Zinc 01 - Altors, page 9
part #1 of Zinc Series
"It's probably for the best that it was done without tact, because Cali," Datura shrugged, a very simple and honest smile playing on his lips, "This world is so cruel, you wouldn't make it if you weren't brought cruelly into it."
If there was one thing about Datura, it's that he had always been honest with me. Whenever I dared ask him a question, he answered without hesitation.
Stepping forward, I placed a hand on his shoulder to get his attention. "What are the Altors, Datura?" I asked, hoping the seriousness of my tone would convey I needed him to tell me.
"Took you long enough." He murmured. "The Altors are the Rebellion. Those the post officer mentioned as ‘they’, are the Blue Bloods, or more officially, the Regius.” Whenever I was introduced to something I wasn't ready to deal with, I either threw a hissy fit and hoped it would be distracting enough so I wouldn't have to come back to it until much later, or I nervously giggled. In this case, my body chose to do the later.
"Right." There was the giggle. "And the war never ended." When Datura didn't laugh along with me, a moment of awkward silence hung in the air. "The war never ended?" I blinked in surprise when his hand landed on top of my mouth.
"Ilex doesn't deem you ready for this information yet." That explained his need to silence me. "We, the Altors, have worked hard to force this 'disagreement' underground. We moved it out of sight from the Civilians to protect them, giving them normal. Although normal in Zinc is practically impossible."
I moved away from his hand. "I am with the Altors?" If that was true, then many things would make more sense. Or not. At least the truth would finally be told.
Datura smiled carefully. "You always were."
My eyes widened in realization. "Lupinus and Acacia?"
"They are a story I will tell you about some other time. You've got a lot to learn and it will be mind blowing." He touched my chin again, softly this time. Gulping, I felt conflicted. I was both comfortable and uncomfortable. Before I could react, he seemed to realize what he'd done, clearing his throat and stepping away from me.
"The letter?" Changing the subject seemed like a good plan.
He walked over to the side of the boxing ring, throwing me a wooden stick, a replica of those used in The Ring back in LV. Catching a hold of it, I smiled, more than happy to distract myself with a friendly battle.
Datura smirked knowingly. "What letter?"
* * * *
Chapter 9: Marguerite Chestnut
“Serenium”
* * * *
"Your jacket!" Marguerite was reluctant to let go of the coat, but she knew that Solenum would need it more than her. Everything had happened so fast. That letter Calycanthus had sent her was both a good and a bad thing to Marguerite. On the one hand, she knew that the message would return the bright smile to Solenum's face, one she had missed ever since the boy had left. But on the other hand, that very message would take Solenum away from her.
“Bye, Marguerite.” She whispered before climbing out of her bedroom window, knowing that Lupinus wouldn't let her walk out of the front door without being suspicious. Marguerite rushed over to the opening, staring after Solenum as she jumped down the small awning over the kitchen door before running out of the courtyard and out of Marguerite's sight.
Breathing in deeply, she clutched Calycanthus' message tightly, gathering some courage from it as she made her way back to the first floor of the boarding house, hoping Lupinus would simply ignore her as she'd left.
She cringed as he didn't. "She still won't come out?" Marguerite turned, stepping into the living area so she could give Lupinus the attention he sought. That Calycanthus had chosen her to deliver the message was surprising. Marguerite didn't think he'd place that much trust in her.
"She-" She had never tried to stall anyone before.
Lupinus frowned as he rounded the couch. "What's going on?" Licking her lips, she offered the man the letter with a shaky hand. Frown deepening, he took it, unfolding it and letting his eyes scan the message. All it said was, 'Serenium. We're still in this together.' It was the last sentence that had told her it had been from Calycanthus. Marguerite had heard him say it many times to Solenum. As had Lupinus.
Grumbling, he bawled the piece of paper up before throwing it across the room.
"Which way did she go?!" He demanded harshly. Taking a step away from him, she kept her lips shut tight, her eyes widening as Lupinus became increasingly more angry with each beat of silence. He'd never hurt her, he was a good man, but he was also impressive and massive.
He groaned when he figured out she wouldn't say a word. "Go home." He ordered, fishing a device out of his pocket, surprising her that he wasn’t running after Solenum. Listening to him, she started walking away but then paused momentarily when she heard him talk into the device. She'd never seen a phone without a cord before.
“Get me Flux Kaminski on the port.” He barked, before turning and pinning a stern gaze on Marguerite. “Leave!” Letting out a squeak, she did as asked, hoping Solenum would be alright wherever the message took her.
* * * *
Narrator
“Remember Robinia”
* * * *
Once upon a time my narration was interrupted.
After having knocked and entered, Robinia was about to speak, but stopped when looking through my room. Sighing, my guest closed the door and left.
I climbed out from underneath my table, giggling as hide and seek was my favorite game.
* * * *
Chapter 10: Solenum Everhart
“Vos can nos agnasco quis is opes.”
* * * *
I never stopped running as I raced through Lithium Village, passed the boarding house, the train station and I didn't stop to see one last sunset at Edge. When I did stop, it was so my heart could beat once in fright when the ice desert overwhelmed my view. I didn't know how big the desert was, but now wasn't the time to scold my lack of attention in geography. I knew that it was stupid of me to run into it empty handed, but it’s not like my situation allowed me to pack up some things, for I knew Lupinus could be on my heels at any second. Even if Marguerite had given me a head start. So, I ran, with only Calycanthus on my mind.
Which turned out to be really, very, truly stupid. Much like my dream, my body was screaming to be hydrated. I'd thought about trying to lick some water off the ice, but I was afraid my tongue would freeze to it. I was lucky the sun was still up in the sky because during the night the temperature would only drop further.
I had been walking for hours and all I could see was miles and miles of white ice. It wasn't a motivating sight. The wind was cold, painfully cutting into my skin as I tried to force my feet forward, knowing that if I stopped walking, the low temperature would win. Thankfully Marguerite had given me my coat back. I pondered numbly over the matter whether it would be better to face the cold or the pain that kept shooting up my legs repeatedly with each step I took. In the end, I didn't have to make the decision, my brain simply shut down. I'd fainted the moment the sun started to go down. Last thought I had was that my brain was most likely too frozen to conjure up a nightmare, which at first I was grateful for, but then I realized a nightmare may be less scary than the situation I was in now.
* * * *
"Bardus." A voice scolded. I groaned as I was lifted off the ground.
"Utique vos kept pedes." Was I drunk? I tried opening my eyes, but it hurt. I tried moving, but it hurt. Anything I tried hurt. Soon trying became too hard and I went out again.
* * * *
Gasping, I shot upright as I felt water splash on my face.
"Cali!" I shouted before a hand shoved me back down on the bed, steadying me. I blinked, looking up at a pair of the brightest sapphire eyes I had ever seen. When another flash of blue filled my vision, I shot backwards and away, wincing when my head connected with the wall.
"Digitalis?" I asked shakily, my eyes glued on the man before me. He cringed at my assumption, glaring nastily.
"You know, Galax," I yelped when another person made their presence known. "You do kind of resemble the guy."
The man named Galax scowled at the woman beside him. "My lineage is bad enough as it is. Let's not add the assassin to it."
Composing my shaking jaw, I eyed both of them. They were both in their twenties, though she seemed a few years older than him. I blinked at her beauty. It was almost painful to look at. Well, that may be exaggerating things, but I do believe I'd never met anyone more beautiful. It was foreign; her coloring, build and features were so unlike anyone I had ever seen before. Her eyes were as black as coal, and her skin the color of ivory, like her hair, only it had golden highlights, as though the sun kissed it regularly. It was long, with two braids swaying all the way down to her knees.
Her mouth smiled easily, and she allowed me the time to take her in, as though she knew I'd never seen someone like her.
"I am Galaxi Morrisey." She had a very crisp and clear voice, fitting her physique perfectly. What didn't fit her was the attire. I frowned at the glove covered in grease she offered me. While shaking hands, my eyebrows raised at the rest of her outfit. She was covered in belts, each one of them holding tools or small pockets that jingled noisily when she moved. I eyed the hammer, wrench, screwdriver and the drill that hung on the belt low around her hips.
"He is Galax Kaminski." Retrieving her hand out of mine, she pointed at the blue haired man. Now that I looked, I saw he wasn't Digitalis.
"I'm sorry." I murmured. When he looked confused, I detailed. "For thinking you were the-" I cut myself off. Digitalis had been an assassin. Acacia's death made even less sense to me now with that piece of information. Who would want to assassinate a florist?
Galax smiled gently. "Thank you for apologizing." Detaching my gaze from his, I stared at Galaxi again.
"I'm Solenum Everhart."
"You're safe here." She assured. "You were lucky Galax found you in the desert. A few minutes later and you'd have been dead. What entered your mind to even try the desert on foot?" I shrugged, not knowing them well enough to get into it.
“Not ready to talk about it yet?” When I shook my head, she offered me a sympathetic smile before reaching over and patting my shoulder. “I have to get back to work, but Galax will take care of you." Nodding at that since I didn't know how else to respond, I stared as she left the dimly lit room. Galax still stood before me, his eyes curiously watching.
"Can I get some water?" Blinking out of his stare, he hurried over to the sink. While he filled a cup, I scanned the room. A double bed, night stand, closet, desk and a sink. That was pretty much it. Everything was in earth tones, making the metal furniture look less cold. There was only one small window, hence the dim lighting.
I realized how out of it I was when I didn't notice Galax sit down beside me, holding the cup out. He'd needed to clear his throat to get my attention. Grabbing it, I might as well have inhaled the entire thing. I'd never thought it possible to get dehydrated in a cold environment. But then LV had no real weather change. Had the desert been one of sand, I wouldn't have been prepared either. I wasn't prepared for anything at all.
Coughing as I choked on the last swallow, Galax rolled his eyes, rubbing my back to help me through it.
"Bardus." He chuckled once I managed to catch my breath.
"What's that?"
Removing his hand from my back, he placed some distance between us. "It means stupid in Pallium." His raised an eyebrow when I was going to argue my lack of intelligence effectively shutting me up. It's true. I ran into a desert without provisions and could have slowed down on the swallowing.
Time to change the subject. "So you're Pallium? The secretive desert people that were said to come from another world?" They were known not to communicate much with those that weren't Pallium because most didn't speak the language of Zinc. Or maybe they pretended not to.
Galax nodded. "If you ignore my physical traits which clearly show I am a Blue Blood descendent." Here it was. I was officially no longer in LV. I had met my first Blue Blood descendent. I'd have expected the physical traits of a Regius would have been less obvious, more deluded over the centuries through the mixture of blood. It was said that they no longer insisted on pure blood once the war was over. Although I had never seen images of the pure Blue Bloods, Galax, much like the assassin, looked exactly the way I'd imagine a Blue Blood would look.
"Are you evil?" I couldn't help but ask. Cali was the one that paid attention in class, not me. Besides their physical appearance, I had no idea what made them so different from everybody else. During the war they had been feared by Zinc though, so I deemed my question legitimate.
"Oh, I see," He offered a dull stare. "You won't share your secrets, but you expect me to share mine?"
I looked back at him. "So you're evil." He didn't look it. Much like Galaxi, he was covered in belts, tools and jingling pockets. Unlike her, he wasn't covered in grease, clearly more tidy. His skin was as pale as hers, but where she was a ray of sunshine, he was not. Leaning forward, happy I was making him uncomfortable with my meticulous scan, I noticed again, his eyes were of sapphire color. His hair was more like a pale turquoise. It was cut short in the back, two longer bangs framing his sharply featured face.
"You don't seem particularly afraid." He murmured, leading me to look down at his very full lips, allowing me to notice the top was crooked. While his nose was sharp edged, his eyes were soft. It was the strangest thing; where Digitalis had introduced me to fear I had never felt before, Galax soothed me. I could assume it was because of the very different introductions and situations, but it was more than that. Even knowing he descended from a blood line that was to be treated with caution, he didn't give me the vibe I was supposed to have when meeting a Blue Blood.
"You're not particularly scary." I finally answered, smiling in amusement at the frown that appeared on his face thanks to my words. "Why did you tattoo a blue dot on your forehead?"
"What were you doing in the desert?" Scowling, I looked away from him.
He chuckled. "Welcome to the sand mountains of Cobalt City, Solenum Everhart." He stood, starting to walk towards the door. "Rest some more. Galaxi and I are right outside, come find either one of us once you feel better."
* * * *
I woke up later with an insane need to pee. Pressing my belly at that instant would be cruel and show absolutely no mercy.
Jumping through the room, I threw the door open and ran out, but just as soon stopped, standing frozen on the spot as I was assaulted by a lively and vivid world I wouldn't have been able to imagine on my own. I thought I'd been in a house, but instead the room was one of hundreds of small rooms lined up along the left and right walls of a huge garage.
Eyes wide and mouth agape, I turned in a circle, taking in the place I was standing in. This was nothing like Lupinus' workshop in LV. It was at least fifty times bigger, had to be because there were so many people. It felt like I was standing in LV's main plaza on the day of the tournament. It was as busy and as loud, yet the sounds weren't the same. There was talking and shouting, sure, but there was also the sound of drills, hammering, clanging and music. The atmosphere wasn't the same either. It was intensely hot, which was a temperature I'd never really experienced before as LV always stayed at a regular and steady sweet spring breeze.
The warmth here was almost unbearable, my skin was toasting and I was breaking out into a sweat. Looking up I saw a transparent roof that didn't offer any shade, but I assumed it was cooler when you stood underneath it compared to outside. It was torn in the center, as though a large rock had taking a chunk out of it. Maybe a mishap with one of the many tools laying around this place?
I could detect a hint of oil and gas reaching my nostrils, but nobody seemed worried, and I figure I didn't have to be as that seemed like a normal smell to be present in a garage. Lupinus had smelled similar when he came home from work. But that wasn't all, it was mixed with the aroma of bacon, fries and coffee.
Snapping my gaze over to the left, a large kitchen filled my vision. It was shaped like a hollow square, Palliums standing in the middle, running back and forth, chopping, cooking, frying and keeping up with the many hungry customers standing in line to get their food. Once they were served they could take a seat around one of the many small round tables planted randomly around the square kitchen.
Even further on my left, I saw a large metal door that seemed to have a sliding system. That was the exit. I registered and noted it in my memory in case I would need it, but I didn't feel like I was in any danger.
Galax was the only Blue Blood here, or so it seemed since all the people in this large garage looked similar to Galaxi. It was a majority; they were literally all you could find in this place, setting myself and Galax aside. I had been saved and taken in by the secretive people called the Palliums. I was standing in the home of people that never invited anyone in.
While they were known to handle the desert jewels, turning them into jewelry so fine, its beauty couldn't compare with anything else in Zinc, I couldn't see any Pallium working on those stones. Instead I was surrounded by different types of vehicles. Cars, bikes, motorcycles, scooters, buses, vans and there was even the occasional tank. Lupinus hadn't had more than half of these things in the workshop in Lithium Village, but he'd shown myself and Cali pictures, explaining what they were and their purpose.
I was thrown out of my observation when a Pallium bumped into me. He threw a smile my way, saluting and apologizing before continuing onwards. Giving him a quick nod, my bladder then screamed for my attention again, leading me to decide I could check the rest in detail later. I darted my eyes across the large courtyard, trying to locate Galax or Galaxi somewhere between the many, many vehicles and people. It wasn't long until my gaze locked on a mop of blue hair sticking out of... of course he had to be working on a tank and not a harmless little bike. What did they need tanks for anyway?
"Galax!" I offered him a quick smile as his head turned my way, looking around curiously until his eyes landed on me. When he waved me over, I allowed myself to approach the tank, awed at the size of it.
