Blackout

Draemon, a destructive species that had caused chaos and mayhem across the galaxy. For over hundreds of thousands of years they enslaved and dismantled the galaxy. Except for a handful of planets. 'Or so the legends say.' she thought to herself as she consumed some feed to calm her nerves. She really didn't want to think about legends that could be real. "They're not real," she muttered to herself as she moved to stand up when hands gripped her by her shoulders and arms forcing her to sit down as a voice whispered. "Are you sure about that?"

Ralkos' eyes snapped open suddenly as she lifted her head up from the desk. She pushed away from it climbing to her feet, blood dripping from her feet as the talons were poking out of her skin. Stumbling back and forth she made it out of her room and into the bathroom. She turned on the sink to wash her face and to clear her head. 'Kavis must have been messing with me. They're probably laughing at me right now.' She thought to herself but the image of Kavis' serious face made her doubt that. Cheldrasi were the species that were supposedly affected the most by the Draemon. Their shapeshifting abilities were sought after and exploited to the point where they lost the name of their species. No one really knew a lot of the myths that came from them.

She sighed tiredly before turning off the water, looking away from the mirror for a second to grab a towel. The light above her head flickering for a moment. Drying off her face she didn't notice hands reaching for her until they gripped her head causing her to fall back in shock. She felt a strange sensation as if something was pulled off of her yet couldn't bring herself to care as the pain in her feet vanished as everything went dark.

"Ralkos!" Siti's voice called and Ralkos felt herself come to, she was laying on the ground staring up at a group of people surrounding her. Pain flooded through her feet again as people shouted at Siti. Blaming her for putting something into her boots. Words made no sense. Yet there is one thing Ralkos knew. "Siti didn't do this."

Her voice came out weaker than expected as Ralkos tried to sit up but another Akakoa placed a hand on her shoulder. He looked towards the others saying. "She's right, I saw her and Siti go to the infirmary earlier to report her talon poking through."

'We did?' Ralkos thought before glancing down at her feet seeing blood pooling from her combat boots. 'I don't… I don't remember that.' A hand touched her shoulder causing her to look up at Siti who said. "Come on, I'll take you to the infirmary."

"Thanks," Ralkos replied as she was helped up by the other Akakoa. The others were about to protest, most of them were ones who knew how Siti and Ralkos got along. Siti just gave them a sharp glare as she snapped. "Now's not the time to bring up the past, right now I've got someone who is injured. I am the team leader so I'm going to make sure that someone I'm supposed to be looking out for is alright."

Ralkos noticed that another exam group was with them. Kas was trying to make his way through the crowd but something caught his attention taking it away. Trying to look over as well Ralkos soon found herself being helped out of the large test arena. Ralkos' vision began to blur as the pain started to become a dull throbbing. Siti was saying something but it was like the blood pulsing blocked out any noise.

"I'm just a bit tired," Ralkos muttered before she was lifted from the ground. The Akakoa who was with them had begun to carry her. Ralkos felt a giggle well up in her throat as she was starting to feel a little light headed. "You know, I never got your name."

Grey eyes glanced down at her as the male Akakoa stared at her in what she thought was shock. Then the eyes glanced down at Siti who opened the infirmary door. Siti glanced at him before saying. "She did lose a lot of blood."

"That isn't her blood flowing under the skin," the Akakoa said as he brought her in just as Ralkos fell unconscious again. "It's a blood reserve."

Ralkos groaned as she opened her eyes, seeing a lumpy ceiling above her pulsating and dripping with blood. She panicked trying to force her body to move back yet all that happened was that she sighed. Sitting up she felt herself push back hair. 'Hair? HAIR?' she thought as she climbed out of bed passing by a mirror. Yet she couldn't get a glimpse of her own reflection. All she saw was light blue hair blocking her view.

"Another day, another round of sitting in the throne room watching my boss and his buddy planning," she muttered as she opened a closet made from bone. "Dreamons really need to work on their craftsmanship."

"Hey Shortstuff!" a voice called and Ralkos felt irritation grow within her as she turned to look at the door grabbing a random shirt. Standing in the dimly lit doorway was a strange looking being. Ralkos was getting annoyed with how many eyerolls and avoiding looking at people.

"What do you want?" Ralkos asked, grabbing a deep red shirt and a black vest. "Shouldn't you be laying down the roadwork for whatever is being planned?"

"I am," the creature replied, moving close to Ralkos and slipped a scaled arm over her shoulder. "But your presence is being requested quite insistently."

Ralkos moved forward to get out of the one armed hug when the space around her began to warp before changing. Instead of the dimly lit bedroom from before it seemed to be a grand hall decorated in so much gold that her eyes hurt from just looking at it. Above her was a glass ceiling revealing the sky above them. It was still dark out but it was starting to lighten as if to signal the dawn. Standing in front of a throne decorated in thorns were two figures. One was headless, though it was holding a head under its arm, wearing armor talking with a winged figure next to it. The other was a white figure dressed in dark grey with what seemed to be wings made from black water. Ralkos felt disgust by looking at the other winged figure as claws nearly tore his shirt. She turned to glare at the other figure as everything around her began to glitch.

Ralkos' eyes snapped open again and she sat up quickly, her head was spinning again. This time she was in her room and it was dark out. Confusion flooded through her as she moved to check on her legs pushing the dream into the back of her mind. They were bandaged up rather neatly and she could tell that the shedding was nearly complete. This didn't make any sense to her, that would mean she was out for a few days. The other possibility being that she had been blacking out a lot. 'It's not that common but it does happen during this time from what I hear.' Ralkos thought as she flexed the talons on her feet. 'That dream though….' her mind was a bit hazy and it worried her. She's never felt like this before and it was frustrating that she was missing out on so much of the test.

'I should get some water and ask Siti if I've been acting strange lately.' she thought as she got out of bed and headed out to grab a glass. As the automatic door slid open she saw a light glowing from the kitchen and frowned for a moment. 'It might just be Siti.' she thought as she continued on. Ignoring who it was for a moment she was grabbing a glass with ease when she heard some cursing. Startled, she turned around to see a blur rushing towards her. Before Ralkos could react she blacked out again. 'Seriously?'

Ralkos grunted as her back hit the wall. Once again she couldn't look around or do much other than struggle. From what she could tell she was back in the throne room. The bone white figure from before was lifting her up with ease by her neck. Black blood fell from a wound over his right eye as the smell of burning flesh hit her nose. It made her want to vomit.

"Where is he?" the assailant growled finally as he stared into her eyes. "Where is that pathetic fool you call 'Boss'?"

"Go back to Hell," Ralkos coughed, clawing at the arm only to have her appendages restrained and pinned to the wall.

"I asked you a question, you pathetic excuse for a Demon," the creature growled as his own claws began to slice into her flesh. "Where is Son…"

There was a flash of light above them and Ralkos was released, dropping to the ground. It didn't help much as it began to shake. A roar was ripped from the lips of the being above him as the sky darkened to a color darker than black. Ralkos spread her wings and tried to fly away only to have her leg grabbed and to be thrown into the ground. Coughing she tried to crawl only for a foot to be placed on her back.

"You need to learn who your betters are," her assailant told her, grabbing her by her hair and pulling her head back. Swears fell from her mouth, some of them made Ralkos want to bleach her brain with how colorful they were. Panic began to flood her as claws stroked her back resting right over where her heart was. "I hope this will leave you in immense pain."

The claws left her back for a moment before pain began to grip her mind as the pain went straight through her spine and back. The hand gripping her heart before pulling back. "Perhaps now you will tell me what I want to know."

Ralkos thrashed wanting to get away as smoke wrapped around her neck solidifying into a collar. It was as if her body was changing and her mind was beginning to grow hazy. Nothing was making sense to her anymore. Was this really a dream or was it something a lot more sinister. 'A warning?' she thought as she felt herself get pulled backwards. She prayed that this would be the last time that this happened. That she would finally be done and perhaps then she could get her answers.

"Morning sunshine," an unfamiliar voice spoke and she opened her eyes with great speed. "Or should I say good evening."

She looked around quickly trying to locate the source before she noticed an upside down face in front of her. Three solid red eyes blinked at her. She backed away in panic as they were a similar color to the one from her dreams. Then she sighed as she realized that she had heard the voice before. "Very funny Kavis."

This earned her a rather insulted look from the stranger as they dropped from the ceiling. "Do I look like a Changeling to you?"

Blinking a few times, Ralkos looked down at the creature. He was a short creature, without a scan she wouldn't be able to determine it accurately. What got her tense was that he had three solid red eyes on his face and two large eyes on his wings. 'This is the creature from that night.' she thought, she didn't want to think of it as a dream anymore. Now that this being was in front of her and talking. Rising to her talons she watched as the look on the creature's face went from irritated to downright pissed.

"Are you angry with me?" Ralkos inquired before wanting to smack her forehead. "Who are you?"

"Angry at your height," the creature corrected before taking a step back. "My name is Richard."

"Weird name," the moment that the words left Ralkos did she get a chuckle from Richard who smirked at her. "Actually it was pretty common on Earth for a very long time. Now they've got strange names like Kas and Siti."

Ralkos stiffened, it made no sense that he would specifically call out the names of her best friend and the common thorn in her side. "W-What are you?"

"I really thought you would figure it out by now," Richard sighed, shaking his head as his wings spread causing Ralkos to back away. "I'm what you folk call a Draemon, though Humans call us Demons. I say that there is a large difference."

Ralkos lifted up her hand before moving onto her next question. "Why did you possess me? Why are you here?"

"Doing my job with very little effort," Richard chuckled as he sat down on the bed. Ralkos' eyes narrowed as she stared at him in confusion. "I'm a distraction, Birdy, I'm supposed to keep everyone's eyes away from what is really going on."

Ralkos felt her mouth grow dry as she collapsed on the bed next to him. "It was your memories I saw, wasn't it? When I was blacking out."

"You saw those?" Richard flinched a little before looking away. "Didn't think that possessing you would have that big of a consequence. It wasn't even for that long. I always made sure that I left with plenty of time before it became rather permanent. I was wearing your skin."

"You're not making any sense, just like those dreams… memories of yours," Ralkos pointed out and Richard nodded his head from side to side. "Just explain to me why you are being a distraction."

"I can't," Richard answered looking at his hands and Ralkos stared at him. "Hey, I want to survive whatever plan is in place."

His eyes glanced towards the desk where a picture of Ralkos and her family was resting. "So even if I did know I wouldn't be able to tell you. Not without suffering serious consequences."

"What? You'll die?" Ralkos scoffed as she climbed to her feet to check the time. Richard chuckled behind her before answering back. "You know, you're species really haven't lost their arrogance and condescending attitude towards others."

This caused Ralkos to freeze before rotating her head over her shoulder to look at the demon who was using his wings to stare at her. Ralkos closed her mouth from whatever retort she was about to give. Instead she placed her hands on her hips before asking loudly. "House, what time is it?"

"I was wondering when you would remember I am here," the monotone voice of the A.I. responded and Ralkos winced a little. "I have been trying to signal you for the past forty minutes. The time draws near."

"What?!" Ralkos rushed to get changed taking a full look at her body. All of the changes were finished and it began to dawn on her how long she had been inside of those memories. "You possessed me until the Eve of Adulthood?"

"Hey I didn't want to sit there and expose myself for a whole week," Richard told her, brushing his fingers through the fluff around his neck. "So I did it in secret, kind of hard when I really want a drink. During the days I pretended to be you and completed your tests relying on your memories and at night was on the hunt for some booze."

Ralkos gave him a confused look, she didn't know what the term "booze" meant. Richard, taking notice as she finished getting into her uniform, tried a different word. "Alcohol."

"Oh… my species do not drink," Ralkos answered and Richard just gave her a very irritated look. "We make it but alcohol has some very negative effects on the species of this planet. Since the crops aren't in season the breweries ...."

"Closed, I noticed," Richard told her as he was at her side in a flash straightening her uniform. This confused Ralkos, because despite his demeanor he seemed to be rather meticulous. Once it had been straightened to his liking Richard straightened his back for a moment before staring up at Ralkos. "I'm going with you, only due to the fact that I have my orders."

"I don't think either of us have a choice in the matter," Ralkos pointed out, she didn't know who his boss was. Yet if his first boss had left that would have meant that his new one was a lot more harsh and cruel. 'Plus there is the fact that he seems so small and cute, like some of the Earth moths. All fluffy and flighty. I wonder if he is drawn to light.'

Richard's wings twitched as she glanced towards the light as he spoke. "Don't, I know what you are think, and don't. I'm already going to be jumpy enough as is at that little ceremony of yours."

'Right!' Ralkos jumped before heading out the door. "If you want to make it in time you better run quickly."

"Rather not move any faster than I need to but you're going to be late and I can't have that," Richard said as he got up. "Open the door to the balcony, we're flying there."

"The laws state that only after…."

"Then I will fly you, I mean I may be…" Richard interrupted as he gestured to his body with one of his four hands. "Compact, but I'm also a lot stronger than most creatures."

Ralkos was about to say something when he was behind her causing her head to almost rotate 180°. Then another hand reached forward placing on the back of it. "Look forward, can't have you looking at my wings. They tend to cause…"

Ralkos' eyes glanced towards the wings for a moment and felt a shiver of fear. "...problems when I spread them out. Hallucinations, urge to flee, paralysis, euphoria. As long as it is a drug I've ingested I can replicate the effects with my wings as long as it stays in my body for a while."

"House, open the balcony doors," Ralkos ordered and with some protest from the A.I. she had to give a firm. "Now."

The doors opened and Ralkos expected to be rushed out with a run but instead it was like they were teleported through silk. She wasn't sure if that was there already or Richard forming it without her noticing. Either way they were up in the air a lot sooner than she expected. Her eyes pierced through the darkness with ease as she was flown towards the base of the tower. She could see the lights sparkling as well as the crowd that was gathering. Kas was waiting outside of the area looking around for her. Richard touched the ground just out of sight. The hands released Ralkos who moved forward to tell Kas about everything she saw before hesitating. Richard was scared of whoever was controlling him, so if she blabbed that would mean putting him in danger. 'That's not the right thing to do. Ever.' she thought to herself. So she took a deep breath and moved on as if she never met the Draemon. What he had told her, that he was a distraction still weighed heavily on her mind. 'I never got to ask him why he was spying on me in the first place.'