World In Flames

Someone Else

Earth
A prologue part two

The clouds above hesitantly shifted from blood orange to ash grey, mixing in with the black sky. The wind picked up, catching fallen leaves and loose dirt, which soared carelessly with it. Aside from the whistling wind, the resonating sound of chirping insects filled the air the darker the sky faded to.

Queen Lucillia Carnwell halted when she reached her destination: the middle of the graveyard. Her brown hair covered her face, but the crown on her head kept the strands from flying in all directions. Yet, some stuck to the tears that stained her cheeks. Her fingers tangled in the curls if she attempted to swipe them away. With hate encasing her dark eyes, she held back the screams of agony and inhaled slowly, trying her best to calm herself down.

A second woman stepped out of the shadows and froze beside a gravestone- a large, thick stone with the name Kyrazin edged into it, where Lucillia stood by. Smaller stone heads surrounded them. Tall, unwarped mountains lined the horizon. One car occupied the parking lot across the graveyard. It belonged to the second woman, Miranda.

Shadows fell over the two as the sun sunk behind the mountains, hiding most of their appearances. Miranda’s black hair blended in with the shadows around them. Freckles splattered across her youthful, long face, and bags underlined her eyes. A navy baseball cap sat atop her head. It matched her jeans and black long sleeve shirt that had a symbol of an atom on the right side of her chest.

She donned a jacket over her shirt where the symbol displayed on the back: two stars intertwined together. A sword to the left swayed with every movement, and on her right hip sat an empty gun holster. In the middle of her other job, she received the distress call from her queen. She came as quickly as she could, and sure enough that put some anger in the eyes of her employer and some setbacks there.

“I never thought this day would come. I- I never thought we’d have to do it,” Lucillia fretted with a shake of her head.

Miranda’s eyes frantically switched between Lucillia and the twins, pondering what her queen cried about. Only one guess crossed her mind, but she could not help but ask anyway. “What are you talking about? What happened?”  She asked, a concerned look spreading across her face.

“Project Rose,” was all Lucillia replied with, eyes fixated on Miranda.

Darkness altered Miranda’s expression at the words, and she swiftly moved back one step with a hand in front of her, shaking her head in refusal.

“Madam Carnwell, you cannot expect me to stay here! To stay away from Theania and Kyrazin! My duty is to protect you and the king,” she panicked.

Her hand rested on her stomach as it churned with uneasiness and anxiety. The thought of Lushine shutting down, and her not being able to visit the planet she considered home did not settle well with her.

“Now, your first duty is not to protect me and the crown, nor is it to work with the Lehezan. As the Representative of Earth, you must protect Earth, but you made a deal with me and Representative of Liurus about the protection of the twins. Did you not?” Lucillia hissed, barely audible for anyone but the two women. She added, “Finnik is dead, and they could be next if you do not follow the protocol.”

“I,” Miranda hesitated, looking down at the children with a gulp, “I’m so sorry, Lucillia. I should have been there. I-”

“Please, just take them. If there is anything you can do now, it is to protect them. Their lives depend on it. Kyrazin depends on it,” Lucillia implied. “Karlile might kill me, but at least I know my children will be safe with you.”

“Karlile? As in Pomeroy?”

Miranda’s face paled when Lucillia nodded.

“That son of a bitch. I am going to kill him the next time I see him.”