Pet: Revelations - Chapter One (Patreon)

Iris

I know Remus isn’t here without opening my eyes. Not only is the bed cold, but so am I. As I open my eyes, I am met with pitch-black beyond the glass. There are no stars, no planets, no storms. 

And definitely no snow.

I am greeted with the vast emptiness of space and a level of uncertainty that makes me shiver as I clutch the blankets closer to me. I miss the place I began to call my home—Remus’s home. Now I’ve been forced to leave it, and travel with Remus across another galaxy to a destination I know nothing about. I am once again without a home and without a certain future.

I laugh bitterly to myself, burying deeper into the blankets. I would have been so angry at myself in the past for thinking of Remus’s home as mine. But with everything we went through, combined with having to face the terrifying reality of being truly alone, I’ve changed. I don't have the luxury to be stagnant about my planet any longer. And Earth feels so far away at this point, my memories of it as a child are nothing more than a lucid dream. Even my brother has become a distant memory—a bitter reminder of just how far humanity had fallen. 

I roll over, staring into the ceiling. I’m afraid to move. Though my body feels well rested, my mind is exhausted. It’s been stretched thin with everything that has occurred. The life I had grown complacent in has changed drastically in such a short amount of time. One moment, I was angry with Remus for the results of my world, and the next, I was caught in the crosshairs between gods. I know nothing about the place we’re traveling to, the Celestivine who arrived, or why he wants Remus to return with him. And I know Remus won’t tell me. He’s a closed book, getting more distant each time I see him. It feels like all the progress we made on Xyrannis has been thrown out the window. And while he isn’t a hostile being in my eyes, he is as much a stranger as he was when I first met him on Earth.

I pull in a deep breath, forcing myself to sit up. By the time I’m upright, the room is fully illuminated, revealing my spacious environment. I ignore the room, my attention fixated on the lights that glow with warmth along the baseboards. The will to get out of bed grows less and less the more I acknowledge my surroundings. This ship is much different than Remus’s. It feels very alien with no accommodations for a human, making me even more wary about where we are headed, and why Remus thinks I should be brought along when it’s obvious wherever we are heading isn’t made for me.

My sweep of the room pauses when I land on a familiar white material lying across the long sofa near the glass. It’s Remus’s cape. It’s neatly strewn across, reminding me of the organized alien. I quickly get out of bed, my feet carrying me to his clothes before I can think about anything else. The material is soft between my fingers as I wrap it around myself. Remus’s scent fills my senses, instantly calming my nerves. It makes it easier for me to focus on fastening the loose chains that are supposed to hold the thick material together.

Even when fastened, the cape is much too big, so I resort to holding it together with my hands, the fabric dragging the floor as I make my way to the door. I’m so caught up in the familiarity of Remus’s cape that I forget we are on an alien ship. Out of habit, I make the gesture Remus taught me to open doors, but nothing happens. This isn’t Remus’s ship. This isn’t even a Leviathan vessel.

I clutch Remus’s cape tighter to myself, taking a hesitant step back. A weight slowly creeps over me, settling over my shoulders and in the pit of my stomach. It intensifies until tears quietly spill over, my bottom lip trembling involuntarily.

It suddenly feels overwhelming standing here in front of the door. My legs tremble until I slowly lower myself to the ground. I don’t have the strength to move back to the bed, at least. The terror of this situation has paralyzed me. I can’t even blink as I stare at the looming door. The small bit of freedom that I had has been stripped from me once again.

I lower my gaze, staring at my fingers. I haven’t seen or heard from Ezra or Sky since Remus pulled me from the surface. I miss them. In their own way, they were my only friends during everything that happened on Xyrannis. Sky was a familiar face in a similar situation. And Ezra, in his own way, was my only ally. Were they brought along? Or will I never see them again as well?

I tense when I suddenly feel a warm pair of hands gently pressing around my shoulders. I turn quickly, looking into the terrifying gaze that now belongs to Remus. His once calming purple gaze has shifted into a glittering mass of ethereal energy as he looks at me. It is just like his mother’s.

An involuntary gasp escapes me as I move away from him, my heart beating slightly faster. His smile, which was soft to begin with, disappears. He understands my fear, and as much as I want to hate myself for making him feel that way, I don’t. Those eyes no longer draw me in…they terrify me. They are the last thing I saw before my world changed in the most wicked ways.

“What are you doing on the floor?” he asks.

He gently presses his thumb against my cheek, rubbing away my tears.

“Did you have a nightmare?” he questions when I don’t respond. I keep my eyes down as I push his hand away.

“No,” I murmur.

Remus doesn’t respond, but he continues to watch me. For the first time, it makes me uncomfortable. The knowledge behind his eyes is alarming.

“Iris…why won’t you look at me?” he asks.

Silence drifts between us, and I am back to looking at my fingers. Having him this close is suffocating. It’s strange, I didn’t feel this way before. I was just happy to be alive and happy that he was back to his usual self. But the longer he spends around me, the more I am aware of how far from his usual self he is.

“Are you going to continue to keep me in the dark? Or are you going to tell me what’s going on?” I ask.

Remus scoffs, pulling my attention. “You’ve only just woken up. You’ve been through a lot. I don’t think now is a good time to talk about such things,” he says. He gently brushes my hair away from my face as he speaks, and I grab his arm, holding him. I pull in a deep breath, looking him in the eyes.

“I risked my life to bring you back. Have I not proven that I am more than capable of handling information?” I ask.

Remus’s expression reflects shock for a brief second before he gently pulls his hand out of my grip, laughing.

“You are more than capable. But this isn’t your burden to bear. It is mine,” he says, standing. He holds his hand out for me, and I watch it for a moment before placing my hand in his, allowing him to help me up from the ground.

The warmth his touch exudes is comforting, and I tighten my grip, not letting him release me as I speak.

“Can you at least tell me what happened to you? What did she do to you?” I ask, looking at him.

I flinch as his eyes darken, his smile disappearing as he pulls his hand from my grip. It's less gentle this time.

“Iris…what has happened to me isn’t important. What is important is that you get rest and not worry about things that are out of your depth,” he says.

I know he sees the hurt in my expression from his words. I don’t think he even realized what he said. I step back, putting distance between us.

“Iris, I didn’t mean—”

“You said that when you returned, we would pick up where we left off.” I gesture to the room as I speak, “This isn’t where we left off.”

He seems to be having an internal battle with himself as he watches me, debating what to say in response. I’ve never known him to be at a loss for words, but judging from what he just said, the change that has occurred isn’t just physical. It’s mental as well.

I release a bitter laugh.

“Is…seeing Ezra out of my depth? Or can I check on one of the only people who tried to help me when you were hellbent on taking my life?” I ask.

Remus’s expression is blank as he watches me. He lets the silence linger in the air, making me more uncomfortable by the second.

Suddenly, the door dissolves. He doesn’t move, he doesn’t gesture, he doesn’t even place his hand against it, making my heart beat faster from what I’m witnessing. I already knew his power was beyond my comprehension from what I witnessed those last moments on Xyrannis. Seeing him do something he’s always used his hands for, however, is unnerving.

He steps to the side, remaining quiet as he watches me. I can’t pin his mood, but I ignore my anxiety, moving past him into the dark hall. I blink, but my eyes won’t adjust. I gasp when I feel Remus’s touch. He gently threads his fingers through mine, holding my hand as he quietly leads me through the strange hall.