Beyond the Empyreal Stars

26.

26.

The New York skyline had changed in the last five years, Duke knew, but everything else had changed for him over the last three days. He sat up on the roof of Grand Central, coming through an access door they built in, where they had posted lookouts after the end of the second war. After a few weeks, they eventually created a rooftop greenhouse they used for growing a few of the smaller crops, along with one small rose bush that began growing by where he liked to sit even though they didn't plant it. A larger garden was below them on what used to be Vanderbilt Avenue.

But now, looking at the moonlit rubble piles and skeletal structures of buildings and skyscrapers, he felt like his world was falling down around him once again.

He didn't know when he started staying up at night, sitting outside, and looking up at the stars. Actually, that was a complete lie. He knew exactly when he started, just after Comae had left the planet and they'd escaped what was left of the White House. He looked up in fear of seeing the Whispian gunships firing on what was left of the human race...and searching for any sign of Alliance help that never came.

He was hoping and wishing Odette would come back to him after leaving so abruptly. After that first week, he started hating her, blaming her for everything that happened. He knew the humans couldn't last without some sort of help, so they turned to the abandoned weapons and tech left behind. But after days turned to weeks, they were finally able to revive some of the Alliance tech left behind, knowing no one would come to help.

It had been months after they were able to access the Alliance feeds that he learned what happened to her and the others. Seeing they were presumed dead, even though they weren't declared officially had closed off his heart, encased it in metal, and locked chains around it. He would never let anyone hurt him the way she had. It was then he knew he had to step up, bury the young, naïve Duke Mitchell and bring the hardened leader in.

At first, he knew it would probably take a while for the people they found to look up to him as someone who would lead them to a better life after losing the planet. They didn't even look at him as if he had believed it was his right, being the son of the slain president. He knew he had a bit of his father's spirit still in him, being the natural born leader he was. Duke just decided to fill his shoes, not expecting the job to come so easily to him.

Now, everyone was going against his orders, but he really couldn't say anything when he hadn't been much of a leader since the Terrians came back.

No, he told himself, they aren't just Terrians. Padric, Nova, and Bas had been his friends, his family. And Odette...she'd been more. So much more.

Now, with them sitting in their cells in the building below him, those chains were being broken around his heart and the metal began the melt. He clung to it, not wanting to feel anything again because he knew something would happen. He knew there was no way things could go his way. He would lose someone else, all they'd built would crumble, and no one would come to save them, just like before.

A low ping sounded from a pocket in his vest – his HoloTab indicating the vid comm he was receiving. Duke knew exactly who it was. She always knew when he was alone, sitting up on the roof. That was when she made contact.

Duke turned on the HoloTab, the screen blinking to life in front of him. A blue receiving icon steadily flashed before he pressed it.

"Good evening, Duke Mitchell," the Terrian Prime greeted.

"Hello, Diana," he said stoically. "What can I do for you tonight?"

"I am positive you are well aware of what I would like to you to do," Diana answered. "You have the answer I seek about my Paragon, Guardians, and Commanding Agent."