Grounds
This is a work in progress. Names, events, titles, etc. are subject to change
pooooff…. SLICE. “AHHHHHHHHHHH fuuuuuccc-“
Ow my FUCKING arm. Definitely broken. Some of it missing. I roll, dodging another attack from this stupid golem. It hurts to do so, but Rigel’s toy has been relentless today. To be quick frank, I am sick of training. I’m tired, I’m beaten, I’m battered. I want to sleep for a week.
CRASH
Barely got out of the way. Rigel’s doing this on purpose. Two days ago, the golem was pulling its punches. He thinks this is going to teach me to focus and keep my mind clear. He clearly doesn’t know me that well. My mind is racing and I want to punch him. I should have healed my arm already but I’m wasting time being spiteful. With that realization, perhaps he’s right. Perhaps this will get me to focus-
AHGgdgdfjk. A rock to the chest. Nothing broken AHGhjrrggkk. Another cough rock to the chest. Definitely something broken. Gott keep moving.
BOOM bang. pik pik pik pik
Fuck this thing. It didn’t used to throw rocks. I’d like to say it has a sense of humor, but Rigel said the golems are like puppets and– wait, back on track. My arm. I need to fix it. I hate healing I hate healing I hate healing. It would be easier if Rigel could just EXPLAIN to me, properly, what it is I’m actually doing. He does everything by feeling, naturally. Lux just like feel the muscle and think about how its supposed to be and put some energy into it. Lux just remember what it feels like for blood to be flowing. Lux just imagine a twig breaking, but in reverse. ??????????
I dodge the next attack, throw a large sweeping rope of fire across the ground, tripping the golem. Deep deep breath, long exhale. I keep my eyes on my opponent and place my hand on my crunchy, squashed arm. A few seconds go by and I can start to feel the relief. The bones start to reattach (painful) and the muscles sew themselves back together. It’s not perfect, but I’ll fix it up better when I’m not in immediate danger.
The golem keeps at it, but I think I’ve calmed down. My thoughts are clearer. Time to take this thing down. I bring up a dirt pillar to block an incoming boulder, sprint around behind it, and slice at the joint where it’s leg connects. I use a thin blade of air to sever the connection. The golem falls over to one side, failing to catch itself. It crumbles down on one arm, effectively removing it. Before I can crush the thing into dust, I hear a whispy voice:
“…lux…”
I’m taken completely by surprise. Was that Castor?! It’s been like a month. I grab the ansible on my neck and yell back into it, “CAS? IS THAT YOU?”
A pebble shoots by my face, nicking my cheek, nearly taking out an eye. Rigel. The golem. Fuck. I look up and, covering my vision, is another rock. I attempt to dodge but take a slight blow to the head, still. Dazed, I yell out, “Cas!! Answer me! Can you hear me?”
I quickly heal away the pain on the side of my head and run. Rigel won’t let me die but he’ll let me fall unconscious. Can’t afford that right now. Finally, I hear it, “Lux. It’s Cas. I’m here…”
Without hesitation, I yell back, “CALL IT OFF. RIGEL.”
crash crash
The golem is still trying to kill me. “STOP THE GOLEM, STOP IT NOW,” I yell again. I’m running to him. The golem crumbles. He yells back.
“What’s up? Tired already?”
It’s finally time. Maybe we’ll get some answers. “I HEARD HER. I HEARD CAS.”
I call for her again, talking into the ansible as I regroup with the siblings. There’s no reply.
We’re all standing around the table upstairs. The ansible sitting in the middle of it. It’s so quiet, like none of us dare breathe in case we miss any noise.
Rigel, of course, breaks the silence, “Say something! Call her again!” Meissa and I stare at him. We’re all sweating just a little, it seems. I guess I’ll try again.
“Castor,” I say calmly. “Are you there? Can you hear me?” Everyone and everything is dead silent. So much so that I’m starting to wonder if I even just said the words out loud or if it was all in my h ead.
“Lux, you’re there.” Finally, some noise. And from Castor! The recognizable ethereal voice of the goddess who dumped me here.
“Holy shit, she’s real,” Rigel says under his breath. Meissa’s eyes are wide as she nods in agreement.
“Cas, where have you been?! You basically stranded me on an alien planet-“
Castor cuts me off, “Shhhhhush stop silence please.” She sighs. “I’m still very tired. Yes, you were sent far far away. Ha. That took a LOT out of me. And, need I remind you, I had to do it twice.” As if that was my fault. Rigel chuckles. Meissa hits his arm but is obviously stifling her own laughter. They’re a pair, aren’t they.
“Cas,” I say delicately. “I have a lot of questions. Are you actually a god? Why are you so tired? What do you want me to do? Why can’t I remember things?? What are these fucking headaches?! Who am I su-“
“Stop. Talking,” her voice is commanding. It’s almost as time itself stopped at her word, only resuming when it realized she was talking to me.
She sighs again, “I’ll answer anything I can. I’m not in a great mood. Not much of a morning person.” It’s dusk. She continues, “I used to be THE god…” There’s a short silence. “I’ve told you before, the effects of mortals kindling themselves has caused a less than favorable shift in the power dynamic of the universe… Things are…” Castor yawns, ending with a high pitched squeak. Cute. Aaaaahggggggg. Headache starting again. She sleepily finishes her sentence, “Things are not as they should be.”
Rigel clears his throat and speaks up, “I have no clue who you are, lady. I’ve never heard of a ‘god’ named Castor. Why should we believe what you’re saying?” Oh no.
I keep my mouth shut. There’s a long pause. Cas finally breaks the silence, “Pardon my Geminian, but who the fuck are you?“
Rigel begins to open his mouth to answer before a full word escapes his mouth, a shadowy tangle of pitch black strands pour from the ansible. They form a pitch black set of claws that sink deep into the skull and neck of my new friend. It all happened so quickly, I had no idea what was going on or what to think before he dropped like a brick to the ground. The claw evaporated as Rigel convulsed on the ground for a bit. Meissa moved quicker than me to see if he’s okay. I kind of… froze.
In what looks like an extreme state of fear, he scuffled himself over to the nearest corner of the room and hugged his knees. He’s shivering, eyes wide, muttering. Meissa sits with him, trying to comfort him.
I finally collect myself. “CAS WHAT THE HELL? What did you do to him??” She ignores the question and just giggles to herself. “Cas?!”
“He’ll be fiiiiineee. I didn’t do any damage, I just spooked him.” She laughs some more, like she just heard the funniest joke. This is upsetting.
“Castor, I don’t care who or what you are. That behavior is NOT okay.” This false bravery feels like all I can do to apologize to Rigel.
She sighs yet again, “Soo much disrespect, so early in the morning. I should just go back to sleep. You know, people used to LOVE me. RESPECT me. FEAR me, even. It’s been a long time since then…”
A muffled voice comes from the corner of the room, “…I’ve still never heard of you…”
Once more, the tendrils pour out of the tiny rock. This time, I put up a barrier between Rigel and the ansible. It shatters instantly, the claws moving as if they were never impeded in the first plac and pierce themselves through Rigel’s head. Again, he drops to the ground and becomes a convulsing mess.
“CAS.”
“FINE. Fine. Fine fine fine. I’m sorry, it won’t happen again Mr Hero,” she says, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Well, that’s better than her attacking me, too. Even though she’s on the verge of unconsciousness, we’re no more than ants to her. Why don’t I just bring the ansible around everywhere and let her do the work? “You had questions, Lux?”
I swallow and try to regain some composure. “Yeah, a lot.”
“You can’t remember your past because I don’t want you to.” What? “And your headaches act as a punishment for you trying too hard.” What. the. fuck?
“Cas what the hell? Why would you do this to me? What have you-” The headache. It’s unbearable now.
The goddess says almost monotonously, “I’ll give you everything you want and more if you just save Gemini.”
Meissa speaks up meekly, “Uhm, Miss Castor, your godliness.”
Castor happily responds, “How polite! Hello, cutie. How can I help you?” Urgh, my head.
“Uh, Miss Castor, how exactly is Lux supposed to do that? Respectfully,” Meissa says. I’m glad she can read a room better than Rigel. It’s been a day.
I can hear the smile in Cas’ voice. “Oh, that’s easy. He just has to kill King. And every other kindled.”