Pet: Revelations - Chapter Six (Patreon)

Iris

I’m slow to wake up. It feels like I’ve been dragged so deep into the recesses of my mind that I am clawing my way back to consciousness. I feel heavy. But as I slowly come to, I feel myself. I feel my toes, then my fingertips. I feel my back flush with the contour of the bed, and as I finally open my eyes, I feel the warm presence of a hand stroking my cheek.

It takes me a few seconds to blink the sleep from my eyes and the blur from my vision. But as I do, I am met with the most beautiful being I’ve ever seen in my life. He watches me with an empty expression, his white hair tied away from his face. His eyes glitter like jewels in the sun, and as he watches me come to recognition, he smiles.

“You’re awake,” he says.

I pull in a panicked breath, shoving his hand away from my face as reality slams into me. Tears of frustration burn my eyes, and I roll away from him. I may feel well-rested, but the hurt that I feel is indescribable. He forced me to sleep. He ignored my wishes and explicitly went against everything I asked of him. And as he watches me right now, I see that he has no regrets in doing so.

I can’t look at him.

“…Why?” I murmur.

I feel his hand on my waist, his touch annoyingly warm.

“I had to. You weren’t going to rest unless I did,” he says.

“That isn’t your choice to make, Remus,” I say.

He doesn’t respond.

“How long have I been asleep?” I ask. I don’t want the answer, but I need to know. I need to know how long I left Sky by herself after promising her I wouldn’t. He still doesn’t respond, and I turn to face him, sitting up.

His expression is so eerie, reminding me of his mother, that my words hitch in my throat as fear temporarily paralyzes me. I slowly wrap my arms around myself as I shiver, looking away.

“Why do you see everything that I do as a slight against you? I did this because it’s what was best for you. You were running yourself—”

“That’s my choice to make, Remus. You don’t get to take away my free will because you disagree with it,” I snap.

Remus laughs, the action shocking me. It’s the first time he’s shown an emotion, and it’s condescending.

“Why are you laughing?” I ask, narrowing my gaze.

“If I left you to your free will, you would have been dead,” he says, his expression darkening. “You can’t be trusted with your own life.”

I don’t have a response. I know my face shows shock, and as I slowly move away, he realizes what he said. His expression softens, and he takes a breath, the action so human that I breathe in relief myself.

“I didn’t mean that. I’m having a hard time understanding you lately—understanding myself,” he says, reaching for me.

I flinch, and he frowns, but continues to reach for my face. His fingertips brush against my cheek before he grips both of my hands, holding them in his as he speaks.

“I’m not doing this out of maliciousness. It’s the only way I know how to protect you. I let my guard down before, and you paid for it. I can’t let that happen again,” he says, his eyes searching my face.

“I’m fine, Remus. I’ll be fine—”

“No. You don’t understand. You can’t,” he says.

“Remus,” I say his name gently, and he slowly looks at me. It finally dawns on me that he’s reacting out of fear for my life. I’ve known that he was different since he came back. But to see him like this—powerful yet broken, is both frightening and heartbreaking. I don’t know where to draw the line. He can’t even see it. At this moment, he is incapable of it. And I cannot treat him as if he understands me. He doesn’t. Whatever has changed in him has made it that way.

I shake my head. “Tell me what happened to you. Help me understand,” I say.

He smiles, as if in gratitude, squeezing my hand gently before letting me go. “You can’t.”

He tries to move away from the bed, but I grab his hand, holding him as I look into his eyes. I ignore the drumming of my heart as my fears rise, and I reach for his cheek myself. His skin is so warm beneath my touch, another alarming signifier that he isn’t human.

To my shock, he closes his eyes, enjoying my touch.

His brief moment of humanity is gone as he opens his eyes and moves away from my touch.

“Get dressed. There is something I want you to see.”

A heavy sense of deja vu settles over me as I stand in front of the wide window that allows me to see into space. For days or weeks, we have been traveling through it in complete darkness. There have been no stars in the distance, no planets, no storms. Just pitch black. But as I stand now, I can see what looks like a single star in the distance, reminding me of the time Remus and I stood together as we entered Xyrannis's atmosphere.

Remus is silent as he stands next to me, offering me quiet support as he lets me look. Our conversation when I awoke plays over and over in my mind. I wanted to be angry with him, but he made it impossible. And he won’t share with me what happened to him. He’s dealing with it in his own way, allowing it to consume him, turning him into someone I don’t recognize.

I slowly turn to look at him, and his eyes are focused on the gleaming star in the distance, his expression wiped clean of emotion. I wanted him back so badly, but now that he’s here, I don’t know what to do with him. He’s distant and cruel at times without meaning to be. It feels like everything I thought I could have, a new home, a life as his equal, and finally putting my past behind me, has been ripped away.

“Is Sky okay?” I ask. “I told her I would come back, and I haven’t since.”

Remus doesn’t miss a beat. “She is experiencing the same rest you did.”

I blink in confusion. “You mean you…” I trail off. 

“Yes. By the time she awakens, she’ll be in a new home, well-rested and ready to be there for Ezra,” Remus says.

I perk up at the mention of Ezra.

“He’s recovered?” I ask, pulling Remus’s attention.

He looks at me.

“No. But once we reach our new home, he will be fine. He just needs to hold on until then,” he says.

The excitement I felt dies just as quickly, and I look back to the star. Confusion washes over me as I take it in. It looks much larger than it did seconds ago, meaning we are travelling at a speed I cannot comprehend. Not only that, but as it grows, I see wisps at it’s side, the shape somewhat changing.

“What did you mean when you said Ezra was only alive because he has the blood of a Celestivine?” I ask.

“Exactly what I said,” Remus says, putting an end to the topic.

“You know what I mean,” I say, looking away from the star.

“Why is he different than you?” I ask.

Remus’s jaw clenches slightly.

“Because my mother preferred it that way,” he says.

I can tell that he doesn’t want to talk about it further, and I won’t push him. But I do note his choice of words. Once again, his mother is responsible for this.

“Why did that Celestivine attack him first? Wouldn’t it have made sense to attack you or Xion first?” I ask.

Remus is quiet for a moment, and I think he isn’t going to answer me when he does.

“No,” is all he says, effectively putting an end to the conversation. I watch him carefully when I notice the light shining on his features. It’s coming from the window. I look back at the star in confusion, my eyes widening as any other rebuttal I have disappears from my mind.

We’ve gotten much closer to the star. But it isn’t a star. It looks like a…rift. It stretches, light pouring from it, mimicking the blue glimmers I used to see in Remus’s eyes. I don’t know whether to feel fear or awe as I stare at what no human has ever seen.

“What…” I trail off, not capable of voicing my awe, my confusion, or excitement. It’s breathtaking. And the closer we get, the more detail I can see. It isn’t just a rift. It looks like a vortex, and I am unable to describe any one color as it changes so rapidly, I can’t settle on it.

“It’s fascinating, isn’t it?” Remus says next to me, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“…Yes,” I whisper.

“My people, my home, the life I had before… it all lies here,” he says.

I want to look at him, but I can’t look away. I note that we seem to be heading straight for it. And I don’t see anything beyond it. As I look in the center, all I can see is bright light. But I do pick up what he says.

The life he had before.

He’s never mentioned life as a Celestivine. He’s always made it sound like he and his siblings were the only ones of their kind, born to conquer worlds.

My panic slowly grows as we get closer, the darkness of space slowly disappearing. The light is so pure that it bathes the inside of the ship with a startlingly bright light, and as we get closer, I note that my body grows extremely heavy, like I’m being pulled.

“R-Remus,” I whisper, reaching for him. My legs buckle, and I can’t hold myself up. It’s too heavy, like my bones are being crushed inside of me.

I want to scream or panic, but I can’t. I’m incapable of any movement. My eyes flutter as I try to remain conscious, and Remus’s eyes appear in my line of vision. They’re startlingly bright, almost as if they are reacting with the vortex. But he doesn’t seem affected by it as he holds me.

“I wanted you to see as much as you could. I knew you would enjoy it.” he gently smooths my hair away from my face, his expression eerie. “I also want you to remember this moment. You have no knowledge of the world we are about to enter. You are as helpless as you were when I first came to your planet. I need you to understand that as I navigate this, and know that everything I do is to protect you and everyone that I care about. I never want to hurt you again, Iris. I love you…so much,” he says.

I can barely hold on to his words as I gnash my teeth in pain. My body feels like it’s going to be split apart at any second, when I suddenly feel Remus’s lips over mine. I gasp as warmth sweeps over me, and my eyes grow heavy. But the pain slowly subsides with only his voice to guide me.

“I will see you when you awaken.”