Empyrean Iris Story Collection Vol. 3

Unconscious Belief

She rested her head back against the couch and looked up at the ceiling.

Dzara's oice was soft when she said, "And then they announced the hybrids."

Sunny sighed, "I don't know what I was thinking that night. It was a conglomerate of feelings both anger and hope all mixed into one. For a second I believed that it was real, and then I wake up the next day and everything is back to normal. I forget about what I ask and we keep going about as we always did, and of course I never thought about using pills or anything else because I was, and am almost still convinced that what happened is impossible. Even now It doesn't feel real, like a dream where you think something to be true but there is no evidence."

"But you have evidence."

"I have bloodwork and Hijab's old wives tale ."

Dzara blinked at her from the other couch, "You are fucked up, you know that?"

To Sunny's surprise she found herself laughing,, and across from her, her sister was laughing to,. She rubbed at her face when it was over shaking her head, "I know, I know, I'm crazy and insane, and yes it STILL is a surprise to me, even now. I've been surprised since yesterday., and I will continue being surprised until..... well I don't know when. Until the world comes crashing down around me and this all just turns out to be a dream ,and I wake up back on Anin under the spires of the four warriors and realize that Kazna was right." She shrugged

Dzara shook her head again then paused, "So.... Do you want it or not?"

"Well I certainly don't want to get rid of it, so that must mean something." She paused, "No, I DO want it, despite everything, but see that is another problem, this is a horrible time for it, absolutely stupid, if I had been thinking with an unclouded mind I certainly would have taken more thought into account but...."

"But Adam didn't, and he doesn't have the baggage you do."

Sunny snorted, "Please my dear sister. Yu don't understand this but. Adam is a human man, regardless of weather or not he thought it was a bad idea, they aren't exactly known for making decisions in their best interest."

Dzara held up her hands, "Alright, Alright, fair you know humans better than I do." She gave Sunny a knowing look, "Better than most people."

"Stop before I hurt you."

"But you don't want to fight."

"I don't want to fight, but I could still kick your ass six ways from sainthood."

"Maybe you're right."

It was then that the elevator went off with a ding, and the two of them turned to see Conn float into the room. The starborn was wearing a stiff back coat with high collar, and coat ends that flowed just below his knees. The jacket was Vaguely Asian inspired. It was a piece he might usually have flaunted for the sake of his own amusement, but Sunny was surprised when he made no joke at her or Dzara's expense and did not bother to openly flaunt his impeccable sense of dress.

His face was serious as was his tone.

"Reports have detected Behemoth in Earth's solar system heading straight for earth." Sunny stood abruptly as did Dzara, "The Pluto mining stations have already been compromised and it is well on it's way. At the speeds it is traveling it shouldn't take it that long at all, by all means it doesn't make sense how fast it moves, but it does."

"And Adam."

"That is.... The good news. Your husband appeared about fie minutes ago to retrieve the fleet captaining a ship he is calling the Empyrean iris. He's going to be leading the offensive against behemoth in a matter of minutes."

"Order the generals to the war room as fast as they can."

Conn nodded and flowed past her, floating off the balcony and into midair.

Sunny turned to Dzara and her sister raced to help Sunny strap on her armor as they waited for news. Live updates were being provided to the war room holoprojection.

Sunny and Dzara were alone for the time being, and it seemed that things were moving too fast.

The other generals would never make it in time .

Sunny knew what was going to happen, probably before Adam did. She took in every movement, every motion of behemoth, and the slow inevitable way it headed towards the Europa settlements. Adam was doing damage, but he was not going to have time to kill it before it caused untold damage.

Sitting there in the vague blue light of the projection, Sunny knew when the call came in.

She picked up on the second ring keeping her head high as his face appeared on the image before her. He was glowing slightly. All she could see was his face, projected from the inside of his helmet. His expression was, sad, but calm and collected , a strand of white hair was plastered to his forehead like sweat.

On the screen before her Sunny was reading live updates from ship sensors.

Gravity well.

Evacuation

Course correction.

"Adam." She said quietly reading the anguish on his face as the word left her mouth.

"I'm sorry –"

And with those words Sunny's fears were confirmed. She knew what he was going to do because there was no other way he could do anything else. He was just like that and would always be like that. As they spoke she warred with herself. She wanted to tell him. If he died tonight he should know it as the last thing before he left....

But what if he didn't die?

Than he would be worried about her and he might be distracted enough to make a mistake that would get him killed.

Mouth open to tell him, the thought stole words from her throat, and she went quiet, and instead she made up a lie ,"Hijan arrived today." It was not a big lie, a simple lie of two or three days in a timeline that was about to be changed forever. Did it really matter that Hijan had arrived the day he left?

Probably not.

He may never know.

"Sunny, stay with me Until...."

"Until I no longer ca." She promised. Her hands balled into fists as she watched the screen, the body forming on her insides, despite being no more than the size of a few grains of sand at this point, felt like a 100lb weight inside her, dragging her down towards the floor.

His face froze not minutes later, the feed stuck In a minute moment in time, before the signal phased out, and she was left standing alone at the war table, her head down listening to the sound of her own breathing and her own pounding heart.

Somewhere in the distant galaxy, a second star flared to being somewhere between Pluto and Jupiter's orbit.

Sunny did not cry

She did not kneel.

She didn't curse.

She stood silent for many long minutes, her head down, her hands splayed across the war room table, and she was still there when Ramirez's transmission came through, appearing on the monitor before her.

She listened to his words, filled with the fire and fervor Adam brought with him, listened to the proxy words of her husband on the tongue of his best friend, "I will not rest. Have hope, "And long live Impetus.'

Sunny's mind was still trying to grasp the meaning of that phrase from the garbled report she had been sent some time in the past few hours. Information about Adam's trip to the Maker's home system of Revelation.

Gods and Monsters

Dark and light.

Sunny took a deep breath and straightened herself just as the generals began filtering into the room. She greeted them with a nod and a raise of her fist.

"Long live Impetus."