Star Rebellion

by Alicia Howell

  Slowly, as if he regretted doing it, Dark stepped to my side, leaving Maegan wide open. He paused before passing me, he looked like he was going to say something but instead he continued forward, looking unemotional. I knew him too well though, and saw the rigid state of his shoulders. I waited until I heard the rustling of his clothes as he sat down next to Fire. I then finally returned my gaze to Maegan, and even though she was older than me, she was at least half a foot shorter. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration, but still, she wasn’t that tall.

  Yea, wanting to beat the crap out of her because she almost tried to wake up Firestar is a little extreme, but I was in a really bad mood. Hell was raining down around us and this entire plan was getting messed up. I shifted into a fighting stance and lifted the rod like a sword. I had trained my whole life to handle weapons of every kind. A smirk settled on my face as I saw her heart drop; she knew I wouldn’t spare a drop of mercy for her. This wasn’t even so much her, but the organization she was a part of. They were all guilty, just by being in the NOPCW. Anyone who stood with them deserved to be punished.

  My lead foot had just left the ground when I heard a moan behind me. As I landed, I nimbly pivoted and faced Fire and Dark. Firestar had just awoken from his trance. I softly padded over to my two friends and grabbed the bread and tea from where it was still sitting. Fire looked between Dark, Maegan, and I, already assessing what had happened while he was out of it. Instead of thanking me, he just gave a disapproving look as he took the tea. Cool, looked like no one else though Maegan deserved what I wanted to do. Yay for friends.

  “What’s the news?” Dark asked. His voice was cold and he wasn’t looking at either of us.

  Fire's eyebrows slanted downward even more as he watched his friend. “We’ll need to fight a few of the goons, but other than that it’s a clear passage to the Gates.”

  “Did you see anything about what we should do with it?” I asked, throwing a glare at Maegan who was once again in a spinny chair at the table.

  Firestar shook his head. “Not exactly, but I saw her inside Star Rebellion when we get back there. And Waterstar, play nice.”

  I blatantly ignored the look he gave me at the end. I could see that the thing about Maegan had raised questions for Darkstar, along with me. We refrained from asking though; Fire’s voice was getting weak and raspy.

  “wait, you guys don’t really think he can see the future, do you? Jacob, that’s impossible, isn’t it?”

  I had to give the little priss some credit. She paid attention to things, though it was none of her business.

  Dark walked over to her. “Maegan, my name is Darkstar. You should start calling me by it. And yes, Fire can see the future. It isn’t impossible, it’s what we do. Well, we don’t all see the future.”

  For some reason, I felt a trickle of satisfaction when Maegan backed away from Darkstar a bit. She was afraid of us, and that was good. “What, what are you talking about? What are you guys?”

  I took over before Dark could reply. “We’re Star Rebellion,” I stated proudly. “We’re different than you idiots, but that’s all I can say. So get over it or get lost!” And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the extent of brilliant Waterstar speeches.

  Maegan seemed to flinch away from my words, as if they could actually inflict wounds. I smirked as I picked up my rod and acted as if I was going to jump at her. Maegan automatically stood and held her hands up protectively, while also managing to slam the chair she had been into Darkstar. He was driven back a step and she immediately started apologizing way too much.

  I turned back to Firestar, barely containing my laughter. “Waterstar,” he started reprimanding me, “don't be an idiot. She helped get us out, and without her, you know exactly where you would be right now.” Meaning, I would be bleeding on the floor a couple rooms over. Yea, got the message. Still didn't like her though.

  “Yea, well she’s still baggage if we’re going to the Underworld.”

  FIRESTAR

  Water and I were now sitting outside the door that I’d broken into earlier. We were waiting for someone to come pick Maegan up. Water was definitely not looking over at the other girl, and I made sure to keep myself between them at all times. Water was the only reason why we were even waiting for someone out here, and she was known to do stuff based on impulse. Like killing people. For seventeen, she had quite the body count. Most of that was composed of succubi and vampires, but still. Sometimes she scared even me. I worried if all of this fighting while we are so young will mess up her future, but then again, what are any of our futures composed of? Fighting. That’s the only thing that will be guaranteed for us. If it isn’t against the NOPCW, it’ll be against the creatures of the night, the ones that populate the Barrens and try to kill villagers when the sun sets. There is always someone who needs protecting.

  A pitch black car emerged out of the shadows, illegally driving without headlights. Figures with Star Rebellion, always breaking the rules. Icestar came out from the passenger side, carrying a small, wireless T.V. Also figures that he'd show up. I wondered if Arctic had given him permission to investigate and tamper with some of the electronics the NOPCW had inside their base. That would probably make Ice's day, and also probably the only way to drag him forth from his garage.

  Water and I stood up as Arctic’s face appeared on the screen. “Hello Arctic,” Water said as I nodded my head once.

  “Greetings, I’m glad to see that you both look fine. You two, plus the captive and Darkstar, are to report back to HQ. No questions asked.” Arctic’s voice was as cold as his name, even though he was glad we were safe. I sometimes didn’t understand the man.

  “But sir! We could get to the Gates, and probably rescue the Animals too!” Waterstar shouted. I glanced at her, a bit concerned. She was always rash, but never toward Arctic. Plus, this might not be the Barrens, but the last thing we needed right now was to be attacked by a nest of vampires. Those things were nasty, especially with all their teeth.

  “Waterstar,” Arctic started to say. My stomach knotted itself. Arctic usually had a high tolerance, but I could hear the strain in his voice. I wonder if something else had come up that we weren't currently aware of. “Because of how you guys performed, we can secure the building. I have other rebels going in through the main doors; I want you guys to get your rest, it’ll be easier that way.”

  I nodded my head, buying his excuse though not believing it, but I could feel Water seething next to me. The screen went black and Ice shrugged, his silver-blonde spikes glittering in the moonlight. He never had been one for words.

  “Do you want to get Dark or should I?” Water asked. Her voice was tight.

  “You can, you look like you have some energy to burn off,” I said, hoping that she could burn off her temper before we went to HQ.

  She nodded her head and took off back into the building. The guy who was driving the car that Ice and Arctic’s virtual face had come in rolled down his window. It was a rebel that I didn’t recognize. He had black hair that was longer in the front than the back, and the front portion was a forest-green where it fell in front of his face, almost covering one eye.

  “I’m Forest, nice to meet you. Get in,” he said.

  I returned the smile and got into the car to wait for Water. Maegan slid into the backseat next to me, and quite frankly, it was pretty awkward. I was glad for the heavily guitar-ed music coming from the speakers and watched in amusement as Forest nodded his head in time with the music, his hands occasionally playing out a guitar solo.

  WATERSTAR

  As I ran, skipped, and jumped down the hall, I heard a faint pounding noise. I reluctantly stopped to listen. I’d bet almost anything that it was Darkstar, but whether he was just hitting the walls or if he was in a fight was unknown to me.

  My feet started flying down the halls; I was using all my power to supply my legs with major energy. I found that my senses were heightened with the flow of energy that I barely had to slow down now to listen for D
ark. If he was in trouble, I’d kick the foe’s ass to another galaxy.

  As I finally came to the end of a very long flight of stairs, I saw my friend. He obviously hadn’t heard me for he was still punching the wall. I think he has issues against walls. I tried to stop; however, I found my momentum pushing me face first onto the hard, concrete floor.

  “OW!” I shouted, along with a few choice swear words.

  DARKSTAR

  “OW!”

  I jumped in surprise as I heard that along with some other very unlady like words. “What the hell!” I shouted at Waterstar.

  “Don’t ever stop immediately after running really fast, that’s ‘what the hell,’” she grumbled as she rose to her feet.

  “No, that’s physics.”

  Waterstar gave me a look before speaking again, refusing to respond to my comeback. “Arctic wants us to return to HQ.”

  “What!? But why?” I asked, still shouting.

  “Cause he wants us to rest. Now stop shouting!” She looked as if she was considering something, and then her eyes lit up, “Oh, and you do know that your knuckles are bleeding, right? Why were you trying to kill that wall anyways?”

  I looked down in surprise to see the crimson liquid dripping from my hand, creating dark splotches against the concrete floor. The wall was also smeared with blood where I had been blindly hitting it. “Well I do now. I just can’t believe how we messed up earlier. Maybe it’s just a side effect from my special. I don’t know, but in part it is also about Maegan. Puberty sucks,” I muttered.

  “Why do you care about her?” Waterstar asked without emotion. “She’s a freaking NOPCW freak, and she’s about as different from us as a worm is from a wolf.”

  I glared at Water, but I knew she had a point. NOCPWs and Rebels just didn’t become friends. Even if Hell froze over, our groups had been fighting too much for that to be ignored. Star Rebellion and the New Order of the Perfect Calsh World were the only two main corporations on Calsh, and we had been fighting for only angels know how long to control the land. Not that there was much to control.

  “Come on, let’s go back, they’re waiting for us up there.” She put her hand on my shoulder and gave me a slight push.

  “Waterstar, wait, can we go a few levels lower? I think the Gate is close.” When she looked at me as if I was an idiot, I continued. “I don’t know if I’m correct, but it’s almost as if I can feel where it is, that’s why I started to come down here in the first place.”

  Waterstar stared at me for a few seconds, and then she nodded her head, just as I knew she would. Water could never give up an adventure.

  “One question.”I nodded my head for her to continue, “What about Fire?”

  I paused and considered this. After a few seconds, I gave up on finding a way to get him down here without interference from whoever Arctic had sent to make sure we stayed topside. “We have to leave him. I know it’ll be tough, we’ve done every mission together, but I doubt we’ll be able to get past whoever they sent for us. You still in?”

  “Hell yea!” Water shouted, her fist pumping the air, but her smile wasn’t true.

  FIRESTAR

  I got out of the car and started pacing. Where were they? It would never take Water this long to find someone, especially when she was hyped up. I was biting my lip as I continued to pace, always with my eyes fixed on the door that led inside.

  “Can I go look for them?” I asked Forest.

  “I’m afraid no-“

  “Shush, something’s coming through my earpiece.” I paused, and then shouted, “What?”

  “We- oing to look fo- the Gate,”

  “DARK NO!” I shouted, but all I was receiving now was static. Thanks, friends.

  WATERSTAR

  Dark and I slowly made our way down the multiple basements. What kind of building needs so many basements anyways? I still felt kind of bad for Fire though, especially since I could hear him shouting on the other end of Dark’s headphones.

  “Waterstar! Stop being so gloomy,” I said to myself. Dark glanced over at me, but he was used to my random outbursts by now.

  “You need to focus Water, the next floor, well, I can’t see any light below,” Dark said, looking me in the eye as he interrupted my mental berating.

  “Gotcha… I have some rope in my pack, want to tie it around our waists so we won’t get separated?” My mind was still a little clouded as I said this

  “Dude you’re a genius! I had completely spaced about your bag!”

  I gave Dark another small smile, knowing he was only being so upbeat cause of my state. Why Fire’s absence was hitting me so hard, I don’t know. It just felt strange not having one of my comrades with me, like I had betrayed him or something.

  It took a little time to sort out all the stuff in my bag, and of course the rope was in the bottom. Dark tied it around my waist for me after I tried twice and failed. My hands were shaking and I was too jittery to stay still.

  After finishing the third knot on his end, Dark turned to me. “You sure you want to do this?” he asked me for the fifth time.

  “Of course! I just have excess energy.” My voice was more strained than I would have wanted.

  Darkstar nodded his head and pursed his lips. “I’ll go first; when the rope starts pulling against you, follow me, got it? It’s a ladder, so I would greatly appreciate it if you don’t step on my head.” He tacked the last sentence on to try and make me smile. I’m not sure if it worked or if I was laughing at his stupidity.

  “Let’s go,” I said, and with those two words, I sealed the fate of humanity.

  FIRESTAR

  “Arctic please!” I shouted at the commander, throwing formality to the wind. “Let me send a rescue mission for them, or better yet, let me go after them!”

  “Firestar, I’ve already told you no.” His words were laced with calmness. I felt the probing tendril of emotion that came from the commander but I wasn’t in the mood for being manipulated. As soon as the emotion came within a foot of me, I incinerated it with my own power. I could tell that Arctic knew what I was doing, and eventually his effort slackened.

  “Waterstar knowingly disobeyed a direct order, and then she influenced Darkstar to follow her example. Yes, I am normally flexible with rule breaking, but this is too extreme, they have been exiled and that’s that.”

  It was the third time Arctic had said that in the past ten minutes. I was about to leave when something occurred to me. “So they’re rebels of a rebellion?”

  “In a way, yes.” A faint smile shadowed Arctic’s lips, contrasting greatly with the dark circles under his eyes. I wondered if he really meant the exiled part, or if he was just saying that to keep me sitting in my room like a little good boy.

  I left the office and headed to my room. Last night, or well, technically this morning, was the worst one of my life. I had never spent a night without them since I was six. We had always been a team… and we always will be. So instead of going to my empty room, I headed toward the mechanics department, a plan already forming itself in my mind. I would find them no matter what Arctic said, because that's what rebels do.

  Chapter 5: Devil’s Son

  DARKSTAR

  I was starting to get worried about Water. Her feet dragged down the hallway and for once she was silent. “Water, are you alright? If you want we can still go back up the ladder? I shouldn’t have suggested that we come down here,” I said that to try and get a response from her; she hadn’t given a reply that was longer than one word since we had come into the dark pit.

  “No! It’s fine, really Dark, I’m fine. I’ve just been thinking, what if it isn’t that simple, getting through the Gates I mean. It could be super difficult…and… and I’m rambling again, aren’t I?”

  “Yea, but it’s fine,” I said, “Whatever helps you continue, that is, if you still want to.” I threw a glance behind me. Even though it was pitch black I could still see thanks to my power.

  “Of course I do! I�
�m fine, really, don’t worry so much, people might start thinking you’re a softie.” She added a smile at the end and her eyes were brighter now.

  I nodded and turned back to the passage in front of us. “If only I could use my power to make it brighter.” I knew it wouldn’t be a good idea though; I was already starting to feel the effects of using my special earlier.

  “It’s alright Dark, we’ll be fine,” Water put her hand on my shoulder.

  “Thanks,” I was glad that she was normal again, she hardly ever got depressed, but when she did, it was always terrible. “Our voices are echoing again, I think we might be near stairs, that’s go-” my next step didn’t land anywhere but air. I had walked right off the edge of the path. I felt Waterstar wrap her arms around my waist even though the rope was connecting us.

  My body started tilting forward until I was horizontal to the ground, which by the way, I couldn’t see. The air was blowing the hair off of my forehead and it felt like the one time I had been skydiving, outdoors of course.

  Sometime later, don’t ask me how many minutes it had been, I don’t have a clue, we were still falling and there was no sign of the ground.

  “Darmf,” I heard Water try to shout over the wind.

  “What!” I yelled back, though I’m sure it didn’t sound like that.

  “Ter eft,”

  “Huh?” What the hell could ter eft translate into?

  But this time she didn’t say anything, instead Water tilted to the side, taking me with her.

  “WHAT THE HELL?” I shouted and for some reason my voice became panicked.

  “Just wait.” It took me a second to realize that I could understand her now.

  “Water! What’d you do?” Now panic was definitely raising in my voice.

  “I said just wai-oof.” We’d finally hit the floor, or more so my back did and Water used me as a cushion

  “Ow,” I muttered as my friend rolled off of me. “What happened to the rope?” I asked as I realized she was way past the reach of it.