The Surpen King_Part 1_Return of the Gods

by Charity Kelly

  “Weird,” Bosternd finished.

  “Yeah,” Nk said. “Although, I must say I’ve never seen my wife happier. She wants to become an accountant.”

  Bosternd laughed. “Seriously?”

  “Yeah. She’s actually really good with numbers. She handles all of our accounts now.”

  “Maybe I’ll send her my accounts.”

  “She’d love that. But you’d have to pay her. She’s a business woman at heart.”

  Bosternd laughed again and leaned back in his chair. There’d been a lot of changes to their society since Rhen had become Emperor. It was hard to adjust, but the Surpen people were dealing with it like the warriors they were. Bosternd was proud of his people.

  Lifting his hand, he gestured for Nk’s cigarette. “I think I’ll take you up on your offer after all.”

  Chapter 23

  Elfin University

  Professor Dewey caught Rhen as he was leaving the dining hall with Ceceta. “Rhen, would you please meet with me tonight to correct the Astronomy textbook?”

  “Tonight?” Rhen asked. He had hoped for a quiet evening alone with Ceceta.

  “Yes,” Professor Dewey said. “Please. My schedule won’t allow me to meet with you later this week.”

  Rhen glanced at Ceceta, who nodded, then back at the Headmaster. “Okay.” He didn’t really want to, but the Headmaster looked desperate. Professor Dewey had told Rhen that he wanted to have the entire textbook corrected before the end of the semester.

  “Thank you,” Professor Dewey said. “I’ll see you in my study in half an hour?”

  “Sure.”

  After the Headmaster had walked off to join the teachers for dinner, Rhen turned back to Ceceta, “So, what do you want to do for half an hour?”

  Ceceta shook her head. She felt like an idiot. Rhen had looked to her for an excuse not to go, but like a moron, she had felt herself nodding that it was okay. "It's bizarre,” she told him. “It’s like the Universe is keeping us apart."

  “I know,” Rhen groaned. “Do you want me to tell him something came up?”

  “No,” she said, taking his hand. “The Headmaster said he wouldn’t be able to see you for the rest of the week, so maybe we’ll get a chance to be together then. Besides, he looked really excited when you agreed to meet with him. I don’t want to take that away from him.”

  “You’re too nice.” Rhen leaned over and kissed her on the top of her head.

  Together, they walked over to the student common area. Rhen pulled open the glass door and waved Ceceta into the lobby. Since most of the students were still eating dinner, both the café downstairs and the common area upstairs were deserted.

  Rhen followed Ceceta up the slate steps into the common area. There were numerous seating areas in the large room. Ceceta chose one on the right side of the room.

  Dropping down onto the beige sofa next to Ceceta, Rhen stared up at the skylight above him. He was tired and welcomed the chance to rest. Kicking off his black running boots, he put his feet onto the wooden coffee table in front of him and flexed his toes.

  “You need to wear socks,” Ceceta said, turning her head away from the stink of his feet.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Rhen said, while keeping his eyes on the skylight. A large spacejet was making its way into the school’s jetport. The hum of its engines vibrated the glass above him.

  “Do you even have any?”

  “Any what?”

  “Socks!” Ceceta snapped.

  “No,” Rhen mumbled.

  “Then I’ll get you some.”

  Ceceta moved to stand up, but Rhen stopped her by placing his hand on her upper arm. “Please. Just stay,” he told her, leaning his head back against the sofa.

  Ceceta was torn. She wanted to get Rhen some socks, but he looked so tired, that she decided it’d be better to sit with him. She tilted her head back to see if he was looking at anything in particular. The silence in the room was a little overwhelming after coming from the cafeteria. Feeling compelled to fill it, she said, “You know, my Surpen class is full these days. It seems everyone wants to learn Surpen. You’ve made it a very popular subject.”

  “Did I now?” Rhen smirked in Ceceta’s direction. His grin faded though when he noticed a Black Angel poster on the far wall by the student’s mailboxes.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “That poster.” Rhen shrugged his head towards the wall.

  Turning around, Ceceta spotted the offending material. It was a picture of the Black Angel rescuing a school bus full of kids from an avalanche. Underneath the photo, the Black Angel Club had listed the dates of their meetings.

  “What’re they saying about the Black Angel?” Rhen asked.

  “Nothing,” Ceceta said. She turned to the right and searched the windows of the school store on the opposite side of the room. If it was still open, she would get Rhen some socks. “They’re just calling for a Club meeting. They want to discuss his future and brainstorm on ways to help him.”

  Rhen snorted. “Discuss his future? Like it’s any of their business. I can do whatever I want.”

  “I know, love, but they want him to return.”

  For a little while, neither of them spoke.

  Eventually, Ceceta asked, “Will he return?”

  “I don’t know. I’m just so busy right now. I’m not sure how I could fit it in. I’m not sure how I can fit anything in. I wish I had more free time.” Rhen pressed his palms against his eyes.

  Ceceta opened her mouth to ask him about his schedule, when she saw someone move in the school store. “They’re open! I’ll be right back. I’m just going to buy you some socks.”

  “No, Ceceta, I don’t like socks.” Rhen put out his hand to catch her but missed. Ceceta ignored him and ran over to the store.

  Sighing, Rhen put his head back onto the couch. As he closed his eyes, an evil smile appeared on his face. “As if I’m not going to lose them like I lost the last ones,” he mumbled to himself, while wrapping his arms across his chest and relaxing into the sofa.

  --

  Rhen’s friends entered the lobby of the student common area on their way to the University’s café, which was located one floor below. Erfce hadn’t enjoyed his dinner, so he’d convinced the others to go with him to the café before they went to Ceceta’s apartment to study. As they walked through the main glass doors, they noticed a crowd of students upstairs by the couches. “What’s going on?” Crystam asked the others.

  “I don’t know?” Latsoh said. “Maybe someone’s putting on a show?”

  “Let’s check it out,” Crystam said, pulling on Tgfhi’s arm so he’d follow her up the stairs.

  “No,” Erfce said. “I’m hungry. Let’s check it out later.”

  “Now,” Latsoh insisted. Brazenly, she reached out and took Erfce’s hand to guide him up the stairs. “The show might be over later,” she explained.

  Erfce couldn’t believe Latsoh was touching him in public. She didn’t even seem to care if any of the other elves saw it. He was so wrapped up in the sensation of her smooth skin against his that he stumbled at the top of the stairs and had to grab onto Tgfhi to steady himself.

  “Look, it’s Ceceta,” Crystam said.

  “Where?” Latsoh asked, keeping her hand in Erfce’s

  “By the school store.”

  “Hey! Ceceta!” Tgfhi called out.

  Ceceta looked up and waved at them then made her way over to their group. “Look what I got for Rhen.” She reached into her white bag and pulled out several pairs of colorful socks. They were the brightest socks any of them had ever seen. “Can you believe these were on sale?”

  “I can’t understand why,” Latsoh remarked, while squeezing Erfce’s hand to keep herself from laughing.

  “Will he wear them?” Crystam asked hesitantly.

  “He’s going to wear them whether he wants to or not,” Ceceta told them. She lifted her head and noticed the crowd behind Crystam. “What’s going on?” />
  “We were going to ask you the same question,” Erfce said.

  “I haven’t any idea.” Ceceta stood on her toes to get a better view. "Can you see anything?" she asked Tgfhi, who was the tallest among them.

  "No.”

  Ceceta glanced around the room for Rhen, hoping he could tell them what was happening. “Oh, no,” she moaned, pointing at the backs of the students in front of them. “That’s where I left Rhen. He was sitting on the couch. They must be cornering him. We have to save him.”

  The five of them pushed their way through the crowd. Erfce had to release Latsoh’s hand in the process, but he caught her eye and winked before they were separated by the other students.

  As they stepped out into the center of the circle, they found Rhen sleeping face down on the couch. His cheek was crushed into the couch’s beige cushions, his mouth was open and his hands twitched as he dreamt. Ceceta had noticed that Rhen was tired, but she hadn’t realized just how exhausted he was. She’d have to talk to Thellis. Rhen needed more rest.

  “Okay,” Tgfhi told the room. “Show’s over. Everyone go back to doing what you normally do after dinner.” He pushed the students away from Rhen’s couch.

  They moved away, but only to find a different location from which to keep an eye on Rhen.

  “Can you believe them?” Ceceta whispered to her friends. She’d never seen anything so obnoxious before in her life.

  Erfce placed a hand on her shoulder. “You need to talk to Bosternd.”

  "You're right. I’ll contact him as soon as Rhen leaves for his meeting with the Headmaster."

  “Why is Rhen meeting with the Headmaster?” Tgfhi asked.

  “And why are you contacting Bosternd?” Latsoh asked.

  “Professor Dewey wants to meet with Rhen to work on the Astronomy textbook tonight and Erfce told me he’s been sensing something bad in Rhen’s future, so we need to have Bosternd assign a guard to watch over him,” Ceceta explained.

  “Oh,” Latsoh breathed out. “What’s going to happen, Erfce?”

  “I don’t know. I’m just getting a bad feeling, that’s all.”

  “How bad a feeling?” Tgfhi asked. “Should we be worried?”

  “It’s… bad.” He wished he could give them more information.

  Ceceta slipped past them to Rhen’s side. She shook his arm until he woke up. With sleep lines from the couch cushion running across his face, Rhen squinted up at her. “Yeah?”

  “It’s time for you to meet with the Headmaster.”

  Rhen sat up. He yawned twice, before saying, “Thanks.” When he reached out for his sneakers, Ceceta cried out, “Wait!”

  “I got you some socks,” she added, grabbing the bag from behind her and opening it. She pulled out a pair of bright orange socks, which she dangled in front of Rhen’s face.

  Rhen was about to complain, but when he saw the orange socks, he smiled. He had to admit, he liked them. They were very bright. Rhen popped the socks off their hanger and pulled them onto his feet. The orange socks stuck out about an inch over the top of his shoes. “Thanks,” he told Ceceta, before giving her a kiss. “I’ll see you back at the apartment.”

  Once he was gone, Ceceta took out her communicator and called Bosternd.

  “What’s the situation?” Bosternd asked. The channel Ceceta was using was for emergencies.

  “No, sorry, it’s nothing bad. We’re okay,” Ceceta told him. “The students seem to be more obsessed with Rhen than I’d realized. You should assign someone to watch over him while he’s here at the University. His fame seems to have made him rather popular and I think he’d be safer if someone was watching his back, that’s all.”

  “Okay,” Bosternd said. “I’ll have someone there before the end of the night.”

  “Bosternd,” Ceceta added. “It’s a school, remember, so please make sure that it’s someone who can blend in.”

  “Understood, your majesty.” Bosternd saluted and the screen went black.

  Chapter 24

  Planet of Neptian

  Loreth tugged on the hair behind his right ear as he sat on the top of a tree overlooking the Ldastar Falls. Te was driving him nuts. The man was dumber than a Zorthan cow.

  He had set out a very simple plan for Te. Since Ceceta no longer had any living relatives, they would capture her and use her to force Rhen to abdicate his throne. Once he was gone, Neptian wouldn’t have to fear invasion. Loreth had explained all of this to Te repeatedly. If Rhen was powerless, Ceceta couldn’t exact revenge on Neptian. They needed to remove Rhen as Emperor of Surpen in order to make Neptian glorious.

  For some reason though, Te kept finding excuses for not implementing his plan and Loreth was beginning to wonder if Yfetb was the culprit.

  “It’s time for you to start torturing Te like you did Andres,” a deep voice rumbled behind him.

  Loreth turned around to find Thaster’s glowing red image hovering in the air beside him. “Not that it’s any of your business, but no,” Loreth snapped. “Te isn’t ready for torture. I’ll be able to do it in a few months, but right now, he’d just run back to the Thestrans and tell them everything.”

  Thaster snickered as he floated closer to his Genister brother.

  It’d been ages since Loreth had spent any time with Thaster. Usually the two of them would simply nod to each other as they passed by, going about their business. Loreth had forgotten how much his brother’s eyes looked like Themrock’s. Thaster’s chin was rather pointy though, which made him look sinister, especially with his pencil thin mustache.

  Thaster interrupted Loreth’s ruminations by saying, “When are you going to stop playing with your dolls?”

  Loreth bristled at his remark, but before he could respond, Thaster continued, “You know what you need. You need a partner. Someone with powers as strong as yours, someone who believes in the same things you do.”

  “What?”

  “Me,” Thaster stated. “You need me.”

  Loreth studied Thaster’s face. Was he joking? Why would he suggest they work together? Thaster had always preferred to work alone. When he realized Thaster was serious, he said, “What do you have in mind?”

  Thaster raised his translucent, glowing red arms into the air. “Triumph! Come to Hell and I’ll show you.”

  Loreth laughed. “Yeah, right. I'm not that gullible. The only way I’d visit Hell was if you promised, on the Genister Code Book, that you’d allow me to enter and exit it as I wish and that you wouldn’t do anything to me or my essence while I was there."

  “Don’t you trust me?” Thaster asked, his palms against his heart. He looked like a vision of innocence.

  “Never.”

  “I can’t believe you don’t trust your own brother,” Thaster said with false indignation, raising a hand to his brow. “The nerve of some people.” When he noticed Loreth’s boredom with his theatrics, he added, “Okay, okay, you win. I promise, on the Genister Code Book, not to attack you or your essence while you visit Hell and I’ll allow you to enter and exit my dimension whenever you wish.” He glared at Loreth, to see if he would accept his invitation. “Is that good enough for you or are you still too afraid to visit Hell?”

  Loreth hesitated. He was taking a risk. You just couldn’t trust this Genister. “Fine,” he answered hesitantly. “I’ll visit you in Hell, but not right now. I need to check in with the Rasacks.”

  Thaster’s glowing image shrugged. “Come when you can.”

  Suddenly, Thaster’s arm shot out towards Loreth’s left side, making him flinch. When Loreth heard screaming down by the Falls, he realized Thaster had used his powers to throw one of the tourists into the water. He turned around on his branch to watch. The mortals were desperately trying to save an older man from going over the falls.

  “Think the Black Angel will show up?” Thaster whispered into Loreth’s ear.

  Loreth flinched again. Damn, he thought. I hate it when he does that.

  Thaster laughed at him then turne
d to watch as the Neptian Falls Rescue Team saved the older man. “Oh, well,” he said, floating backwards. “It was worth a shot.”

  “By the way,” Loreth said, pointing his finger at Thaster. “Stay away from my pawns. The Convention members and Neptians are mine.”

  Thaster’s right brow rose higher. “You aren’t threatening me, are you?”

  Loreth pushed himself off the branch he was sitting on. He hovered in the air before Thaster, his right hand turning purple as his powers rushed forward. Thaster wasn’t as strong as he was in his ethereal state. He could demolish his brother’s ghostly image with one blast. It wouldn’t affect the Genister’s true form in Hell, but it’d remove his ethereal form from Themrock’s Universes for an hour or two.

  Thaster smiled at Loreth’s implied threat. He watched the purple lights of Loreth’s power ball shimmer as they danced around Loreth’s bent fingers.

  When Thaster continued to remain silent, Loreth sighed. He didn’t feel like fighting right now. With a shake of his hand, he dissipated the powers he was holding. “No. I wasn’t threatening you. I was simply telling you the facts.”

  Thaster’s red image floated upward. “Fine. I’ll stay away from your toys, as long as you help me with my current plan. I think you’ll like it. Come to Hell. I even have a surprise waiting for you.”

  “What is it?”

  “Nah-ah,” Thaster said, waving his finger back and forth. “You have to come to Hell to find out.”

  Loreth couldn’t help it. He was curious. Thaster usually acted more like a truck, plowing into things haphazardly. The fact that he might have a plan was… different.

  “You’ll get a kick out of my surprise,” Thaster said, misreading Loreth’s silence. He thought the purple Genister might be getting cold feet.

  “Don’t forget that you promised not to touch me if I come,” Loreth reminded him.