CROWN OF THORNS

CHAPTER VII

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From above, it seemed like the world had no faults, no sins, no death, that Kalpyso was thriving, that the citizens were thriving, that life there was a dream, but from below, it was anything but a dream.

"Eros!" The mechanic screamed, as she was pushed around by other bodies running in the opposite direction. The blood stained screw driver flashed before her eyes, she felt everything once again, how it felt holding it as it twisted inside the guard's side, how blood dripped from her hand, but only one thing kept replaying over and over again in her mind, the way Eros looked at her after the fact, was it shame, disappointment, surprise, gratitude, was he even happy to be saved to only die hours later? She didn't just murder a guard, she sentenced Eros to his grave. He knew the cost, and confessed for her crime anyways. The mechanic never admired his stupidity as much as she did now. However, she owed it to him and herself to make it right.

Current Day;

The Observation did not hold prisoners, not like the others. The locus are civil people, they take up their roles in society and follow those roles faithfully. There was no room to question it, or to change it. They accepted it and lived out their life as the way they were told to live it. North followed the path laid out by his great-grandfather, grandfather, and then by his father. It was only when he met Mingyoung, that perhaps, there's better out there than this.

North passed the air locks which kept Eros and the other prisoners locked away, consistently keeping an eye out for any changes. The guards watched him carefully as he made his rounds, North knew they'd be watching, they acted like he was no threat; he was weaponless, and just a third year mechanic. But, in fact, he was not weaponless, the observation was his weapon, they just didn't know that part yet.

Two days passed, and the Regium acted like no decision was made for the prisoners, however, their fates were already decided the minute they stepped onto this ship. The Regium were there to decide North's fate, and he knew he was running out of time.

Silence laid steadily on the Observation, the quietest of sounds were the loudest. North stopped at his favourite spot in the whole ship, what he called the cosmic wave. It was a hall between the server room and the bottom deck, where work would be done on the rocket system. He called it the "cosmic wave" because the walls curved in, like you were inside of one, and the viewing glass on either side of this cylinder hall, looked out to the best part of the galaxy, the lights, of green, blue and purple, all circulating around him. It was the only part of the ship that could make North imagine he was else where, the only part that could make him dream. He loved it for that and was also saddened by it, for dreams like that don't ever become true here.

North heard the echoing of boots hit against the tile, two guards passed him on their rounds. There, reality hit him once again and he kept one eye on the guards departing. However, after they turned the corner, he still was not alone. A wave of auburn hair flew past him, like a blaze of flames in the draft. They turned their face slightly to look back and without a doubt, North realized that he had looked upon that face before; when the Regium first dropped in, she was there, blending in with a guard's uniform on, and the other day on rounds, he noticed her alone, which he thought was odd as the Regium always went in pairs, and now, today.

"Wait!" North chased after the unknown girl, he needed to know her, he needed to know who she was. His feet pulsed with heat, they felt heavy, clumsy, as if they belonged to someone else but, he proceeded quickly after her to not lose sight of her. She dodged him around every corner and ducked into a room. When he opened the door, he was met with force, her body knocked into his and with both hands, she slammed him down, chest first on the metal scrap table in the middle of what appeared to be an mechanical closet that haven't seen a living soul in a couple of years. She grabbed his right arm and twisted it behind his back. North was completely senseless, confused, and his words came out sporadically. "Wait! Wait! I'm not a guard, I'm just a mechanic." He tried to convince her to stop.