by Quil Carter
The man continued to stare at the ground, then he raised a hand and held it to the back of his own head. Big Shot’s green eyes widened when he saw a large pink scar.
“It comes and goes, today is just a bad day for me,” the red-haired man said.
But then his eyes became hostile. “Even that blond fuck is gone?” he asked. “He left Jade alone?”
“Blond fuck? Husband, you mean?” At this comment Big Shot’s expression turned clouded, then he shook his head back and forth rapidly. “You call him that. You not friend of chimera… good day. Bye.”
“No… wait… I didn’t mean…” The red-haired man put a hand on Big Shot’s shoulder, but as soon as his hand touched Big Shot’s skin, the half-raver spun around and let out a loud and vicious hiss.
The red-haired man jumped back, his face stricken with fear and his body tightened like a wrung washcloth.
“Husband loves King Jade. I see this. Elish held him, carried him when was weak. I see that and I let husband around King Jade with no protest. He’s no blond fuck. Good chimera, strong head, strong back,” Big Shot said angrily. “Jade sick but not alone. Big Shot with him; I bodyguard and family. This is truth. Good day.”
Big Shot turned around and stalked away from the red-haired man.
“Why hasn’t he made him immortal yet if he’s so sick?” the man called, but Big Shot just kept walking, his face creased in a scowl and his hand clenching the bag of food. He picked up his pace and made his way back to Olympus quickly.
When he walked through the doors of the skyscraper, he headed directly towards the elevator. Seeing him approach the secretary jumped up from her seat and fast-walked over to him. Big Shot knew why so he let her. He often forgot how to use the elevator.
“Where did you want to go, Mister Big Shot?” the lady asked with a kind smile.
“I see Jade,” Big Shot replied. “Drake okay?”
The lady, with pulled back brown hair, nodded and pressed the correct buttons on the elevator pad. “Yes. Sanguine is in Alegria with Drake. He doesn’t wish to be disturbed right now but he has him.” Then she stepped out and inclined her head to Big Shot. “Have a good evening.”
Big Shot nodded and laid a hand on her head. “Kah!” he said, and the elevator doors closed on him. He looked up and around and grabbed onto the railing as the elevator took him up to the infirmary floor; he still wasn’t used to the motion.
Skyfall was a strange place but at least he was getting used to it, even if the chimeras and their customs made no sense at all.
“Kah!” Big Shot said with a smile on his face when he entered the infirmary. Jade was where Big Shot had left him, in the hospital bed with his eyes closed. There was a long tube going into his mouth and many wires hooked up to his body. It troubled Big Shot to see Jade attached to all of the machines; but the more of his mind he got back, the more he had accepted that this was for Jade’s own good.
“Hello, Big Shot. I hear Drake choked and died again,” Lyle said. The middle-aged doctor was sitting down beside a lamp reading from a text book.
Big Shot nodded as he took his seat beside Jade, three thiens now standing in the hallway with their bushmasters. He felt better knowing the thiens were there, King Jade always attracted trouble.
“Drake dies a lot?” Big Shot asked.
Lyle snorted as he chuckled and nodded. “My father Levi, the now mayor of Moros, and Drake were the same age growing up and they were good friends. He tells me it was difficult keeping him alive, Drake seems drawn to death like a magnet. Master Elish figures he’s probably died about two hundred times by now. Would you believe he once chased a Frisbee off of Olympus? He probably chokes on his food at least ten times a year. That’s why he isn’t allowed out often unless he’s sneaky, and why he wears that I.D tag telling people to not feed him.”
Big Shot opened up the food bag and put a breadstick in Jade’s still hand. “I’m happy he only one like that. If Elish like Drake… would’ve killed him when tried to take back king. Bang bang in the head, no questions. When husband back?” Big Shot patted the hand that he’d put the breadstick in, but Jade was still.
“He… he won’t eat on his own,” Lyle said in a soft voice. “He’s completely – I don’t think…” Lyle got up and walked over to Big Shot as the half-raver shook Jade’s hand, encouraging him to eat. “I don’t think he’s ever going to eat or do anything on his own again. Not until… King Silas makes him immortal.”
Big Shot shook his head rapidly. “No, he eats when hungry. You’ll see. Just not hungry yet, I guess.”
Lyle gave him a sad smile before raising a hand and brushing Jade’s long black bangs from his bruised eyes. “You say it differently, of course, but… you have no idea how much you sound like Elish right now.” The doctor patted Jade’s head and sighed. “I don’t think… you two realize that this will be permanent and that… Jade’s mind is gone.”
But Big Shot only shook his head back and forth some more. “No… Jade’s strong. Jade’s been almost dead many times. He okay. He be fine… he has to be fine.”
Lyle looked at him, but though it appeared that the retired sengil wanted to say more to Big Shot, much more, he remained quiet. Like when he was talking to Elish, he just nodded and forced an encouraging smile.
“Yes…” he said, patting Big Shot’s shoulder, “maybe you’re right.”
Chapter 1
Sanguine
I ran my hand along the railing as I walked up the stairs, a song that had been stuck in my head long enough for it to warrant a tune now on my lips. It was a happy tune – because this was quite the happy time.
I reached the top of the concrete stairs and opened the door to outside. Automatically I squinted from the bright sun but there was happiness in that too. The sun was out and there was a warm breeze this afternoon. It was May now and spring was back in Skyfall.
And oh what a beautiful spring and summer it was going to be.
Beautiful.
“Hello, friends,” I said happily as I stepped out onto the tarmac roof. My eyes swept the top of the large skyscraper, and I smiled when I saw over two dozen crows perched in various places. Some on the benches, some on the raised garden beds, and others on the weather-stained statues.
As soon as the crows saw me they all started cawing and bobbing their heads, some even flapping wings in anticipation for whatever presents their master had brought them. They were smart creatures, smarter than your average crow and raven, and they knew when I appeared I brought with me the loveliest of treats.
“Hello, Sanguine,” one of them said back.
I laughed and reached into my vest pocket. I pulled out a plastic bag full of seed and when the crows eyed the bag the cawing got louder. It was an orchestra around me now, a soothing song that gently drew out and caressed all of my past memories. Most bad, but when the crows were around during those nightmarish times… basements seemed lighter, touches kinder, masochism all the more painful.
I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath of the spring air, and when I opened them I saw the rows and rows of glistening red eyes watching me intently.
I always did love an audience. I opened the bag and started throwing the feed to the crows.
There was a flutter of wings, and all of the crows flew and hopped to the tarmac to eat their seed and the pieces of bread that I had thrown into the mix. The crows stayed close together, their wings flashing as they reflected the sunlight shining above them. They were clustered so tight they looked like a wound filled with beetles, shifting and churning as one organism, though with how tightly packed this murder was – they did seem like one creature at times.
“Got any food?” “Come here, Crow.”
“Crow’s coming. Crow’s coming. Hello, Sanguine. Crow’s coming.”
I smirked and I shook my head. I grabbed a handful of seed and lightly tossed it to the birds, but when I reached in to grab another, I paused.
The smirk quickly turned into a smile when
I heard the distinct sound of a plane in the distance. I walked to the edge of the roof and stepped up onto the concrete barrier that surrounded it. I put a hand to my brow to shield my eyes from the sun’s glare, and looked to the east.
My heart skipped before my chest clamped a protective vice around it.
The Falconer was coming back; it was flying above one of the factory towns but I could see it. I was the tallest man in Skyfall right now from my place atop of Alegria and I had the best of views… yes, the Falconer was coming back.
I stepped down from the concrete barrier and walked past my still eating crows. I stood beside one of King Silas’s iron rung benches and straightened my bowtie, before brushing a crow feather from the shoulder of my wine-coloured shirt.
This is it… please let this be it. I took in another breath, the cold air soothing my burning chest. I have to break him out of there. No plans can move forward until I know he is safe and breathing the same crisp air that I am. I sold him out to protect Reaver, and now I must fix this.
I’m sorry, Nero. I wouldn’t have done it if I wasn’t confident I would break you out quickly. I have allegiances I need to keep – and Elish is already going to be livid with me.
I exhaled and closed my eyes. With that sense now diminished, my hearing intensified, and as the low rumbling of the Falconer got closer, my pulse increased.
Don’t hope… I shouldn’t hope…
I can’t help it. My chest echoed with the sounds of my thrashing heart, and to try and force it to slow, I closed my eyes and took in another deep breath. I had trained my body not to succumb to these physical reactions, but here I was feeling like I was going to pass out.
So much depended on who would be exiting that plane.
Forgive me, Elish. This was unexpected and I have no plans as to how I am going to explain this to Silas – I just cannot let Nero stay in there.
Just like I couldn’t let his husband Ceph fall into insanity from the same fate.
I opened my eyes and looked up. I saw my crows flying around me, and more taking flight with every second that passed. They heard the Falconer was coming and they knew to get out of the way.
The crows were my comfort and now they too were fleeing, leaving nothing but flutters of feathers around them as they took off to find more food; or a place to catch the rays of the sun.
I walked from the bench to the yellow circle that the Falconer would land in the middle of. I stayed on the edge of the ring and watched the black plane’s thrusters switch positions so it could land vertically; the intense heat from the black cylinders disrupting the air around it.
A moment later it landed with a thud, and the motor switched octaves and died.
And then there was silence; the unnerving and eerie silence that was only apparent when something assaultingly loud was turned off. It made me stand up straighter and swallow the lump that kept crawling up my throat like a determined spider.
Then the sliding door of the Falconer opened.
My lips pursed, my heart palpitated and shuddered, and in spite of myself, I dug my fingernails into the soft skin of my arms. An act of masochism that had always brought me comfort, even as a small boy.
There was a slam as the door closed and it was then that my heart dropped.
No voices of Garrett arguing with Elish. No tones of Jack making gilded remarks. No Silas who I had seen last in the greywastes.
It was just…
A boy of sixteen, lanky with black hair and vivid copper eyes walked out from behind the plane, looking pale and about to throw up.
“I did it,” Kiki stammered. He looked behind him like he didn’t recognize the plane he had just flown all the way back from the plaguelands. “S-Sanguine… I left them all behind. I left… S-Sanguine, I did it.”
Yes, yes, boy, you did. I squinted as I smiled and inclined my head to the, rather frazzled, chimera teenager. “You did a grand job, Kincade. Shall we go see what our Nero is doing right now? I think he will be quite eager to see us.”
Kiki looked at me, and though it hadn’t seemed possible several seconds ago, the young chimera had achieved an even paler, more stricken look. Poor boy, he looked as if he was going to become sick right on the tarmac.
“Now?” Kiki whispered. He put a hand to his mouth; I could see the small raccoon ring on his finger. “Now? Really?”
I rested a hand on Kiki’s shoulder. “Believe me, love. When you’re locked in that monotonous hell with nothing to keep you company but your own slowly dying body and an abundance of caustic thoughts… now is even too late.” I directed the boy towards the stairs and grabbed his hand. “Let’s go, little one – let’s go see how wide of a smile we can put on our big brother’s face, yes?”
Kiki squeezed my hand and sniffed. “I miss him so much. Do you think I helped him, by talking to him and reading to him?”
“Yes, lovely,” I said, our boot steps echoing off of the concrete walls around us as we descended the stairs of Alegria. “It always helped me and it always helped him.”
Kiki turned to me as we descended the stairs. “You’ve been locked in concrete too?”
I could feel my body tighten at the question, and my mouth went dry. “Yes,” I said, my dry mouth making my voice rasp. “I don’t think there is a single immortal chimera now who hasn’t been disciplined by King Silas at least once.” I absentmindedly ran a hand along the metal railing, painted dark blue, and continued to walk down the stairs. “It is an especially cruel fate for me, and he knew this but still he didn’t care… he used to care though. At least he was kind and the longest I’ve been locked away is a week, I think. If I was gone longer he made me forget, another thing he enjoys doing when he’s especially cruel to me but regrets it.”
Kiki’s response to this was silence. But, really, what could he say back? He was sixteen years old and he only knew King Silas how he was now.
Not who he used to be… who I remembered him being.
And who I dearly wished he still was.
When we got to the bottom of the stairs, I paused. This floor was dreaded amongst the family, and the pulse quickening inside of me reminded me that I wasn’t immune to this place either. If you took any of my brothers, whether it be Elish, our most stoic and controlled, or Jack, our most collected and morose, each one would not be able to escape the visceral reaction to stepping foot in this dark hallway, one that was bursting at the seams with the nightmares and past screams of our brothers.
Kiki took in a deep breath and squared his shoulders. The young chimera looked ahead and I saw him raise his chin high. He was trying to be brave and strong. I wondered in that moment if he even realized what the consequences would be for what we had done.
No, of course he doesn’t, I said to myself as I walked down the dark hallway towards the double oak doors. If he knew just what was in store for the both of us – he would have ran from me the moment I opened that wooden crate.
But what can I do? Oh, tell me what was I supposed to do? That man inside the tomb yanked me from my own prison like he himself was pulling me from my steel mother. He delivered me to my new life, and it was him and him alone, who never gave up on me.
It was Nero who has done more for me than any family member, dead or alive. I am bound to that man and it is for his sake that I condemned myself to thirty years of slavery. It was for his sake that I said goodbye to my love. My Jack.
At this, I smiled, and looked into the dark room in front of us.
It looked like an indoor graveyard and in many senses that is exactly what it was. An open room with walls draped with black curtains, even the wall-to-wall windows that every floor in Alegria had were covered with thick fabric, held down to the ground by bricks or boxes. There was no light inside of this room because the living dead needed no light. What use did they have for the sun when their world was nothing but monotonous darkness and the roaring static that only the most deafening of silences could bring?
“Kiki… love,” I said with
my smile.
Kiki looked at me, the pupils centered inside his vivid copper eyes retracted when they saw the smile on my face.
“Take the curtains off of the windows and let the sun shine inside of our little crypt. I would like my lovelies to feel the sun shining on their faces when I pull them from their graves.”
Kiki nodded and turned, then left the corner of my vision.
I looked at the six concrete tombs in front of me, five of them standing like forgotten sentries in what used to be Garrett’s living room. So much happiness had once filled this apartment. So much laughter, joyful times, sex, good food, and drunken parties I myself had used to love attending. Perhaps one day it could be returned to its happy state.
I walked up to Nero’s tomb and gently grabbed the black canvas that had been laid over the grey concrete. All of these coffins were draped with sound muting canvases when they were receiving no visitors, and Silas didn’t want to hear their desperate screams.
At times it was those very screams that kept me loyal to my king. Deep in the middle of the night when I would lay cold in my bed full of loneliness, I would visit these chimeras and receive courage from them. Sometimes all it took was an agonizing, muffled moan to give me the strength to live one more day with the man that had become such a terrible monster at times.
I wish they could talk to me… I wish he hadn’t gagged them. Oh, what I would’ve given to have someone to talk to some nights, I thought to myself as the thick canvas covering Nero dropped to the floor. I looked down at the large hand and felt a laugh come to my lips as it weakly waved to me. With a closed-mouth smile now wide on my face, I gently picked up Nero’s hand and kissed it.
And it was in that moment that sunlight flooded the room.
“Come here, my lovely little raccoon,” I said to Kiki. I looked to the light, my eyes squinting. I could see Kiki reach up to the top of the window to pull down a second curtain, and as it fell to the clean grey carpet more light shone in the room. It was odd to see the room light up, as if such a terrible thing had taken place here that it should only be viewed in its veiled shadow.