautiously: So we'll be friends then?"
Grinning, Benese answered "Friends."
"Happily: Then maybe I could give you a ride home? My father expects me to walk, I don't mind taking you with."
With an eyebrow arched, Benese looked to him, "You want me to ride on your back then?"
"Precisely," Wheatlen said, turning his body around to face the opposite direction of Benese. "Just climb on."
Hesitantly, Benese gripped onto the sides of Wheatlen's sack, using it to pull herself onto his back. She struggled to for a moment, but was finally able to straddle the Elcor like a mount.
"Ready," she said, leaning over to whisper into Wheatlen's ear.
Without another word, Wheatlen started walking away from the now vacant school, leaving the troubles of the day with it. Now, as the duo traveled down the pathway, everything seemed to be just a little bit brighter. Looking up to the blue sunset overhead, Benese couldn't help but smile.
'I've never noticed it, but,' she thought to herself, 'the sunsets look so much prettier from down here.'
Benese had arrived home long before her mother, something that rarely ever happened. Normally, she would wait at the school for her mother's arrival, which would always be at dusk. Then, the two would go out to find something to eat, chatting with each other as they did so. It became a kind of ritual between the two, one that Benese quite enjoyed.
On the rare chance her mother did not arrive to pick her up from class, Benese would take it upon herself to journey home, where she would prepare both her meal, and something for her mother when ever she did return. Almost always, Benese would be asleep long before Liara ever arrived. By the next morning, her mother would simply go about like any other day, though it always seemed like something bothered her, a feeling Benese could never nag away.
She had just finished preparing her meal, when the house VI spoke up, alerting everyone listening that her mother had returned.
"Hello mother, I'm in the kitchen," Benese shouted.
Liara came walking in a moment later, attention narrowed on only her omni-tool. Words slipped up the screen, carrying information that Benese couldn't make out.
"No it couldn't be," Liara muttered to herself. She seemed completely unaware of Benese's presence, totally engrossed by the device. "After all this time?"
Stepping away from the oven, Benese walked over to her mother, who was looking back and forth from her omni-tool to a datapad on the table.
"Mother," she whispered, unsure of how deep in trance Liara might be. "What's going on? Is something wrong?"
Suddenly, Liara's trance was broken. "What, who?" She looked down to her right, finally taking notice of her daughter. "Oh Benese," she blundered, "I thought you were still at school, I was about to leave." Her eyes immediately went back to the omni-tool.
"It's fine mother, a friend walked me home today."
The mentioning of a friend was able to momentarily return Liara to reality once more. Giving off a sigh, she turned off the omni-tool, and pulled out a chair form under the table. Sitting down, she was now eye level with her daughter. "So you've finally made a friend? How did this come about."
And Benese recounted the tale of her day, making sure to include every detail she could recall about Wheatlen. Liara simply sat and listened, filled with glee her daughter was emerging from the shell she had put herself into.
"An Elcor? I'm amazed they're even on Thessia, let alone that you were able to make friends with one." Pulling her daughter in close, Liara squeezed her tight, resting her chin on the top of Benese's head. "I'm so proud of you dear."
"What for?" Benese asked, "Standing up to the bullies, or making a friend?"
"A little bit of bother," Liara chuckled, kissing Benese on the head before she stepped away. "I hope to one day meet him. But for now, let's eat then head to bed."
Nodding in agreement, Benese ran back to the stove, her bare feet smacking against the tile floor, to retrieve the pan of fried fruit she had made. It wasn't long before both girls had their fair share of food, and immediately started cleaning the dishes. After that, Liara rushed her to bathe away the grime gathered from the day, before urging her to bed. She made sure to tuck her in, and give a kiss on the forehead, before turning to leave Benese's bedroom.
Liara stopped just short of closing the door, and turned back to look at her daughter. Only a small beam of light hit her, coming in from the hallway through a crack in the door, but it was just enough for Liara to have a clear view.
"Oh Shepard," she whispered to herself, "I wish there was a way you could have seen her."
And with that, Liara closed the door completely, leaving Benese in darkness. After a few minutes, her eyes adjusted, and she could clearly see her room illuminated by the moon and stars above, cascading dim light through her thin curtains. Reaching under her bed, Benese searched around for the familiar feeling of her box, the one given to her by Joker so long ago.
Wrapping her fingers around it, Benese pulled the package into the light, observing it carefully as she so often did. She was never able to ask her uncle what the box was for, he died before she had the chance, due to growing complications with Vrolik syndrome. So yet again, she was left with another puzzle to solve, and no real way to find the solution. The note, which had been written on yellow paper by Joker, had long since faded and been discarded. She was careful not to alert her mother to the box, something about it and the way her uncle had given it to her, suggested it might be best to remain a mystery.
Now she only had to figure out how to open the infernal thing. It wasn't like an ordinary box, this one had no openings or seals. If anything, it was more of a solid piece of metal, rather than an actual box. But she knew the object was hollow, and her rattling of it told her something was inside. Yet she could never find out what. Shrugging, she moved to put it back under her bead, when something grabbed her attention.
The moonlight, which had just reemerged from behind a cloud, cascaded upon the box, highlighting some sort of marking embedded in the side. It was small, something that would never be noticed in the otherwise cracked surface, and nearly impossible to make out. Struggling, Benese looked at the marking, desperate to determine what it was.
"It looks like some kind of alien tongue," she grunted to herself. She gave out a long frustrated sigh, before throwing out her arms and tossing the box across her room. "I'm not going to figure it out now. Maybe Wheatlen can help," she whispered, right as she turned to her side, and pulled up the blankets for sleep.
AN: To celebrate my completion of the first section of The Cycle, I decided to finish up the second half of the prologue. Really looking forward to where this story will go, and I'm going to enjoy the freedom I have with it! I know most of you are probably wondering why this is in a xover section, seeing as there's almost no Halo aspects. And well, there probably won't be until I'm done with The Cycle. However, if you leave reviews and ask very nicely, I will be more than happy to share with you, through PM, where I want this story to go, and how it will fit into the cannon set up by The Cycle
As always, thanks for reading. And please share your thoughts with me =)