Kaianan

  Stepping into the dark décor of the reception area, emptiness washed over her. She wasn’t Princess Kaianan, heir to the throne of Layos here; she was a civilian among other preform humans.

  “Hello, Kate. My name is Gaylene. Welcome.” Gaylene smiled through tired brown eyes and walked around the desk brushing her flame red hair behind her ear. She was wearing a worn grey suit skirt and blazer that scarcely fit her. Big round glasses sat loosely around her pointy nose and beady eyes. “Let’s get you settled, shall we?” she said, through crisp hard lips. “I’ve gone through all the paperwork with your foster care coordinator, and we are all good to go for three months. I must say, you don’t look fifteen.”

  Fifteen? That’s right, Xandou said if she was born on Earth, which turns at three hundred and sixty-five days a year, versus Rivalex, which turns around its two sun stars every three hundred and two days: she would actually be turning fifteen on Earth.

  Kaianan nodded, not listening to the flow of information leaking from the woman’s mouth. She followed the talkative Gaylene down the corridor and entered a sterile, dimly lit white room to the left.

  “Make yourself at home. Clean clothes are in the cupboard; bathroom to the left; some CDs and magazines are stacked in your drawer for entertainment.” She gestured like a well-oiled machine, “Dinner is at six p.m. every night in the dining hall. We’ll see you soon.”

  Kaianan processed it all and nodded. Gaylene departed.

  Left alone in the tiny space, Kaianan looked around the lifeless room of barren furniture. A bed, a chair, a desk—it was all white. So bland. It wasn’t the type of warmth she had at home. She ventured to her ensuite (a white-tiled bathroom) and noticed the small mirror above the cabinet. She jolted slightly when she caught a glimpse of her reflection. She looked unlike her usual self, and touching her face, realised her cheeks were gaunt and her eye sockets were darker than usual. Further, her bright green eyes were bloodshot and her hair, her brown bushy hair, was dry and lifeless. “I most definitely blame Vector travel.”

  “Hi!” Kaianan jumped at the sound of the voice in the doorway, turning to see a young preform boy in striped navy pyjamas staring at her.

  “Who are you?” she asked with a worried tone.

  He strolled into the bathroom and brought his freckled face, framed with curly red hair, up to meet her. He barely made the height of her stomach. “I’m Reign, but me friends call me Reddy.” He beamed, and Kaianan grimaced at the gap between his front two teeth.

  “You’re Vernacular is slightly amateurish … and you could have knocked,” she muttered. “Reign, I mean Reddy, what are you doing in here?” Kaianan questioned him like he was a criminal.

  “Vernacu-wha? I just came ‘say hello,” he said, coyly, running back to her bed and flinging his body onto it like a cannonball. He made a crash landing amongst the pillows and hoisted himself up to start bouncing up and down.

  “What in holom’s name are you doing?” she asked, watching his head go up and down.

  “Who’s … hol … om?” He was able to get out in between jumps.

  Kaianan scowled in distress. “Can you get out?”

  Reddy giggled at her. “Where’s all your stuff?” Reddy was now rummaging through her top drawer.

  She ran over to the delinquent who had opened the black machine on her desk. “Get out!”

  “OOH! You got Silverchair. No fair. Let’s hear it!”

  Kaianan yanked the CD out of his hands and as she did, he tumbled out of her room in a kerfuffle of noise. She shook her head, scurried over to her door and slammed it shut.

  It was just after 6pm when Kaianan arrived in the dining hall. There were about eight people here, ranging from young children to adolescents. Half a dozen sitting at the cafeteria-like sitting area, and the others were in line against the open buffet, plating up on food.

  Kaianan headed over. She plucked a plate from the stack and stood in line.

  “’ello again!”

  Kaianan flinched. It was the red-headed boy again, behind her, he had a baby blue dressing gown over his pyjamas and was squishing closer to her in the line.

  “What do you want!?” She said half-quietly, half-aggressively.

  His face was blank. “I’m getting something to eat,” he held up the white plate, “see?”

  “Oh, yes.” Kaianan fake smiled.

  “Hmmm, steak, I like steak.”

  “Steak?”

  “Yeah, cow.” He fished the silver tongs and grabbed a big piece of meat and put it on his plates, then grabbed some creamy looking potatoes and some plant-type ingredients after that. “Did you want me to put some on your plate?”

  “Reddy!” Gaylene called out. Kaianan noticed her standing in the middle of the room, other children giving her scared glances and lowering their shoulders as they ate. “What have I told you about new people?”

  “Sorry, mam.” Reddy said immediately. He dropped the tongs down and quickly sat down.

  Kaianan analysed the room. The place seemed tense. Why? She gathered her ‘steak’ up and found a seat away from everyone.

  She took a knife to her meat and cut. She examined the beef, it looked cooked through but with some slight pinkness to it, then she put it in her mouth. It was delicious. Similar to the Seevaar, it was of a nice texture, tender and succulent. That slop before she left home was nothing compared to this. She glanced around the others, all of them busy eating.

  She ate quicker than she ever had, until she finished a second serving and was able to place her dirty dish in the washer tray and head back to her room.

  After enjoying her meal, Kaianan had decided to have a relaxing bath.

  It was what she needed. Her head had been pounding on and off ever since she’d transformed. And looking around the bathroom, right now, she felt out of place and confused. She’d always regarded herself intelligent, able to read situations, and able to get a good grasp on circumstances and people. Yet she had done none of that since she got here. She wondered if brainpower could just disappear?

  She shrugged, accepted her hopelessness and hopped in the bath. Moving her body around the water, she picked up the magazine, as Gaylene called it, and flicked through it. Her nose scrunched up. There was pages and pages of women in varied garb and dresses. Some even in nothing at all by the water. What was this thing? She shoved it closed and threw it at the wall.

  Where was something to read when she needed it? A picture book of women, she snorted.

  On the other hand, Chituma would love it here. She’d be in her element. Kaianan’s eyes saddened. Where was Chituma? She slapped her hand in the water and told herself to forget.

  She pulled the plug from underneath her and headed for her room.

  After her wash, Kaianan slipped into a comfortable long black nightie she had found in the cupboard. She sat down on the small bed and pushed the rest of the magazines aside, staring at the hard discs.

  CDs? Kaianan thought, opening the drawer to see the rectangular case Reddy had in his hands before she snatched it from him. The case had a picture of a green frog on it—Silverchair, Frogstomp. She opened the case to see a silver disc. She slowly clicked the “insert here” button on the black machine Reddy had played with earlier and placed the circular object on the tray.

  It entered the machine. She clicked a few buttons and waited. The heavy sound of instruments started, but it was the voice she heard, almost instinctively, resonate through her. The words were about massacre, about people dying. Kaianan had no idea what overcame her, but emotion seized up in her as she listened. Tears fell down her cheeks to the pillow she was now buried in. She was frozen from the noise. Her dreams took her back to Layos, to her people, to the death at the Manor. She’d tried not to think about it. It was no use. Her emotions were too strong; she sobbed into her pillow and before she knew it, she was in a vast deep sleep.

  Kaianan awoke to a dark room. The music was still playing; a different track was spinning.

  It was en
ough. She’d had enough.

  She slammed the machine with brute force and the noise ceased. She tried to control her panting. Tried not to think about the Manor. She got up out of bed and paced her room; the moonlight streaming in from her window. She needed fresh air. She rummaged through the cupboard of preform clothes and found a puffy black jacket with a fluffy lining. Shoving it on, she headed outside. Bursting into chilly alleyway, Kaianan inhaled. The air was cool and crisp. The Earth’s half-moon opened a flood of light all over her face.

  “Breathe.” She said moving her neck side to side. “What was that?”

  Music. It was the music. She felt a bit annoyed she had let his voice get to her. Was she really falling apart? Where was a maiden when she needed one? Gaylene was far from accommodating; she gave more orders than Kaianan ever did in her whole time as Princess. To think she controlled all those foster kids. Kids who sought a place to stay …

  A snap sounded somewhere nearby and she pricked her head sideways.

  “We … found … you …” The voice was distant.

  “Is there someone there?” Kaianan spoke, but a part of her thought she was hearing things.

  “Are you listening …? Princess …?” The female voice bounced indistinctly around the street. The echo grew louder. Kaianan looked left to the empty street, and back to the perpetual darkness of the alley. Nothing. There was no one there.

  “I’m hearing things?” she muttered to herself. “I must be going crazy.”

  But when four silhouettes emerged from the blackness of night, she realised she wasn’t crazy at all.

  These people had been watching her.

  Kaianan examined them inch closer into sight. Three male figures and one female came into view—two blonde boys in dark khaki and grey and black camouflage attire, while the long blonde hair of the female swooped past in bright pink knee-high boots and a matching long-sleeved jumpsuit. The last taller male, though, was the one who caught her attention. He was not dressed like his comrades; he was in thicker, sturdier black combat apparel that looked oddly familiar.

  “Perhaps you are crazy, but who wants to be normal anyway?” he asked her and all Kaianan could do was stare back. “I’m Julius … and these are my Underworld friends.” The brooding male whisked past the others to the front. “This is Jax,” he gestured to the smiling boy with short blonde tresses, “Evon,” the lanky boy with the dreadlocks, “and Ruby,” he motioned to the angelic blue-eyed girl in the bright pink outfit, who greased her eyes at Kaianan. “The question is, what exactly are you doing here?”

  Kaianan watched his lips part slowly. Soft brown curly hair fell across his green eyes past his chin to his shoulders, intertwining with his sudden captivating grin. Did he honestly just introduce them all like friends? There was no way she was giving up her information. She was sweating at what to do next, trying to pull some sort of plan together.

  All she could hear was music in her head. Dammit.

  She turned around, opting for retreat.

  “A Gorgon in the Milky Way Galaxy.” He spoke to her back, glancing at his company. “You’re very far from home.”

  He knew her home? She rotated furiously and hastened toward him; irritation getting the better of her. “What did you say?”

  Julius loomed closer to her; she was now close enough to touch him.

  “Don’t play games, Kaia,” he whispered out of earshot of the others, “…. Come quietly okay.”

  He knew her name?

  In one swift, sudden movement he had seized her arms. She stood there and allowed it as he forced her wrists together. Kaianan’s brain was rattled. What was wrong with her? Why was she staring at him? Why didn’t she fight back? Who was Julius? The question was burning inside her. Suddenly she could hear Chituma in the back of her mind: ‘Bit of a dish rag yourself, now, aren’t you?’

  “Can you bring her in now, mate?” Jax said.

  Kaianan flinched, breaking Julius’s hold by kneeing him in the thigh. He staggered backward. He was immediately back on his feet.

  “I told you,” he said, his eyes angrier than anything. Kaianan had no idea what she was doing. She stood there with surprise on her face. Julius moved a few steps and then was kicking her leg in from behind her, and caught up in her inappropriate nightie she fell to her knees with her arms outstretched in front of him. He snatched at her wrists. Squeezing them so tight, he lowered his face beside hers.

  “Don’t bother making a scene,” he rasped out, “do you understand me?”

  Her body was tense. Every organ in her entire being was pounding. Who was this? Kaianan heard sniggers from the others. It upset her, and not just the sniggers but her stupidity at going into some sort of shock. “I’m not going to come quietly.”

  “Yes, you will.” Julius became firmer in his grip and Kaianan had to stop herself from becoming angry. “I need you to do this for me,” he whispered quietly, almost inaudible.

  “No.”

  “Kaianan, I know this all seems untoward. But please don’t make me hurt you,” he muttered.

  Her animosity began to intensify. “I, I would never allow it.”

  “Just get up and let’s go, please.” His smile widened, and she was like a Pernicious under his trance. His teeth, his wide beaming mouth, it was unravelling an odd feeling within her. She considered him with a determined look of concentration.

  Then some flick in her brain switched over. Maybe it was the way he ordered her about, like the rest of the controlling individuals in her life, or maybe it was her recent breakdown; whatever it was, she felt her body react—sharp and menacing—with a mounting desire for control of the situation.

  “No, I won’t,” she said with a firm voice. “I … I …” Kaianan stumbled on the words.

  Looking down at her body, in a chilling rush sprinkling down her spine, she saw she was beginning to transform.

  “Whoa!” Julius exclaimed, unleashing her and abruptly, she burst into a fluttering green aura of transformation as it locked a shimmering forcefield against her skin. When the gold chestplate formed over her breasts in a lock of green flames and her tail spun around, conjoining her legs into an extension of three metres, she almost chocked with surprise. Further, gold cuffs locked around her wrists and her hair evolved, this time not as painful as the first, as slowly and one by one, tiny snakes shot out from her scalp, hissing mad.

  Kaianan caught her breath and found herself staring at four shocked adversaries. What just happened? Did she just do that?

  “Do you have any idea where you are?” Julius said incredulously, not frightened like the others.

  “Enough!” Kaianan thundered in her manly Gorgon voice.

  “You are supposed to cooperate …”

  “Silence.”

  “This is not a good idea, Kaia …”

  Not a good idea? Was he serious? Of course it wasn’t a good idea, but she was raving mad right now. Didn’t he see, he had provoked her – then – swoosh! – a small rustling sound whipped by her ear and turning in a swift, steady movement, Kaianan reached out with her arm, locking onto—who was it? —Jax. In the spilt second after that she snapped the fragile bones in his upper arm without batting an eyelid.

  He cried out in agony, falling to the ground and clutching his limb to stabilise the bone hanging out of his skin.

  “Stop, Kaia. You’ve proved your point,” Julius said, in reasonable distress.

  She had to prove her point further when the other boy, Evon dived for her tail, digging his small knife into her side. The beast in her boomed, and her anger only increased. Instinctively, she whipped her tail round. He let go of her, and flying like an object through the sky, Evon soared uncontrollably. In malice, she hissed and growled like her serpents, using her eyes to concentrate on his trajectory. Once her serpents were afire and her narrowing glowing eyes locked onto his figure, his body simply began to swivel in green aura and slowly, slowly, he changed.

  He became greyer and greyer and then – every
thing stopped – Evon, frozen in mid-air, was turned completely to stone.

  “Enough,” Julius pleaded the moment the stone body came crashing down onto the gravel alleyway, shattering on impact. Julius’s face became pale and nauseous as pieces of stone scattered to his feet.

  “You will fear me, mortal.” Her lips were moving, but Kaianan wasn’t speaking these words. “I can hear the beat of your heart as it pumps the blood through your veins. Do not tempt my supreme being—it is you that has been warned.”

  Julius backed away. “We will leave, Kaianan. You will be trialled. Mark my words.”

  “Go, mortal, and leave me in peace. The Princess has spoken: I will do as I wish on this planet or the next!”

  “OH MI GOD! George!” They heard Eleni’s screams. “Wake up! There is a snake woman outside! It’s bloody Medusa!!”

  Julius shot his head around to the humans. “You’re on Earth. For holom’s sake, Kaianan.”

  Eleni pushed her husband to the front of the window sill, “George, look.” At the sight of Kaianan, George’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and he dropped to the floor. “George. Oh, mi god. Please, George, wake up. What if she eats me?” Eleni’s large round face was bright red, wailing hysterically.

  Julius shook his head. “Dersji Brikin would be let down at your apparent loss of the Shiek,” he hissed, hurriedly leaving with Jax and Ruby into the night.

  Kaianan staggered and swayed on her tail. Words began ringing in her ears. Her head ached from a charred memory trying to resurface and her wrist burned uncontrollably. She was searching for the missing memories. Begging herself to find them. Please! It was no use. Stumbling sideways, and losing her Gorgon body in a loud thud against the gravel, Kaianan passed out. The fading echoes of a name called as she morphed back to her preform self; completely motionless on the ground her ears twitched. The name she was hearing wasn’t hers, it was Dersji Brikin.

  Chapter Fourteen: A Rescue Mission

  Fire blazed from dry volcanoes while heavy fog obscured all vision ahead. The red ashes of Croone pressed against the Felrin cruiser materialising from the closing Euclidean Vector. Gliding through the haze, with only one hundred metres of flat surface for touchdown, Garen Lofar steadily navigated the silver steel ship to a commendable landing. Dersji Brikin drew in his breath and peered out at the vast dead habitation of the planet, listening to the engines power down. The last time he was here, his son was four systems away, dying—or so he thought.