by Eva Brandt
“No,” Selene snapped. “That won’t be necessary. I can do this.”
“Selene, have you lost your mind?” Pollux asked. “Please, reconsider.”
Selene ignored him. “How does it work?” she asked. “This technique.”
“It’s not something you can learn in ten minutes, Selene,” I answered desperately. “You have to regulate the temperature of your own body, to use your natural output of tachyons to protect you and release the tachyons that are attacking you. It takes time to master. Selene, please… Stop.”
She didn’t bother listening to the last part. Instead, she straightened her back, having seemingly made a decision. “Okay. I think I understand.”
I wanted to scream. This couldn’t be happening. I thought about Pollux having a panic attack in his chimera, about the promise I’d made to him. In fact, we’d all promised to protect Selene, and we were failing in the most miserable way.
Pollux hadn’t seen Stella burn alive, but he’d apparently have to do it in Selene’s case.
No. We couldn’t allow this. Even if we had to tear down the whole stadium, we’d stop this insanity. I wouldn’t allow them to hurt her, not today, not ever. My family couldn’t be torn apart again. I refused to accept it.
I must have said that out loud, because Selene grabbed my elbow and pulled me aside, away from the rest of the crowd. The others followed us and we took refuge in a small alcove behind the platform.
Nobody followed us. Even the Harpy Squad stayed silent, well aware of what this meant for Selene.
“Please, trust me,” Selene begged when we were more or less in private. “I can do this. I need to do this.”
“You don’t have anything to prove to them, Selene,” I croaked out. “Don’t play their game. Don’t sacrifice your life needlessly.”
“I’m not,” Selene argued. “If it’s a stage in the tournament, it means it can be passed.”
“By someone who is trained, yes,” Brendan shot back. “But Selene, no matter how much you hate it, you don’t have that training. You have a lot of potential, but that’s not enough to endure something like this.”
Selene smiled, and a secret knowledge glinted in her eyes. “Trust me and stay with me. Can you do that? Please. Don’t let me go. Don’t lose faith.”
“Selene…” Knox whispered, and his voice held something so broken and lost it almost shattered what little composure I had left.
It had a similar effect on Selene. Her expression twisted into an unhappy grimace, but she never once faltered. “I know what you wanted to do,” she said. “I know you wanted to break my heart, to send me away. And to tell you the truth, I’m not mad. I understand why you made that decision. It’s logical.
“But at the same time, I think that what’s logical isn’t always what’s best. It might sound crazy, but I’m convinced that, with your help, I can do this.” She pressed her hand to her chest, on the exact spot where the number 1000 had been. “They’ve branded me. I know it. I can feel it. This isn’t random. It’s for a purpose. And I’ll be damned if I’ll let them get away with it.
“That woman in the alley… I couldn’t help her. But sometimes… Sometimes, I can still hear her cries. I have to take a stand, otherwise this brand we carry will never disappear. And yes, I know I’m not omnipotent. I’m just a random Terran who happened to be chosen by a chimera. That doesn’t change the fact that I’m here, now, and I have a chance.
“So please, trust me. Help me. We can do this.”
Brendan cursed viciously under his breath. Her words had gotten to him, because this wasn’t just about Selene’s desire to win. He wanted to help, to change things as much as we did. But it was still too dangerous. “Selene, this isn’t the only way to make a difference. They’re forcing you into this position, but you don’t have to accept it.”
“I do,” Selene answered. “Didn’t you hear what your father said? This is a symbol, to honor the power that was granted to us. If I refuse, they’ll say I insulted your system and the gift I was given.”
I could actually see that happening, but I still wasn’t willing to abandon hope. “They might say that anyway. Even if you do go out there, even assuming you pass this trial, it won’t solve anything. If they’ve chosen such a drastic course of action, they won’t just give up.”
Selene fell silent, contemplating my words. For a few seconds, I dared to hope that she’d seen sense. I really should’ve known better. “I know. You’re right, August. There’s something deeply wrong here and I don’t understand it. But if I want to get a chance to find out what it is, I have to take a step forward, not back.”
In the reddish light of the stadium corridor, Selene’s hair looked like dancing flames. She was so beautiful it hurt and the thought that I might never see her again tore me apart. But this wasn’t about me and what I felt. “This is useless. You’ve already made up your mind, haven’t you?”
“Of course, but like I said, I’m not crazy. I know I need some help.” She grinned, a twist of lips that was almost naughty. “Not to worry. I have a plan. Here’s what we’ll do.”
Mirrors of Death
Selene
“Please welcome Selene Renard, the first ever female chimera tamer and the pilot of the Sphinx.”
As the announcer’s voice rang out over the stadium, I took a deep breath and did my best to squash my remaining nerves. “Good luck, Selene,” August murmured behind me.
“Thanks,” I replied, winking. “And don’t worry about me. Gaia and Tartarus are by my side.”
My lovers didn’t look convinced, but they’d understood and accepted my plan. That made me strangely happy. I should’ve been afraid, considering what I would be up against in only a few minutes, but instead, I was filled with an odd joy.
I’d known my lovers cared about me. I’d known they were sexually attracted to me. But trust and respect? I hadn’t been so sure about that. It didn’t come naturally to them, not when they’d been taught all their lives that women were weak. In a situation like this, they’d chosen to follow my lead and I appreciated that more than I could ever say.
I wouldn’t fail them. I would keep my promise to them, to my parents, and to everyone who was watching and hoped that I’d live.
In the stadium, my appearance was greeted with silence. A lot of spectators were confused about my identity. They were all related to the space force, people who lived on other bases, staff or nobles from the Moon or neighboring asteroids. But my existence hadn’t been advertised before the tournament. The first stage of the event might have introduced them to me, but there had been a lot of people in the labyrinth and the spectators must’ve only caught a glimpse of me.
I didn’t let their lack of enthusiasm intimidate me. I had a plan, and I’d go through with it. I hadn’t spent my time at the academy idle. I hadn’t bonded with a chimera, just to die here.
“Ms. Renard, are you ready for your trial?” the announcer asked. I didn’t recognize him. Was he someone who’d come here specifically for the tournament? If so, I’d make sure to give him quite a show.
“I am,” I answered steadily. It was half-true. I wasn’t the first person to compete, but I hadn’t gotten the chance to see how the people before me had fared, as I’d been busy making plans with my lovers. The scent of scorched flesh wasn’t encouraging. But I knew I couldn’t back out, not now.
“You understand that, during this trial, you are risking your life? There is no guarantee that you will come out of this unscathed.”
“I understand,” I answered.
“Let the trial begin then.”
The blast came out of nowhere. I couldn’t see who had shot it, but in the end, it didn’t matter. It hit the first mirror, then the second, the third, and so on. By the time it reached the top, the tachyon light finally became visible to the naked eye and it was so blinding I almost had to look away.
I didn’t. Instead, as the fire rushed toward me, I followed the advice of the king and embraced it.
He might not have meant it literally. He might have believed it would destroy me. But I knew better.
Tachyon particles were faster than light, so as soon as I registered what was happening, I reached out to my lovers. Our connection was still in its incipience, but it was steady anyway, their desire to help me strengthening the link that could’ve otherwise crumbled.
When the fire struck, pain erupted through me. I didn’t scream, or at least, I didn’t think so. In my mind, I heard the Sphinx guiding me. “You can do this, Selene.” And I could.
It was cheating, a little, but the king wasn’t playing fair either. To survive in such a hostile environment, I needed to use every talent I had at my disposal. If this was one of them, I refused to set it aside out of pride.
My body couldn’t process the amount of tachyons that had just hit me, but it didn’t have to. A pillar of flame erupted out of my chest. At the same time, fire bloomed around my lovers, making every other competitor jump to the side.
Explosions sounded in the distance and the ground started to shake. Through my mind’s eye, I could see the chimeras draw in the power we couldn’t process without being harmed.
Just as quickly as it had hit me, the tachyon fire dissipated, leaving me standing there, unscathed. My body was still vibrating with the remnants of the energy emissions and my uniform was smoking, but I wasn’t hurt.
Nobody applauded, but I didn’t expect them to. I turned on my heel and headed back toward the others.
“What just happened?” one of the other competitors, a member of The Oceanus Attack Corps, asked.
“The Grand Chimera Unit always stands together,” Brendan said, his voice perfectly steady. “We always have and we always will, no matter who our enemy is. I thought you knew that, Colonel Werner.”
The man stared between me and the others. “You… You distributed the tachyons amongst yourselves? How? That’s… That’s impossible.”
“Most people thought it was impossible for a woman to pilot a chimera and here we are,” I answered pleasantly.
Every pair of eyes turned toward me, but it was Professor Strange who spoke. “Ms. Renard, I’m very disappointed in you. You should be disqualified for that trick.”
“Why? As far as I’m aware, there’s no rule forbidding that kind of tachyon manipulation.”
Of course there wasn’t, because they hadn’t been aware it was possible. My skill was something granted to me by my chimera, but the secondary powers of the Grand Chimera tamers weren’t common knowledge or something a lot of people thought about. They hadn’t been prepared for my particular brand of telepathy.
“Really, Professor, I should thank you. You taught me everything I know about tachyon manipulation. I appreciate it.”
His expression was priceless and I would’ve enjoyed it more had my attention not been drawn to the field. August stepped into the center of the stadium. Unlike me, he didn’t need crutches or extra tricks to manipulate the tachyon blast, no matter how powerful it was.
The blast brought him to his knees, but beyond that, he showed no sign of experiencing any kind of discomfort. This time, everyone applauded and burst into cheers, the earlier incident now forgotten.
He returned to our side, smiling in triumph. I had a feeling his relief had very little to do with his success and was instead related to mine.
I wanted to thank him, to thank them all for their help. I needed to talk to them properly, because we hadn’t gotten the chance to discuss my confession to them.
But all of a sudden, I had a strange bad feeling and my personal desires were set aside. Jared Glass was entering the field.
Before the tachyon mirrors could activate, he turned and looked at me. Our eyes met and in his deep gaze, I saw awareness, hope, and trust.
Why? What did he want, really? Who was he and why was I important to him?
“I’m entrusting this mission to you,” he had said. Or maybe he said it then, and I heard it in my head.
I wasn’t sure, because the next thing I knew, the trial had started and Jared was burning alive right in front of me.
He screamed, and the sound tore right into my soul. The tachyons consumed his flesh, and yet, despite the brightness, I could distinguish every second of the painful process. “Gaia help us all…” I whispered.
I didn’t particularly like Jared. Everything he’d said was a little difficult to forget. But his cryptic behavior had intrigued me, as had his apology. I’d wanted to ask him more about it, to ask him what he’d meant by ‘mission’.
It looked like now, I’d never get the chance. Or would I?
Instinctively, I rushed forward, wanting to go to his side. Brendan caught my elbow and stopped me. As I turned toward him, he shook his head glumly. “It’s too late, Selene. He’s gone.”
He was right. By the time it occurred to me to try to help, Jared had already stopped screaming and was beyond my aid. The words were still difficult to hear. Jared Glass hadn’t been my friend. He’d constantly taunted and insulted me in every way. But his death had been senseless and the loss struck me like a physical blow.
Why had this happened? Had King Philip really organized this whole thing just to get rid of me? If so, did that mean I was responsible for Jared’s death?
Jared Glass left behind no dead body to bury. His ashes scattered in the wind, like he hadn’t been there at all. I clenched my jaw and forced myself not to cry.
Maybe this was what Sphinx had meant when she’d told me I’d need a soul of steel at the academy. This sort of thing would keep happening. If I wanted to keep my lovers safe, I had to become stronger, no matter what.
* * *
Brendan
In the wake of Jared’s death, the third stage of the tournament was postponed, presumably to make sure there were no other casualties. A few other men had received severe injuries following the trial of the mirrors, leaving only thirty-three people to compete in the finals.
At the academy, very few people cared about the details. Jared’s sudden demise had hit everyone hard. There had been deaths during tournaments before, but never among the students. In the past, when we lost people, it was during actual battles, not something as useless as a contest.
For the first time in ages, Jared’s cousin, Vincent, approached us on his own. “I bet you’re happy about this, aren’t you, Terran whore?” he snarled at her. “You must be so thrilled he’s gone.”
“Flight Lieutenant Glass and I had our differences, it’s true, but as far as I’m concerned, we fought for the same goal, to protect Earth,” Selene answered. “I take no joy in his death.”
I could understand Vincent’s grief, but I had no intention of allowing him to take it out on Selene. “Enough. Ms. Renard is an integral part of the Grand Chimera Unit. She had nothing to do with the trial. Your cousin was aware of the risks involved in the tournament. He will be missed, but his death is nobody’s fault, and certainly not Selene’s.”
Technically, it was my father’s fault, for coming up with such a stupid contest. But even as a prince, I couldn’t say that, so we just had to sit here and pretend we were okay with this.
Shaking off my dark thoughts, I focused on the positive side of today’s debacle. Yes, Jared had died, but people died all the time. It wasn’t that big of a deal. What mattered was that Selene had lived. She’d gotten through the first two stages of the tournament unscathed and that was something we needed to celebrate, no matter how fucked up everything else was. Of course, before we could do that, we had to deal with the bomb Selene had dropped on us earlier. She hadn’t explained how she’d known about my plan, but it wasn’t something I could just ignore.
After we had a brief dinner in the mess hall, I ushered everyone back to our dorms. Selene was quiet, lost in thought and still almost as pale as she’d been the moment she’d watched Jared die.
Maybe it was unkind to confront her now, when she was having trouble processing what she’d seen. She might be a student at Chimera Academy, but she
’d never witnessed something so gruesome before.
“Are you okay, Selene?” I asked her.
She looked up at me, and for a few moments, her eyes seemed red-rimmed. I blinked and a heartbeat later, the familiar glow had vanished. “Yes, I’m fine,” Selene told me. “Just… lost in thought, I suppose. I’m sorry for getting distracted.”
“It’s fine,” Pollux assured her. “We understand. That whole thing earlier… It must have been difficult for you to witness.”
“Well, sort of. I mean, I’m not sure how I feel.” Selene dropped down on her bed and leaned against the wall. “I get the feeling he didn’t hate me nearly as much as he tried to make it seem. He told me something strange when we were in the labyrinth, but I never got the chance to ask him what it meant.”
“Something strange?” I repeated. “Like what?”
“He mentioned… a mission. He said he couldn’t complete it, but he would entrust it to me.” Selene bit her lower lip. “Do you have any idea what that might mean? Was he involved in a special project or something like that?”
A shiver ran down my spine. “Not that I know of. Well, other than the Sphinx project, but I don’t think that’s relevant at this point.”
Selene blinked at me in confusion and I mentally cursed. I’d forgotten she had no idea how this whole mess had started in the first place. “The Sphinx was originally a dormant chimera. Countless men have tried to activate her, but none succeeded. It’s not unusual for chimeras to go dormant, but the Sphinx holds the record in terms of inactivity. So since she was considered out of commission, my father thought it was a good idea to try to use her to lure the terrorists on Terra out.”
Selene stared at me in disbelief and horror. “Are you serious? But so many people were injured and killed at that presentation!”
I nodded. I’d seen the casualty report, and the numbers of dead had been lower than I’d expected. That was because of Selene and for that, I was grateful. But the silver lining didn’t change the fact that there had still been a lot of dead among the men who’d come to see the Sphinx in person. “My father doesn’t care, Selene. For him—for us—Terrans aren’t that important. There are enough of you that you’d be able to continue reproducing and terra-forming even if you’re the victim of a terrorist attack. Should there ever be a more serious incident, The Grand Judiciary could just loosen the reproduction laws and that would be that.