Pet: Genesis - Chapter 37 (Patreon)

Just saying, I listened to "Pandora" by 2WEI while writing this and it was pretty freaking epic. 

~

Iris

The Leviathan are celebrating. What, I haven’t the slightest clue. I have yet to ask Remus, and he has yet to offer the information to me. I look around the large room in awe, the decorations and lighting are something out of a fairytale. Even the Leviathan are all dressed in extravagant gowns, seeming like fictional creatures rather than an actual race of individuals.

I watch Remus in his element, acknowledging his people with a gentle smile as they greet him. I don’t know what it is they are saying, but when I take in their expressions I can tell they are overjoyed by his presence. Everyone here seems overjoyed. Even Remus seems strangely at ease.

Since our arrival, instead of placing me behind him as usual, Remus keeps me at his side, his hand gently placed around my waist. Not like a slave, but like his equal. I’m not even wearing the usual inhibitor he makes me wear at events like these. Could he be that confident that I am willing to remain by his side in exchange for my brother’s life?

“Remus!”

I’m pulled out of my thoughts at the sound of a familiar voice. I look up to see Zaya making her way towards us, her eyes shining in excitement. Remus smiles back, and begins speaking to her in their native tongue. Whatever their conversation is about, Remus seems genuine in his joy.

Zaya is very talkative with Remus, and the longer I listen, the more I feel a strange emotion that I’ve never felt before when it comes to Remus. One that I hate is even beginning to manifest itself inside of me. As if sensing my thoughts, Remus looks away from Zaya, his gaze focusing on me for a moment. He lets out a small chuckle before looking back at her, and finally ending the conversation.

He doesn’t say another word as he places his hand against the small of my back, leading me to what looks like the dance floor. He doesn’t miss a beat as he gently wraps his arm around my waist, placing my feet atop his. The best part, my dress fans out enough that it covers our feet, so no one can see.

“Are you alright?” Remus asks gently. I look up at him, my heart beating in my chest at his gentle expression. A stark contrast to the first Leviathan event we attended together. So much has changed since then.

My grip on his arm tightens as my thoughts bombard me.

“I feel strange. Ever since…,” I trail off not knowing how to broach the subject, but lucky for me, I don’t have to.

“Strange how?” Remus asks. I immediately look away, my cheeks burning at the thought of having to voice my emotions. Remus chuckles, speaking my thoughts.

“You don’t have to be jealous of Zaya, Iris.”

“I’m not jealous,” I snap. Remus scoffs at my reaction and I tense when I feel his lips hovering over the sensitive place on my throat.

“I know you, Iris. Everything about you is an open book. You don’t have to lie to me,” he murmurs.

“I’m not jealous,” I repeat. I look at Remus with anger in my eyes.

“I would never be jealous of you. You’re despicable,” I hiss. Remus’s smile widens and he looks away from me.

“Of course,” he says. I use the opportunity to look around the room at the inhabitants of the society, and I notice they are all very excited. There seems to be an aura in the air.

“Speak your mind,” Remus says over me.

“They all look so… happy,” I say. Remus nods looking at them as well.

“They have known security, peace, and a thriving society their whole lives. How could they be anything but?” he says. I don’t respond, looking at his people. He’s right.

I’ve seen every part of Remus’s society from the top to the bottom, and on every level, they are happy. Content. Remus has somehow given that to them.

“Not bad for a despicable ruler,” he adds. Everyone is too excited. As if they are anticipating something.

“What is this celebration for?” I ask. Remus watches me for a moment, his eyes searching my expression before he gently places his hand in mine.

“How perceptive you are.”

He doesn’t say another word as he leads me towards the balcony, away from the party. We step onto the balcony and I can still hear the music from inside playing.

I take in the scenery around me, taking note that we’re sitting near the ocean. So the air is warm.

“Can you see it?” Remus asks. I follow his gaze but I can’t see anything.

“See what?”

“The main port.”

I look ahead, but I can’t see anything. Remus takes in my struggling situation and chuckles softly.

“Don’t worry, you’re human so your eyes can’t see that far, but it’s there.”

“What does the port have to do with this celebration?” I ask.

“It’s the same reason Zaya was so excited when speaking to me. Her and my sister are very close. She’s as excited as everyone else about her arrival tonight.”

My heart slams against my chest from his words and I look at him.

“What?” I ask in a shaky whisper. His gaze is focused on the port though.

“We’re celebrating Xion’s arrival.”

I suddenly feel dizzy. Xion is arriving. She’s coming here to Earth.

“Why? Why is she coming here?” I ask. Remus notices my tone, watching me with a strange expression. He opens his mouth to respond, suddenly stopping. I tense as well when I feel a light tremor. Remus’s expression is stone as he looks out over the ocean, and I follow his gaze, my eyes widening from the sight.

It’s an explosion of some kind. I couldn’t see the port, but I can see the flames and smoke. Just as notice it, the doors to the balcony fly open and a panicked Leviathan steps out, shouting something at Remus.

He tenses next to me, quipping his response and I notice the Leviathan paling. Remus doesn’t respond as he grabs ahold of my hand, pulling me back into the party. My heart is beating wildly in my chest as I take in Remus’s demeanor. I haven’t seen him this way since our first encounter in the blight.

He finds Zaya, snapping something to her quickly before looking at me.

“Do not leave her side,” he snaps. That’s all he offers as he speeds out of the room, leaving me with Zaya. My eyes widen and I look at her in a panic.

“What’s happening?” I ask. She doesn’t respond though. Her eyes are narrowed, her muscles tense as she looks around the room. Out of nowhere, a commotion happens. It’s barely noticeable at first, only a few dishes crashing. But then, the screams happen. The Leviathan around me break out in panic just as the lights dim slightly.

Zaya pushes me behind her looking around with a narrowed gaze.

“We are being attacked.”

The room is so massive that I can’t see what’s happening, until I feel a hard pull on my arm, yanking me away from Zaya. I barely have time to register who it is when I’m looking into a pair of familiar green eyes.

“Cypress?” I shout.

He doesn’t respond as he steps in front of me, his weapon aimed at Zaya. She’s watching him with an amused expression.

“Get back, or I will kill you,” he growls. I eye him in confusion, the weapon he’s holding beginning to light up from the beam of energy rushing through it. Zaya crouches slightly in a combative stance, ready to attack.

Cypress doesn’t respond as he fires the weapon. A high pitched wave of sound fills the air as the weapon fires, hitting Zaya straight in the chest. The force of the weapon fires her through the crowd and into the nearest column, the material collapsing from the sheer force. My eyes are wide as I watch along with the other panicked Leviathan, but she doesn’t get up. She doesn’t move from the rubble.

“Oh my God,” I whisper. The Leviathan around us don’t have time to register what is happening as more rebels with similar weapons appear in the room, firing around us to create chaos.

Cypress doesn’t speak as he kneels, pulling a blade out of his ankle holster and begins cutting the dress away. I take note that the commotion is growing impossibly loud and now Leviathan are running, clearing out the hall.

“What’s happening?” I ask in a panic.

Cypress tosses the remains of my dress, standing to his full height.

“We’re getting you out.”

He clasps my hand in his pulling me along the room and into the hall along with others surrounding us. I look around, my heart fluttering as hope courses through me. Then, I remember Remus.

We reach the top of the building and I can see the rebels have created a zip line to the bottom, some already sliding down to reach the ground. I look at Cypress in confusion, joy filling my chest when I see he has no permanent scarring or bruising from the rebel attack. I have so many questions for him, but now doesn’t seem like the time to ask.

Cypress is barking commands to the surrounding rebels and he kneels, quickly fastening the belt to attach to the zip line around me.

“What was that?” I ask referring to the weapon.

“That, is our new hope,” he says. He looks up at me with a small smile.

“The information you gave to Jude was extremely helpful though we didn’t know when would be a good time to deploy an attack on the main port. When we received word that the third sibling was finally coming to our planet, we figured now was the perfect time to implement our plan.” I look off into the distance and can see the large plume of smoke in the air.

“You did that?” I ask. Cypress nods his head, his smile widening.

“We destroyed the whole damn port with his sister in it,” he smiles holding up his weapon.

“There’s no way she survived.”

Against my better judgement, my mind shifts to Remus. I look at Cypress as fear coils in my chest.

“And Remus?” I ask. Cypress pulls a strange looking canister from his holster, locking it into the weapon.

“After our little encounter we made some major modifications. This is a concentrated weapon that breaks things down on the molecular level. If he comes, we’ll be ready.”

“Boss, let’s go!”

Cypress nods, locking me into the zip line gently placing me on the ledge of the building.

“Wait for me at the bottom,” he says.

I nod my head, tightening my grip as I let gravity pull me to the bottom of the building. It only takes a few seconds, but it feels like hours as my mind shifts to Remus. He’s not going to be happy. There’s no way any of us will survive this. But if what Cypress says is true and they have developed something to properly take down Remus with the understanding of him as an existence, we could have a chance.

I finally reach the bottom, and Cypress isn’t far behind. I can see the other rebels surrounding us already taking off on strange looking motor-bikes. Cypress runs past me, jumping on his own before motioning for me to join him. As I make my way towards him I take note that he is locking the weapon for Remus on the front of the bike. These have clearly been modified for combat, as the extra seat has been made with space for a weapon in mind. I take in the other rebels noticing that if they aren’t driving, they are holding a weapon. But none seem to have the weapon that Cypress wields.

“We’ll be sitting ducks if we can’t defend ourselves,” Cypress says. He pulls a weapon from the other side of the bike handing it to me as he jumps on starting the engine.

“Can I trust you?” he asks. He’s watching me cautiously, and I know what he’s truly asking. Am I with him. The last time I saw him, I was trying to convince him to give up this fight. And now, he’s risked everything in coming back for me.

Even if we can’t win, Remus can’t hold his life over my head any longer. Not if I’m with him. Not if I can fight and die alongside him. Remus was right. I only lost my drive. But not my will. I clench the weapon to my chest, smiling.

“Hell yeah.”

Cypress smiles, turning around and I immediately strap myself in, pulling my helmet on. The bike jerks and takes off through the streets of the Leviathan city. I feel excitement blooming in my chest. I feel hope, I feel joy, and along with the people around me, I let out a battle cry of excitement. Remus was wrong. He was wrong about it all.

Cypress came back for me. Me.

The rebels all fan out in a strange formation on their bikes as we speed through the city. They all know the way no doubt from their infiltration of the society. I take note that the rebels that aren’t driving are holding their weapons as they wait for an attack.

“We’re almost to the edge of the city.” I hear Cypress’s voice through the mic of the helmet. but I don’t respond as the rebels next to us seem to have lost control. I look over to them with wide eyes, my chest squeezing in fear as something unnatural happens. The bike, and its inhabitants are crushed.

“Shit!” Cypress screams just as another one of rebels are pulled at an inhuman speed ahead of us, their bike never reaching our attacker as it shatters into nothing. My eyes widen as Remus stands ahead of us, waiting with a menacing look in his eye. Even in his formal attire, he looks terrifying.

“Cypress?”

The other rebels have noticed our situation and have begun firing their weapons at Remus, none of which are doing anything to harm him. They’ve also slowed their advances. I take in the failing situation, as whole explosives are fired at Remus and do nothing to him. It’s like the attack at his home. He only deflected it, the weapon destroying the area around him but leaving him with not even a scratch.

“Shoot, Iris, shoot!”

I hear Cypress screaming at me, but my brain is working faster than I can process. Remus isn’t someone you can fight head on, we’ve seen this on many occasions. I wrack my brain for a solution as the rebels halt their bikes, Cypress as well and continue firing at Remus.

“Iris, shoot!” Cypress screams.

I lift the weapon, eyeing Remus as my finger hovers over the trigger.

It won’t work. Remus can deflect any attack, or just stop it. And that’s if he doesn’t kill us first from this distance.

“Dammit Iris!”

Cypress yanks his weapon from me, walking towards Remus with it aimed and Remus’s eyes glow bright in excitement at the prospect of killing him in front of me. I sprint towards Cypress ready to sacrifice myself to save him and my mind immediately shifts to our earlier conversation.

“You would do anything to protect those you care about. You care about what happens to them more than what happens to yourself… It is a trait we both share.”

I take off towards Cypress, pulling my helmet off so that I can have good aim.

“Cypress, stop!” I scream as I reach him. I use all my weight to wrench his arm at an uncomfortable angle, using his momentum to flip us just as I saw Zaya do that day during training. Cypress cries out in pain but I manage to get the weapon from him, using my foot to hold myself up on the ground. I look through the lens, aiming at Remus just as he begins his terrifying stride towards us. His smile widens as he takes me in, shaking his head at my decision.

I suck in a deep breath, feeling my last piece of innocence dissolve as I shift my weapon away from Remus, aiming it at a building. A building filled with life. Leviathan life.

Tears brim my eyes as the reality of what I’m about to do hits me.

“I’m sorry.”

Shock crosses Remus’s features as I fire the weapon past him, and he realizes the direction of my aim. He turns away from us, his features filled with rage as he holds his hand out to stop the projectile from hitting innocent Leviathan.

I immediately reach for the special weapon sitting on the front of Cypress's bike aiming for Remus.

I don’t think twice as I pull the trigger.