The Lion of Light By: TimTam
This is a work of fiction and contains scenes of explicit gay sex. Any resemblance to actual places, persons, or events is coincidental. If you are not of the legal age to read adult stories, or are uncomfortable with gay themes, please stop reading now and close this document.
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Chapter 5
The tedious flight to Alpha Caentauri felt longer than it truly was. Especially since knowing that Tethys and I were a dangerous pair, everyday was a torment for me. We hadn't yet actually participated in any form of penetrative sex, and I was being driven mad despite the decision being my own. Since our physical differences brought their own challenges into the mix, I was apprehensive to actually have sex with Tethys. I didn't let that stop me from fully enjoying everything else that we did together though.
Tethys and I worked hard to figure out a decent sleeping arrangement. Keeping his basking light on, though in a lower temperature setting allowed us to be closer to each other without burning me, or hindering Tethys' cold-blooded nature. My piloting lessons had progressed well once I had grasped the basics, and I was only using my phone interface as a reference instead of a tool. Mina's education of her vintage ship was also highly productive, and she seemed to fit the role of its Captain better with each passing day.
With regards to the crew, most of the non Greyling members were placed into stasis on the third day of our journey once Mina was satisfied that The Vanguard had been readied enough for the mission we had embarked on. By now, the halls were all mostly empty, aside from the occasional Greyling servicing panels or conduits here and there. This had left the four of us, The Vanguard's senior crew, mostly alone with each other. I could tell that Mina, and Hyakk's friendship had grown fairly close. Meanwhile, I struggled to put a limit on the amount of intimacy that Tethys and I engaged in. By this point, the mark that Tethys had placed on my shoulder had mostly healed nicely. Aside from the yellow and purple bruising that still plagued the spot, it looked more like it belonged there everyday.
Laying in the warm waters of the bath, I rubbed Tethys' mark instinctually, memorizing the placement of each puncture scar. The subtle hissing of the steam soothed my ears as I waited for Tethys to join me. He had told me that he would meet me here after running an errand, and I couldn't wait to feel his emanations again. The way he made me feel, the attentiveness that he supplied me was becoming an addiction of mine. I couldn't last long without feeling the vibrations that he produced when he was around me. It seemed to take away my worries, and I felt less nervous with myself knowing that he was attracted to me. I began to lose a bit of myself, wondering if these feelings were normal, like he completed me somehow. Feeling Tethys' presence, though not hearing it over the loud steam of the space, I smiled in thought as the brute sat comfortably in the waters with me.
"Took you long enough," I chided smoothly, soaking in the vibrations Tethys emanated. Tethys placed his hand over mine along the edge of the pool, and I gently gazed up at the beast soaking up the warm water.
"It is a long walk from astrometrics," Tethys replied.
"Astrometrics? That's the last place I would expect to find you." My confusion read clearly on my expression. "Are you sure you weren't at the commissary?" Tethys chuckled softly at my inquiry.
"I had asked Hyakk to meet me before his shift today," Tethys now wrapped his arm along the edge of the pool behind me, groaning as one of the jets massaged his back.
"How is Hyakk today? I didn't see him this morning. That's probably why."
"He is anxious to meet the Centaurans." Tethys hummed delightfully.
"So what exactly did you need to meet Hyakk for in Astrometrics? Again, that's not exactly a common place for you, Tethys," Peering over at the large form, I noticed a small device in Tethys' hand as he presented it to me.
"I know you have been feeling lonely these past few weeks, little one. Now that we are close to Alpha Centauri, I remember you saying how close it is to your homeworld." My eyes moved from his hand, and up to his sharp orbs. His expression was soft, and I read compassion in the way that Tethys looked at me. "The task was tedious for Hyakk, but I was able to convince him to find a star chart of your home system." Tethys fumbled with the small gadget as he pressed a button on the side. The device flickered to life as a hologram of the Sun, and her planets shined in the palm of his hand.
I couldn't help but feel my heart sink a bit from seeing the holographic representation of my home. Seeing a model of the Sol system was something that I took for granted back on Earth. Every time I wanted to know more about our solar system, all I had to do was look it up online. I never actually thought that seeing it in the palm of someone's hand would be so beautiful, but there it was. In Tethys' grasp, I could see my beautiful Sol. Jupiter, Saturn, and its ice giants were clearly visible. The smaller, rocky planets were just mere pinpricks in his hand though.
"It's beautiful Tethys," I hummed delightfully, watching my miniature solar system revolve around in the palm of Tethys' hand. Taking the small hologram from his palm, I set the device on the edge of the pool protectively. "Why did you do this for me?"
Tethys grunted at the thought, "It is your home." Shifting in mild discomfort, Tethys pretended that his action wasn't a big deal. "You have been lonely without your people, so I felt that this would bring you joy. Was that the wrong gesture, little one?" I smiled at the brute, situating myself on top of the man's broad lap.
"Gifts are often a sign of affection, Tethys," I chuckled at his discomfort. "Are you trying to be romantic? You did ask me to meet you here. The bath house is the most intimate setting I can think of to express a romantic gesture to someone aboard this ship." Tethys grunted uncomfortably again.
"Is it working, Lux?" Tethys asked, unsure of his success rate. I rubbed my growing erection against his slit in response to his question.
"It's doing something," I smiled. "That's for sure." Closing the gap between us, I leaned in to kiss the side of his pronounced jaw. Moving my kisses lower down Tethys' neck, I could feel his cock emerging from his sheath. I began to rock my hips back and forth along his growing shaft to coax as much of him out that I could. Tethys cooed from my ministrations to him, and my hands ran down his pecks, and rippling abs.
"Do you want to do this, Lux?" Tethys asked, searching for any doubt or worry from me.
"Yeah," I moaned into his ear. "I think I'm ready to give it a try." That was all the beastly life form needed from me before I felt one large hand grab my hair and yank me back off of his neck. His other hand grabbed my tight waist, and pushed me back into his now fully engorged cock.
"Do you feel it, Lux?" Tethys groaned as he pulled me back, looking me over instinctually.
"Yes," I gimped, nodding my head as best as I could. Looking down my nose into Tethys simmering gaze, I felt his desire.
"I did not hear you, little one," Tethys pulled my hair more tightly, causing my body to arch backwards.
"Yes!" I howled above the hissing of the steaming room. "I can feel it, Tethys!"
"What do you want me to do with it?" Tethys asked dominantly.
"I-I wan-," I winced as Tethys pulled a little bit harder. His cock ran up my back in this position, and he ground it up with a thrust. "I want you to fuck me Tethys!" I practically pleaded with him to make it happen.
Tethys released his hold on my hair, and I brought myself in close to him. Kissing the nape of his neck, where his ridges joined his collarbone and jaw together, I began nibbling on the spot. His hard scales made it difficult to apply pressure, but I kept biting nonetheless. Lifting us up out of the bath, I began to quake from the cooler ambient temperature, and my wanton lust for Tethys. He carried me over to a large chaise lounge chair, and laid me down. The cool material sent shockwaves down my spine. I couldn't help but shiver a bit from the contact.
"My pocket, Tethys." I mumbled to my Draconian lover, pointing at my uniform that draped over the back of a nearby chair. "Inside, I found lube 4 light years from home." I laughed at the humor of my own joke. It was difficult to find any kind of lubricant that we could use out here. I don't think that they planned on very many sexual encounters between a human and Draconian when they stocked the Vanguard. Regardless, my searching for anything to ease Tethys' monster inside my ass was worth the time it took to find it, though Tethys produced enough precum that I began wondering if it was even necessary.
As soon as Tethys stopped grinding his hard cock into my ass the power to the room was cut. The hissing of steam quieted, and beneath that I couldn't hear the musical engines propelling us forward. Silence came over the entire space, and it was so dark that I wasn't able to see anything. I groaned in annoyance, as I felt Tethys stiffen. He too was caught off guard by the sudden power outage.
"Hey Siri?" I asked, and my phone chimed as it waited for a command. "Turn on flashlight." Two dings from my wrist signaled acknowledgement of my command, and my wrist lit up as the flashlight shined into the dark, cavernous room. "Well that was a boner killer," I mused, and Tethys growled from his displeasure.
Tethys grunted a command in his alien tongue. I couldn't help but laugh at the brute who had me still pinned to the chair. I should've known that this would happen, since my translator went offline the last time we lost power.
"No arguments there big guy, but let's find the others first. Maybe they know more about what's going on." I patted Tethys' shoulder to release his hold on me, and we both fumbled in the dark to find our clothes.
Making our way to the bridge, Tethys kept one of his large hands fixed on my shoulder as he guided me through the corridors. Although he made it seem like a protective gesture, I couldn't help but feel mild agitation from the fact that my eyes couldn't see well in the pitch black cast that we walked through. My flashlight helped, but it wasn't designed for this kind of task. The wide beam flooded the forward view a short distance ahead as Tethys led us around each corner. I practically jumped out of my skin as my light cast a bluish hue on a Greyling's sudden appearance into its light. Responding reactively to my increased heart rate and fear, Tethys' clawed hand gripped me tighter instinctively as he pulled me into a protective grasp. He didn't struggle to see what was out here, but he did respond to my increased dopamine and adrenaline levels as my fight or flight instincts responded to the new situation that caught me off guard. I smiled at his gesture once I realized that we were not in danger.
"It's okay. It's just a Greyling, Tethys," I mumbled as I exhaled, releasing the adrenaline rush I was experiencing. Tethys relaxed, though he still did not release his hold of me. I groaned slightly as he released the pressure he held on my shoulder. Maybe the Greyling knew what was going on. "Hey there, what happened to main power?" I asked, but the Greyling stared ponderously at me. "Hey Siri," My phone chimed in response. "Open Translator Matrix." My phone dinged with disdain for me.
"I'm sorry, but it seems that I am having trouble connecting to the server," The cold voice responded. Agitation from my failed attempt welled below the surface, and I felt Tethys grumble protectively in response, and he gave my shoulder a subtle, reassuring squeeze.
Sighing, we continued our walk to the bridge. This time, our Greyling counterpart tagged along behind us. As we made it to the bridge, Tethys stepped forward to pry the double doors open. The doors grinded unpleasantly against the motors, and soon we found the bridge too covered in darkness. Shining my shallow beam into the room, I saw Hyakk on the ground working some wires, and Mina just sat in her chair. Perhaps she too struggled to see in this dark, though the illumination of the stars provided some form of lighting up here. Mina turned as my flashlight penetrated the space, and Mina swiftly approached us at the door. Her delicate language only showed to express that they hadn't fared much better up here.
Coming into contact with me, I shined my flashlight up at her expression, as I was sure she read my thoughts to gage what we knew. Unpleasantly for her, all she got were our sex crazed last few moments before the power dropped. The light flickered in her orbs as she looked up at Tethys with clear discomfort, and I heard the massive man begin to laugh. It pleased him to know that our secret was out now I thought. Mina released her hold over me, and we all walked into the room together. Our little Greyling friend was already down helping Hyakk rearrange some wires, and after a short time the conduits began glowing green from their success. Hyakk rose, and his friendly creeks and clicks chided playfully as he approached me. As he pointed to my arm where my phone was attached, I could've sworn it seemed like he was asking permission to take the phone from my wrist, and I obliged his request as I removed the device.
Handing it over to Hyakk, he took the phone and placed it on it's holster at Hyakk's station. After tapping a few icons on my screen, the room lit up to half its normal brightness, and the whirring sound of electronics booting filled the quiet space. Everyone let out a quiet sigh as some semblance of power was restored to the space.
"You don't think that my phone will be able to restore power to the rest of The Vanguard, huh?" I asked, not expecting anyone to understand me.
"It is a step in the right direction," Hyakk's flanging voice retorted stubbornly. I smiled being able to hear someone speak my language again.
"You know Hyakk, it really felt like you were almost speaking English a moment ago," I spoke, slightly stunned by the coincidence.
"I have been practicing your language. It is not difficult to learn, but it is difficult to speak." Hyakk's mouthparts flickered from his lips. "I am finding that my anatomy is getting in the way of proper enunciation." I smiled at Hyakk's attempts to relate to me.
"What happened?" Mina asked. Her glances toward us showed her persistent discomfort at what she had just seen in our mind's eye.
"That is still unclear," Hyakk started. "With Main Power offline, we do not have access to the ship's diagnostic software."
"What is the status of the life support systems?" Tethys grunted.
"Offline. We have approximately 18 hours of breathable air left, but I fear we might die from the cold before that happens. The good news is that with everyone still in status, that means more air for us to breath." Hyakk tried to express the silver lining of our situation, but it only twisted our guts in response.
"Keep working on a way to restore main power Hyakk," Mina encouraged. "Tethys, Lux; I need the two of you-," Our captain had been cut off by the sounds of sudden decompression. I wasn't sure what was going on, but Tethys seemed to understand exactly.
"Damn pirates," Tethys mumbled under his breath.
"Report, Hyakk," Mina's voice expressed worry. She had not planned for anything like this.
"Internal sensors are still offline, Captain. I can't get a better picture of what is happening without eyes throughout the ship." Hyakk exacerbated his words. Clearly no one was hoping for any sort of contingencies, beyond a successful mission. Everyone except Tethys, that is.
"Pirates," Tethys spoke a little bit more loudly this time. "This is precisely how they operate; Disabling the main powersource of their victims, then taking what they want, leaving their victims to die in the coldness of space." Tethys' rage began to intensify the coarseness of his voice. "I would know, I taught many of these pirates how to plunder vessels."
"Tethys, Lux; Get down to the cargo bay, and secure our payload," Mina's order mixed worry with sternness.
"Umm..." I paused, looking for the right words. "I hate to burst anyone's bubble, but uhh-, I am not a fighter." I choked up a bit, causing my heart to pound a little bit faster. Tethys placed his strong hand on my shoulder.
"I have already read your mind, Lux. You have had some weapons training?" Mina asked.
"Well, when I was six!" My voice raised at the memory. "I was an Indian Scout for ONE summer. They taught us how to shoot rifles, bows and arrows. I haven't EVER used that skill since-," I trailed off.
"It will have to do," Tethys' voice sounded worried. Hyakk then brought me some sort of weapon, and a visor.
"I planned to give this to you when it was no longer a prototype, Lux," Placing the visor around my right eye, Hyakk pointed to a button on the top side of the weapon. "Press here to discharge the plasma bolts, use the visor to target." Hyakk flicked a switch on my visor, and the software came to life in the viewfinder. "The device was intended to interface with your own tech, but since that will be staying here to power the bridge, this will work well enough."
"Great," I moaned as Tethys removed his own large weapon from the wall by the bridge entrance. Tethys then turned to me to quickly issue some pointers.
"Aim for the head, the heart," Tethys drew an X on my chest. "And-" Mina abruptly cut him off.
"We are not killers Tethys," Mina commanded. "Disable them, only." Tethys grunted with minor frustration, then redrew his X over my knees.
"The kneecaps," Tethys spat. "Harder to hit, but will disable the enemy." Tethys leered unpleasantly towards the Captain as he finished his brief tutorial.
"You two should get moving," Hyakk chimed in. "That decompression reduced the oxygen to twelve hours, and the temperature is dropping quickly.
"I'm going to die," I moaned as Tethys led the way out of the bridge.
My visor illuminated the hallway much more efficiently than my phone did, and Tethys resumed his prior position beside me, so as to not obscure my light. Tethys had readied himself to take position in front of me at any given moment. Glancing up towards the massive predator's eyes, I could see his glossy third eyelid scrub the surface of his eye, and his mauw was open slightly. I learned in biology class that some animals have the ability to smell certain pheromones by passing air through a series of glands just behind their front teeth. It seemed that Tethys was using this technique in order to get a better picture of the environment. Honestly, seeing Tethys display such raw, animalistic tendencies gave me goosebumps. Tethys quickly glanced down at me, and I smiled sheepishly returning my gaze forward.
As we passed each corner towards the cargo bays, I noticed Tethys' stance got lower and lower. Eventually, the immense life form was lower to the ground than my comparatively meek five feet and nine inches. This must have signified that we were drawing closer to the enemy, and my heart rate increased in preparation. A swarm of thoughts began dumping into the forefront of my mind; mostly negative. I was starting to experience difficulties in maintaining focus. This situation was real. We were about to encounter dangerous criminals that had less of an aversion towards killing us, than we did them.
Tethys placed his hand heavily on my shoulder, snapping me back to reality again. I must have been flooding his field of view with my intense emotions and pheromones. I gulped silently, swallowing most of my fear, and Tethys pulled me to a halt. This must've been it. Angling my visor around the last corner, my visor picked up four heat signatures. All four of them were large, and the silhouettes were shaped similarly to Tethys. We were there. Two against one. I didn't like those odds, and the element of surprise was nonexistent seeing as the light from my visor gave away our position.
Listening to the enemy powering up their weapons triggered Tethys' attack. Sandwiching me between him and the wall, Tethys reached around to seemingly shoot blind towards the four foes. I could only hear the sound of one man falling to the ground as they returned fire. Pulling me with him as he receded back away from the corner, I disengaged the light from my visor. I still was able to get their signatures on my display, and I breathed in deeply as I wiggled out of Tethys' protective hold. I would only slow him down, and we needed weapons cover from both sides. They knew about our position here, but if I could get to the other side of the hall, I could potentially out flank them.
Tethys growled angrily as I made my move. As silently as possible, I darted across the hall towards the other side of the junction. A few blasts whizzed past my face, and arm, but one landed on my calf. Hissing in pain I lunged towards the other side, falling to the ground. The three remaining pirates approached ferociously. Two landed successful blows on Tethys, while one approached my position and readied his firearm.
Making my attack, I discharged my weapon on the brute's kneecaps. Two bolts, one for each leg discharged with the same confidence that I had, seeing as I had an optimal view of his legs from where I laid on the ground. The mighty predator fell to the ground as I watched Tethys bludgeon his rifle into the snout of one of the others. My view flickered towards the other signature drawing a knife. I took aim of it, and fired my plasma bolt at his hand, frying his digits from the discharge. That had given Tethys the upper hand to launch his attack on the equally powerful predator, as he caught the beast's swipe from his sharp claws, and blasted his kneecap at point blank range from his plasma rifle.
An intense pain blasted through my own leg, and I looked down to see my disabled foe had plunged his dagger-like claws into my shin. With deliberate motion, the Draconian pirate pulled his claws down my leg, slicing me open like a T-bone steak. The pain flooded the forefront of my mind. I could not focus on anything else as I fought it back. Drawing my firearm on him, I only had a good target on his head. We were told not to kill, but I feared that I might not have any other choice. In that moment, the sound of Tethys' rifle cracking the enemy's skull as it made contact with the floor filled the hallway. His hissing and growling signified some sort of angry remark, though I could only imagine what he said.
The truth was, I was now out of the fight if I couldn't find a way to stop the bleeding. The only thing keeping me conscious was not being able to see the blood as the warm fluid soaked the fabric of my uniform. Tethys quickly kneeled down, and my visor showed him removing a strap from his sleeve. From memory, I knew that the leather strap held a knife around his arm. As Tethys lifted my leg to thread it under me, I once again hissed from the pain. I had never felt anything like this. This wasn't like getting my yearly shots. My leg pulsed with agony as my bloody wounds kept pumping out fresh blood. Pulling his knot tight around my thigh, I couldn't help but scream from the pressure. Tethys knew that the only thing to do right now was to place a tourniquet around my leg to stop the bleeding.
With no time to acclimate to my new situation, Tethys hoisted me up, and wrapped his arm around my waist taking most of the weight from my step. He knew above all else, we couldn't stop now. We had engaged the enemy, they would be sending more Draconians here in minutes. We had to secure the cargo. Making our way into the cargo hold, the enemy's red bolts blasted the door as we attempted entry. They had already made it through the cargo bay doors, and were loading their small craft with as much supplies as they could carry. Their cover fire had made it impossible to gain entry into the bay, and we waited out their fire for our own opportunity. We wouldn't be getting one though, and a barrage of Draconian weapons fire from behind us successfully took Tethys down.
Leaning against the doorway like a wounded animal, my blurry vision tried to take aim of the Draconian that was fast approaching before his weapon landed one last blow to my head. I was successfully taken out, and I only saw the terrifying life form hoist me up as he carried my limp body onto the shuttlecraft. Darkness filled my field of view as the ship powered it's engines and made it's escape from The Lion of Light.
"Damn it," I thought before losing complete consciousness. "The fuck is this bullshit? I am always losing consciousness at crucial times." The reddened hues of the cockpit seemed like the moment before you died in the Grand Theft Auto video game as I finally drifted to subconsciousness. The truth of the matter was that I was not built for any of this. Humans were weak compared to these densely armored aliens, and I myself wasn't trained to fight, and take damage. I was just a bartender, I had no value to this crew. There was no way that I could ever hope to keep pace with Tethys, even if I were to make it out of this alive.
As I contemplated the validity of my own life, my blurred vision caught movement in front of the new blue lighting wherever I had ended up. My vision slowly came into focus, as a heavenly voice spoke to me.
"Victor Herring," She hummed. The shadowy figure was obscured from view. "Child, can you hear me?" Once again her movement in front of the dim lights cast a blue aura around her body. Several hands were working on my leg. Some cleaned my bloody tissue with a cold, wet cloth, others stitched my leg back together, and occasionally, I felt a cool damp cloth wiping the sweat from my brow. As my vision increased, I could make out several conduits around the room, hanging like vines. Correction, webbing. Her massive form grew more focused, and I peered into the glossy black orbs of her eight large eyes.
Still not ready to move yet, I began howling at the sight of her immense fangs that vibrated in response to my agitation. They were as thick as my calves, and as long as my forearm. Her bi-segmented body showed a truly arachnid appearance, and I watched as her many legs worked on my body. By this point, I began struggling as she hoisted me up by some of her webbing. As she spun me around several times, I felt an increase in pressure on my wounded leg. Sparing a thought to look down, I noticed that she was wrapping up my leg with her webbing, and I returned to look at her face through my tear-filled eyes. Fear had gotten the best of me.
"Victor Herring, please calm down." Her voice was melodic, and ethereal sounding. It had a calming nature to it despite her terrifying appearance. "Your panic will increase your blood pressure, and make you pass out again." Gently returning me to the table, it was now that I realized that my hands were bound in front of me.
"What do you want from me?" I asked, quaking from tremendous fear. The female arachnid laughed musically in response.
"We were taking possession of our cargo, though I had not expected to find you onboard that ship." The life form brought my arms toward her dangerous fangs, and I began to cry more audibly.
"P-please don't eat me," I gimped, hearing her tear through the bindings around my hands. I peeked through one eye, and observed her consuming the webbing that had previously bound my wrists.
"You are not my dinner," She mused. "I had to bind your arms in order to spin you, so that I could repair your wounds better." The thick bristles on her forearms brushed my now freed limbs as she brought them back down to my lap.
"Who are you?" I asked, taking inventory of all of my body parts. Carefully counting each limb, and digit, I noticed her melodic laughter fill the space again.
"Some call me Abkhazia, but you may call me Zia." Zia swiftly moved around the table, making one last visual evaluation of my physical well-being. "When my men reported to me about your presence onboard that ship, I knew I had to bring you here. The historians tell me that you are not supposed to be there."
"The historians?" I asked, turning to lessen her view of my back. There was no way that I trusted her to be where I couldn't see her.
"Yes, the writers of the Akashic Records." Zia hummed quietly. "Have you heard of them?"
Awkwardly, I placed my hand behind my head, slightly wincing as I rubbed a new goose egg. "Um, well-," I paused. "Not exactly, but I have heard of the Akashic Records before. Wow, this is really weird."
"How so?" Zia asked, continuing to move around the table. I persistently moved to maintain face with her at all times.
"First, Mina talks about reincarnation, soul contracts, and soulmates, and now your telling me that you too believe in the Akashic Records?" I chuckled nervously. "Where I come from, the Akashic Records are something of folklore, and only loons truly believe in soul contracts, and reincarnation." Hopefully this would not anger her.
"You think I am a loon then?" Zia's body shifted to one side, evaluating my response.
"No!" I quickly responded, waving my hands pleadingly. "It's just that, so many unbelievable things have happened to me recently, I'm not really sure of what's true or not." Somehow, I managed to relax a bit as Zia continued circling around me. I still kept my eye on her, but I ceased my reciprocal spinning to counter her.
"Hmm, yes," Zia hummed her acknowledgment. "You were definitely not supposed to be here, but now you are." This time, Zia turned her back on me as she moved through an opening in her `webbed' conduits. "Walk with me Victor Herring."
"Actually, my name is Lux." I rose to follow her, wincing as I struggled to place weight on my left leg. "If I follow you, do you promise not to drink my blood or something?" I asked somewhat jokingly, but not really.
"Or something." She replied. "Tell me, why have you chosen that name, Lux?" Observing her from behind, I knew she was still looking at me, since a pair of her eyes were located at the back of her head. I rubbed the mark on my neck nervously, and Zia took note. "You have mated with the Draconian ambassador on board your ship?"
"Uh-," I coughed. "Not exactly." I stammered with a nervous pitch and tone. "There hasn't really been an optimal time to, uh well, ya know," I paused. "Do the deed." My shoulders met my ears in a shrug.
"You fear that he would injure you if you tried." I would've thought that she was asking a question. Instead she made a statement.
"Well," Once again I cleared my throat. "No, no, not exactly that I suppose." Why were we even talking about this? "You know, our physiologies differ pretty greatly."
"Ah, but not as much as you would think." Zia hummed. This corridor seemed longer than I expected as we continued walking. "My species for example: The males are small and weak. Once the deed is done, we kill them, and feed them to our young. A much more dangerous predicament for them than what you face with your reptile." I blushed, and hoped she did not notice.
"W-who are you?" I choked, trying to change the subject. "I mean I know your name, but I guess I am a little bit lost as to why I'm here."
"Ah, yes, my apologies, young one. I am a record keeper, and since you are not when you are supposed to be, we must update the records to take note of this. I ignored the use of the word when, figuring it may have just been a translation error. After all, I didn't have my phone with me to translate, so however this was happening was out of my control.
"So, you are kind of like a Librarian then, right?" I asked.
"Of sorts, come child, we must update your records. It is a wonder that you have evaded them for this long." As she spoke, we entered into a vast room that displayed many holograms. Planets, stars, life forms, and Supernovas all hovered around us in a beautiful dance of lights. "Please," Zia moved aside, revealing a brightly illuminated platform in front of us. "Step into the light, so that I may access your new path."
Hesitantly, I did as she asked. Moving into the light, I noticed that all of the pictures around me were things from my past. Starting from recent events, moving backwards, they traced my life up until now, and then moved beyond my birth. I saw many people flash through the projections, and I tried to watch carefully what each of them looked like. Maybe I would see her, Tethys' previous mate. Person after person passed in front of me, and I began to worry. I still had not seen her yet. Did I really possess her soul like Tethys adamantly believed?
"Interesting, many of these past lives have not occurred yet." She pondered aloud.
"Is that bad?" I asked, still hoping to see her.
"Not typically," She pronounced. "Sometimes we take lives at different times, generally moving forward with an occasional future or past incarnation happening. But with you, I am seeing many lifetimes beyond the present, as your past." There she was, I caught a glimpse of her, my Draconian counterpart.
"Stop!" I commanded, and the progression froze. Slowly approaching the hologram of the Draconian woman, I soaked in her visage. "Aaliyah..." I whispered.
"You remember her?" Zia asked.
"No, but I very much would like to." Her stature was tall, and curvaceous. She was densely built, with many feminine lines. Built for power, and strength, I envied her. I would not be like her in this lifetime, and that kind of made me sad. I was at a disadvantage with Tethys, and I wasn't sure anymore if I truly would be able to accommodate his brutal nature.
"Interesting, you have no memory of any of your past lives?" She began pacing the room as she observed me studying Aaliyah.
"No..." My posture softened. "Apparently I am supposed to, but I have no idea how. I'm just, not like anybody else."
"That is paramount," Zia hummed. "Your biggest strength Lux." Watching me intently as she circled the room, I couldn't help but reach out to touch her, Aaliyah. "Are you ready to see what your new path has in store for you, young one?"
"Yes," I replied, mesmerized by Aaliyah's appearance. Suddenly, her image vanished in a blur. Bringing me back to reality, I returned my attention to the arachnid now circling the room.
"The historians have shown me two paths, the one you were taken from, and the one you will live instead."
"Taken from?" I asked.
A series of images began flashing around me. I saw myself driving. I was wearing a uniform, my work uniform. I must have been driving home from work by the expression on my face. A car crash leaves me in a coma for a long time. By the time I wake up, much of me is disabled. I spend my days in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the waist down. I also appear mentally handicapped. I struggle to do the things I had once loved. I meet a man, his kind features, and compassion towards me shows that he truly cares. He takes care of me, my caretaker. I think I grew to love him, though it is not reciprocated. I'm never able to truly tell him how I feel, which leads me to be lonely for a long time. Eventually, I get sick. Kidney failure it seems, and it's not long before I pass away due to my inability to secure an organ donor.
"I'm glad that I made it here then," I spoke as tears welled up in my eyes.
"That too is different from what you truly would have experienced if you never came here. Whatever brought you here has made ripples in multiple realities." Zia continued circling. "At least you would have reincarnated into a new person after that. This life doesn't bode well either. Malevolent forces are at work on your life Lux."
"What does that mean?" I asked, snapping to reality. "Can you show me the path I am on now?"
"I cannot, because it has not been written yet. But I can issue one warning, young one." Her humming grew with agitation. "Do not sacrifice your immortality to save others. The moment you become one with the many, you will lose your ability to start over. You will never find rest." Breaking the circle, the immense spider leaped towards me, pushing me to the ground. "Do not merge with the machine to save the lives of others Lux, or else Victor Herring will die and never be born again!" By now, her musical voice grew disharmonic, and shrill. She howled at me like a banshee as I struggled to break free from her grasp. "This life must end, so that you may start another!" She screeched.
Her dangerous fangs made a swipe at my face as she tried to pierce my skull. Moving back, the blue lighting revealed venom on her fangs, she had lied. She WAS trying to eat me. What the actual fuck had I done? I had trusted her at my own expense.
"You promised not to eat me!" I howled.
"I did no such thing, young one." The arachnid growled as she made another swipe, tearing the collar of my soiled tank top. "This life must end, so that a new one may be started. That is why the historians have brought you to me. This body will feed me, and your soul will reincarnate anew." By now my hands were struggling to keep her deadly fangs away from me. She definitely out classed me in strength and size, there was no way that I was going to get out of this one.
In a ricochet of sound, I saw her head take a shot from direct weapons fire. Her sub-exoskeletal fluids splattered on my face as the behemoth spider fell to the ground. Not dead yet, I moved from beneath her, narrowly missing her fangs one last time.
"The soul must be spared at all costs," She whimpered in her near death howl. Standing, I saw Tethys leaning against the corridor entrance bloodied, and holding his plasma rifle. I wanted to swoon from the sight, but I also couldn't help but feel shame. I can't even get myself out of danger without help. How would I ever be a good fit for him?
"You are wrong," I spat, reaching beneath the leather tourniquet, grabbing the knife that Tethys left there when he placed the strap around my thigh.
It was a large blade when I held it, and I carefully examined it as I plunged the blade between her two forward most eyes. It was over for her, and I wouldn't stand to receive the same fate. Wiping the spider's fluid off the blade with my other pants leg, I placed the blade back into the holster on my tourniquet. Tethys' emanations were different somehow. Filled with emotions beyond care and compassion. There was pain, and sadness in it this time. It saddened me knowing what I've put him through.
"Okay big guy, let's get you back to The Vanguard," I touted, pretending that I didn't feel any type of way about anything that happened here.
Placing my arm around his waist this time, we supported each other as we limped out of the spider woman's den. Tethys' feathers shook with emotion as he peered into my soul with his piercing eyes. He was searching for any pain, or wrongdoing that he could seek vengeance on. I aptly locked it all down with an aloof attitude, and resumed my gaze forward on the goal ahead of us. Tethys didn't like this though, and he brought my face back to meet his. Even now, we were so biologically different, that we couldn't even kiss to show our affection for each other. I wasn't really sure I wanted to right now anyway. I was less sure now of my place in his life, than I ever was before. We were just too different from each other. I wasn't sure if I could ever truly bring him happiness.
Author's Note:
Hey all, sorry for the longer than usual wait on this one. I wanted this chapter to bring in some depth, so it took me a little while longer than usual to write it. I wanted to make sure it was just right before posting it, running over the events a few times before settling on what it is now. Thanks for patiently waiting, and I hope you all are ready for this roller coaster to drop!
TimTam