+1+
We get back in the dead of night, the place alive with energy. I gather the news of failure and shooting had spread quickly. On the TV there is headline about possible shots heard near the New Aeterna border.
The Prince is waiting in the center of the foyer, Paul is sitting on the stairs. Leon and a few others I don’t know by name are also there. One of them comes up to me, he’s looking at a cut on my neck and the bruise on my arm.
“You fired a gun”, The Prince yells from across the room. I’d never heard him yell and his voice caries. His dark eyes on Seraphina.
“I was protecting the resistance”, she pushes back the Demon who tries to check her for injuries.
“You fired a gun in New Aeterna, Seraphina. “, He scolded her like she was a child, “There are no guns in New Aeterna. No white gold bullets. Helios is going to know it was the resistance. It’s sloppy work.”
She tries to walk away but he follows her, he doesn’t even realize how exhausted we both are. That she swam across the fucking Hudson river just a few hours ago.
“Back off”, I start, “Let her res—“
“Shut the fuck up”, He says to me and I want to throw a punch. He turns back to Sera, “Explain yourself now.”
“I—I look--Helios will think it’s some anti-Helion--”
“Anti-Helions who know about white gold bullets? Unlikely. Try again.”
Sera makes for the the stairs and The Prince blocks her way. I stay close because I’m afraid he’s going to hit her. He goes
up one step just so he can look down at her. She looks past him.
“You killed the Angels you shot, yes ? Shot them through the heart? Clipped their wings”
“Yes”, she seemed to know where he was going with this and turns away.
“Who does that , Seraphina ? Who else is that accurate, Seraphina ? Helios is going to know it’s you. Love. He’s going to know you are alive Seraphina and he’s going to come after you. Do you want him to come after you ?”
"No but--"
"But nothing. For Godsakes the problem is half your choices are fueled by roid rage."
“It’s fine. . .We just need to lay low before the big mission”, she says, “Then this will all be over. I know what I did. I know that family doesn’t stand a chance. I had to get out. I killed them so I could get back and protect you and what we stand for. I’m trying to fix the world, Paris. And I’m sorry if—“
“I don’t want your apologies”, he cuts in “I want your respect. Respect my reputation and my rules. That pertains to everyone here but especially you, love. Do you know why ?”
She folds her arms.
“Because I’m your wife.” she answers her eyes locked defiantly with his.
“Yes, I’m sure you remember the respect, honor and most importantly obey part”
“You’re being petty, I had to—“
“Stop”, he cuts her off with a raised hand, “We are done with this.”
“You don’t-“
“Remember the obey part , love ?”
She purses her lips, clearly aware of the audience behind them.She nods.
No one says anything and I make the mistake of making eye contact with her. I don’t think I’ve even seen her blink.
“I think”, Leon pipes up, “I would have done the same as Sera. People are greedy and desperate. Oberon could have been a liability. I think she had every right to take him down”
“Well that’s your opinion Leon”, the Prince smiles, “And why I didn’t marry you.”
“We live to fight another day”, Callum says coming over to me, “And we have a new member. I think he’s earned his brand.”
“The mission was a failure-“ , The Prince started
“He got me back alive, he works well under pressure and he knows New Aeterna better than anyone else. He’s earned himself a spot.” Seraphina stands up for me.
“Fine”, The Prince says, “Welcome to the resistance. I’m sure Paul and Callum can’t wait to brand you”
I can feel Callum
standing behind me.
“So, newbie”, I feel his warm breath, “where do you want it?”
+2+
In the same night I snuck back into New Aeterna, watched a guy get shot, helped a family escape to certain death and took a swim in the Hudson river, got branded by a rebel army. . . I also had my first shot of whiskey.
There was no alcohol kept on the compound so we went out to celebrate
my induction. I was stuffed into Sera’s red SUV along with Sera, Callum, Isobel, and two Demons I couldn’t keep straight and driven to a huge rural bar
that mostly got it’s light from the overpass it was next to. Slowly the other
resistance members slowly filtered in.
The grungy human barflies didn’t give them a second look as our party entered, so I gathered they came here a lot. Callum ordered while I followed the crowd to the back of the bar where there was a lounge with pool tables, bar games and couches.
Izzy and Callum started a competitive game of darts while the
mini-skirt waitress bought out two big trays full of whiskey shots. Sera moved to sit on one of the couches by herself, I sat on
the couch across from her with nothing between us except a coffee table and
tray of shots.
I was shocked when the Prince showed up an hour later. He’d arrived in a black Infinity SUV with tinted windows. The crowd at the front parts as he makes his way toward the back. I don’t know if it’s because they see the breadth of Ares and Leon flanking him.. . or because this happens often. The Prince settles uncomfortably next to Sera on a couch.
Seraphina gets in the defensive and I’m ready to jump in if need.
“Picked up a Helion police transmission. 12 Helions are dead. Mostly Arial
forces”, he says all business like, “Helios will be coming after us hard. We
need to be on high alert.” He says casually crossing his legs.
“Hmm”, she says picking up a shot and giving him the silent treatment.
“I’m sorry I snapped infront of everyone. I should have handled it privately. It’s like you’re always saying. I don’t want your apologies.”
“I want your respect”, she finishes.
“You disrespected my standing orders, Sera. That’s no good. You were right about Oberon but you know not to bring guns into New Aeterna. Respect and loyalty. I want that from my resistance but from my wife I expect it.”
“You have it." she says, "I just want them to pay, Paris. I want them all to pay."
They looked at each other for a while.
He smiles.
“You know what else I expect from my wife?”
She takes another shots and considers this, but doesn’t answer.
She’d changed into an oversized gray t-shirt, black cargos and worn sneakers. Very different from all the other girls in heels, jean skirts and metallic printed tank tops. When the tray of shots is set on the table between us Sera picks up one and indicates me to do the same. When I reach with the wrong arm everyone laughs at my wincing. She reaches over the low table to press her glass against mine.
“You’re going to save us all”, Sera says. She says it to me like I’m the only person in the room.
We both take a shot at the same time. It burns like hell and half of it comes up my nose. It burns like pins and needles.
“Fuck”, I breathe and reach for water.
Seraphina smiles at me and takes another shot. I wonder if she’s thinking about what happened in the park. . . about our almost kiss.
She takes another shot and pulls Leon to dance with her where a small crowd of humans are dancing. Leon’s huge and awkward with his body. He is also kind of blushing which is just bizarre. Her arms are around his neck and she puts his hands on her hips. Leon shakes his head and goes along with it. I can feel the Prince’s eyes on me. Watching me watch her.
+++
I’m not sure what to do for the rest of the night. I sort of sit and pretend to check my brand and act like I know exactly what I’m doing. Izzy makes small talk for a bit but she gets really into a game of pool.
The Prince didn’t let Sera leave his side after she danced
with Leon, Callum and the doctor. He showed off his superiority by forcing
himself on her. He
pushed her against the couch so he could better reach her mouth. His
shaking hands wandered everywhere.
“It’s hard to”, he managed to pull away for a second his hand shaking while Sera took the moment of air to reach for another shot, “be mad at you when you are so fucking beautiful. I’m so fucking. . . lucky”
Seraphina looks at me when he leans over to kiss her
muscular bare arms, neck and then shoved his tongue back in her mouth. I
wished I could help her. I wonder if he even realized they were still in
public. No one else seemed to take notice. Sera reaches over for another shot,
downing it quickly before he whispers something in her ear.
He stands and pulls her up, she’s a little unsteady on her feet. Seeing them together in public their height difference is off putting. Prince gestures for someone to toss him keys. His other hand grasping Sera’s and pulling her along. Isobel’s gaze follow the pair until they are out of the bar.
Maybe it was the alcohol but I couldn’t hold back, I pushed myself up and headed to the door. The black SUV was still outside. I was going to save her.
I walked around to see he’d pushed her against the SUV, and put his hand down her pants. “You are such a fucking slut, Seraphina.", he whispered, “To fucking pretty for your own--.-
“Hey”, I shouted and grabbed the
Prince by his jacket. He’s harder to pull than I expect and shrugs me off, so I raise my fist.
“The fuck.” , he says turning around and I hear the click of a retractable knife in his hands, “ Who the hell are—oh it’s you"
He smiles and protracts the knife. Seraphina looks
flushed but doesn’t make eye contact with me, she has this blank look focused
on a spot just behind me, but she takes the knife when The Prince hands it back to her.
“I-I just want to
make sure you’re okay, Sera”, I can’t even acknowledge him. He’s so controlling
“My wife is fine”, The Prince answers for her. Then he puts on that smooth voice, “You should go back inside, this is your night to relax. Start the car.”
I realized that last part wasn’t directed at me, Sera moved to the driver’s seat and put the keys in the ignition.
“I-“
"We’re fine”, The Prince said in his politician voice while walking around to get in the passenger seat, the car took off before I could think of what else to say.
“Fuck”, I yelled to myself.
+3+
I turned to walk back inside and see Izzy leaning by Sera’s red SUV.
“How are you doing ?”, she asks.
“. . .I have no idea what I’m doing”
“That must suck”
“It does”
“Well I want to help. I know Seraphina and Paris want to keep your mission a secret but I think you’ve earned the right to know. Get in.”
She opens the door to the SUV and we both slide in the backseat.
“Theo, this is not my place at all… they will kill me but I think you should know.”
“I’m ready."
“Okay, how to do this. Well. . . okay so short story--Angel and Demons--refugee children came here over 1000 years ago from a war torn time.”
“I heard that version”
“Yeah but there is more. While Paris was imprisoned in Helion
Castle he formed a secret friendship with Helios' wife, Aria. She told him why Helios is so
ravenous in his claim to Manhattan. It’s not just the infrastructure like he
says.”
“What is it, then ?”
“Time. Time is the answer. Time is everything. When the SGI and the refugee
children came here, they thought they were in a different world but they
weren’t. Like not at all. You seen planet of the apes, right ?”
“No”
“They were on Earth the whole time.”
“What ?”
She sighs.
“The Angels and Demons didn’t come to a different world. They came to different time. They time traveled. Before they came here they made these collar pins from old weapons, the mineral used in them is found in ancient volcanic rock. It dates back years. The best guess is Angels and Demons existed on our Earth 400 million years ago. ”
“The fuck”
“For reference the earliest existence of humans we have is only 2.3 million. I mean I never studied per-historic times but since this discovery I’ve been all over it. Because pre-history isn’t written pre-historians rely a lot on the hard sciences to create narratives like biology, zoology--”
“Holy shit. . . so they had like dinosaurs”
“Way before then, they are like the stuff the primordial ooze is made of.”
“The. . . what ?”
“Right, you went to school in a dictatorship”
I didn’t get the insult, but I gathered she thought I was stupid.
“What does this have to do with the mission ?”
“Helion Castle has a lot of really ancient books and relics, Helios started reading and bringing in all these scientist and anthroplogist he found something in Queen Anne—er—Helion Castle’s vaults. He found time”“Holy shit.”
“Helios found something called a Tempest, an object that causes schism that can infiltrate timelines. Helios opened the original timeline and sent Paris through as an experiment to see what would happen. The test lasted for one minute. What Helios didn’t know was that 60 seconds stretched out to nearly a day for Paris. On the other side he found this ancient Demon woman, the very last of her kind. She recognized Paris as the crown prince and told him how to control the Tempest.”
“That’s the mission then? To steal it? ”
“I’m not there yet. Helios tortured Paris into telling him how it worked. When he did Helios locked the Tempest for November 28th 2013 and kept its location a secret.”
“That’s the night The Seige started.”
It’s Helio’s failsafe. If anything goes wrong in New Aeterna Helios will simply go back in time and do it all over again. He can relive his power over and over again.Our mission. . . your mission is to steal the Tempest go back to that day and stop the bridges from collapsing early."
“How ? Even if I stop the Lincoln Tunnel from collapsing how does that stop New Aeterna from happening ? “
“It buys time for our past selves to solve the problem. Paris believes his past self can stop this. Time is tricky though. . . because none of us have aged we could get recognized. So we need someone who wouldn’t be recognized, someone motivated.
“Someone like me.”
“Yeah. You fit the bill. . . down to the wanting to die part”
“What do you mean’
“When you go back in time and dismantle the bomb on the tunnel. . . you have to kill yourself. No trace of this timeline can last in that one”
My moth was wide open. This was the plan. My mind ran over it all. Time travel, bombs, suicide ?
“What do we have here”, Leon pokes his head in through the open window.
The open window. Izzy curses to herself.
“Leon look—“, Izzy stars
“Iz, you had no right to do that, The Prince needs to know he knows.”
“Leon don’t”, she said, “For once don’t be such a yes man”
“Sorry, kid”, He dropped into the driver’s seat, “It wasn’t your call The Prince needs to know.”
“Theo deserved to know”
“This was not your
call”, He says again to Izzzy.
“Leon”
“End of story”
+++
Despite the fact the others don’t have a ride, Leon starts the red SUV and drives the three of us back to the compound with Izzy protesting the whole time.
Once we get inside the safehouse Leon corrals us up the second floor. Leon pushes the double doors open and he and Isobel start talking at the same time. Loud music is coming from a docked Mp3 player. It’s so loud I can feel the bass through the floor.
“We need to-“, Leon’s loud voice falters for a second then picks up, “We need to talk”
“Later”, I the Prince yells over the music.
I cowardly step in behind Izzy and see why Leon’s voiced had faltered. The Prince was sitting on the end of his bed, Sera’s in his lap with her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms around his neck. The Prince dismissed us with one hand while kissing her.
I noticed an empty wine glass on the upstairs kitchen counter. . . I see he’d taken the time to get her more drunk. I’m also really distracted by the tiny black silk shorts low on her wide hips and midriff silk tank she is wearing, I’d suspected she had a great body under those loose clothes, but this fucking confirmed it. Her tanned thighs are solid and muscular. She unwrapped her legs from around him and he pushed her to lie down on her back and kept kissing her. Leon clears his throat
"I'm sure this can wait”, he said now practically on top of her.
“Not really” , Leon said.
The Prince pulled himself off of her and sits on the end of his bed. Sera joins him, trying to straighten up the small amount of clothes she is wearing. The Prince keeps his hand on her thigh. The tips of his fingers running up and down her leg.
At first I think she is wearing a garter but I realize it’s a knife holster. The Prince absently runs his hands over the gleaming white metal.
“What the fuck is it”, The Prince asks his eyes on his wandering hands as he unfastens the holster. Sera stares blankly at us, not even jumping when the metal hits the ground.
“He knows”, Leon says.
“Knows what ?”, The Prince ask
Leon sighs
“About the Tempest and the plan.”
The Prince looks up from Seraphina’s legs and Seraphina reaches over to the nightstand and turns the music off.
“This night is never going to end”, The Prince says with one of his cringe-worthy smiles.
He stands and gestures to his office in the back of the room. Seraphina is already standing barefoot in the corner by his desk, as if she is the least important person in the room. I realize she’s probably grateful for the intrusion. Nothing about the way she holds herself, her comfort in what he had her wearing and the look in her blues eyes said she wanted to fufill wifely obligations with him.
“Isobel”, Sera seethes from the corner, she just knew it had been Isobel’s doing. Leon hadn’t even outed Izzy yet.
“He deserved to know, we can’t just keep him in the dark. We
can trust him. ” Isobel says
“The Tempest is our only hope, it’s our only playing card. You can’t just tell anyone off the street about it—“
“Paris”, Izzy says to The Prince, “You can trust my judgement.”
“Yeah”, I tried to help, “I want this. I won’t tell anyone.”
“What do you think of our plan ?”, The Prince asks me
“Going back in time ? It sounds to good to be true.”
“It’s messy, I know. But if we can disable the explosive on Lincoln Tunnel I know I can trust my…past self to defeat Helios before New Aeterna can happen.”
“I’m all in. If Helios never gets a chance to come to power then Lora is still alive. I want to live in that time.”
“We’re planning a major operation. You will die before you tell anyone about this. Everyone here has had years to pledge loyalty, you don’t have the luxury. You cross me, I let my wife kill you. Understand ?”
“Understood”, I confirm
Prince brings his hands together and smiles.
“Okay”, The Prince says turning on the music from his phone and then shouts, “I think you can all leave now.”
Now that we’ve been dismissed he rolls his chair back and signals for Sera to sit on his desk, she does so begrudgingly. Leon and Isobel seem satisfied and turn to leave. Leon heads back to get everyone from the bar and Isobel walks me to my room.
“Theo. Stay away from her. “
“What ?”
“I know it doesn’t show but Sera trust Paris. I’ve been with Paris since he escaped New Aeterna. We started this resistance from the ground up together. Paris wasn’t himself until she became his family. Sera has had a rough few years but she has her way. They are my friends they are my family and I’m protective of that.”
I nod my head, but the thing was Izzy didn’t see Sera in Central Park. She like everyone here was blinded by their loyalty to that Prince. Sera wanted help. She wanted out.
+4+
I was never getting any sleep
I’d gone to my room and dropped down on the bottom bunk. My
arm was still burning from the brand and my head was still swimming. I’d been out barley an hour when I felt a warm hand over my
mouth. I opened my eyes to see The Prince’s ugly mouth smiling down at me. It was like his face
was going to split in half and open up. He gestured for me to follow him.
I got up and followed the Prince to his suite. His hair was wet and he was dressed in another incredibly tight black shirt and pants. He lead me into his bedroom and inside there was a softlight coming from the T.V, a show about rich housewives is playing.
“Upstairs”, he whispers to me pointing to the loft kitchen
I head upstairs to the loft kitchen and from the top I his entire suite. The TV light outlines Sera asleep in the middle of the bed. The bedsheets are turned and twisted around her legs, she’s naked sleeping on stomache. The sight makes my mouth go dry. The Prince non-chalantly pulls the covers over her and kisses her forehead, like she’s a child.
She stirs when he does this and The Prince tries to quietly back away
“Paris . . .what are you doing --”, she mumbles half asleep
“Nothing love. I was just … um”
“Why are you. . . dressed ?”, she yawns and props her chin up on her hands. The Prince gestures for me to hide, I duck behind the kitchen counter.
“Because my skin would give you burn you alive”, he says in a tale tale voice. “Everything’s fine. . .go back to sleep, love—“
She reaches an arm out and pulls him closer to the bed by his shirt.. Before he can protest she pulls down his waistband and puts her mouth around his small limp dick.
“This isn’t hot”, she says
“Fuck”, he says his eyes cutting to where I’m hiding upstairs. He looks up at me and puts a finger to his mouth to warn me into silence, “Fuck baby. . . I just need a second. . .”
“What ? You don’t want to play with your Angel?”, she says getting on her knees, “Lucifer doesn’t want to fuck his pretty sweet Angel ? I’ll do anything for my Dark Prince. Don’t you want to to wicked things to me, Demon. I'll beg. . . don't make me beg.”
“Sweetheart, I’m tried and I need to--”
I hear him gasp as she pulls him down on the bed at the same time the light flicks on, I duck behind the counter.
“I know what you need”, she says.
I hear some shifting and the sound of her trying to blow him again, then I hear her seductive laugh.
“What’s wrong”, she asks in her normal stoic voice.
“Nothing. . .what can I say I’m a broken man. You look tired go back to-”
“I’m not tired”, she said then softened her voice, “I’m
such a sweet angel who wants to be defiled in your bed. I want you to fuck me."
“Okay. Just—“
“What”, she says in her normal voice, “What’s going on ? Is something wrong--“
“No. No”
“Is there—“
I hear him start kiss her before she can look around and notice me. He throws his whole bodyinto the kiss, roughly pulling her close to him. The lights dim and then all I hear is Seraphna moaning.
After a moment I peeked over the counter to see his mouth
between her legs. I was suddenly sure this room is sound proof because she was either
really loud or faking it. I didn’t think women really screamed like that. When she was satisfied she slumped back into her pillow and
he pulled the covers around them both. For a minute they were both catching
their breath. He laid next to her in the center of the huge bed.
“I am so fucking tired”, she says turning the lights off and settling into a swath of pillows. The silent TV casting a light on her, “Tell Callum I’m sleeping in tomorrow.”
“Hey, I didn’t tell you take a swim in the Hudson river.”
“Shut up”, she mumbles throwing a pillow with his name stitched into it at him.
“I love you, Seraphina", he says sitting up.
Sera mumbled something back, but she didn’t finish before she fell asleep. He waited a few seconds to make sure she was asleep before getting up. He quietly takes the stairs up to the kitchen. I can hear Seraphina lightly snoring downstairs.
“That was close”, he said non-chalantly and drinks from the half
empty glass of wine. He held on to the chair and looked like he might fall.
“Uh. . “
“So you know the mission now”, he said before I could figure out what to say.
“Yeah . . . “
He takes another gulp of wine and after a second spits it into the sink
“The thing is Theo. . . you are going to botch the mission.”
“Come on, Give me a fucking chance my shooting is getting better.”
He fights to control his tremors.
“You don’t understand. You and I are going to sabotage this mission . . .on purpose. “
“What ?”
“Look, I know Seraphina really runs things around here, everyone here either respects or fears her to much to step out of line. Which is fine by me, I prefer to be the likeable one.”
“I thought you hated Helion.”“I want Helios gone. I hate him more than anything. But I Iove my wife more. I’m not ready to give up my 5 years of marriage, I’m not ready to lose my wife. In an alternate universe Sera and I could never marry, I can never give her the life and family we want. I keep promising her we’re going move to Hawaii, not because it’s paradise but because it’s far far away from here ”
“You want to screw the world over for one relationship”
“Just hear me out. Once we infiltrate Helion I’m supposed to lead you to the Tempest. When we get there the Tempest it won’t work. I’ll give you the wrong instructions. Sera will be angry but we’ll need that anger.”
“No. . . I want Lora back. I want Helion gone.”
“You will have her. Once we are inside Helion Castle and Sera realizes the Tempest doesn’t work I’m going to convince her to kill Helios. We will start a revolution. When we get things back in order I’ll let you use the Tempest to bring past Lora to the new peaceful time. Time is static within the Tempest. We can go back in time and pluck anyone we want and bring them into the new era.”
“I. . . guess”
“Also, if you need more convincing we can make an arrangement.”
“What ?”
“I see how you look at my wife. I don’t know why. . . but I don’t like you. However If you do what I say I’d be open to putting in a good word for you with her. . . to sleep with her I mean. I can’t make her like you.”
“What ? No ?”, I said.
“Look, I’m not in the best health. I can’t always give my Sera what she wants. I’m open minded . . . since you’re a guy I usually like to be there and you can’t make her come. . . Hey, you can ask Callum for details. ”
“Whoa--I. . . I mean. . . um. . .”
“Something I learned is there is nothing better than fucking an Angel, I fucking swear.”
“Uh, Look, I’ll do it. . . for my sister. That’s all.”
“Yeah”, he said as if he only kind of believed me, “Right.”
We shake on it and freeze when something in the cabinet moves.
“Rats ?”, I think back to the rats that used to scavenge our house for food.
The Prince pulls open the shaking cabinet and nothing scurries out. I reach for my gun.
“Shit”, The Prince says quietly.
I stand and watch as the little kid I was glad wasn’ t an illusion crawls out of the cabinet. He’s in an overized shirt and gray pants. He has a firm grip on a shiny brown roach in his hand. It’s antennae wriggling. The Prince’s face twist into disgust at the insect or possibly the kid.
“Uh. . . . did he hear us ? Could he out us” I ask. I didn’t like the feeling I had when I thought about Sera finding out about me double crossing her.
The kid pulls rocks from his pockets, they clatter on the table and he sucks on one while trying to stack up the others. He is intense in concentration. The bug was crawling away but the Prince stepped on it.
“As far as I know this boy hasn’t said a word since we broke him out of New Aeterna ”, The Prince offers, “He won’t tell anyone anything.”
“Why keep him around.”
The kid stares intently at the rocks he is stacking
“His father was a high-ranking Angel in Helios’ entourage”, the Price repeats what Paul already told me, “Helios threw the child in prison to—“
A light from below blinds me and I hear the distinct sound of a pistol being loaded. I step back.
“Paris where are—“, Seraphina calls from below.
“I’m fine, love. I’m up here. . .with Theo.”
The Prince gives me a “play it cool” look as Sera comes up the stairs, she’d taken a moment to slip into black robe. I couldn’t stop staring at her long legs.
“It’s four a.m What is this ?”, she surveys the scene, glancing over the boy, “What’s going on.”
“The child”, the Prince says quickly,”Theo found the poor kid wandering the hall crying and came to alert me.”
“Whats wrong with him?”, she eyes Paris carefully.
“Uh, He must have been having another nightmare, I figure he probably wanted his mother.”
I glanced to the side and watched the way Sera studied the kid, as if she wasn’t sure what to make of him. The boy looked at her the same way.
“He’s yours ?”, I asked her dumbly
“I pulled him out and cut the cord myself.” she said folding her arms, glaring at the boy, “But that doesn’t make him mine.”
I saw the matching ice blue eyes. The boy had her nose and that same hard look. up close I could see his hair had been dyed black.
The kid looked young. She must have had him when she was being held in Cuba.
High-ranking Helion official . . .
“Is . . . that the General’s son?”
Both The Prince and Sera tensed.
“No”, The Prince says, “God no. Thank you for bringing him to here. He won’t bother you again.”
He shared a look with me I didn’t understand but it was obvious Sera knew we were up to something. Seraphina turned her attention back to the rocks on the table.
“Get out”, she said quietly.
“But—“
“Get the fu—get out” she screamed. I ran down the the loft stairs and she starts throwing the rocks at me.
“Sera”, The Prince tires to calm her down.
Another rock smashes into the door before I can turn the handle. She throws another one at me and I see the Prince is trying to wrestle her to the floor. I hadn’t heard the little boy come down from the stairs and he slips out the door with me.
“She’s—uh”, I start to the kid once we are in the hall, “Probably just tired.”
I reach to put a fraternal arm around the kid but I jumpback when something very slight flutters beneath his shirt.
+++
I know I know
You're wondering why I keep writing about Seraphina wearing leg holsters even though she is always wearing pants. I mean she can’t reach them.
. . . oh you mean the kid thing.
Let's back up
So. I had originally
considered writing a Sundays (this was before Compulsion) world serial about a Camp
Glory. It existed post-Bellum in a Veritas future.
Seraphina was in a
Maxwell like role via a program called Artemis that let women in the
military. She gets a job operating Camp Glory after the SGI is absorbed in the RLA. In this story Paris had become a Foreign Nationalist Politico Eastern good oI boy who moonlights as a Military Tailor. Because of his foreign nationalist status he can cross borders as needed. Meaning Paris could visit the camp and hook up with
Sera. I know I know in Veritas it states that Airspace had been shut down so there are no foreigners but I lampshade it
Leon and Ares were there and Paris’ seizures where also there for some reason. There was a smarmy young unnamed prisoner (who has a friend named Theo) whose POV the story was in and as the prisoners in the camp are being trained he develops a crush on Seraphina, who in this story is never mentioned by name. She is just refereed to as The Captain.
I only got about 1000
words in before I lost interest. I had this idea about the Eastern Republic
sending Helios and his followers to seize Camp Glory (Which would have lead to
Seraphina getting pregnant and years of torture) Then in my head I was like what if the kid was smuggled out
and sent to be raised by Paris and what would it be like if this kid grew up to be a clean cut do gooder who wanted
to impress his mother who cares more about war, but they were like oodly close. I realized this might also be Vice in some ways which is why I was so hoping for a time jump in Compulsion.
I never moved on from there, but I really wanted to explore the idea of Sera as a mother and so that's why the kid shows up in this story.
Then I went to apply for a job at Marvel listing love of Multiverses as a skill . . .
Ignore everything I
just said. If I get drunk enough and lose all shame I could share Camp Glory but that ain't happening.
+++