by David Aries
The joy on her parent’s faces vanished.
“What are ya talking about?” Thaldor said. “Ya just got here.”
“I know that! It doesn’t change my plans. I’m not looking to stay; I only came to let ya know I’m okay.”
“That… can’t be,” Lana said. “Yer pulling me wing. Please tell me yer pulling me wing.”
“Ma, for feck sake. Dinnae make this harder than it has to be,” Sylvetty replied, mumbling under her breath. “It’s not like I wanna go, but I gotta. See, the thing is… I kinda met someone. This guy, ya know? He’s actually the one who saved me from those slavers—real hunk, you’d like him. We wanna be together, but we can’t do that around here. He’s not from these parts, ya see, and I mean, like, really not from these parts. Think of a prince from another realm, and you’re starting to get the right idea.”
Thaldor scoffed. “Ya mean this is because of some uppity prince who thinks he’s too good to be hanging around with us bumpkins? I dinnae think so.” He cracked his knuckles. “Right, where is this fecker? I’m gonna teach him some manners.”
“Oh, hunny,” Lana said, pulling on Thaldor’s shoulder. “Dinnae leave me out of this. I’m gonna make this arrogant swine regret the day he tried to steal my baby from me.”
“Will both of ya calm the feck down?!” Sylvetty said as she pinched her brow. “Seriously, Brandon’s not like that. He’d meet ya if we were allowed.” She grumbled under her breath. “Stupid demons and their damn rules…”
“What was that?”
Sylvetty stiffened up. “Nothing!” A single breath eased her tension, and helped give her the composure to meet her parents head on. “Look, I ain’t asking for yer permission; I’m just telling ya what’s happening. I’m going with Brandon, and there’s nothing either of ya can do to stop me.” She raised her fists. “If need be, I’ll take the both of ya, right here!”
Thaldor and Lana gawked at their little scrapper.
“Well?” Sylvetty said as she shuffled on the spot like a wannabe boxer. “If ya think you’ve got what it takes, let’s see some dukes.”
Her parents exchanged looks… before they burst out laughing.
Sylvetty’s shoulders dropped. “What the feck are ya laughing for?!”
Thaldor rubbed the tears from his eyes. “Ya know, every day I imagined what it would be like if ya ever returned. I had all these fantasizes about some big happy reunion. None of them involved ya trying to knock me block off a few minutes in.”
“Dinnae try and make this sound like my fault! Yer the one itching for a fight with Brandon.”
“Of course I am! It’s a parent’s responsibility to test their children’s partners.”
“Test? Ya weren’t interested in testing no one.” Sylvetty jabbed Thaldor in the chest. “And even if you were, it wouldn’t matter, because I know Brandon would pass with flying colors. He’s the strongest, bravest, kindest man I’ve ever met, and I ain’t gonna let either of ya tell me otherwise.”
On this point, Sylvetty refused to back down. She stared into her parent’s eyes, daring them to disagree.
“Ya really love with this Brandon, don’t ya?” Lana said.
“Aye,” Sylvetty replied while grabbing hold of her chest. “The big eejit’s totally stolen me heart.”
After a pause, Thaldor sighed. “Look at that face. She’s smitten, alright.”
“More than smitten,” Lana said. “She’s totally bonkers about the lad. It doesn’t leave us much choice, does it?”
“Nay. There’s only one thing we can do.” Thaldor moved toward Sylvetty.
She threw up her fists and prepared for a scrap.
Thaldor wrapped her in his arms.
“Da?” Sylvetty said, hands dropping.
“I cannae say I like it, but yer a big girl,” Thaldor said as he squeezed her tight. “It ain’t up to us what ya do with yer life. If ya wanna run off with yer mystery prince, we cannae stop ya.”
“Aye… but ya better keep yourself safe, and visit whenever ya can,” Lana said. “And if ya end up making me any grandkids, I expect ya to bring them over.”
Sylvetty flinched as a warm blush spread across her cheeks. “The feck ya talking about babbies for? We ain’t even talked about… I mean…”
Lana chuckled and hugged her daughter. “I love ya, baby, and I always will.” Suddenly, her hug tightened from one oozing parental love into a possessive grip that wouldn’t be broken easily. “Which is why I expect ya to give us a big slice of quality time before ya go swanning off with yer new man.”
“Ma, the feck?!” Sylvetty said as she tried to wriggle out.
Lana’s arms refused to budge. “Ya scared me half to death, ya did. I’m owed some reparations.”
“I told ya, that wasn’t my fault!”
“Like I give a flying feck! Yer staying here until I’m satisfied, and that’s final!”
Sylvetty scoffed. “Fine… fine! Just lemme go before ya snap me spine, ya damn numpty.”
It wasn’t as if Sylvetty had been planning on turning right around and waving goodbye in the first place. She’d come a long way to get here, so it was only right that she enjoy herself.
The village agreed; they threw a party in her honor. Everyone gathered with all the food and drink they could in celebration of the safe return of one of their own.
Sylvetty used it as a chance to catch up with those she’d missed, fill her belly with food she hadn’t tasted in a year, and dance her non-existent socks off. The sky was filled with her laughter as she reveled in a moment she’d been waiting for ever since she’d been taken—one she feared would never come.
At last, she was home.
The party stretched well into the night before everyone slinked off to their beds. Sylvetty followed her parents back home, yet she didn’t stay. A couple of hours later, when not a soul was awake, she snuck out past the village’s edge to the forest that overlooked the area.
When she arrived, I stepped out of the bushes and lowered my cloak’s hood. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay any longer? Lancer said it would be okay.”
“Nay, this is fine,” Sylvetty said as she glanced over her shoulder at her sleeping village. “Me and me folks will probably end up fighting if I hang around until morning. Leaving like this is easier… even if it’s still hard.”
I gave her a hug. Oh, how I wished we could have stayed around here and let Sylvetty be with her parents, but that was a concession the APK wouldn’t allow. Even letting me lurk in the shadows, avoiding contacts with the residents, was a major bending of the rules secured thanks to Trez’s hard negotiating.
Settling down was completely disallowed.
“I wish I could have taken ya to meet them,” Sylvetty said.
“I did manage to spy a glance. You look just like them.”
“Me ma, maybe! Dinnae compare me to that hairy oaf!”
“That’s what your kind calls a hairy oaf? It took me a while to realize he was a guy.”
It turned out that when a stereotypical blacksmith and a race of fae-like people met, it was the fairy blood that won out.
Sylvetty jabbed me in the chest. “Ya fecking eejit.”
I chuckled and offered my hand. “Come on. Let’s go.”
She squeezed tight. As we went to leave, she turned and took one last look at her village. “I’ll be back soon. I promise.”
With that said, we wandered deeper into the wilderness where no prying eyes would see us. It was the perfect spot for an APK shuttle to pick us up and take us back to the cruiser hiding in orbit.
As soon as we arrived back aboard, we were mobbed by some friendly faces.
“Welcome back!” Casella said as she rushed over, hugging Sylvetty.
“I’m back,” Sylvetty replied. She squeezed Casella tight and buried her head into the side of her neck.
“Oh, sweetie,” Akko said while stroking her hair.
“No… no, I’m okay,” Sylvetty said as she pulled back. “Fec
k sake, look at me getting all blubbery.” She rubbed her eyes with her fluffy wrists.
I patted her shoulders. “If you need more time…”
“Dinnae worry about me! I’ve faced worse than leaving home.” She sucked her tears up. “Let’s go! I cannae be hanging around here feeling sorry for myself all day.” Like a woman on a mission, she marched deeper into the ship.
I grinned and gave chase.
The ARS Conviction—which I couldn’t stop hearing as ‘arse’—was like wandering around the sci-fi equivalent of a cruise ship. It was a huge, fancy beast filled with staff dedicated to making sure everyone aboard was looked after.
It was hard to know for certain whether or not this was standard APK behavior or because we were special. Last I heard, over three thousand people had been rescued from The Fractured World, but only those of us from Ulium were brought here.
After all, we were the only ones who knew the truth behind everything that had happened.
Apparently, hiding the existence of The Fractured World itself would be too difficult—see too expensive—so they were planning to write it off as some freak natural occurrence. As long as the APK destroyed the planet before the media could swoop, nobody would ever be able to prove otherwise.
Apart from all of us.
That’s why we’d been isolated, and that’s why we’d been so generously compensated.
I was still a little sore that Waltgomery would go down as a victim of The Fractured World rather than its creator, but it was hard to care too much. After all, we’d succeeded in saving everyone we could.
Already, over half of Ulium’s residents had returned to their real homes.
The fact more hadn’t joined them was a surprise. Everyone had signed their contracts; we were all free to leave. The reason I hadn’t was because the APK was doing a special service for we uncivilizeds and taking us back to our home planets.
Yet, when I entered the main lobby, the room was full.
“Sylvetty!” Zolly said as she rushed over, followed by Bipp, Davalina, Po, and Millith. “Are you done visiting your folks?”
“Aye,” she responded. “What about ya lot? Ya preparing to go?”
“Zat’s right,” Davalina said.
“One is prepared to go at a moment’s notice,” Bipp said. “But first…” She bowed her head. “Thank you for everything.”
Sylvetty shrunk back. “The feck are ya on about?”
“You’ve been a good friend,” Millith said. “Plus we’ll never forget how big a part you played in rescuing us.”
“What she said. We all wanted to know zat you’d made it home, at last,” Davalina added. “You deserve it after everything you’ve done.”
“We went through some mighty rough times together,” Zolly said. “I don’t think I’m ever gonna be able to forget about any of you. No siree!”
Po swamped Sylvetty’s hands with her own. “It’s been a pleasure learning under you, Master. I promise I’ll never give up the way of the hammer.”
“I get it! Now will ya let me go? I’m not used to this kinda stuff,” Sylvetty mumbled, cheeks heating up.
My lips curled into the cheesiest of grins. How could it not? I’d known all these girls for months—maybe close to a year? Seeing how much they meant to each other warmed my heart.
They were proof that even though Ulium had been destroyed, it would never die.
“Bro!” Keith said as he rushed over with his hand raised.
“Hey, bud,” I responded. “You preparing as well?”
“You know it! Next stop: Earth.”
Finding out Earth and Sylvetty’s home planet of Yggris were close to each other had been a rather pleasant surprise, even if it was ‘close’ by space standards rather than Earth ones.
It still means we’re practically neighbors.
Wait, doesn’t that make this part of the universe backwater?
Eh, it didn’t matter to me if I was uncivilized or not. I’d done pretty good for a yokel thrown mercilessly to the lions.
“So, bro,” Keith continued. “Are you sure you’re not coming with?”
“That’s right,” I confirmed. “It’s not like I was Mr Popular in the first place; there’s nobody I desperately want to see. I’d rather stay away and not make things harder on myself.” The last thing I wanted to do was remember all the things I liked about Earth before having to leave. It made more sense to avoid them in the first place. “Just… pass on a message telling everyone I’m okay, will you? I’m not sure my parents will know I’ve been missing in the first place, but I still want them to know I’m doing fine.”
Maybe I’d go see them another time, but not yet. It wasn’t as if I hated them, but I couldn’t see myself matching Sylvetty’s reunion.
“Will do, bro. And, while I’m swanning around back in Blighty, do me a solid and look after Millith. I don’t want her getting lonely while I’m away.”
“I can hear you!” she said from nearby.
He grinned. “Don’t worry, babe. I promise not to flirt around too much while I’m planetside.”
“I don’t want you flirting at all!” she complained before sighing. “Oh, why did I fall in love with such a big idiot?”
“Aw, I love you too, babe.” He swooped over and smoothed everything over with a showy public display of affection Millith couldn’t resist.
“My, oh, my,” Aya said as she approached, alongside Eret. “Look at them go. Why do you never kiss me like that?”
“It’s… well…” After a moment of hesitation, Eret cleared his throat and asked, “Is it accurate that they’re planning on settling down at Millith’s home?”
Smooth.
“So I’ve heard,” I said. “We may not be allowed to screw up our own planets, but there’s nothing barring us uncivilized gits from ruining everyone else’s.”
Aya giggled. “Then you’ll have to come visit some time.”
“You’re returning home, right?”
“At last,” Eret said, sighing. “I’m relieved we still have one to return to, never mind our jobs.”
“My boss couldn’t believe it when I told her where we’d been,” Aya said. “If Lancer hadn’t vouched for me, I’m pretty sure I’d be unemployed.”
“You’re both planning on returning to work then?” I asked. “I didn’t think you’d need the money after… you know.”
My mates and I hadn’t been the only ones to benefit from Trez’s commitment to squeezing everything she could from the APK. Her attitude had rubbed off on others, raising the price needed to pay them off.
I did worry the APK would get frustrated and decide to silence us a different way, but that didn’t happen. At heart, the peacekeepers were an ethical bunch; they liked the cover-up as little as we did. It was only something they did to appease their bosses.
There was no way they’d take things one step further.
“I’m definitely eager to get back to work,” Aya said, “but not that eager. The second we get back, I’m booking us the swankiest, most relaxing holiday anyone has ever had.”
“Something local, preferably,” Eret replied. “I’d rather not chance another pirate encounter after we’ve just escaped.”
She scoffed. “You can’t call it a proper holiday if we don’t leave Ojo.”
“You talk as if we haven’t been stranded elsewhere for the last year.”
“True… but tell me where we’ll find anywhere on Ojo as exotic as the shores of Buccona-10 or as relaxing as the famous spas of Tranquittia?”
“Ubbum is plenty relaxing.”
“We went there three years ago!” Aya complained. “No, that won’t do, not after everything we’ve been through. I want to be so relaxed I’ll forget what tension feels like. I’m thinking a four-star hotel, minimum. Somewhere with great views, plenty of sun, and—”
While the happy citri couple discussed their holiday plans, I made a stealthy exit… and bumped straight into Demi.
“Brandon,” sh
e said. “It’s good to see you again.”
“You too,” I replied, even if I’d only been missing for a day while I twiddled my thumbs in the woods near Sylvetty’s village.
Demi was just one of the many herixes still aboard. In fact, I was pretty sure not a single one had left.
“How’s it going? You come to a decision or are you still considering your options?” I asked.
“The latter,” she replied. “All I know is I have no interest in returning to Atin. That’s a part of my life I’m eager to leave behind.” She glanced out the nearby window.
The big wide universe looked back.
“It’s hard to say what comes next,” Demi continued. “Most of my life has been spent obeying rather than choosing. Now there’s seemingly endless options available to me…”
From Earth, space looked black. From here, it was a bright network populated by millions of sparkling solar systems. If only a few had planets worth living on, that was still a choice that made choosing what to watch next on Netflix seem simple.
I was like Demi; I had no idea what to choose.
“Maybe you should accept Joobee’s offer,” Faris said.
Demi and I recoiled as we snapped out of star-gazing mode and looked at the woman who had snuck up on us.
Sorry… women.
Faris was joined by both Trez and Vay, the latter whose race was also a major reason so many stragglers remained aboard. None of the xioths wanted to leave before their star, and none of their ‘boy toys’ wanted to leave them, period.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
Vay chuckled as her lips curled into a smirk. “Have you not heard? Little Joobee has invited Demi to move to his planet if she has nowhere else to go.”
“It was totally adorable,” Trez said. “Joobee took, like, three attempts to stutter through his invitation, all for Demi to run off while burning from ear to ear.”
“I did not,” Demi snapped.
“Did too,” Trez replied.
“Did not!”
“Did too.”
“You definitely did,” Vay added.
“Definitely,” Faris confirmed.
Demi pursed her lips as a certain red shine grew across her face. She folded her arms and said, “It just took me off-guard. I didn’t expect him to… I mean, he said it like he… I-I’ve got to go.” Before Trez could bully her further, Demi made a quick exit.