The Mirage

The Shax was watching over the holes with other of his kind. Over them the dark sky was letting them enjoy the surface air.

He was looking toward Zerzura. He knew that a sudden attack wasn't out of question. To him wasn't clear what was going on with the Elders and the 'Birds. He thought that the war was imminent. A fight with an enemy they've never encountered before.

The betrayal of Kurban and Pyramus was unexpected. He used to like them. Unlike Gluskap who seemed shady. There was something about him which didn't convince him.

Then he noticed something. A shiny object covered by the sand which looked like a golden stone.

He strolled toward the dim light. It was in his sector, so he won't have had any issue with his superiors.

When he arrived at the source, he started digging to unearth the artifact.

He reached it and took it.

It was emitting a mute and continuous signal.

On one side of it there was a symbol unknown to him.

"How am I supposed to create a tunnel this long to what is called 'graveyard'?" asked the engineer

"I don't know, this is your job not mine" answered Janus annoyed.

He was losing all his patience with that petulant and tedious technician who was supposed to be there helping them.

"How can you know? You're not the boss here. You're just a mere deputy"

"Just do your job" remarked Janus

"I don't think that I can't. Everything about this city plan seems off. It doesn't make sense"

"What do you want?"

"I need to talk with Cressida, where is she? She locked herself in her lab and she is not planning to get out. You either get her or I…"

"I understand your concern. I will try again…"

"You've been trying for so long…I doubt that her will get out of her hole after eighteen months"

Janus didn't say anything and detached from him. He went into the growing building and reached the elevator.

Once he was down, he got in and walked toward Lab 8, where she was residing.

"Cressida…are you in there?" called him

"Cressida, we need you out here. Please get out. There's the bloody engineer who is keeping up with his stupid questions. We need to do something about him"

"This city needs you. It always will"

No one was answering back.

"Remember your oath" told him with a fading voice while he was moving away from the door.

He sighed and started treading back.

Suddenly a metallic sound behind his back. He stopped but didn't know if it was time to turn back yet.

He heard a sound of pulled steps.

"Bring him to me" said a hoarse voice which was familiar to him

A figure covered by a dark veil was standing there.

He was quivering.

"Cr…Cress…Cressida…?"

She paced next to him and whispered in his ear.

"Not anymore"

Hummingbirds gear was all around them, contained in metallic boxes labelled with a crossed tomcat.

A few Whiskers were waiting there.

"Is he coming or is it a trap?" asked one of them to Fanon

"How can we trust him, he used to be on the enemy's side?"

"Why has he agreed to speak with us? I thought that he didn't want to piss out his master"

"Just be patient comrades" said Fanon with a quiet and firm voice.

"Ok but we don't have much time. Does he even respect…"

"In fact,…I do" said Malsumis who appeared behind them

"You're here finally. My men were doubting your words" stated Fanon while shaking his hands

"I was watching the people who were reinstating the Supreme Leader's room at the Tower. He wants to be more careful now"

They didn't answer to that.

"You wanted us here, now we're here. What is your plan?"

Malsumis inspired.a

"Well, the Supreme Leader told us that the war will happen with specific conditions. The person who dissuaded him from pursuing revenge against the rebels still has power over him, if nothing remarkable happens"

"So what? How do you plan to bring her down and restart the war?"

Malsumis made a few steps backwards toward the middle of the room and opened his arms.

The Whiskers couldn't understand what was going on.

"Look around you"

They were confused

He waited for them to get his point. Then after a while he noticed that they weren't as sharp as he thought.

"Take a box and open it"

They did as he asked by typing a code on a random chest.

It opened.

Inside it there were different objects like masks and a bunch of pyramids.

They looked at him, waiting for an elucidation.

He just nodded.

The Shaxes' King was in the middle of the room, talking to Gluskap about Pyramus and Kurban's betrayal, trying to understand what brought them to that.

"I don't understands hows twoy mens likke thems could've doney somethings likey that's" said him after a while, sighing.

"I think that you undervalued their skills. Consider that they've come to you because they had nowhere to go"

"Butt it's they sames forr yous?"

"Yes but I'm not the one who threatened your kind"

"You useds toy"

"I didn't know about the fact that you're an intelligent and developed species"

"Wey ares. Att leasts wey don't fighty witth eachs others likey yous doy"

"Undortunately it came down to this"

"There's a thingy whichs isn't clears toy mey. I thoughts thatt yous lovved yours partnner. I thoughts thatt yous werey goinng toy protects hims"

Gluskap showed little emotions to him. A chuckle and a tilted head did the trick.

"How did you become king? What was the process?"

"I…that's ann odds quesstion. Att they timet I've foughts againsts they onnes whos challengeds my leaddership. A duels, overrseen by they Elderrs, is they way toy becomey kings"

"Anyone can become king, Shaxes or not?"

The King looked at him, puzzled by his question.

"I means…Yess…butt why arey yous…"

He was suddenly interrupted by one of his who asked him to speak to him privately.

Gluskap gave to him a bad look, a penetrating and tense sight.

"Excusey mey"

As they went to a separated place, Gluskap stood there, thinking.

"Sirr, wey havey founds somethings ins they sands"

He nodded.

"Sirr, looks" said the Shax while showing him Gluskap's transceiver.

The King stared at it for a while then moved his eyes elsewhere.

"What should we do, sir?"

Tithon was looking at his restored attic. Looking at it now felt different. He knew that now Lady Gehenna won't have had any kind of influence or power on him.

He went to his desk and stand there, observing its details and the objects on it.

The Shax's statuette he received long ago looked good on it. He wanted it there to remind him what he lost to get there and what lies were told to him.

"Supreme Leader…" asked the butler who used to serve Gehenna

He looked at him

"The Whisker Commander and Malsumis asked to scan and research the whole lab and the scientists for security's reasons. What should I tell them?"

He found the request odd and took some time to take a choice.

"Yes, but all the lab's personal has to be temporarily moved to the Academy and Gehenna should go with them" decided him.

Even he had a deal with her, it was hard to trust her yet.

"And, sir, Gehenna is here. She needs to talk to you?"

"Let her in" ordered him

As soon as she said it, she rushed in. She was shaking and gesticulating in a frantic way.

"You can't do it. You can't. We had a deal" started lamenting her

"Yes, but it was never stated how my men would've acted towards it"

"You promised that we will have worked together for a better future"

"I did. This is just a way to earn your trust"

"Why the lab?"

"Because, as you said, everything started there"

"I don't want them to tamper with my research. I told you what's at risk here"

"I remember it so…"

"So far, you've insulted me. First my guards and now that"

"Some sacrifices were necessary to ensure peace"

"Killing men and women to ensure your control over the city isn't acceptable"

"They're clones, why do you care? We all are in the end"

"They're still lives you annihilated with no regards"

He was still sitting on his chair.

"Say something"

"Do you remember the last time I've asked you to let me have what I wanted?" asked him

"No…"

"I wanted to marry your daughter and you negated it to me, even though it was our choice, not yours. Do you remember?"

"Yes…"

"Your words. Your problem"

She didn't accept it. She needed it. She started bragging.

He was there. No words, no gestures. A ghost.

"Please, I'll do anything for you. Please…"

"You can leave now" concluded him

The 'Birds were chattering loudly. The discontent about their situation was increasing.

"I want to leave here. I want to return to the city, as the Leader promised us long ago"

"I don't like here. I need to stay in the light. I'm fed up with this situation. When are we going to attack?"

"What happened to Pyramus, why we're not talking about that? Why is the Leader keeping us in the dark"

They continued.

"Would you really like to know what happened to him?" asked Gluskap to them, by showing himself in front of them.

All nodded.

"I didn't want to tell it to you because I didn't want you to lose your morale. He betrayed our allies as he and his friend Kurban slaughtered two of them and lied about it"

They were speechless.

"Where is he now?"

Gluskap lingered.

"He's dead" stated him with a solemn voice

They didn't get it well, as fear started crawling in their hearts.

"They killed him off, to let him pay for his sins"

He knew that most of them liked him and that the event would've affected them profoundly.

"What…what are we going to do now?"

"We…will wait"

"For what?"

"For the Shaxes to take a choice"

"But we need to avenge Zerzura? We need to go back and reclaim the Hara"

"We will"

"How?"

He looked at them. He knew all of them. They were his because they trusted him fully.

"If the Shaxes won't get us what we want. We'll get it ourselves"

No one understood. The sentences were too cryptic.

"If you want a war, I'll give you that. All of it" stated him as his men exploded in euphoric happiness.

His mask was there and behind it he was hiding dread and concern.

The scientists were working on their projects. Wearing their pure white coats while walking around with a touchpad in their hands.

After the coup d'état they were waiting for Tithon to order their death, but they didn't intend to stop their research.

They didn't care about politics. Science was above anything else.

A sudden thud.

All of them stopped, looking at the entrance gate.

Another one.

Some of them put down their stuff and approached the gate slowly.

Another.

The hits were measured and consistent.

Another.

The gate flinched. Like the scientists' legs.

Another. Stronger.

The gate wobbled.

"Where is Lady Gehenna?" shouted one of them scared to the bone

Another hit.

The gate cracked a little.

"Why is she not here?"

A bunch of them went under the closer tables.

Another.

The rhythm increased.

Another one.

"Please stop, please"

Another one.

The hinges were being torn apart.

Someone was shouting out there.

Gehenna's voice was heard by one of hers.

"She is here. She will help us" cheered one of them

Another one.

Then, the door collapsed.

Whiskers invaded the lab, while Gehenna was arguing and shouting with their commander.

Fanon stepped in the premise and looked around, while Gehenna was trying to have his attention.

He looked surprised.

"Guys, look everywhere and take what seems suspicious" ordered him with pride

"You and your Leader, you don't know who you're playing with" screamed her at him, while chaos was spreading in the gigantic lab.

Tithon was looking at the city.

The devastation brought by his men in the last days was being corrected swiftly. The new defense systems were being installed around the Hara, while more Whiskers were being trained and dispatched in Haguel.

Behind him was seated Lilith. She was free of his white veil, but she was just there. Waiting for him.

"This is the third week I've been trying to get you back, Lily. I can't believe that you don't remember who I am and what I was for you. Please, snap out of it"

"Sir, for the last time…"

"Please, don't call me sir…I'm your boyfriend"

"Sir…"

He went by her and took her hand.

"Look at me. Do you remember the first time we met? We were at Suharto…you were wearing your black dress…Don't you remember?"

"Sir…I don't. Why are you obsessing over me? You don't even know me"

Tithon chuckled and got far from her.

"I know that you're still there, somewhere. Your mother couldn't have deleted all your memories, our memories" his face was red and his eyes shiny

"I…am sorry Supreme Leader but I'm not…"

"You are…I say that you are…" cut Tithon short

Tithon went towards her. His body was getting over hers.

"Sir…what are you doing? Please, stop. Sir…"

He was trying to kiss her, to give her the love she used to give him.

She was resisting, uncomfortable.

"Please…stop…stop…"

He put his hands around her body. He wanted to possess her. To be one with her.

Again.

"Stop…stop…I said stop" shouted her as she slapped him in the face.

He felt on the pavement as she ran away from him, freeing herself of his clutch.

He didn't run after her. Instead, he stood down, crying by himself.

"Tithon…" said Malsumis while stepping in

"Go away" said Tithon

"You must stop. She is not your Lilith…"

"Get the fuck out of this room" shouted him again, while getting up

"We must focus on our next moves instead of…"

Tithon picked up the Shax's statuette and started moving it in the air with a menacing air.

"Tithon…Supreme Leader…"

"I said…out" told him again, as his friend got away.

Tithon put the object down. He was panting.

There was a solution for his sadness.

He went to the bathroom and opened the drawer.

All his pills were there. A chemical cornucopia.

He took one which contained happiness. He looked at it.

He looked himself in the mirror.

It wasn't his first time.

The desert looked like an ever-ending hell of sand and heat. It has been days since he has left the Shaxes and nothing showed in front of him. Just golden specs and dunes.

He didn't know for how long the vehicle would've hold and he was worried. He didn't know where he was and far, he went from his starting point.

Warm days were alternating with cold nights.

Everyday he went his way, staying on course with the only thing which looked like a sign. The purple star, always there. It was watching on him.

Sometimes he wondered about the city and Endymion, Tithon and their broken friendship. He felt like he was far from everything. Detached from reality.

He didn't even know whose side he was on. He believed once that the city and Lady Gehenna were righteous though flawed, that the Hummingirds were the right answer to his disappointments, that the Shaxes were the last stand…everything collapsed under the weight of the truth. And his friends and allies, most of them died or let himself to the corrupting nature of their environment.

What looked like small buildings started appearing on the horizon. At first, he thought that those were mirage. He closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head.

He opened them again. Those were still there.

As they were coming closer, he noticed that those were made of metallic scraps.

There wasn't any kind of wall or border between it and the desert. Then people started showing to him.

They were wearing strange suits made of red plastics with a mask. He hardened his sight and saw that was a green mask with design on it. It had a sort of filter which came forth and made them look like moths.

He was almost there. The vehicle started beeping. He was out of gas. It was slowing down.

That attracted the attention of the masked individuals who looked towards him. None of them did anything, at first.

The car stopped in the middle of the street. They were still looking at him.

He got off and felt on the ground. He was exhausted. He stood up with hardship.

The people went closer to him.

They were frightened. He put his hands in the hair to show.

They started touching him without saying a word. Then they started talking to him. And touching his body.

They were saying muffled words.

Then they, by showing their hands, invited him to follow them. He wasn't sure about it but so far, they didn't do anything ad to him.

They carried him through the city, which was bigger than expected and more populated than it looked. Then, for a moment, he saw a spot where there were Dragonflies with symbols on their tails.

He and his host brought him to a door at the bottom of the smallest building of the settlement with a strange symbol on it. A symbol which was recurring in all the buildings, the aircrafts and on people masks too.

The door opened and they got in. An alarm was activated, and they were sprinkled with a liquid which tasted like salty water.

The people around him weren't wearing their gear anymore. They were old and young women. Some of them where crying.

Another door opened and they went into an enormous underground system of lights, shops, and people.

After guiding him through the crowd, they arrived at a big home and knocked.

Two, three times.

The door opened.

A young man invited him and a few of his companions in. The ones who stayed outside didn't take it easily.

He brought him to a room where there was a bed with an extremely old woman on it. A small girl was standing by her side, sitting on a chair. She looked like his caretaker.

He noticed an old octagonal box on her bedside table. It was black and small.

She was sleeping. He went by her side and whispered something in her ears.

She opened her eyes and looked at him.

She chuckled and a tear ran down her cheeks. She was smiling.

Then she said a few striking words with what was left of her voice.

"Lud…you're back"