It took only thirty-five minutes for Talia to arrive at Jonas’s old homestead–just ten minutes behind the man himself, before she lightly touched down right next to the deserted house itself. After scouting out the place, she quickly came upon the shed, and the empty elevator shaft. It didn’t take her long to figure out what had happened next.
Jonas went to confront whomever was here.
And Talia McGowan went down the shaft to see what went on. But she spent the first hour witnessing Jonas and Cara hash it out, and then waited another thirty minutes before using the emergency hatch in the elevator’s cage to gain access to the lower levels of the underground work bay.
She had hesitated next to Jonas’s unconscious body when she spotted him, but decided that any premature tampering would alert Cara to the notion that someone else was down here and not just her and Jonas.
Like it or not, Talia had to play possum for the time being–choosing her own moment when she would confront the insane woman and rescue Jonas from any further harm.
So she chose the darkened work bay as her perfect hiding place, and hid behind the Skyhawk S-3’s starboard engine nacelle for good measure.
Talia then paid witness to Jonas’s awakening and the questioning by the AI’s holo tank, before watching him vanish down the hallway leading to the back areas–and presumably a room of some kind.
Talia wondered if she should follow or remain in seclusion.
No. A part of her answered. Jonas had shown her too much compassion and understanding of her plight–to allow him to march off into the unknown willingly.
Rising, the girl sprinted after him–reaching the door just in time to hear a heated exchange between him and another girl–one whom she sensed had been somehow corrupted by evil.
But deep down, Talia suddenly had a sense that something else was eating into the other’s psyche. It was a core of pain. A sense of loss and regret, coupled with anguish, anger, and…
The stranded Starchild paused.
No. That can’t be right! She thought. No matter what, this feeling shouldn’t be here at all!
It was love.
Love for her father–even despite all of this.
Talia debated on whether or not she should just march in and interrupt this meeting. But she instantly saw that would be a dangerous–and perhaps fatal–folly.
No. This event had to play itself out.
And it did.
But not the way that Talia had expected it to.
A bright flash of light and heat encompassed the door–enveloping Talia in a nimbus.
She backed up fearfully, wondering if at long last she had been discovered.
Then the door blew apart–sending both her and the remains flying outwards.
* * *
The fight between life and death had been a bitter struggle, even after she had assumed the mantle of the Starchild. People that she had known–childhood friends–or complete strangers had perished in the brief struggle that had erupted with the Praetorial Guard. The seven day war had cost the lives of hundreds, only ending in an uneasy truce, simply because of the fact that human error and localized fear of the unknown had been contributing factors to the cause. But whatever happened, Isis found herself in the aftermath of long battle and she herself was blamed for the death of 518 innocent souls, some sky dancers, but mostly surface dwellers.
That was two years ago, one year after she had assumed the mantle.
But she had also lied to her counterpart. The seven day struggle had fallen on the exact day that the other Starchild had gone through with her prison break. But the only difference was that there were no Nemesis to confront her then, and the second was the conflict lasted six days longer than the prison break had.
Then about three months ago in her time, strange things started to happen. Unexplainable things. Things that had no right exist, or had plainly existed for the sake of argument. Events passed that were foretold unfolded before her eyes, and before she knew it, Isis was facing down one of the worst threats her planet had ever seen.
Even with her advanced training, she could barely hold her own against this version of Nemesis. To make matters worse, she didn’t believe in cat and mouse games to draw her out like the other version had over the past couple of years, or even now, prior to the other Starchild’s arrival.
This version of Nemesis–named Keron–exacted her revenge in the only way she knew how–through unadulterated brute force on a scale that couldn’t possibly be imagined.
The planet had suffered badly on the day that was known as the Fall, and it couldn’t sustain such a conflict now, ten thousand years later. It was simply impossible, not when it was still in the midst of healing itself.
Isis knew this from talking with the spirit entity known as Gaia, only two weeks ago. Instead of offering reassurances, it only revealed pain and regret, loss and confusion. It could not help her, even when she had asked it to, only telling her that someone would be coming soon to assist her in her struggles against Nemesis. But in the end–Gaia revealed–someone close to her would perish as a result. Which person, it could not say, only because the future was in motion and there was no way to counter that.
It was just the way the universal constants worked. No favorites were chosen in fights or sidelined any potential losers.
Isis was scared as well as terrified, knowing that it could be her whom would perish, because she saw no other way of defeating Keron–who had become Nemesis through loss and eventual betrayal. She saw Isis as just another obstacle in her quest to rule this planet and make its inhabitants bow down to her every whimsical desire, so she set about making sure that the current Starchild paid the full price of her choice in becoming the universe’s newest protector and guardian, by destroying everything she held dear.
Starting with Stratos City, Keron crippled the space complex with her might and power, killing thousands of people and forcing the population of sky dancers to become refugees.
But the woman wasn’t satisfied with that, she turned her attention onto the planet itself and created an irreparable breach in the planet’s atmosphere, guaranteeing what was left of the planet’s orphaned human and animal life populations would die within a relatively short time frame.
Keron felt that this–coupled with the battles and attacks on the planet’s population centers–would surely do the young surface dweller in.
But she hadn’t counted on the fact that Isis McGowan’s powers were a clear match for her own, despite centuries of maturity on her part. However, she knew that she could outlast the surface dweller in every fight thrust between the two eventually. It would only be a matter of time.
It took her two months of constant fighting to wear her down.
Desperation and despair linked with bouts of depression nearly cost her her own life three days before the other Isis McGowan arrived.
When she did, Isis felt like she had a chance once more to finally overcome her most hated enemy, even if it meant sacrificing herself to the cause. Her planet would be forever freed of Nemesis’s evil influence.
What she hadn’t expected was her counterpart’s awesome power. Despite her own advanced training, she saw more than potential in the other Starchild. She saw a way to end this madness once and for all.
But before she could implement her hastily construed plan, Keron attacked the other Starchild and forced her into another conflict which eventually led to...
This. Jalena finished, standing before the quiet and solitary Starchild. Her pensive behavior told the ex-Starchild everything she needed to know.
Even with the arrival of the other Isis McGowan, you are still determined to give your life for the sake of the others that live here, including your family, aren’t you?
The Starchild didn’t say anything.
Your injuries will be healed in time, Isis. Do not worry about what will happen next after that.
The young woman’s face became animated, as if she had suddenly turned on by some magic trick.
“Worry isn’t what I’m primarily concerned about.”
Dying then? Jalena asked.
“Dying would be a blessing to this hellish life I have led so far. My failures will surely speak for themselves.” Isis said.
The spirit deity looked surprised.
Failures? No, more like minor setbacks.
Isis turned on Jalena suddenly without warning, startling the woman.
“You don’t understand! I have failed! I am no longer capable of keeping the Starchild legacy alive! Don’t you see the bruises and the lacerations on me? Keron’s using me to wipe the walls with and she’s almost finished!”
Anger isn’t the way to go, Isis. You must allow yourself some measure of flexibility if you are to survive this crisis. Jalena soothed. Now tell me–
Then Isis woke up.
Intense pain hit her from all around and she cried out, before she realized that she was still lying on her bed–but at an angle that her body didn’t readily agree with.
Straightening seemed to be the only option left to her and when she did, the surface dweller allowed herself a moment to take a much needed breath that her battered body permitted, before it warned her in ways of sharp pain and lingering discomfort.
Ohhhh...she moaned silently. That wasn’t one of my better night’s sleep.
Flashes of it, more like snippets came back to her and all she could do was bask in its depressing melancholy and wonder if she had the strength and will to keep going.
To...to...to live.
Man...this is not good. She thought, before making the attempt to get up on her own. It was a tough task, in light of how bad she was hurting, but Isis wasn’t about to give up so soon.
There was just too much at stake.
Before she got to the door, she grabbed a spare change of clothes and threw them over her shoulder before finally heading out–the old LED clock on her dresser reading 10:15 in the morning.
* * *
Isis walked into the living room looking the worse for wear, and found the other Isis McGowan passed out on the couch, her legs splayed out at awkward angles.
Trell ran past her without a second thought, an impish grin on his young face and a bulge under his shirt.
“What are you planning on doing, worm?” The girl asked insultingly.
The boy instinctively showed her a water balloon that he had hidden from her view.
“I’m gonna wake Talia up. That’s what.” He said with a mischievous grin.
Isis didn’t think that was such a good idea, considering–
“That’s not–” Isis began to point out, but sensed that he was more adamant and not a very good listener.
Case in point, the boy was insistent and went ahead anyway.
Just as he clambered up on top of the hideaway, Maye appeared with a caked spatula and saw Isis and what Trell was about to do at the same time.
“Trell! Wait! That’s not–” She didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence at all as Trell let go of the water balloon, then jumped off the hideaway in a hurry–not wanting to be around his sister when she woke up drenched.
But to everyone’s surprise, the balloon never reached its intended target. The water-filled missile hovered there over her head, then spun slowly in place, before diving straight towards the 12-year-old boy.
Trell’s astonished face was instantly smothered by the bursting balloon and the cold water that followed suit.
Sputtering, he screamed, “That’s not fair, sis!”
Isis shrugged innocently. “Wasn’t my doing, baby bro.”
Trell stared at her incomprehensively, the said, “You’re putting me on!”
Isis shook her head. “No, I’m not. That wasn’t me.”
The boy looked over at the huddled mass–shock setting in. “That’s not Talia?”
Isis rolled over with a smile.
“Nope. I’m not. Your sister‘s still gone.”
Trell rubbed the water from his eyes before he got a good look at the young woman lying on the hideaway.
“Y-your not my sister?” He asked.
Isis shook her head. “Sorry.”
Trell was puzzled by this sudden turn of events. He had been half-expecting to douse his sister by catching her unawares, but only to come across a woman who resembled his other one.
Indeed, it was a very confusing moment for the bright, young lad.
Casting off his confusion, he asked, “So where do you come from?”
“Here.” The surface dweller said, pointing up towards the ceiling. “I live here.”
“But Isis lives here. My Isis anyway.” Maye corrected knowingly.
Isis put a comforting on her mother’s arm.
“Mom, this version of Isis is from another universe. An alternate one, if I understand it correctly.”
Isis McGowan agreed as she rose from the hideaway, the blanket falling off of her in the process.
“That’s right. But my perspective, so is this place.” She commented, before stretching her arms out and tensed her whole body at the same time to cast the remnants of sleep from it. “It isn’t so different from my own home.”
“No, it isn’t.” Maye agreed. The rich and pungent smells of something baking twisted the woman’s attention around quite suddenly. “Damn! I’m burning the pancakes!”
“Pancakes!” Trell squealed in delight. “Sandberry ones?” He inquired hopefully.
Maye nodded before disappearing back into the kitchen to save breakfast before it burned on its own.
Trell followed her as fast as his feet could carry him.
“Great!” Isis whooped happily, before following him, leaving the other Isis alone for a second.
Pancakes? She wondered in fraught curiosity. Then she remembered those fluffy round things that Fran had served her once on her last extended vacation up in Stratos City–the time that Bayen and her went swimming in a place called Balona Creek.
Isis’s head hung around the corner.
“You coming?” She invited. “It wouldn’t be fair to uninvited company–not to share–such as you are.”
“Sure.” The surface dweller brightened, before jumping off the bed in a haste.
Friday, May 30, 2008
STARCHILD DUEL--CHAPTER 83
Isis and her double reappeared in a room that was instantly familiar and gratifying to the both of them.
“Home sweet home...” The injured Starchild whispered, before letting go of her other counterpart and staggering over to the bed and collapsing onto it with a sigh.
Isis sat down onto the dusty floor, amazed that despite a few changes in the room’s appearance, it was still very much like...hers.
“Yes.” She agreed with a much needed break, as she relaxed her whole body, one bit at a time, but finding that she still hurt herself, with the occasional muscle spasm that grabbed her undivided attention for a few moments, before finally letting go. “For you anyway.”
The other Starchild didn’t answer her.
“Isis?” She queried tentatively.
Still no answer.
Alarmed, Isis McGowan got to her feet quickly and went over to check on her. Placing a couple of fingers on the side of her neck, she checked the other woman’s pulse.
Still going. She thought with great relief. She wasn’t dead yet. But that thought brought the first surface dweller no comfort whatsoever.
Grabbing the light green blanket on the end, she covered up her counterpart gently and quietly left the room, in search of the roll-away couch that she knew was to be in the living room area.
The place was dark and quiet, giving the whole thing a serene and peaceful setting.
One that Isis found pleasantly comforting.
A tall and slender shadow fell across her path, momentarily startling the surface dweller.
“Honey?” A soft, feminine voice called out softly. “Is that you?”
Isis turned around, startled.
“Um...she’s sleeping, Maye.” She said. “I was going to crash on the roll-away.”
The shadow moved closed in slowly, before snapping on a mini-light. The pencil thin light beam shone on the surface dweller’s exposed mid-section, before riding up to her face.
The woman’s hand wavered, causing the light to shift a few times, before it disappeared and then a lamp flicked on with an audible click!
Isis got a good look at the woman who looked so much like her own mother. It was hard to believe that so many familiars she had already encountered remained constant in this universe, even though there were an equal number of unknown variables.
After a second of staring at each other, Maye said, “You look so much like my daughter.”
“Yes. I am. That’s what had me shocked when we met yesterday.” Isis replied, before going over to the sofa and began pulling out the hideaway. Once she had it unfolded, she sat down. “She’s a little different than me. Both in appearance and in power structure.”
“She’s losing the battle, Isis. You can see that already, can’t you?”
The young woman sighed. “Yes, I can. And I’ve done all I can for her right now.”
Maye’s eyebrows shot up a little.
“Really? Are you sure?”
The Starchild hesitated for a moment.
“I don’t really know, Maye. All I know is that now, here, I’ve done all I can do. Maybe later, something will pop up.”
“I don’t want to lose her, Isis.” Maye said unconditionally.
The young woman shook her head.
“It’s just like before. Everyone thinks that I can do the impossible. But you know that I cannot prevent someone from dying, Maye. I couldn’t do it before I came here and I couldn’t do it while I was here either. Death is something that we must all accept. Otherwise we’ll all be diminished in ways that can never be fully imagined.”
Maye stared at her for a moment.
“But you...you have the same powers as my daughter has! You should be able to bring back the dead!”
Isis was startled by the woman’s unexpected revelation.
Was it possible? Here? In this universe?
“Are you saying that Isis had brought people back from the dead...here?”
Maye nodded.
“Once or twice in the past couple of years. It surprised her to no ends, I can tell you that much.”
Isis looked downwards.
The power to resurrect the dead is indeed a useful ability. To what ends I cannot imagine. The Source postulated quietly.
I know. Isis said silently. But I lack the ability to do so, only to heal instead.
Could it be that your cases had been reversed? That instead of a healing factor, that this version of you possessed the ability to raise the dead? Keron interjected.
Wait a minute you two. Isis cautioned. Isis said her sister used her healing power to make her Bayen well after he got hurt. That negates the possibility of her having the capability to raise the dead.
But what if she has it on a limited capacity? Aside from her healing factor? The Source proposed.
Isis thought about that, then shook her head.
Then she could only use it sparingly. It probably saps her more than anything else she has at her disposal.
Glancing up at Maye, she said, “I can’t do that, Maye. That is not within my power. What your daughter has is a priceless gift.”
Crushed by this, the woman nodded somberly. “But she won’t be able to use it on herself if she dies.”
“Death is a part of life, Maye. A part of living. There cannot be a rift between the two. It has to be natural. Therefore, I cannot raise the dead. But if your Isis can on a limited basis, she has not yet caused that rift. But if she dies, she dies.”
“And if she does?” Maye asked, fighting back tears. “What will happen to us? Nemesis will surely kill us all!”
“She won’t get that chance, Maye. If it costs me my own life, I will gladly exchange it for a change to give you all some peace of mind.”
“But if you sacrifice yourself, what will happen to your world? Isn’t Nemesis loose on your planet?”
“Yes.” Isis admitted. “But I cannot leave here knowing what your Nemesis has cost you. It wouldn’t make me feel any better.”
Maye nodded. “You are a lot like her, you know that? Willing to accept death even in the face of great uncertainty.”
“But only if nothing new presents itself, Maye.” Then she laid back on the bed, pulling the soft covers over her tired body. “Only if nothing else presents itself...” Closing her eyes, she soon fell fast asleep.
Maye stood there watching the young woman sleep for awhile, seeing the likeness in her own daughter, but that was all.
She spoke the truth after all. She thought worriedly. That means our lives are forfeit if nothing is done soon. Her thoughts soon drifted to her husband, the day before he went to work in Hallis.
She recalled the smile that was on his face when she told him to be careful while at work, because she worried about him sometimes.
She remembered him kissing her on the cheek affectionately and told her not to worry, he would be all right and be back before she knew it.
But Kelin died the day after and she wished then that she had done something to prevent him from going, knowing what she knew now. But fate was a cruel mistress in some ways than others. She didn’t pick things and events at random. It wasn’t her style.
Maye bit down on her knuckles worriedly. It was all going to happen again and this time, there was nothing she could do.
Except hope and pray.
* * *
Bayen felt awful when he woke up. His back hurt, not to mention the soft pounding of a headache in his skull and the dull throbbing his leg was giving out.
The sky dancer wondered if he could get up.
After yesterday, I’m just lucky to be alive. He mused in relief, before he made the first attempt in getting out of bed since coming home in the early morning hours of the night.
Slowly, he shifted his weight, making sure not to apply any pressure to his injured leg. But even that much–no matter how unintentional–caused the limb to shoot warnings of pain up and down, letting him know in no uncertain terms, that it wasn’t such a good idea.
But the man ignored the sensations his leg was giving him and once he got himself into a sitting position, he dug into his trench coat and fished out his quarterstaff. Unfolding it, he used it to prop himself up even further, then used it as a makeshift crutch.
Oh boy. He thought, grimacing just a little. He started off, slowly, making sure that he could walk first. The leg still bothered him, but not so that he couldn’t continue.
When he reached the entrance, he opened it and found himself confronted by his mother, holding a small breakfast tray.
“Morning. How are you feeling?” She inquired, before stepping off to the side to allow Bayen free access to the living room. Once he reached the sofa, he sat down gingerly, but found that the soft cushions gave a bit too much and he sank down; placing pressure on his leg.
“Ahhh!” He cried out reflexively, before spinning around sideways to elevate the pressure and the subsequent pain he was feeling. Then he lowered gingerly on the cushion, partially propped up by the arm rest on the end.
It took him a couple of minutes to get situated properly on the sofa before Maye came over and placed the tray next to him.
“I see you got some battle scars, honey.” Maye observed.
Bayen chuckled, then picked up the tray carefully, but with a steel-like grip and set it on his lap.
“Courtesy of Cara, mother. She wasn’t very forgiving.”
“I’ll bet Isis will teach her a thing or two–” then she stopped, once she saw the crestfallen look on her son’s face. “What is it?”
“Isis is gone.” He said. “Cara mentioned something about taking care of her in a more permanent fashion.”
The color literally drained from the shopkeeper’s face upon hearing that.
“No!” She gasped. “That can’t be!”
Bayen nodded. “I’m afraid so.”
Maye stood there, pondering over what might happen in the future.
“But who will stand against her now that Isis is gone?”
Bayen gave his mother a wry grin.
“I think I did pretty good, considering the odds I was facing.”
Maye was adamant.
“I’m serious. With Isis gone, who will stand up to her?”
The sky dancer gave that some thought while he ate his breakfast.
Swallowing, he said, “I know that the Praetorial Guard won’t stand a chance. Their weaponry didn’t have much effect when they first encountered, or in any of the last one either.”
Maye sat down next to him and sighed.
“Which means that we might all be staring death in the face.”
“Could.” Bayen admitted. “But that hasn’t stopped us before.”
“Home sweet home...” The injured Starchild whispered, before letting go of her other counterpart and staggering over to the bed and collapsing onto it with a sigh.
Isis sat down onto the dusty floor, amazed that despite a few changes in the room’s appearance, it was still very much like...hers.
“Yes.” She agreed with a much needed break, as she relaxed her whole body, one bit at a time, but finding that she still hurt herself, with the occasional muscle spasm that grabbed her undivided attention for a few moments, before finally letting go. “For you anyway.”
The other Starchild didn’t answer her.
“Isis?” She queried tentatively.
Still no answer.
Alarmed, Isis McGowan got to her feet quickly and went over to check on her. Placing a couple of fingers on the side of her neck, she checked the other woman’s pulse.
Still going. She thought with great relief. She wasn’t dead yet. But that thought brought the first surface dweller no comfort whatsoever.
Grabbing the light green blanket on the end, she covered up her counterpart gently and quietly left the room, in search of the roll-away couch that she knew was to be in the living room area.
The place was dark and quiet, giving the whole thing a serene and peaceful setting.
One that Isis found pleasantly comforting.
A tall and slender shadow fell across her path, momentarily startling the surface dweller.
“Honey?” A soft, feminine voice called out softly. “Is that you?”
Isis turned around, startled.
“Um...she’s sleeping, Maye.” She said. “I was going to crash on the roll-away.”
The shadow moved closed in slowly, before snapping on a mini-light. The pencil thin light beam shone on the surface dweller’s exposed mid-section, before riding up to her face.
The woman’s hand wavered, causing the light to shift a few times, before it disappeared and then a lamp flicked on with an audible click!
Isis got a good look at the woman who looked so much like her own mother. It was hard to believe that so many familiars she had already encountered remained constant in this universe, even though there were an equal number of unknown variables.
After a second of staring at each other, Maye said, “You look so much like my daughter.”
“Yes. I am. That’s what had me shocked when we met yesterday.” Isis replied, before going over to the sofa and began pulling out the hideaway. Once she had it unfolded, she sat down. “She’s a little different than me. Both in appearance and in power structure.”
“She’s losing the battle, Isis. You can see that already, can’t you?”
The young woman sighed. “Yes, I can. And I’ve done all I can for her right now.”
Maye’s eyebrows shot up a little.
“Really? Are you sure?”
The Starchild hesitated for a moment.
“I don’t really know, Maye. All I know is that now, here, I’ve done all I can do. Maybe later, something will pop up.”
“I don’t want to lose her, Isis.” Maye said unconditionally.
The young woman shook her head.
“It’s just like before. Everyone thinks that I can do the impossible. But you know that I cannot prevent someone from dying, Maye. I couldn’t do it before I came here and I couldn’t do it while I was here either. Death is something that we must all accept. Otherwise we’ll all be diminished in ways that can never be fully imagined.”
Maye stared at her for a moment.
“But you...you have the same powers as my daughter has! You should be able to bring back the dead!”
Isis was startled by the woman’s unexpected revelation.
Was it possible? Here? In this universe?
“Are you saying that Isis had brought people back from the dead...here?”
Maye nodded.
“Once or twice in the past couple of years. It surprised her to no ends, I can tell you that much.”
Isis looked downwards.
The power to resurrect the dead is indeed a useful ability. To what ends I cannot imagine. The Source postulated quietly.
I know. Isis said silently. But I lack the ability to do so, only to heal instead.
Could it be that your cases had been reversed? That instead of a healing factor, that this version of you possessed the ability to raise the dead? Keron interjected.
Wait a minute you two. Isis cautioned. Isis said her sister used her healing power to make her Bayen well after he got hurt. That negates the possibility of her having the capability to raise the dead.
But what if she has it on a limited capacity? Aside from her healing factor? The Source proposed.
Isis thought about that, then shook her head.
Then she could only use it sparingly. It probably saps her more than anything else she has at her disposal.
Glancing up at Maye, she said, “I can’t do that, Maye. That is not within my power. What your daughter has is a priceless gift.”
Crushed by this, the woman nodded somberly. “But she won’t be able to use it on herself if she dies.”
“Death is a part of life, Maye. A part of living. There cannot be a rift between the two. It has to be natural. Therefore, I cannot raise the dead. But if your Isis can on a limited basis, she has not yet caused that rift. But if she dies, she dies.”
“And if she does?” Maye asked, fighting back tears. “What will happen to us? Nemesis will surely kill us all!”
“She won’t get that chance, Maye. If it costs me my own life, I will gladly exchange it for a change to give you all some peace of mind.”
“But if you sacrifice yourself, what will happen to your world? Isn’t Nemesis loose on your planet?”
“Yes.” Isis admitted. “But I cannot leave here knowing what your Nemesis has cost you. It wouldn’t make me feel any better.”
Maye nodded. “You are a lot like her, you know that? Willing to accept death even in the face of great uncertainty.”
“But only if nothing new presents itself, Maye.” Then she laid back on the bed, pulling the soft covers over her tired body. “Only if nothing else presents itself...” Closing her eyes, she soon fell fast asleep.
Maye stood there watching the young woman sleep for awhile, seeing the likeness in her own daughter, but that was all.
She spoke the truth after all. She thought worriedly. That means our lives are forfeit if nothing is done soon. Her thoughts soon drifted to her husband, the day before he went to work in Hallis.
She recalled the smile that was on his face when she told him to be careful while at work, because she worried about him sometimes.
She remembered him kissing her on the cheek affectionately and told her not to worry, he would be all right and be back before she knew it.
But Kelin died the day after and she wished then that she had done something to prevent him from going, knowing what she knew now. But fate was a cruel mistress in some ways than others. She didn’t pick things and events at random. It wasn’t her style.
Maye bit down on her knuckles worriedly. It was all going to happen again and this time, there was nothing she could do.
Except hope and pray.
* * *
Bayen felt awful when he woke up. His back hurt, not to mention the soft pounding of a headache in his skull and the dull throbbing his leg was giving out.
The sky dancer wondered if he could get up.
After yesterday, I’m just lucky to be alive. He mused in relief, before he made the first attempt in getting out of bed since coming home in the early morning hours of the night.
Slowly, he shifted his weight, making sure not to apply any pressure to his injured leg. But even that much–no matter how unintentional–caused the limb to shoot warnings of pain up and down, letting him know in no uncertain terms, that it wasn’t such a good idea.
But the man ignored the sensations his leg was giving him and once he got himself into a sitting position, he dug into his trench coat and fished out his quarterstaff. Unfolding it, he used it to prop himself up even further, then used it as a makeshift crutch.
Oh boy. He thought, grimacing just a little. He started off, slowly, making sure that he could walk first. The leg still bothered him, but not so that he couldn’t continue.
When he reached the entrance, he opened it and found himself confronted by his mother, holding a small breakfast tray.
“Morning. How are you feeling?” She inquired, before stepping off to the side to allow Bayen free access to the living room. Once he reached the sofa, he sat down gingerly, but found that the soft cushions gave a bit too much and he sank down; placing pressure on his leg.
“Ahhh!” He cried out reflexively, before spinning around sideways to elevate the pressure and the subsequent pain he was feeling. Then he lowered gingerly on the cushion, partially propped up by the arm rest on the end.
It took him a couple of minutes to get situated properly on the sofa before Maye came over and placed the tray next to him.
“I see you got some battle scars, honey.” Maye observed.
Bayen chuckled, then picked up the tray carefully, but with a steel-like grip and set it on his lap.
“Courtesy of Cara, mother. She wasn’t very forgiving.”
“I’ll bet Isis will teach her a thing or two–” then she stopped, once she saw the crestfallen look on her son’s face. “What is it?”
“Isis is gone.” He said. “Cara mentioned something about taking care of her in a more permanent fashion.”
The color literally drained from the shopkeeper’s face upon hearing that.
“No!” She gasped. “That can’t be!”
Bayen nodded. “I’m afraid so.”
Maye stood there, pondering over what might happen in the future.
“But who will stand against her now that Isis is gone?”
Bayen gave his mother a wry grin.
“I think I did pretty good, considering the odds I was facing.”
Maye was adamant.
“I’m serious. With Isis gone, who will stand up to her?”
The sky dancer gave that some thought while he ate his breakfast.
Swallowing, he said, “I know that the Praetorial Guard won’t stand a chance. Their weaponry didn’t have much effect when they first encountered, or in any of the last one either.”
Maye sat down next to him and sighed.
“Which means that we might all be staring death in the face.”
“Could.” Bayen admitted. “But that hasn’t stopped us before.”
STARCHILD DUEL--CHAPTER 82
Jonas opened the door quietly, not sure of what to expect the second he stepped through the door. The lights in the hallway where off and only the dim glow of the two emergency lights to keep him company.
Hesitation would do him no good. He would have to face not only his past, but an unlikely future.
A daughter who possesses unimaginable power and wants to destroy the world, and a wife that I haven’t seen in over eight years.
And he was on the verge of losing them both.
Going inside was easy, he knew that much. But what would he see? What would he see?
The man stepped inside.
A lit, old-fashioned brass lamp sat on the bed stand next to a bed that was fully occupied by a woman that Jonas barely recognized.
Her face was sunken and shallow and her complexion waxen from where he was standing. Even with the blanket covering her, it did nothing to diminish the lustrous raven-black hair that billowed slightly out from around her.
“Rayna...” He whispered softly, before reaching out to caress her cheek. The woman didn’t stir from his touch, but someone else did.
Rising from the other side of the bed, Cara gazed at her father.
“I see that pain just simply wasn’t enough for you, was it?” She questioned, even though she was still dressed in her own sky-blue variation of the Starchild’s black and gold costume. However, she had thrown over a skimpy robe to cover it, but it didn’t obscure the anger or hatred she felt towards her father.
“Is death more preferable?”
Jonas backed up.
“No. Death is never preferable. But nor is the pain that you’ve inflicted on a great deal of people either. Or on me.” He answered tightly. “Why don’t you give up this path of destruction...this vendetta?”
Cara’s reply was just as explosive as it was very plain and direct.
“Never!” She quaked. “Never again will I suffer such defeats and humiliations at the hands of those who should be slaves to my every whim and desires!”
“This is nuts!” Jonas shot back. “What gives you the right to subjugate every person, every living creature to total slavery?”
The young woman’s eyes flared brightly, as she was more than ready and willing to prove her point.
Jonas was already made aware of this earlier, but he stood his ground.
“Every right.” She said heavily. “All the power at my command gives me the sole opportunity to once again plunge your race into darkness.”
A light bulb clicked on inside the man’s head.
“You are my daughter, but I get the feeling that you are also someone else. Who are you? Really?”
“Rayna knows who I am.” The woman said, pointing to the ex-captain’s sleeping form. “But she didn’t utilize the power I gave her. She failed against someone who’s power was insignificant next to mine. She could’ve won you know. But she didn’t take the risk to find out. Now her daughter wields what I’ve given her and so far, she’s done a remarkable job. The Starchild has been removed from the picture and there is nothing left that can stand in my way of complete domination of this planet.” Glancing back at Jonas, she added, “So get used to it. Because the name Nemesis is all that you will be hearing from now on, once I’ve struck some fear into the hearts of these pitiful mortals in the next couple of days.”
“They’ll be ready for you.” Jonas said unmovingly. “Why don’t you just release my daughter, Nemesis? She doesn’t deserve this kind of life. Not one that is bent on revenge and the capitulation of others.”
Cara smiled.
“And what would you do to gain her back, mortal? Would you freely give your life in exchange for hers?”
Jonas nodded. “If it meant dying, then yes, I would.”
The young woman fell silent. Then she remarked, “I don’t know what it is with you mortals these days. Such grandiose heroics. All willing to die for a belief that you don’t even fully understand. I cannot fathom why the God of Insanity didn’t just blow your world out from underneath your feet.”
“So why didn’t he?” The man asked.
“Because something made Him pause!” The woman shouted. “Something made Him pause and He left! Even I don’t know what happened then! I was too busy eluding that damned Watcher Tarnek!”
“From what I’ve been told, it looks like you failed miserably, Nemesis.”
“I failed because I didn’t take into account of what lay before me. I had no idea what Tarnek had in store for me. By that time, I was too late!” She rose to her feet and walked over to Jonas, who flinched.
“Do you know what it is like to be a prisoner for ten thousand years? You have no conception of time itself. So the years...they pass you by. Slowly at first, then more rapidly with each fleeting moment. Then there comes the creeping madness of not being able to move, then the sensation of loneliness that you can never get rid of, because you are the last person to virtually exist on this planet. But you can’t do anything, because something is holding you fast, making any kind of attempt at freedom a pointless gesture of futility. That’s what I’ve had to go through and I am not going back to that accursed chamber. Not until my body re-energizes and my powers have grown again.”
“So by using my daughter’s body and mind as a receptacle, you hope to be free for the duration, is that it?”
“Yes.”
“Does she know the truth about her own origins?”
The woman’s face went blank.
“What do you mean?” She asked.
“Her origins. Her birthright. What makes her who she really is.”
The woman fell silent for a moment, before she answered, “Yes. She thinks she is like her mother. A vengeful spirit trying to survive in this harsh world of hers.”
“That’s her competitiveness. She got that from me, simply because I’m a pilot.” Jonas looked into her eyes, still seeing the hate and also the pain.
“Let me talk to her, Nemesis. Allow me to converse with my only child.”
Cara’s face went slack, before they resolved into the familiar features that the man knew all too well.
“I’m listening, father. Say what you have to say. I’m a little busy at this point.”
“Is this what you want, Cara. To be led around with a leash tied to your neck?”
“Of course. It is an agreement that both Nemesis and I made together–a pact if you will.”
“You are willing to throw away your life just for the sake of someone else’s vengeance?”
“I had reasons to hate Isis, father. I made those perfectly clear to you awhile back.”
“Your mother failed because she overstepped her boundaries as a captain of the Praetorial Guard. So in an act of desperation, she embraced what Nemesis was probably offering her at the time and that too failed as a result, simply because Isis was too strong.”
“But this time, I didn’t fail. I won! Isis is no more! She’s out of the picture!”
“Can you be sure?” Jonas asked reasonably. “Can you actually stand there and tell me that she is no more?”
A cloud of doubt spread across the young woman’s face. Then–like magic–it evaporated, leaving only supreme confidence.
“Yes. She is gone. And she won’t be coming back.” Cara stated unerringly.
Jonas shook his head.
“Then you got what you wanted, didn’t you? Why don’t you come back to me, honey? Come back to the life you once had?”
Cara’s eyes burned for several seconds. Then she replied, “No.”
“No? Why not? You are a good pilot. Surely you don’t want to give that up, do you?”
“I have a higher calling now, father. Piloting an auto-frame no longer holds any interest for me.”
“Isis still does it, even though she is the Starchild.”
“Was, father. Was. I’d choose your words more carefully from now on. They could be considered slander in the future.”
Jonas didn’t see it that way. Faith was hope and hope was faith. There was still plenty of time to try. And if not now, then in the future, they would both try again.
“Unless you have absolute proof of her disappearance, I wouldn’t write Isis off yet.”
Cara’s hand tightened, forming a fist.
“She’s gone! Dead! Destroyed! Out of the picture! No more! What will it take to convince you to see that I’m right?!”
“What will it take for you to see what you are doing? To see what kind of pain and agony that you’ve caused? A hundred people dead, a thousand people dead? How many?!” He yelled. Then he pointed at Rayna’s sleeping form.
“Your mother’s? Will it take killing her just to open your damned eyes, Cara? Or how about mine?” He asked, getting down on his hands and knees in front of her and taking her hand and placing on the top of his head.
“Will killing me make you see what you are doing is wrong?”
Cara’s hard expression wavered for just a moment. In that time, the man could see indecision and regret in her face and in her beautiful emerald eyes.
But only for a moment.
“Sacrifices must be made for the greater good father. That’s how it’s been done for centuries.”
Jonas knew, that in the split-second that he figured he existed, he had failed to convince his only child the error of her ways.
In ticks between the time a part of him registered the bright flash of light and heat that would end his existence, his only thought was, I love you Cara.
Hesitation would do him no good. He would have to face not only his past, but an unlikely future.
A daughter who possesses unimaginable power and wants to destroy the world, and a wife that I haven’t seen in over eight years.
And he was on the verge of losing them both.
Going inside was easy, he knew that much. But what would he see? What would he see?
The man stepped inside.
A lit, old-fashioned brass lamp sat on the bed stand next to a bed that was fully occupied by a woman that Jonas barely recognized.
Her face was sunken and shallow and her complexion waxen from where he was standing. Even with the blanket covering her, it did nothing to diminish the lustrous raven-black hair that billowed slightly out from around her.
“Rayna...” He whispered softly, before reaching out to caress her cheek. The woman didn’t stir from his touch, but someone else did.
Rising from the other side of the bed, Cara gazed at her father.
“I see that pain just simply wasn’t enough for you, was it?” She questioned, even though she was still dressed in her own sky-blue variation of the Starchild’s black and gold costume. However, she had thrown over a skimpy robe to cover it, but it didn’t obscure the anger or hatred she felt towards her father.
“Is death more preferable?”
Jonas backed up.
“No. Death is never preferable. But nor is the pain that you’ve inflicted on a great deal of people either. Or on me.” He answered tightly. “Why don’t you give up this path of destruction...this vendetta?”
Cara’s reply was just as explosive as it was very plain and direct.
“Never!” She quaked. “Never again will I suffer such defeats and humiliations at the hands of those who should be slaves to my every whim and desires!”
“This is nuts!” Jonas shot back. “What gives you the right to subjugate every person, every living creature to total slavery?”
The young woman’s eyes flared brightly, as she was more than ready and willing to prove her point.
Jonas was already made aware of this earlier, but he stood his ground.
“Every right.” She said heavily. “All the power at my command gives me the sole opportunity to once again plunge your race into darkness.”
A light bulb clicked on inside the man’s head.
“You are my daughter, but I get the feeling that you are also someone else. Who are you? Really?”
“Rayna knows who I am.” The woman said, pointing to the ex-captain’s sleeping form. “But she didn’t utilize the power I gave her. She failed against someone who’s power was insignificant next to mine. She could’ve won you know. But she didn’t take the risk to find out. Now her daughter wields what I’ve given her and so far, she’s done a remarkable job. The Starchild has been removed from the picture and there is nothing left that can stand in my way of complete domination of this planet.” Glancing back at Jonas, she added, “So get used to it. Because the name Nemesis is all that you will be hearing from now on, once I’ve struck some fear into the hearts of these pitiful mortals in the next couple of days.”
“They’ll be ready for you.” Jonas said unmovingly. “Why don’t you just release my daughter, Nemesis? She doesn’t deserve this kind of life. Not one that is bent on revenge and the capitulation of others.”
Cara smiled.
“And what would you do to gain her back, mortal? Would you freely give your life in exchange for hers?”
Jonas nodded. “If it meant dying, then yes, I would.”
The young woman fell silent. Then she remarked, “I don’t know what it is with you mortals these days. Such grandiose heroics. All willing to die for a belief that you don’t even fully understand. I cannot fathom why the God of Insanity didn’t just blow your world out from underneath your feet.”
“So why didn’t he?” The man asked.
“Because something made Him pause!” The woman shouted. “Something made Him pause and He left! Even I don’t know what happened then! I was too busy eluding that damned Watcher Tarnek!”
“From what I’ve been told, it looks like you failed miserably, Nemesis.”
“I failed because I didn’t take into account of what lay before me. I had no idea what Tarnek had in store for me. By that time, I was too late!” She rose to her feet and walked over to Jonas, who flinched.
“Do you know what it is like to be a prisoner for ten thousand years? You have no conception of time itself. So the years...they pass you by. Slowly at first, then more rapidly with each fleeting moment. Then there comes the creeping madness of not being able to move, then the sensation of loneliness that you can never get rid of, because you are the last person to virtually exist on this planet. But you can’t do anything, because something is holding you fast, making any kind of attempt at freedom a pointless gesture of futility. That’s what I’ve had to go through and I am not going back to that accursed chamber. Not until my body re-energizes and my powers have grown again.”
“So by using my daughter’s body and mind as a receptacle, you hope to be free for the duration, is that it?”
“Yes.”
“Does she know the truth about her own origins?”
The woman’s face went blank.
“What do you mean?” She asked.
“Her origins. Her birthright. What makes her who she really is.”
The woman fell silent for a moment, before she answered, “Yes. She thinks she is like her mother. A vengeful spirit trying to survive in this harsh world of hers.”
“That’s her competitiveness. She got that from me, simply because I’m a pilot.” Jonas looked into her eyes, still seeing the hate and also the pain.
“Let me talk to her, Nemesis. Allow me to converse with my only child.”
Cara’s face went slack, before they resolved into the familiar features that the man knew all too well.
“I’m listening, father. Say what you have to say. I’m a little busy at this point.”
“Is this what you want, Cara. To be led around with a leash tied to your neck?”
“Of course. It is an agreement that both Nemesis and I made together–a pact if you will.”
“You are willing to throw away your life just for the sake of someone else’s vengeance?”
“I had reasons to hate Isis, father. I made those perfectly clear to you awhile back.”
“Your mother failed because she overstepped her boundaries as a captain of the Praetorial Guard. So in an act of desperation, she embraced what Nemesis was probably offering her at the time and that too failed as a result, simply because Isis was too strong.”
“But this time, I didn’t fail. I won! Isis is no more! She’s out of the picture!”
“Can you be sure?” Jonas asked reasonably. “Can you actually stand there and tell me that she is no more?”
A cloud of doubt spread across the young woman’s face. Then–like magic–it evaporated, leaving only supreme confidence.
“Yes. She is gone. And she won’t be coming back.” Cara stated unerringly.
Jonas shook his head.
“Then you got what you wanted, didn’t you? Why don’t you come back to me, honey? Come back to the life you once had?”
Cara’s eyes burned for several seconds. Then she replied, “No.”
“No? Why not? You are a good pilot. Surely you don’t want to give that up, do you?”
“I have a higher calling now, father. Piloting an auto-frame no longer holds any interest for me.”
“Isis still does it, even though she is the Starchild.”
“Was, father. Was. I’d choose your words more carefully from now on. They could be considered slander in the future.”
Jonas didn’t see it that way. Faith was hope and hope was faith. There was still plenty of time to try. And if not now, then in the future, they would both try again.
“Unless you have absolute proof of her disappearance, I wouldn’t write Isis off yet.”
Cara’s hand tightened, forming a fist.
“She’s gone! Dead! Destroyed! Out of the picture! No more! What will it take to convince you to see that I’m right?!”
“What will it take for you to see what you are doing? To see what kind of pain and agony that you’ve caused? A hundred people dead, a thousand people dead? How many?!” He yelled. Then he pointed at Rayna’s sleeping form.
“Your mother’s? Will it take killing her just to open your damned eyes, Cara? Or how about mine?” He asked, getting down on his hands and knees in front of her and taking her hand and placing on the top of his head.
“Will killing me make you see what you are doing is wrong?”
Cara’s hard expression wavered for just a moment. In that time, the man could see indecision and regret in her face and in her beautiful emerald eyes.
But only for a moment.
“Sacrifices must be made for the greater good father. That’s how it’s been done for centuries.”
Jonas knew, that in the split-second that he figured he existed, he had failed to convince his only child the error of her ways.
In ticks between the time a part of him registered the bright flash of light and heat that would end his existence, his only thought was, I love you Cara.
STARCHILD DUEL--CHAPTER 81
Both Bayen and Calis were startled by the ex-Watcher’s admission.
“Say what?!” The old man said. “What do you mean, ‘you do’?”
Tarnek sat back, wishing that there had been a better time to reveal this. But the spirit deity felt he had no choice. The chances of this planet surviving a conflict with just Nemesis alone was remote. With the God of Insanity, the odds were practically non-existent.
If there was a way, it had to be now.
“Ten thousand years ago was such a long time, to be kept in stasis for so long, waiting for the right soul to come along and rescue it. So the Source of Chaos managed to influence some humans into building the perfect weapon system utilizing collapsed star matter and gravitational anomalies. Coupled with a regenerative shield matrix, this was to be the ultimate deterrent against the God of Insanity. Construction of this ‘Phoenix Project’, as it was designated by the humans at the time, took thirty years to come to fruition. However, the Source added a DNA code sequencer to activate it, while also making the humans that worked on it believe that the system was pre-programmed for a particular set of variables set to go off at a certain time.”
Calis shook his head, trying to make sense of what the ex-Watcher was trying to tell him. It shouldn’t be confusing to him, but it was.
Of course, Tarnek didn’t reveal everything to me the day we first met either. He thought.
But one thing in Tarnek’s conversation did stick out like a sore thumb.
“I thought that the Source was embedded in the lower levels of the space complex, completely dormant at the time?”
Tarnek shook his head.
“Being even a piece of its former self, the Source of Chaos still has the power to influence the minds of others, even if it is on a limited basis.”
“Geez...” Bayen said, astounded by what he was hearing. “Are you saying that the Source of Chaos manipulated events just to make sure that the human race would survive?”
“It did. Only because we knew that someday, a new Starchild would emerge.”
Calis stared at Tarnek.
“Are you saying that it’s Isis?” He said, awestruck. The coincidences that she is somehow connected to what happened ten thousand years was too incredible to be held as the possible truth, but there was no ignoring the one obvious clue: The photograph he had given her as a reminder.
But this?
“There is no way of knowing until we find out. It is coincidental that what happened ten thousand years ago and what I have revealed are connected somehow, but we still don’t know the full facts of the matter. Not until time has passed and events have run their course.”
“When will that be?” Bayen questioned.
“When enough time has passed. Even I don’t know when that will be.” Tarnek answered.
* * *
If she were anyone else, Isis would’ve turned tail and ran.
But she wasn’t like anyone else, so she didn’t. However, she also had her counterpart to consider.
This definitely wasn’t in the manual...she mused, before pivoting slightly, preparing herself for the worst.
The energy entity came at her and she ducked out of the way briefly to get a better angle, but the thing double-backed and grabbed her unexpectedly, reeling her in with such a tight-assed grip!
The Starchild struggled vainly, sensing that she was clearly overmatched. But by no means was she about to give up. She still had her hand to play and maybe a couple of wildcards to boot.
There is still time, she reflected. Nemesis can only do so much to my double.
Keron laughed, sensuously fondling the power and life force that she was draining from her adversary, laughing at the way the young woman was kicking her legs, all in a feeble effort to get away.
“Your so close to death...” The woman whispered. “I can feel your life force and your power entering me. It won’t be long now...”
Isis struggled, thrashing around in the energetic cloud, which had now become–unbelievingly–gelatinous, and was beginning to harden all around her, making even the most jerky movements, nearly impossible.
The young woman grunted as the pressure started to build, threatening to break every bone in her body, but she didn’t buckle.
Using every ounce of available willpower, she brought her hands together and focused. Focused
on the task at hand, focused on what she had to do.
However, no power came forth, giving her a momentary surge of fear and adrenaline.
No! She cried out suddenly. It couldn’t have drained me that quickly! I still have a chance! One chance!
Isis sensed that her predicament wasn’t as dire as she first believed, and this gave her the necessary courage to try again.
This time, she dropped her arms to her sides and closed her eyes, feeling the energy cloud’s transmutation nearing its own completion. A minute remained, two at most. Already, she couldn’t feel her feet, or her legs. But that didn’t matter. She still had something new to try.
A ploy that hadn’t been tried to its fullest, only tested in a few exercises in the past. But she never had the chance to see the trick to its final conclusion.
Time to break this egg. She thought, determined not to die here and now.
Slowly at first, the young woman concentrated all of her available power inwards, then she gathered more, building it up and up, making sure that everything was going to work by holding the level for a few seconds; finding no decrease, before continuing.
Interesting little trick. The Source commented, as it watched on the sidelines on a subconscious level, seeing what she had in mind. Don’t know if it will work.
I don’t care. I’m willing to entertain anything as long as I can break free. The surface dweller countered silently, cutting the machine sentience off before it could speak again. Isis needed no more distractions, not here and certainly not now.
Looking inwards, she saw the power coming along nicely.
Won’t be long now. She realized, even though her timetable for the both of them was running out.
* * *
Jonas moaned softly, waking up with such a painful throbbing sensation in his head, it resonated down to his mid-section, making the pain he had experienced earlier, hurt even worse.
The man rolled over, feeling the cold floor beneath him, warm in the only spot he had been laying in.
“Jonas A-1. What time is?”
“Three in the morning, Jonas. Why in the world are you on the floor?” The holo tank asked, a little perplexed.
“Cara decided that some pain was an absolute necessity in making her point about people resisting her in her quest for total world domination.” He replied, before making the attempt to get up.
“Has someone tried to stop her?” The machine asked.
Some pain remained in his belly, but the man figured that it was nothing that he couldn’t handle.
“Isis tried, but I think she failed. Cara prevailed and all hell probably broke loose afterwards. I don’t know what happened since Calis dropped me off two hours before I was knocked out.”
“Sensors have detected two life forms in the spare bedroom. You might find your answers there.”
Jonas nodded and made his way there, holding onto his side.
* * *
Isis’s body was glowing at this point, radiating a huge amount of energy which didn’t seem to faze what had her trapped.
The young woman continued to energize, building her power and strength in a mutual struggle of tug-of-war. The Starchild sensed the thing was trying to hold her back as she was gaining more power, more strength, trying its best to suffocate her completely.
At this point, it was winning. It had solidified into an unmovable gel-like substance, its energy signature dissipating gradually as it assumed its new form: A giant amber colored ball.
It hovered there, seemingly content in what it had done.
The surface dweller felt her power peak and...
A bright explosion ripped it apart from the inside out a moment later, showering the surrounding area with giant chunks of itself.
The Starchild stood there, breathing a little heavily, energy contrails snaking around her body, as power fluctuations came and went on their own accord.
Whew! She thought excitedly, feeling ever ache and pain in her body, but knowing that her strength would soon recover and she would be able to continue shortly.
When she did, she would pay Nemesis back for making her wait.
Nemesis was in pure ecstasy. The Starchild was almost dead and her power and life energies were hers.
Without warning, a force beam of great intensity struck the woman dead on, blasting her clear of the other Starchild and causing the young woman’s body to start falling. Isis McGowan zipped down in the blink of an eye, snagging her seemingly lifeless body and then whisking her to safety.
“Isis? Isis!” She said, shaking her gently, before looking into her face.
The young woman gasped.
Her normally exotic features had become sunken and pasty. Indeed, there didn’t appear to be any signs of life in her, even her normally sky blue eyes were dull and glassy.
Then she coughed a couple of times before wheezing in pain.
Isis breathed a great big sigh of relief.
“Thank god your alive! I thought that you were–”
“...almost....dead?” Her counterpart managed with noticeable difficulty.
The Starchild nodded.
“Yes.” She answered softly.
The other Starchild sat up with her double’s help, holding her side gingerly.
After a minute, she said, “Man, whoever thought that Keron could pack a punch, wasn’t kidding.” She closed her eyes and sighed. “There isn’t much left that I can give, Isis. I’m...finished.”
The surface dweller shook her head in wild disbelief.
“No! You can’t mean that! There must be some other way!”
Isis stared at her, her complexion still a bit pasty, but the color at the very least was coming back, even if it was slow.
“There is no other way!” The woman rasped angrily. “I have failed!” Tears welled in her eyes and she began to cry, startling her other self. “I’m going to die and Nemesis is still going to be out there! Even with your increased power and strength, you couldn’t even stop her!”
The young woman nodded meekly.
“It must be different here, Isis. I am able to do a few things, but your right, I can’t stop her. But maybe together, we can.”
A trickle of hope entered the other woman’s mind.
“H-how?”
Isis felt immensely tired all of a sudden. She had come to do one thing and she was distracted by another. And to top if off, she was no closer to finding a way home.
“Later.” She promised, looking down to where Keron had hit, close to what remained of the lower levels. All there was left was a great big cloud of dust and shattered debris.
“Right now, we both need our sleep and it’s getting late.” She said, before teleporting them both out of here in a bang of cold-white light.
Down below, a pile of debris moved on its own accord, before falling away rapidly, allowing one lone figure to rise.
Keron brushed herself off, feeling more surprised than pissed.
Thirty more seconds and the Starchild would’ve died. Thirty more seconds...
Then she smiled.
“Very good, Isis McGowan. Very good. But the next time we meet, you won’t be so lucky. I can promise you that.”
“Say what?!” The old man said. “What do you mean, ‘you do’?”
Tarnek sat back, wishing that there had been a better time to reveal this. But the spirit deity felt he had no choice. The chances of this planet surviving a conflict with just Nemesis alone was remote. With the God of Insanity, the odds were practically non-existent.
If there was a way, it had to be now.
“Ten thousand years ago was such a long time, to be kept in stasis for so long, waiting for the right soul to come along and rescue it. So the Source of Chaos managed to influence some humans into building the perfect weapon system utilizing collapsed star matter and gravitational anomalies. Coupled with a regenerative shield matrix, this was to be the ultimate deterrent against the God of Insanity. Construction of this ‘Phoenix Project’, as it was designated by the humans at the time, took thirty years to come to fruition. However, the Source added a DNA code sequencer to activate it, while also making the humans that worked on it believe that the system was pre-programmed for a particular set of variables set to go off at a certain time.”
Calis shook his head, trying to make sense of what the ex-Watcher was trying to tell him. It shouldn’t be confusing to him, but it was.
Of course, Tarnek didn’t reveal everything to me the day we first met either. He thought.
But one thing in Tarnek’s conversation did stick out like a sore thumb.
“I thought that the Source was embedded in the lower levels of the space complex, completely dormant at the time?”
Tarnek shook his head.
“Being even a piece of its former self, the Source of Chaos still has the power to influence the minds of others, even if it is on a limited basis.”
“Geez...” Bayen said, astounded by what he was hearing. “Are you saying that the Source of Chaos manipulated events just to make sure that the human race would survive?”
“It did. Only because we knew that someday, a new Starchild would emerge.”
Calis stared at Tarnek.
“Are you saying that it’s Isis?” He said, awestruck. The coincidences that she is somehow connected to what happened ten thousand years was too incredible to be held as the possible truth, but there was no ignoring the one obvious clue: The photograph he had given her as a reminder.
But this?
“There is no way of knowing until we find out. It is coincidental that what happened ten thousand years ago and what I have revealed are connected somehow, but we still don’t know the full facts of the matter. Not until time has passed and events have run their course.”
“When will that be?” Bayen questioned.
“When enough time has passed. Even I don’t know when that will be.” Tarnek answered.
* * *
If she were anyone else, Isis would’ve turned tail and ran.
But she wasn’t like anyone else, so she didn’t. However, she also had her counterpart to consider.
This definitely wasn’t in the manual...she mused, before pivoting slightly, preparing herself for the worst.
The energy entity came at her and she ducked out of the way briefly to get a better angle, but the thing double-backed and grabbed her unexpectedly, reeling her in with such a tight-assed grip!
The Starchild struggled vainly, sensing that she was clearly overmatched. But by no means was she about to give up. She still had her hand to play and maybe a couple of wildcards to boot.
There is still time, she reflected. Nemesis can only do so much to my double.
Keron laughed, sensuously fondling the power and life force that she was draining from her adversary, laughing at the way the young woman was kicking her legs, all in a feeble effort to get away.
“Your so close to death...” The woman whispered. “I can feel your life force and your power entering me. It won’t be long now...”
Isis struggled, thrashing around in the energetic cloud, which had now become–unbelievingly–gelatinous, and was beginning to harden all around her, making even the most jerky movements, nearly impossible.
The young woman grunted as the pressure started to build, threatening to break every bone in her body, but she didn’t buckle.
Using every ounce of available willpower, she brought her hands together and focused. Focused
on the task at hand, focused on what she had to do.
However, no power came forth, giving her a momentary surge of fear and adrenaline.
No! She cried out suddenly. It couldn’t have drained me that quickly! I still have a chance! One chance!
Isis sensed that her predicament wasn’t as dire as she first believed, and this gave her the necessary courage to try again.
This time, she dropped her arms to her sides and closed her eyes, feeling the energy cloud’s transmutation nearing its own completion. A minute remained, two at most. Already, she couldn’t feel her feet, or her legs. But that didn’t matter. She still had something new to try.
A ploy that hadn’t been tried to its fullest, only tested in a few exercises in the past. But she never had the chance to see the trick to its final conclusion.
Time to break this egg. She thought, determined not to die here and now.
Slowly at first, the young woman concentrated all of her available power inwards, then she gathered more, building it up and up, making sure that everything was going to work by holding the level for a few seconds; finding no decrease, before continuing.
Interesting little trick. The Source commented, as it watched on the sidelines on a subconscious level, seeing what she had in mind. Don’t know if it will work.
I don’t care. I’m willing to entertain anything as long as I can break free. The surface dweller countered silently, cutting the machine sentience off before it could speak again. Isis needed no more distractions, not here and certainly not now.
Looking inwards, she saw the power coming along nicely.
Won’t be long now. She realized, even though her timetable for the both of them was running out.
* * *
Jonas moaned softly, waking up with such a painful throbbing sensation in his head, it resonated down to his mid-section, making the pain he had experienced earlier, hurt even worse.
The man rolled over, feeling the cold floor beneath him, warm in the only spot he had been laying in.
“Jonas A-1. What time is?”
“Three in the morning, Jonas. Why in the world are you on the floor?” The holo tank asked, a little perplexed.
“Cara decided that some pain was an absolute necessity in making her point about people resisting her in her quest for total world domination.” He replied, before making the attempt to get up.
“Has someone tried to stop her?” The machine asked.
Some pain remained in his belly, but the man figured that it was nothing that he couldn’t handle.
“Isis tried, but I think she failed. Cara prevailed and all hell probably broke loose afterwards. I don’t know what happened since Calis dropped me off two hours before I was knocked out.”
“Sensors have detected two life forms in the spare bedroom. You might find your answers there.”
Jonas nodded and made his way there, holding onto his side.
* * *
Isis’s body was glowing at this point, radiating a huge amount of energy which didn’t seem to faze what had her trapped.
The young woman continued to energize, building her power and strength in a mutual struggle of tug-of-war. The Starchild sensed the thing was trying to hold her back as she was gaining more power, more strength, trying its best to suffocate her completely.
At this point, it was winning. It had solidified into an unmovable gel-like substance, its energy signature dissipating gradually as it assumed its new form: A giant amber colored ball.
It hovered there, seemingly content in what it had done.
The surface dweller felt her power peak and...
A bright explosion ripped it apart from the inside out a moment later, showering the surrounding area with giant chunks of itself.
The Starchild stood there, breathing a little heavily, energy contrails snaking around her body, as power fluctuations came and went on their own accord.
Whew! She thought excitedly, feeling ever ache and pain in her body, but knowing that her strength would soon recover and she would be able to continue shortly.
When she did, she would pay Nemesis back for making her wait.
Nemesis was in pure ecstasy. The Starchild was almost dead and her power and life energies were hers.
Without warning, a force beam of great intensity struck the woman dead on, blasting her clear of the other Starchild and causing the young woman’s body to start falling. Isis McGowan zipped down in the blink of an eye, snagging her seemingly lifeless body and then whisking her to safety.
“Isis? Isis!” She said, shaking her gently, before looking into her face.
The young woman gasped.
Her normally exotic features had become sunken and pasty. Indeed, there didn’t appear to be any signs of life in her, even her normally sky blue eyes were dull and glassy.
Then she coughed a couple of times before wheezing in pain.
Isis breathed a great big sigh of relief.
“Thank god your alive! I thought that you were–”
“...almost....dead?” Her counterpart managed with noticeable difficulty.
The Starchild nodded.
“Yes.” She answered softly.
The other Starchild sat up with her double’s help, holding her side gingerly.
After a minute, she said, “Man, whoever thought that Keron could pack a punch, wasn’t kidding.” She closed her eyes and sighed. “There isn’t much left that I can give, Isis. I’m...finished.”
The surface dweller shook her head in wild disbelief.
“No! You can’t mean that! There must be some other way!”
Isis stared at her, her complexion still a bit pasty, but the color at the very least was coming back, even if it was slow.
“There is no other way!” The woman rasped angrily. “I have failed!” Tears welled in her eyes and she began to cry, startling her other self. “I’m going to die and Nemesis is still going to be out there! Even with your increased power and strength, you couldn’t even stop her!”
The young woman nodded meekly.
“It must be different here, Isis. I am able to do a few things, but your right, I can’t stop her. But maybe together, we can.”
A trickle of hope entered the other woman’s mind.
“H-how?”
Isis felt immensely tired all of a sudden. She had come to do one thing and she was distracted by another. And to top if off, she was no closer to finding a way home.
“Later.” She promised, looking down to where Keron had hit, close to what remained of the lower levels. All there was left was a great big cloud of dust and shattered debris.
“Right now, we both need our sleep and it’s getting late.” She said, before teleporting them both out of here in a bang of cold-white light.
Down below, a pile of debris moved on its own accord, before falling away rapidly, allowing one lone figure to rise.
Keron brushed herself off, feeling more surprised than pissed.
Thirty more seconds and the Starchild would’ve died. Thirty more seconds...
Then she smiled.
“Very good, Isis McGowan. Very good. But the next time we meet, you won’t be so lucky. I can promise you that.”
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