“Why isn’t the King here to tell us this himself?” Urga stood quickly, his chair falling to the ground behind him.
“The King,” Ithan struggled to stand up herself, “does not wish to waste his time on matters we have been put together to deal with. If you have a problem with the way he has decided to flow down information, you are more than welcome to go visit him yourself and file a complaint. It would, however, behoove you to remember what happened to Brutus.” She motioned to an empty chair next to Crench.
Crench turned to face Urga, his face remaining stoic. With his cheeks burning Urga broke eye contact, picked up his chair, and sat back down with slumped shoulders.
“If there are no other issues, I would like to continue?” Ithan scanned the room and slowly lowered herself back into her chair.
“Now, the King is furious with the antics that have transpired on Earth. I know this is not standard protocol, but he has given me permission to appoint two new council members.”
“That’s insane!” Urga slammed his fists down on the table, rattling everyone’s cups.
“It is not your place to decide what is insane.” Ithan remained calm and cast a sharp glance at Urga. “One more outburst from you and I will take measures so that you are removed from this Council.”
Urga muttered something under his breath as he sat back with his arms crossed tightly over his chest.
“The King has also given us the two candidates he wishes to see fill the roles.”
“Oh come on!” It was Urga yet again.
“This is your last warning. Do not tempt me again.” Ithan stared Urga down with hard, cold eyes.
“I may be the only one bold enough to say it, but I know the rest of you are thinking it.” He stared each member of the council down until his eyes rested on Ithan. “So who are the new members?”
“The King has suggested Punx and Krick.”
“Is this some kind of sick joke?” Brentha’s face had gone crimson red. “They’re both locked up for their crimes against our own people!”
“I understand and share your sentiment. You aren’t the only one who lost someone you loved to their brutality. But,” Ithan squeezed the bridge of her nose and squinted her eyes for a moment. “The King wants someone in charge of Earth who will bring down a terror the likes of which we would not be able to condone.”
“Some punk steals his precious orb and he wants to wipe the entire planet out? He realizes that is what will happen here, does he not?”
“The King knows exactly what he’s doing. Earth has made a stand against him, and he is going to make an example of them the rest of the galaxy will not soon forget.”
◆◆◆
Patrick woke sometime later with no idea how much time had passed. This is happening far too often. He shivered as a cold blast of air blew over his body from a vent above him. He rolled over, grunting as his frozen joints strained with the effort. His eyes were nearly frozen shut and the room around him was a blur. He used the back of his arm to rub warmth back into his eyes and the room slowly came into focus. There were three other bodies in the room with him, each hidden behind a veil of cold, misty air. Blinking rapidly, Patrick looked down to assess the situation. The spacesuit pants he was wearing were now hardly recognizable. They were charred black and half-burnt away revealing the Stretto Skin beneath. His right hand was closed in a tight fist that had been bandaged up with layer upon layer of icy gauze.
What is going on here? Patrick racked his brain to try and recall what had happened as he stood from his bed. He stumbled forward, his legs still frozen, and caught himself with his free hand on a nearby chair. He grunted in pain and dragged himself into a sitting position. He began to peel away at the frozen bandage on his hand trying to piece together the puzzle of how he ended up here. It wasn’t until the bandage was removed and the red orb dropped into his lap that everything came rushing back to him. From landing on the meteoroid to his fight with Roger. Patrick jumped up, his muscles screaming at him as he did.
He dropped the orb in an open container nearby and rushed to the door. Finding it locked he decided that was a problem for future Patrick to deal with. For now, he had to figure out who else was in the room with him. He turned the vents off using a large red switch to the left of the door. The first vent shut off and Patrick saw Gin-us lying in a similar state, his clothes burnt off and his skin blackened. The second vent shut off and Patrick saw Frize, the shape of his body somehow different now. Before the third vent shut off, Patrick already knew who to expect, Flupotia. He hurried across the room as the flow of air from the final vent ceased. He was more worried about her well-being at that moment than anyone else’s.
Her skin was covered in black ash and her clothes hung loosely from her body, burnt away in spots much like Patrick’s and Gin-us’. He checked on her breathing, relieved to feel a weak but steady stream of air flowing in and out. He shook her gently to wake her but had little success. He then turned to Gin-us and Frize and found them in similar conditions. Frize’s shape had certainly changed. He no longer had the jagged edges of an icicle but more so resembled a flame frozen in time.
Satisfied that everyone was at least safe for the time being, it was time for Patrick to find a way out of the room. The obvious answer was the door, but that was locked from the outside and Patrick wasn’t strong enough to pry it open by himself. He did, however, have the power of the orb coursing through his veins and began focusing on an animal of great strength. But something didn’t feel right as he called for the powers of the orb.
Patrick pressed his mind to find a creature but found that he wasn’t flying a mile a minute through a Rolodex of unknown species. Instead, it felt as if he was taking a casual stroll through the local zoo, his mind only able to recall a handful of different animals. Disregarding the odd sensation, Patrick settled on a gorilla. He strained his mind and waited for his bones to shift and muscles to grow. But nothing happened. What is going on! Patrick pushed harder, the veins on his head pulsing at the surface with the extended effort. It felt like his head was going to explode.
“Let me out of here!” Patrick screamed into the air as he slammed his fist into the door.
Flames erupted from his fist as it made contact with the door. The sudden flash of light and heat startled Patrick and he jumped backward. The flames raced outward from where he had punched, curling the paint from the door as they spread. Patrick watched as the flames found nothing else to consume and finally died out, leaving a thin black smoke in the air around him.
The display of fire before Patrick had proved to be enough of a distraction that it took a few seconds for him to realize the flames racing up his own arm. He jumped back in shock yet again, swatting futilely at his arm in an attempt to stop the advancing fire. He was a living display of fireworks as small flames shot from his swinging arms and danced in the room around him.
Stop, drop and roll Patrick thought as he dropped to the floor rolling like a madman. The rolling seemed to have the opposite effect Patrick had hoped for and the flames further consumed his body. At this point, his entire upper body was now engulfed. I’m going to burn to death!
In that moment of pure despair and terror, Patrick realized that while he could see the flames he felt no pain from them. He stopped rolling, sat up slowly, and raised his hand to his face. Just beyond his burning hand, through the smoke which had now grown dense around him, he saw the red orb glowing silently across the room. The orb!
Still on fire, Patrick stood and made his way to the orb. He turned the container on its side and let the orb fall into his hands. He looked from the orb to the flames in the room around him as an understanding washed over him. He laughed then as he focused on the flames and watched them fly from every direction back to his hand. The laugh was one of joy, relief, shock, and some sadness as he accepted the fact that while he had new powers, he seemed to have lost his old ones.
Soft clicking noise in the room grabbed his attention. With flames still da
ncing around him, the sprinkler system in the med-bay kicked on. Water rushed into the room soaking Patrick head to toe. The flame in his hand dimmed but continued burning. The fires in the rest of the room around him, however, were quickly extinguished, and the vents kicked in expelling the black smoke.
“Patrick.” Gin-us’ voice croaked behind him.
“Gin-us!” Patrick turned and beamed excitedly at him, letting the fire in his hand die out. “Wow, do we have a lot to talk about!”
“My head. Wow it hurts. What happened?” He slowly sat up, rubbing his forehead in a circular motion. “It’s freezing in here. And why am I soaking wet?” He shivered slightly as he blew hot air into his cupped hands. “Where are we?”
“Sorry about the water, that one’s on me.” Patrick shrugged and raised his eyebrows. “We’re in the med-bay. Not sure which ship though?”
“Why are we in the med-bay?” Gin-us placed his open hands over his face as he tried to rub warmth back into it.
“Check this out!” Patrick called on his new power, a small flame growing in his hand.
He was still unsure exactly how it worked, but he had at the very least figured he could conjure fire through emotion. As Gin-us dragged his hands down his face and the room came into focus, his eyes first rested on Patrick’s face. He followed his boyish grin full of wonder down to his hand where the fire was slowly building. Something snapped in Gin-us and he was on his feet and in Patrick’s face in the time it took Patrick to blink. He slammed Patrick into the wall and pressed his forearm firmly against his throat.
“What do you think you’re doing?!” Gin-us’ eyes were bulging from his head as he shook uncontrollably. “Put that forsaken thing out, now!”
“Gin-us!” Patrick was sputtering his words out between deep gasps. “Calm down.” He let the fire in his hand die out and Gin-us released him. “It’s just a new power. I accidentally grabbed the new orb.”
“What would possess you to play with magic you don’t understand?!”
“It was an accident!”
“This kind of thing doesn’t just happen by accident!”
“Gin-us.” he was again pushing his arm firmly against Patrick’s chest effectively pinning him to the wall. “Let me go, now.”
“I’m,” Gin-us stepped back from Patrick and tried to rub the pained expression off of his face. “I’m sorry. It’s just…” He fell to the ground and leaned back against his bed. “I just don’t understand how you could have let something like this happen. You need to get rid of it.”
“Gin-us, you know I can’t do…”
“Where am I?” Flupotia’s voice cracked through the tension in the room like a whip.
“Flupotia!” Patrick stepped over Gin-us’ outstretched legs to help her off the bed. “You’re awake!”
“Awake and confused.” She pushed her matted down hair from her face. “What happened?”
“Your boy Patrick here is a fool. That’s what happened.”
“Hey!” Patrick could feel his face flush red with embarrassment. “How is that fair?”
“Did you know about his plans to play with the red orb?”
“Gin-us, that’s not how it happened!” Gin-us stood, held up his hands and turned away from Patrick and Flupotia.
Patrick turned to Flupotia, hoping someone would understand it had been an accident. “It was Roger, I swear. Something came over him and he went for it. I couldn’t just let him have it. I didn’t know what it was going to do to him!”
“Patrick,” she looked into his eyes with deep sadness, “it honestly would have been better had you just let him take it.” She sighed and slid off her bed. “What’s the new power?”
“What?!” How does she already know!
“The new power. What is it?” She sighed as she repeated the question.
“How could you possibly…”
“Patrick, please.” She held up her left hand, palm facing him. “I’m sorry, but please just answer the question.” She stared deadpan into his eyes.
“We can control fire now.” He shrunk back from her.
“And the morphing ability?”
“Gone.” Patrick snapped back, heat rising in his face, how does she get to just demand answers but give none herself?
“As I expected.”
Patrick stared at her, realizing just how little he truly knew about her.
“How could you possibly know all of this?”
“Patrick, you know that I respect what you’ve started here and what you’re doing,” she paused, choosing her next words carefully, “but I have to agree with Gin-us.” Her eyes quickly darted away from Patrick and she nodded her head towards Gin-us, where he was now sulking in a corner. “It was a foolish thing for you to do.”
Patrick went to interject and she held up a hand to silence him.
“Please, don’t. I can already tell by the look in your face we’re not leaving here until you get some answers from me. They’re long overdue anyways. So, let’s say we get down to it.”
Finally! Patrick thought as he sat down in the only chair in the room. It made a squishing noise as the water it had soaked up was pressed out and splashed to the floor. Flupotia leaned back against her bed and placed her arms in her lap.
“I’ve heard the rumors for as long as I can remember. It was before my time that magic was first discovered on Pluto. It had been King Olken who first uncovered it.” Her eyes brightened as she said his name.
“There are dozens of theories played out in song and legend saying just how he found this magic. Those stories don’t hold much weight as few people know the real truth. There is however one consistent factor in all of the stories. The magic King Olken did discover was just a fraction of what the universe held. He would have done such great things with that magic.” Flupotia bowed her head and remained silent for a few moments.
“When King Olken died his son Flaca took the throne.” She raised her head again, eyes settling on Patrick’s face. “Flaca is nothing like Olken. He turned what was to be a bright future into the one you now live. Through his own methods, he managed to pull back a secret veil that had hidden magic for as long as anyone alive can remember. And just like that, the magic of the universe was his for the taking. Ever since I was a little girl I’ve heard the stories and rumors. Tales of great magic across the galaxy, rumors of new and exciting powers. And one of those rumors told of other orbs.”
Patrick’s eyes went wide, does that mean more than two? He wanted to interrupt her story to ask, and Flupotia could sense this.
“Let me finish before you ask anything.” He nodded and let her continue her story. “I don’t know just how many orbs there are, what their powers are or where they came from. There could be two or there may be dozens. There may even be hundreds of them out there. Nobody knows the true extent of these powers.”
“But those are all just rumors! If other orbs existed, why hasn’t your King hunted them all down?”
She stood up straighter and rubbed her brow. “It is true that most of this is rumor and speculation. But it was said that the King never bothered finding the others because you could only hold one power at a time. Having two powers at once,” she shook her head, “carrying that level of magic would melt you from the inside out. And now,” she nodded to the orb, “thanks to that and your actions, the rumors have been confirmed.”
“Can we reverse it?” Gin-us spoke, startling both Patrick and Flupotia.
“Gin-us, I’m sorry.” She bent her neck to avoid his gaze. “But I don’t think we can.”
“The other orb, can’t we just pick it back up?” His chest was tight as he spoke.
“Sure, we could try. But look what happened when he grabbed the red one. Do we really want to risk playing with magic we don’t truly understand?”
Gin-us punched the table next to him and flames flew from the impact. He stumbled back a few steps and opened his mouth to speak, struggling to find the words.
“You’re… you’
re… a fool. A damned… damned fool.” He stared Patrick down hard.
Patrick did his best to avoid Gin-us’ eyes and turned to Flupotia for more answers. Despite his begging, she insisted she had told him everything she knew of the orbs. Silence settled over the group until Frize woke from his rest. Patrick almost felt guilty having forgotten he was also lying there unconscious and was likely in more danger than any of them. But after explaining everything to him and building up his confidence he tried out the new powers with no trouble. He claimed to feel no pain and other than his changed appearance he seemed fine. With everyone awake and struggling to accept their new reality, they sat and waited for someone to come to release them.
It seemed like hours had passed before the locks of the med-bay doors clicked open. Roger stepped into the room, wearing heavy gear and carrying a fire extinguisher. He swept the room with the nozzle as he slowly made his forward.
“Everyone alright in here?” His voice was muffled beneath the mask he had on.
“We’re all fine.” Patrick stepped to Roger and shoved him backward into the hallway. “What are you thinking locking us all up in here?”
“Sir, I’m sorry but what else were we supposed to do?” He dropped the nozzle in exasperation. “You all went up in flames. We did the only thing we could think of.”
“We wouldn’t even be in this mess if you hadn’t tried to take the orb!”
“I know. And I’m sorry. We should have let you out hours ago.” Roger nodded to John who had gone unnoticed in the hallway. “John was supposed to let us know when you woke up, but he fell asleep on watch.” Roger was clearly trying to deflect from his own wrongdoing.
“Sorry guys.” John laughed shyly and then dropped his chin to his chest when he met Patrick's eye. “It’s been a long few days.”
Patrick felt like grabbing both John and Roger by the shoulders and trying to shake some sense into them. Neither had any idea what a long few days looked like. Neither understood the responsibility that came with the power and position he held. I wish they could just take it on themselves!
Aliens from Arapholanx: The Burn of Magic Page 7