The Esoteric Design: Disbanding Hope

by A. R. Crebs

  “Uh huh,” she huffed.

  “Well, I was sittin’ at the bar watching the vid screen, right? And, before the football game, there was that commercial with the girl in the fancy underwear….”

  “Yeah,” Aria roughly affirmed.

  “Well, then the boring science convention was on, and I was like, “the hell is this shit” and had the barman change the channel.”

  Aria pondered a moment, her eyes lighting up. She recalled the event, her memory as clear as when it occurred. “Yeah!” she gasped.

  “The coronal mass ejection?” he asked.

  Aria stood from her chair. “Yeah!” she cheered.

  “I think there’s a good chance that sucker will blow on the twenty-fifth. And if it does, it’ll give us one hell of an upper hand!” Troy exclaimed.

  “It could fry Sapphire’s army!” Aria’s hands went to her hair; her jaw dropped.

  “Fry her Roman robots, her android clones, and render the monsters’ Faze Shields completely useless.” Troy smirked.

  “Wa-wa-wait!” Spoofy held up a hand. “I have no damn clue what the hell you guys are talking about, but if it can fry all of Sapphire’s electronics, wouldn’t it mess with ours?”

  That was when Troy sucked in air between his teeth with a hiss. “Yeeeah…that would be the only problem.”

  “I don’t care. It’s our only chance!” Aria said. “Come on, guys. We’ve been practicing all day. If that solar flare goes off and kills most of Sapphire’s army, all we’d have to deal with were monsters without shields.”

  “That actually does sound pretty easy,” Zombie said.

  “We’d be virtually defenseless,” Spoofy added.

  “We’ll have our body armor. We’ll have our shields until everything goes down. I mean, it sucks, but it’ll even things out. It’ll be man versus demon. We can take them out!” Aria slammed her fist into her other palm.

  “I say we go for it,” Monkey said.

  “Just remind me to cover Bridgette in static protection. I don’t want to lose my girl,” Nerd spoke up.

  Aren nodded. “I’ll look into figuring a way to protect your guys’ armor the best I can. It’d be a stretch, but if we can somehow merge the static protection with our own Faze Shields, we can maybe get them to last through the flare’s disruptive energy.”

  Aria pointed at the young pilot. “You and Nerd work on that!”

  Nerd shrugged, shaking his head. “Let me just whip up some magic,” he replied sarcastically; then his face fell into a look of determination. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  “So…uh…what day is it?” Monkey asked.

  Everybody in the room looked at their DNAIS.

  “DECEMBER 23,” Franklin droned.

  “DECEMBER 22,” Bridgette said at the same time.

  Nerd smacked his forehead. “Damn leap year….Bridgette! Leap year! Align time and date with the satellites.”

  Bridgette beeped. “DECEMBER 23…WEATHER REPORT…CLOUDY...45 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT, 7.2 CELSIUS…ADVANCED WEATHER WARNING: HIGH SOLAR ACTIVITY. STAY INDOORS.”

  “Heh, smart girl.” Nerd patted his drone.

  “If it’s the twenty-third…then that means we only have the rest of today and tomorrow to prepare for the war.” Monkey concluded.

  Aria looked at Troy; her eyes held a look of uncertainty.

  “That’s right,” Troy stated. “We’ve waited far too long. It’s now or never. It’s time we put an end to Sapphire. Too many innocent people have died already.” He looked at the floor again.

  Aria sensed devastation within Troy. Her lower lip curled inward as she felt Troy’s emotion swirling around him. One word stuck out in his mind, a name–Gavin.

  “I’ll call a meeting with Clarke. We’ll go over all details and plans with him, alert the other militaries, and finalize all alliances. Tonight we’ll announce our arrangement worldwide. Let’s hope Sapphire responds,” Aria said.

  “Are we going to train more?” Monkey asked.

  “I want you guys to get rested up. Prepare all you’ve got. I’ll find you all when I’m finished talking with Clarke.” Aria stood at attention. Everyone followed her actions, saluting. “Dismissed.”

  Casually, everyone filed out of the room. Spoofy immediately harassed Monkey. Zombie followed behind, making a quiet joke to Kaino. Aren and Nerd walked closely together, throwing out ideas as their robots chattered away behind them.

  “You thought of that all by yourself?” Aria asked, tearing Troy’s attention back to her.

  He stood uneasily in the center of the room, not making eye contact. “Well, I sorta had a reminder.”

  “Gavin?” she asked.

  Troy’s face held a look of shock. “How did you...? Oh…that mindreading thing you can do now.”

  Aria walked forward, wrapping her arms around Troy’s neck. She hugged him, resting her cheek against his chest. The man held her in return, resting his head on hers. She felt him ease beneath her touch.

  “For Gavin,” Troy quietly said.

  Aria gave a quiet sniff. “For Gavin,” she whispered.

  Ivory wrung her hands nervously as she waited outside the entry of the dark cave. She hadn’t returned to the caverns since the day Dovian brought her to the ruins of his city. Though she had everything planned out in her mind, there was still a risk to her current position. The only moments she had spoken to Sapphire had been during stressful situations, and the child’s anger had caused either Ivory or Dovian physical harm each time. Still, it was a risk Ivory had to take. If she could gain any amount of Sapphire’s favor, it would greatly help her and Dovian’s position.

  A snarl came from inside the cave. Ivory jumped at the sound and then quickly gathered her strength. A skittering followed, and a Brawler stepped out into the sunlight, its black eyes squinting. It saw Ivory and hissed.

  “You just shut that big mouth of yours,” Ivory snapped back.

  The Brawler’s smiling face was unsettling. Despite the menacing look, the creature seemed to lose interest and backed away into the darkness. Ivory let out a harsh sigh, looking up at the glaring sun. Her readings popped up around her vision, telling her that solar radiation had heightened. The levels were rising more and more each day. Not good.

  “Okay. Just get this over with,” Ivory spoke quietly to herself.

  Pushing her shoulders back, Ivory confidently strode into the cave. The tunnels were much longer than she had remembered. Each channel was infested with hissing, growling demons. Even amongst themselves, they fought. One with a red mane snarled, leaping from one aisle into another, its barb lodging into a Brawler’s neck. This stirred up a fight, and Ivory ran past a few more passageways to avoid getting drug into the nasty conflict. As she turned one corner, she collided with someone.

  “Oh!” She held up her hands, preparing to defend herself.

  A man with dark hair and dark eyes peered at her in interest. Ivory held her breath, unsure as to whom or what the man was.

  “Um, sorry. Just passing through,” she meekly stated, stepping around the man.

  He looked over his shoulder at her, his expression blank. Upon hearing the chaos further down the cave, the man turned, running toward the fight. Ivory walked faster, not daring to look back as she heard the sound of chunking gunfire and monster screeches.

  “What is that sound?!” the shriek of Sapphire’s voice bounced against the walls.

  Ivory took a deep breath and stepped into the crystalline chamber. The orange glass-encased flame bounded and reflected light from the shiny surfaces, giving the room a dream-like appearance. Sapphire sat upon her throne with her fingers splayed out. Beside her was Lilith. Just the sight of the dark-haired woman filled Ivory with frustration.

  “Your pets won’t stop fighting. I sent one of the androids to quiet them down,” Lilith said in her husky voice.

  Sapphire noticed Ivory immediately; her blue eyes remained passive, almost careless about the blonde’s arrival.

  “Inte
resting to see you here,” Sapphire said. There was a hint of distrust in her voice. Could she already tell what Ivory was up to?

  Lilith turned her head in the woman's direction. Her eyes glinted in the firelight, the corner of her painted lips lifting upward. “Where’s your bodyguard?” she asked.

  “Dovian is meditating,” Ivory said indifferently.

  “And why are you here?” Sapphire questioned.

  Ivory’s blue eyes brightened a bit, her confidence growing as Sapphire did not seem to be in an especially murderous mood. “I’ve done a lot of thinking,” she began. “And the realization has finally sunk in that I will be spending the rest of my life with you.”

  Sapphire lifted her chin, her blue-grey eyes watching Ivory with interest.

  Ivory walked toward the center of the room. Euclid’s headless body remained on the floor in a crystalline tomb. What an awful reminder of a terrible man. Sapphire noticed Ivory’s sight upon the trophy of death. Ivory raised her head, her eyes locking onto the child.

  “Can’t say I’ll ever miss him, but the corpse still unsettles me.” Ivory looked back at the remains. “It angers me. He was powerful; he had so much potential, but he was also a complete idiot.”

  Sapphire gave a tiny smile. She seemed amused by this statement. “He never was too bright but was a necessary means to carry out my plan. I’d planted a seed long ago within him. He was the type of temptation that was perfect for luring Dovian to me. A pawn, Euclid was never meant to be part of my final plan. But if it weren’t for him reminding Dovian of what was at stake, I probably wouldn’t have either of you on my side.” Her smile faded. “But you are not here to speak about Euclid.”

  “You are correct. I came here to speak with you, if that would be alright,” Ivory stated.

  Lilith crossed her arms, glaring at Ivory. She wasn’t trusting of the blonde in the slightest.

  “And what would we speak about?” Sapphire asked. Her face twisted back to its previous emotionless state.

  Ivory shrugged casually. She clasped her hands before her waist and gave a gentle, motherly smile.

  “Whatever you like, Sapphire. I am only interested in getting to know you a bit better. As you said, in the future I will become a sort of mother to you. I would like to prepare myself better for that role.”

  Lilith scoffed. “You want to be Sapphire’s mother? Do you not realize who–” She was cut off by Sapphire’s raised hand.

  The child looked at Lilith. “Leave us.” It was a short order.

  Lilith gaped at Sapphire in wonder. Her face twitched and wrinkled as she tried to process Sapphire’s words. Seeming upset, even hurt a little by this command, Lilith scoffed and marched out of the room, making sure to pass by Ivory close enough to bump shoulders together. Ivory’s brow furrowed in irritation.

  “You don’t like her,” Sapphire stated.

  Ivory wetted her lips, choosing her words carefully.

  “You can give me your honest opinion. I wouldn’t care either way,” the child said.

  “Well, in that case, no. I don’t like her much at all.” Ivory brushed away a stray curl in front of her eyes.

  “Would you like for me to destroy her?” Sapphire asked.

  “Is it that easy for you to destroy someone else?” Ivory returned.

  “I will destroy anything that doesn’t in some way benefit me. I have known Lilith for many, many years. Her usefulness in this form is very limited, but she was curious to live in this realm. And giving such a title as “he” or “she” is often not necessary. For she is neither,” Sapphire explained. “Even though I’ve been in contact with her for far longer than you can imagine, if she does anything at all to hinder my plans, I will destroy her. So, if you ask it of me, I can kill her for you if that would make you happy.”

  Ivory’s eyes widened. “If it would make me happy? I’m sorry to ask this, but since when do you really care about my happiness?”

  Sapphire stood from the throne, her face giving a mocked expression of shock. “Why, Ivory, you’re still alive, aren’t you? I would say that means I care a great deal about you. Sure, I’ve done some callous things, but that was only to gain what I needed from Dovian. He’s the disobedient one, not you.”

  Ivory nodded slowly. “So, figuratively speaking, if Dovian and I were ever to do anything to upset you, you would kill us without hesitation?”

  Sapphire was silent a moment. “Not until you give me children. If, after we have a stable population, you and Dovian continue to dissatisfy me, I will not need you.”

  Ivory glared.

  “Is that too cruel?” the child asked.

  “Are you serious when you ask that question?” Ivory almost laughed.

  Sapphire gave a shrug. “I must admit; I’ve not had a conversation like this in a very long time.”

  “Well, let’s change that, shall we?”

  Sapphire cocked her head to the side, unsure of Ivory’s meaning.

  “You and I will need to communicate more often. If I am to be your mother, I would like to have a better understanding of your viewpoint and situation.” Ivory looked around at the cave. “What shall we do?”

  Sapphire stepped up to the woman, her head only meeting Ivory’s waist. “We could go for a walk.”

  Ivory nodded. “I’d like that.” Then, she held out her hand toward the child.

  Sapphire stared at Ivory’s hand. She looked up at the woman’s face and then back toward her hand. Ivory wiggled her fingers, waiting.

  “Have you not held hands with someone before?” the woman asked.

  “Is that what you want me to do?” The child timidly raised her hand.

  “Isn’t that what mothers do?” Ivory asked back.

  Sapphire finally grasped her appendage. Ivory’s readings fizzled with static, an alarm chiming in her head. The temperature of the child’s hand was ice cold and then feverishly hot. After a moment, everything settled within Ivory’s insides, and she gently squeezed Sapphire’s hand. Together they walked out of the chamber.

  “I wouldn’t know,” Sapphire began. “I didn’t have a mother.”

  Ivory frowned, not sure in what context Sapphire was speaking. As if detecting Ivory’s question, she continued.

  “I only had a Father. We had a bit of a dispute, and He kicked me out.” The child spoke about the situation simplistically.

  Ivory knew, from I’Lanthe’s knowledge, what Sapphire actually was. The idea of holding the girl’s hand was absurd, but Ivory was adamant that she try. She had to gain Sapphire’s trust. In order to do so, she feigned ignorance.

  “Kicked you out? That sounds awful. Why would he do that?” Ivory asked.

  Sapphire giggled. “Because He wanted all the glory for Himself. Why create children, if you do not want them to succeed with you? He only wanted to hold me back, keep the praise for Himself. Do you know what that is like?”

  Ivory shook her head. “Did it hurt?”

  Sapphire’s smile quickly dropped. “No! I was glad He did it! I’m glad I’m not there anymore!”

  Judging by the severity of her sudden anger, that was a lie.

  “It’s okay, Sapphire. Nobody is immune to hurt. I hurt. Dovian hurts. It’s an ordinary emotion…especially when someone you love hurts you.” Ivory tried calming the child.

  Sapphire’s face softened. “It’s a useless human emotion. I wasn’t given that.”

  “I can’t imagine. So you feel nothing at all?”

  “I feel! I feel…anger and hate and….”

  “No sadness?” Ivory quipped.

  Sapphire glared at the woman. “Betrayal. I feel betrayed.”

  “Does your father know this?” Ivory asked.

  “Of course He does!”

  “Have you spoken to him since?”

  “We used to keep contact on a regular basis, but then He officially cut ties right before He allowed the Sorcēarians to inhabit the Earth. He gave them my kingdom. He left me here to rot in my own fiery grave. Aft
er everything we’d been through. I had excellent plans. He disagreed. It was only His way. Always His way.” Slowly, her eyes darkened, her voice dropping an octave. “I will turn this world into my own Heaven. I will have my own creations, and they will love me!”

  As they spoke, they passed by the caverns. Each demon calmed themselves at the mere sight of the pale child. At one point, Sapphire even ran her fingertips across one Brawler’s head. The beast gave a quiet cooing sound, its clawed hands digging into the rock floor in what seemed like pleasure.

  Ivory looked down at the child, noticing her frustration. “I am not trying to make you angry, only get to know you better. I’d like to understand your situation so I can sympathize with you.”

  “I don’t want your sympathy,” the girl barked.

  Ivory sighed in response. “Empathy then.”

  Sapphire nodded slowly. “It makes sense, I suppose. Though, I think it’s a wasted effort.”

  “I don’t believe it is. You’ve already told me much.”

  Sapphire’s eyes narrowed. “I have. And I’m still wondering what your motives are.”

  “Like I said, I only want to care for you. If you’re going to be my child, I want to love you.” Ivory said it quickly and casually. However, the words seemed to lock Sapphire in her place.

  “What?” the girl asked. Ivory was pulled to a halt.

  “Love. Are you not capable of that, either?” Ivory asked with a hint of amusement.

  The child did not respond. Ivory gently tugged her hand, and the two stepped out into the sunlight.

  “You know, you speak of love. You want everyone to love you, yet you seem so angry,” the woman said softly as she led Sapphire to a rock.

  “I loved once. A long time ago. It was a waste of time and energy,” Sapphire whispered as Ivory released her hand.

  Ivory climbed atop the boulder and sat down. She patted her hand against the jagged surface. It was interesting; Sapphire complied with Ivory’s requests and never once seemed annoyed by it.

  “Love is never a waste. That is what I've learned,” Ivory stated.

  “You were damned by Him, too. For what reason?” Sapphire asked. “If it weren’t for you being in Hell, you wouldn’t occupy that vessel.”