by J. F. Johns
Morgana sat back in the uncomfortable chair and stared at her brother as if it were the very first time. Tristan wasn't a brother by blood but by so much more. They all were. Tortured souls unable to find peace, always knowing that time would pass, others would grow old, places would burn and be reborn, and they would still be there unchanged.
'I'm tired, Morgana.'
'We're all tired.' She wanted to reach forward and take his big hand within her own, but didn't move to do so.
'I just want to live peacefully without hurting anyone.'
Morgana frowned. 'And you think that Petra will allow that? As long as she's in control, we won't have peace. Right now she might not have her eyes on you, but mark my words, she will. We need to stop her. And once we've stopped her, we can breathe. We can live peacefully forever, however we wish to.'
'We were created to be soldiers,' Tristan grunted. 'It's a never ending story. We were made to kill, and there's always going to be a fight. A war someone wants us to battle.'
'Just because we were made to be something, doesn't mean we need to be that something.'
'We already tried defeating her once and we lost,' he said, leaning his enormous arms over the table. 'What makes you think we can do it this time round?'
Morgana glanced around the tavern. It was mostly empty except for a few people having something to eat or drink. Eric looked less angry by the bar, but she could tell he was glancing their way. Vladimir and Persephone kept quiet in their little corner.
'So that's it?' She crossed her arms against her chest. 'You try something once and because you don't succeed you go and give up?'
The Prototype didn't reply. He sat there, his brow furrowed in frustration. Morgana felt tempted to reach across the table and flick her finger in his face. His attitude was annoying her, but she couldn't stay mad at him. Deep down she understood his need to run away, to shove his fists behind his back and never use them against someone. She had run away, hiding from everything and everyone. But running didn't solve the world or its problems.
'We need to fight,' she said. 'So that our dreams can come true. We need to fight for those dreams.'
'How can we have dreams when we cannot sleep?'
Morgana couldn't help but smile. 'You don't need to sleep to dream, Tristan.'
He looked away, his face tensing with an emotion Morgana couldn't quite decipher. 'I need time to think about it.'
She nodded, standing. 'We'll be waiting. Come find us when you've made up your mind.' She didn't dare look back at her brother as she gathered the others to leave the tavern behind. Her back prickled by the intensity of his stare on her, but she wouldn't look back.
Morgana would never look back again, only forward.
Chapter seventeen
'What do you mean he needs time to think?' Eric growled as he followed Morgana out of the tavern, across the main stone path of the town and towards the road that would lead them back down the mountain.
Morgana swirled around, her eyes big and furious. 'Don't you dare lash out at me, Thorn!' She pointed her finger in his face, which he swatted away in frustration. 'If he needs to think about it, we will give him time. Don't dare go back in there. You need to let him think this through. He has the right to choose.'
'But Scarlet-'
'Scarlet Lock isn't the fucking sun, Thorn! The rest of us have feelings too and dreams and fears and desires! You don't get to tell the world what to feel or do! I am trying my best to help Scarlet, but if my brother doesn't wish to come with us, we have no right to force him to do so.' She turned back towards the road, ignoring the look of bewilderment on the cyborg's face. 'We are going to wait for him outside of town. And when he's made his mind up, he'll come and tell us.'
'How long?'
'I don't know, Eric. He might decide in five minutes or five hours. We are going to patiently wait.'
The four of them made their way out of town and found a place not far off to sit and wait. Eric watched the black horse eat grass, its tail whooshing from side to side in contentment. Persephone sat on a log petting the bunny, Vladimir by her side, staring off at nothing.
'This is ridiculous,' Eric muttered, kicking a stone.
'I don't want to hear another word come out of your mouth, Thorn, or I swear I will kick your ass to the ground.' That shut him up. Morgana sat on the ground, trying to ignore the daggers being shot in her direction from Eric's annoyed expression. She didn't care.
Her chest- which had tightened so much it was hard to breathe- finally returned to normal, and her body relaxed as she began to draw patterns on the ground. The circles made no sense, but sometimes things didn't need to make sense. Her fingers slid across the earth, the motion reminding her of the movement of water. Her concentration was broken by a scream. Her ears picked up on the sound of dozens of boots clumping against the ground.
'Watchers,' Eric hissed, pulling at the horse's reins. 'I thought they didn't come to Greystone.'
'They usually don't.' Morgana and the others hid between the bushes and trees as the Watchers marched up the path that led to Greystone. 'Something must be amiss for them to be coming here.'
'Yeah, and I bet I know what it is.' Eric rolled his eyes at their confused expressions. 'Come on. It's pretty obvious. Four Prototypes in Greystone? You think Petra isn't going to know about it and sit back and do nothing? She probably can smell our plans to regroup all the way back to Capital One.'
Morgana cursed under her breath at the sight of the Watchers disappearing up the path. 'We need to warn Tristan.'
'What for? He can deal with a bunch of Watchers,' Eric said.
'What if he decides to not fight?' Morgana retorted. 'They might drag him all the way back to Capital One and hand him over to Petra. Is that what you want?'
'Okay, fine,' Eric grumbled, rushing out from behind the bushes, still holding the horse's reins. 'Let's go and save his sorry ass. Honestly, to think that I have to go and rescue him...'
'Just move it, Thorn.' Morgana shoved him forward, stepping aside and running back towards Greystone. 'Get on that horse and move!'
Eric stared at the black horse, who looked bored and unpreoccupied by the situation. Sighing, Eric moved towards one side to hop on, then swallowed hard at the thought. 'Oh, this is ridiculous.' He pulled himself up and almost burst out laughing at finding himself sitting on the saddle on the first go.
Setting the horse into motion, Eric galloped all the way back to Greystone, his eyes shining with excitement at the thought of beating up some Watchers.
The town itself had become chaotic in a matter of minutes. A few buildings were on fire and citizens hurried along carrying buckets full of water to try and extinguish the flames as Watchers strolled through, shooting at those that crossed their paths.
Eric didn't get off the horse until a Watcher was close enough for him to lunge at, which he did quickly bringing them both crashing down to the ground. He got up and slammed the heel of his shoe into the helmet, cracking it.
Morgana appeared, her strong arms in the air. Five Watchers floated up towards the sky, their guns falling from their shaking limbs as she guided them with her powers towards the very edge of the mountain where she thrashed her arms down, letting their bodies fall into the abyss.
Persephone stood to one side, the bunny still within her arms. Watchers moved towards her, their guns ready to shoot. Her features twisted nastily at the sight of them. The citizens behind her cried out as the Watchers' guns blasted. Even though it was impossible to see the expression on their faces due to the helmets, it was probably that of shock at the sight of the bullets hitting an invisible wall and falling to the ground.
The bunny didn't seem bothered at all by all the screams and gunshots, its eyes half-closed within Persephone's arms. Even when she lifted her left hand, it didn't move or struggle in her hold. A blast shot across the town towards the Watchers, a magnetic wave that sent them flying back. The young girl's smile vanished
as soon as their helmets cracked against the ground.
Eric kicked and punched, twisting and twirling across the stone path, laughing. He noticed Morgana's warning look, but he couldn't help but continue to chuckle as his knuckles turned red from the blood. He had missed fighting so much! All his worries vanished as he made his way through the mass of bodies. He forgot about the world and its problems. The fear of losing his family and the woman he loved dissolved. Only his fists mattered. For the first time in a very long time Eric felt free.
And then a Watcher managed to knock him down and the world began spinning and spinning. A gun appeared in front of him and Eric's eyes bulged at the sight. His heart began beating so fast he wondered how long it would take it to tear through his chest.
No bullet cracked through his flesh or bones. Instead, the Watcher fell to one side, grunting. In his place stood Tristan, his face hard, his jaw clenched and those blue eyes narrowed.
As Eric got back onto his feet, he glanced down at the dead Watcher, then back at Tristan. 'I thought you didn't want to draw blood ever again.'
Something flashed across the Prototype's face, but it vanished ever so quickly. 'I don't want to,' he said. 'But I've made my mind up.'
'And well? What will it be?'
'I won't leave my family behind.'
Eric nodded, spreading his hand out to shake. Tristan stared at it long and hard, almost as if he didn't know what to do. Finally, he reached forward and shook Eric's hand.
'Okay, let's finish this,' Eric said, turning towards the rest of the chaos. Vladimir was busy getting people out of the burning buildings while Persephone protected the citizens from bullets using her invisible shields. Morgana was busy tearing flesh and bones apart, her eyes wide in fury.
Eric couldn't help but smile at the sight of them, the power they emitted. And then he lunged forward, ready to continue fighting.
...
'I need to make sure he's okay,' Terra said, following Camille down the hallway into the kitchen. 'After everything that's happened I need to see with my own eyes that he's alive and breathing.'
'No, no way.' Camille continued walking, ignoring the girl's pleas. 'I have too much shit to deal with and I'm not about to go across this damn city so you can check up on an ex-boyfriend of yours.'
Terra frowned. 'Damien isn't an ex-boyfriend! He's my friend, and I haven't heard from him in ages. He might not even know about Sasha.' She hurried forward as Camille rushed along, hopping down the two steps that led into the kitchen.
'It's too risky, Terra.'
'Well, what if I bring someone along with me?'
'No.'
'But-'
'Terra. Do you seriously want to give Petra a reason to hunt you down again? You need to lay low.' Camille grabbed a few pots and pans and set to work on preparing food.
'So I'm supposed to stay locked away for the rest of my life to make sure Petra can't get her claws on me?' Terra didn't want to admit that a part of her wanted to do that, to stay hidden away so she'd never have to face Petra again. But the other side of her couldn't allow the fear to win. 'You cannot keep me shut inside forever!'
Camille scoffed. 'You watch me.'
Terra opened her mouth to reply when suddenly someone else answered for her. 'I'll take her.'
Both girls turned to find Kalem standing by the door, his hands hidden in the pockets of his black trousers. His eyes met Terra's for a fraction of a second before he looked away.
'I'll take her,' he repeated. 'I don't mind. If she needs to make sure her friend is okay, I don't mind making sure she's safe.'
'Kalem...' Camille gave him a warning look Terra didn't quite comprehend.
'You don't mind?' Terra quickly turned her back on Camille, her attention on the cyborg. 'I promise it'll be super quick. We'll just go and I'll talk to Damien and then we can come straight back home.'
Pain flashed across Kalem's face when she said the word 'home'. Terra pretended not to notice, and turned back to Camille to make sure she approved. The cyborg didn't look at all pleased, but Terra didn't care. She needed to make sure Damien was okay. She couldn't lose another person to Petra. It would break her.
'Fine, do whatever you want.' Camille lifted her hands up in surrender, turning back to the pots. 'You both are gonna end up killing me one day.'
'Thank you!' Terra hugged Camille from behind, then rushed to Kalem's side, eager to leave as soon as possible to see Damien. 'He doesn't live too far!' She ignored the look Camille gave Kalem. She didn't want to figure out what it meant.
Awkwardness should've taken over at being suddenly alone with Kalem, but at that precise moment Terra didn't mind. She was too excited over seeing Damien.
'You ought to grab a jacket.' Kalem's soft growl startled Terra making her halt, shocked. Unsure of what to say, she stood in the middle of the narrow dark hallway, opening and closing her mouth like an idiot. 'It's cold,' he added, as if that would help.
'I don't have a jacket.'
Kalem turned away from her, disappearing down the hallway, leaving Terra to wonder if she had said something to offend him. Maybe he had decided to no longer go with her to see Damien? For a moment, she stood there in silence, unsure of what to do. Should she just leave? Should she follow him? What was he doing?
He reappeared a few minutes later, his robotic hand holding something. Terra couldn't help but stare at the jacket he was now offering her.
'I'm not using it,' he said.
Pulling it on made her gasp from the pain in her side. Curtis had given her medicine for the pain, but it was wearing off pretty quickly. The jacket was huge on her, but it smelt nice and it was warm. She wanted to hug herself to get closer to it, then realised what a ridiculous thought she had just had. Her face burst red at the realisation that Kalem was watching her.
He didn't comment, though. The cyborg brushed past her and reluctantly, Terra followed him. They made their way in silence out into the street and onto the main road. Kalem quickly led them down less crowded and more secluded paths where cameras had been broken or were non-existent. He clearly knew his way around the city.
'We need to head over to Sector B,' Terra explained. Damien didn't live too far from her home, but they didn't share sectors. Capital One was divided in different ones, depending on how much money a citizen had. Sector A very few could afford.
Terra had always loved Sector B. It was a busy sector with beautiful shops and restaurants and expensive but cute homes. Damien lived in a townhouse with lovely low chandeliers and marble floors. She had spent so many afternoons hanging out with him and Sasha in his bedroom, listening to music and doing homework together.
'You okay?'
Terra glanced up at the cyborg. She didn't know when she'd started crying, but now it felt as though she couldn't stop. She had hated her life, every single moment of it. But her time with Damien and Sasha had been her only salvation. And yet... She had lied to them, she had gotten them into trouble and Sasha had died because of it.
How could Damien ever come to forgive her?
'Can't we use the train?' Terra asked as they made their way down another alleyway. 'My wound is hurting like crazy.'
'No.'
'Why not?'
'Because if you use your microchip, Petra will know.' Kalem gestured at the chip all citizens had implanted into their wrist at birth.
'But she'll probably know anyway.' Terra gestured at the sky and the walls. 'There are cameras and drones everywhere.'
'Let's just not risk it.'
Terra shrugged. It was going to be a long walk all the way to Sector B from where they were. They'd have to basically cross the entire capital without getting in trouble or caught.
'So, Camille is your mum, huh?' Terra tried keeping up with Kalem's quick and long strides. 'How does that work? I thought cyborgs couldn't have kids.'
The cyborg kept quiet, his eyes alert on everything except her. Terra waited patiently for him to
reply, and when he didn't, she frowned at his rudeness. 'Did you hear me?'
'I did.'
'So why didn't you answer me?'
'Because we've already had this conversation before, Terra.'
'No we haven't. I think I would remember if...' Terra trailed off at the realisation of what he was suggesting. Her eyes widened in surprise, and then she felt guilty and annoyed at not remembering. She dug her hands deep within the pockets of the jacket. How many other moments was she forgetting? It hurt to think Petra had done something so...
'Look, I know this is hard on you,' she said. 'But this is hard on me too. I can't remember and it's frustrating and scary and-' She immediately shut up when Kalem stopped walking and turned to look at her, his jaw clenched and his silver eyes narrowed.
'Why are you crying?' he asked her.
'What?' She quickly tried wiping the tears away in annoyance. 'People cry when they're upset, okay? It's a normal and human reaction.'
He watched her carefully for a good few minutes, making Terra feel awkward and uncomfortable by just standing there unsure of what to do. The tears began to dry on her cheeks, and she felt tempted to scratch her skin off at the thought of how stupid and weak she had become. How could Petra have changed her so much? How could have Petra made her become something so useless?
Kalem was in front of her within seconds, his robotic hand reaching up to wipe the dry tears away with the sleeve of his jumper. The gesture froze Terra to the spot.
'Don't cry, Princess,' he said. 'It hurts me when you cry.'
Terra opened her mouth, but by then he'd already walked away from her, leaving no room for her to answer back. A part of her wanted to say something nice to him, but another wanted to grunt at him for calling her 'princess'.
They made their way into another poor sector, the buildings white, old and decaying. There were no houses in this area, just apartment blocks that had clearly been built in another era. Cyborgs and humans walked in a hurried manner from one place to another, old ladies waited in queues to get food in the markets and children hurried along across the streets throwing holographic balls to one another. Terra kept her head down low, keeping away from everyone, especially from the drones that sometimes flew by. She didn't stop to read the graffiti on the walls cursing at the government, nor did she halt at the beggars asking for food. She continued to walk, following the cyborg that moved from one street to another.