Chapter 15: Revelations

Kryantixx Galaxy: Planet Evukar

Erus and his daughter Andromeda finally reached the end of the cave system. Rocky, barren floor transitioned to smooth stone tiles. The rough, natural walls were soon covered with smooth panels which were beautifully decorated in intricate geometric patterns. These were the catacombs of the Marukar temple above them.

Erus and his daughter slowly climbed the spiral staircase that led them topside. The exertion from the journey so far had completely wiped out Andromeda, who could barely stand on her own anymore. Refusing to stop and rest, Erus simply carried her on his back, like he had all those years ago when they would play in the courtyard. Though it was a bit more difficult what with the fact that her body was much larger now, he still managed well enough. They finally emerged from the dark depths into the brightly lit temple.

A pinnacle of their artistry and architecture, it seemed as if every inch of the structure was lovingly crafted by the Marukar in some way. From the intricately carved columns in which stories of legends past were documented, to the vibrant blue color which was worked into each and every design, the design of the temple was heavily steeped in symbolism. Whenever the light from the sun or moon shone through the towering windows at just the right time, it caused the large, cavernous room to faintly glow and refract a million little rainbows. In days long past, this served as the spiritual center for the Marukar that lived here. Now, the flora and fauna of Evukar had begun to reclaim the space as their own.

Erus set Andromeda down onto the cool stone tile and led her to the altar in the middle of the temple. He brushed away the leaves and vines that covered the round surface. More intricate circular carvings adorned the pillar and its table-like top. The surface was flat for the most part, but was slightly concave, converging down to a point in the center of the altar like a shallow bowl. Erus pulled a small canteen from his robe and poured a bit of water into the vessel. As each drop made contact with the engraved designs, the lines lit up with an ethereal glow. The water shimmered and vibrated even after Erus had stopped pouring. A dull hum buzzed through the air and Andromeda's long hair started to float slightly as if from a build-up of static electricity.

Normally this event would have been accompanied by a grand celebration. Her mother would have been the one to "announce" Andromeda's arrival as a fully invested member of the family. Parades and decorations honoring the history of their people and culture would have blanketed the streets as if the entire village had dressed up for this occasion. After the ritual, she would have been given her first duty to her people. Her mother's had been to oversee the construction of a new hospital with the latest technology available to serve their citizens. Andromeda thought morosely how her first and only act of service for her people would be to end life as she knew it.

"I…don't think I can do thiz. Izn't there another vay papa?" She asked as she turned to the only father she had known. Her eyes were wide in fear, tears once more glistening around the edges.

"Come on, Andromeda, yes you can!" Erus urged her, "Think about what he's done to the Marukar, to your mother, even to you!" Erus finished as he gestured to Andromeda's missing limbs. "You really want to let him get away with this? You want him to continue killing?" he continued, stepping towards his daughter. Her small child-like mind shook with a mix of fear and anger. Andromeda squeezed her eyes shut to stop the tears and nodded to her father.

As Erus helped to support his daughter, she reached out towards the water with her one hand. As soon as it made contact with the liquid, her head was thrown back as a shockwave flowed through her body. She felt as if she could taste the electricity in her mouth as the sensation subsided. A small opening was then revealed in the center of the vessel. The water started to drain away through the hole. Once dry, a small stone disk rose up to close up the vessel once more. However, on it sat a deep, vibrant blue gem. Erus snatched it from the vessel and closed his hand tightly around it. Finally. He thought. After all this time I will best him.

3rd Moon

Talwyn's ears perked up at the familiar sound of the door opening to her cell room. Maa'jer and several of his men entered the room. She eyed them curiously as she saw this was a much larger group than normal. Maa'jer seemed to have a much more sinister smile on his face than usual, almost as if he was happy in some sick and twisted way.

"Why hello my disgusting dear" he said snidely as he walked to the main console in front of her. "Are you ready to make history?" he asked as he tapped at several keys and commands. Talwyn jumped back in surprise when the floor underneath her started to shift. A small round opening was revealed, from which a tall pedestal with a shallow bowl on top rose up to fill the space. Talwyn did a double take as she was thoroughly perplexed. If anything, she expected to see some sort of torture device be brought into the cell, but this just looked like a sort of birdbath. Upon closer inspection, she could see the intricate concentric designs of the bowl.

"I'm sure you didn't keep me here just to give you my opinion on the art." Talwyn quipped back. Maa'jer once again surprised the markazian as he himself entered her cell. The anticipation from him and his soldiers hung thick in the air. She realized that if she were to make a break for it, it would have to be soon. Maa'jer pulled a small flask from his pocket and poured a clear liquid into the bowl. Talwyn's eyes widened as she saw the pedestal react to it as if it was a living thing.

"No, I brought you here as this is one of the oldest Marukar temples in this galaxy." Maa'jer coolly explained. "Here, you will unlock the greatest power this universe has seen. And I will sap every ounce of it from your body." He lunged forward and grabbed one of Talwyn's arms before forcing her hand into the water in the bowl. She winced and braced herself for some sort of pain to come. What exactly, she didn't know, but she figured anything this Maa'jer wanted her to do wouldn't be pleasant.

She opened her eyes and looked back and forth to her hand and Maa'jer quizzically when no pain came. There was a dull buzzing in the air, and the liquid appeared to tingle somewhat on her skin. Maa'jer's visage seemed transfixed on Talwyn in anticipation. His eyes didn't blink once as he stared her down for what seemed like an eternity. Talwyn finally broke the elongated silence as she spoke up.

"Ummm, is something supposed to happen?" She asked, confused as ever. Maa'jer broke eye contact, reeling back his head ever so slightly. He quickly regained his composure and with one of his other arms, ripped the necklace from around his head and pressed it into Talwyn's hand. Up close, the markazian could see endless facets of a vibrant blue, as if the gem itself could swallow you up. She was transfixed by its beauty, almost as if she had seen it once before long ago. However, nothing else happened other than the gem reflecting a dull blue tinge onto the two aliens.

After a moment, Talwyn could feel Maa'jer's hand shake with anger. He threw down her hand and pulled the gem from her. He rammed it down on the side of the vessel, where it cracked and splintered into many pieces. A slow, guttural cry erupted from his throat as he pushed Talwyn down on the ground in frustration.

"That damned Erus! The old man tricked me with a fake!" Maa'jer turned his back on Talwyn, to face the doors to her cell. "You two, go find out where that old fool is hiding! He must still have The Gem!" he commanded as he raised his hand and pointed them to the door, and several of the soldiers left the room. It was then that Talwyn noticed Maa'jer's side arm on his waist. She knew that this was likely her only chance to escape. So, while Maa'jer was distracted, Talwyn lunged to his side and ripped the pistol from his hip. She grabbed hold of Maa'jer with one arm around his neck, let out a single shot at her chain around her leg, and pointed the blaster point blank at his head all in one smooth motion.

"Open. The. Cell." She stated coldly to the remaining soldiers in the room.

"Get…your disgusting hands off of me!" Maa'jer hissed to his captor.

"Well, you've been such a great host that I thought I'd return the hospitality." Talwyn sarcastically responded. Maa'jer's soldiers opened her cell, their blasters leveled on her. She slowly backed out of the room with Maa'jer in tow. Once she crossed the threshold, she pushed the madman back into the cell room, and then blasted the console next to the door to cause it to malfunction and slam shut, trapping Maa'jer and the soldiers inside. She bought herself a few minutes, maybe five, tops. So, she sprinted down the hallway looking for any sort of sign which would point her in the direction of the entrance.

Now that he had both The Gem and Andromeda, Erus checked on the tracker he had put in Talwyn's bracelet. He smiled as he saw that she had been taken to one of the moons of Glignak before the signal was lost. He must have gone to one of the other temples. Erus mused as he went to grab Andromeda's hand. Just then, a booming, thudding sound emanated from the large, heavy doors at the front of the temple.

A moment later, the door is blown inward with an explosive blast. Erus pulled Andromeda into his arms protectively, readying a blaster with one of them. His eyes flashed with anger as he saw Talwyn's scruffy friend and his robot companion enter the atrium.

"What are you doing here?" Erus demanded, flipping the safety off of his blaster. Ratchet's eyes narrowed as he glanced from Erus to the young woman next to him. She looked a bit like Talwyn, but taller with more petite features and long brown hair. He gripped the handle of his omniwrench and shifted into a battle-ready stance. The coordinates that Clank had found in Erus' computer led them to this town. Ratchet would be lying if he denied feeling a pang of sadness as he had walked through the ruins. Much of the disarray that the town was in reminded him of the ruins on Fastoon. Though, as much as he wanted to sympathize with Erus and whatever it was that happened here, his mind was focused on only one goal.

"I could ask you the same, Erus." He said in a low, even tone. "I don't care whatever it is you're doing with this prophecy, I'm just here for Talwyn. Where. Is. She?" Ratchet finished, anger and determination building in his voice. Clank meanwhile squinted at Andromeda next to Erus, running her image through his databanks.

"Ratchet," Clank said quietly to his friend, "I believe that the alien next to him is the young girl from the pictures." Ratchet's eyes flicked to focus on the young alien next to Erus. He could see now that she had multiple old injuries. He also saw the pure terror in her eyes. Ratchet eased his stance somewhat. He wasn't here to start a fight if he could help it.

"Please," He said, directed more now to Andromeda "My friend is missing, and I think Erus knows where she is. I need to find her." He saw the young alien's eyes soften somewhat as she realized that this strange person didn't seem to be here to hurt her. She tried to step forward towards Ratchet, but Erus grabbed her round her waist and pulled her back, nearly toppling her over.

"No! Andromeda! We cannot risk our plans to help him!" Erus said as he reprimanded her, "Go home, Ratchet. Your friend is most likely dead now. She was taken by Maa'jer two days ago." He announced to Ratchet, who felt his world crumble around him. He remembered this feeling from before when he thought Talwyn had perished on Zogg's ship years earlier. He dropped his wrench and held his head in his clenched hands. He let out a primal scream as he faced Erus once more.

"Then why did you tell me she was fine!? You had something to do with this, don't deny it!" He yelled. Andromeda, realizing that she had woken up just two days earlier thought that something here was amiss.

"Papa, vhat iz he talking about? Who iz Talwyn?" Andromeda asked her father. Upon hearing her accent, though, Ratchet's eyes widened in a realization.

"That accent. You told Talwyn to use that accent on the job!" He said accusingly "What did you do Erus!?" He grabbed his wrench from the floor and used his hoverboots to zoom towards Erus, knocking him over and as a result throwing Andromeda to the side. "Where is Talwyn!?" he screamed as he pinned Erus' head to the ground between the tines of his wrench. Andromeda's horror returned to her face as she saw the strange alien attack her father. She tried to stand, but a mixture of exhaustion and fear prevented her from doing so.

"Ratchet! No, do not do anything you will regret!" Clank called out to his friend, knowing that this was not the lombax's usual M.O.

"I'm here to get answers. Any way possible." Ratchet continued, ignoring his metallic friend. He leaned on the wrench, digging it further into Erus' neck.

"I-I'm sorry. It had to b-be done" Erus croaked out as he gripped the wrench around his neck, preventing it from completely chocking him. "Maa'jer was getting t-too close to finding me. I needed a d-decoy." He finished. Upon hearing this, Ratchet relented on his grip as a sadness poured over him. Tears threatened to seep from his eyes, but he angrily blinked them back.

"Her father was your friend. And you just brought her here to be killed?" Ratchet asked Erus incredulously. The older alien rubbed his neck now that the wrench had been removed.

"There was no other way. I've come too far to ensure Maa'jer pays for what he did to my wife, to my daughter." He said as he gestured towards Andromeda. "I won't rest until he is dead. I won't let anyone get in my way. Once I bring about the prophecy, Maa'jer will face the ultimate consequence!" Erus finished coldly. Ratchet couldn't believe what he was hearing. In his shock, Erus was able to throw the Lombax off of him. He ran and scooped up his daughter, before then taking out The Gem from his pocket. He placed it in Andromeda's hand and guided it to the pedestal. As The Gem made contact with the engravings, it and Andromeda started to glow. Erus whispered something to his daughter, who then repeated it aloud.

"Templum Orginis" she said simply before the two of them disappeared in a flash of blue energy.

"No!" Ratchet yelled as he ran towards the pedestal, inspecting it all over. "Where did they go!?" he asked to no one in particular as he spun around to look at Clank. Once again, a sudden realization of Erus' words hit him. "T-tal. She's with that lunatic that killed all the Marukar!" he refused to believe that she was dead. She couldn't be. "C'mon, Clank. Let's see if Aphelion can track where Erus is. I have a feeling that he's going to get his revenge on that Maa'jer guy. I just hope we make it in time before Tal gets caught in the firefight." He said as he picked up his companion and threw him on his back before sprinting back out into the bright light of Evukar.