Fall of the Stars: Clint's Story

Chapter 15

"I've fallen in love with the one thing I swore to destroy." -Joan

~~~

Good God, she hated this.

Joan did not want to be some bodyguard for the captured Zyger.

Her instincts were to simply shoot the goddamn thing and kill it. See the blood flowing across its body just made her smile.

Stop it, she chides herself. She's no killer, she doesn't want to prove that to anyone.

She wonders where Clint went. He'd left her alone with the creature, but not before tying the creature's body up and producing a shock collar just in case the creature tried to attack her. Joan shivered.

How did it all to come this? Joan thought, fiddling with her weapon. It wasn't hers, Clint had given it to her after Gaia had let him borrow it. Since he had his powers, he'd handed it off to the cripple of the group. Joan was filled with disgust, and she thought of Jackie. The kind brunette she had met when she was first starved. The only friend in the group. She and Ethel had a love and hate relationship.

Unlike Jackie however, Joan had had an easy past. Her parents were rich and spoiled her with the every good intent. Since her parents' fortune would be brought down to her, she never worried about having to do good in school. But ever since the invasion, not only was the money stripped off her but so was her weakeness. She was unable to fight, and she hurt herself seriously when she tried to.

Joan now scolded herself on being weak. She hated it so much. She didn't like how she had to look up to others when she was in danger. The thought of looking to Clint when she needed help annoyed her. I need to stop being so weak, she would tell herself. But the sad part was, it never worked.

Her instincts brought her back when she saw the creature stirring on the bed slowly. Joan checked her newly made watch. It had a weird limit that was not CST, but she grew to adapt to it after the winged woman called Lisa helped her out with her wounds and other materials not seen on earth.

He's been unconscious for about four hours, she reasoned. That's odd for a human. Might not be odd for a Zyger, she added with a little smirk.

The Zyger blinked open his eyes at his surroundings. "Where...?" Joan quickly stood, and walked in front of him. His eyes caught sight of her, and his teeth bore into a snarl.

"Hi," she said, extending her hand. She liked extending her hand, because the Zyger had a choker around his neck that prevented him from doing anything. That included trying to slit her neck open and or trying to kill her. "Remember me?"

"Of course I do," he snarled sitting up. His whole side was slightly burnt and hurt too. "Why wouldn't I, Joansie?"

So he remembers my name. I wonder if he has short term memory loss or he just hates me. She tilts her head a little. She says nothing.

"Where am I?" The creature rose to his full height.

"From what Clint told me..." Joan paused. "You're in the place called Hoole..."

"Of course," he said with disgust in his eyes. "Where is he? I want to talk to him."

She doesn't move. "He's busy."

"Well I need to talk to him!" The creature reared up and sliced his tail at her. Joan stood there, cocking her eyebrow as he was shocked several times by the the collar.

"Yeah, don't do that," she said. "Anyway, I'd be happy for you to talk to him, but you'll need to wait."

He glared at her. Then he slowly relaxed himself. "Fine," he snarled.

She stands up. She says nothing as she walks out. She feels guilty. She likes him a little, but he's aggressive as hell. She quickly locks and closes the door behind her, leaving the creature in complete darkness.

<>

Clint stopped in his tracks as he saw Joan coming out of the cell room. "He's awake?"

She nodded wordlessly.

Clint brushed past her. "What mood is he in?"

"The usual," she responds. "Hating everyone."

Clint chuckles. "Normal," he said before brushing past her.

He opened the door with the picket lock Gaia had given him. Sure enough the creature was lying down still on the bed. Clint looked down at him without saying a word. He already felt bigger than Ted Kennedy, but that was normal. Gaia predicted that he would evolve himself into a Halfblood as big as the Zygers maybe. He looked down at Ted again.

"Look who came to join me," the Zyger says silkily. "The Prince did. What do you want?"

"To talk." Clint answered calmly. He was not throbbing, his body however was shaking.

Ted snorted with laughter. "Well then, aren't we curious. What do you want to talk about?"

"My father," Clint answered again. Ted's eyes grew like marbles.

"I did not expect that," the other said. He frowned a little to himself.

"Well?" Clint prompted.

Ted growled. "What will I get in return?"

"I'll make sure you aren't hurt," Clint replied. "As long as you don't try anything stupid."

The other grunted. "Serves me right. Very well, ask away."

"Was he always like that?"

"You're going to have to be more specific." Ted sneered. "I don't know what you're talking about if you're doing this in fragments."

"I'm asking if he was always like this," Clint repeated. "Did he always dream of flying the stars and ruling the galaxy?"

Ted's eyes narrowed. "He always did. He wanted a son all together as well."

Clint felt his stomach plunge. "He did?"

"You wouldn't imagine the look on his face when he heard of a human incarnating the other Zygers," Ted flexed his tail. "He was so happy."

Clint felt guilt forming in his chest. Good God... Did I really do that?

Ted kept looking at him. "Do you finally see the error of your ways, Clint Hill? Do you realize he just wanted someone to be with him?"

"He has Jackie," Clint protested.

"But Jackie's not even related to him," Ted mocked. "He wanted someone else. Someone of his own bloodline."

Clint felt sick to his stomach. "I... I..."

Ted didn't move. "Give people a chance, Clint. I'm not saying what you should do. You should have joined Jack when he offered you the chance. Next time he will not be so merciful. He's had it with you. Next time, he'll inflict serious damage on you. There's no way you're escaping him without punishment."

Clint felt severely sick now. Maybe there was a chance to just end it all. Save the galaxy by allying himself with the very creature the was destined to destroy it. But then he remembered Kick's warning. "It'll destroy reality itself, Clint. Not just the galaxy."

"I can't," Clint said shakily. "She told me not to."

Ted looked up at him. "Who?"

"The girl. Her name was Kick," Clint explained. "She came to me in a dream and warned me about the End Times."

"Kathleen," Ted realized. "You saw her?"

"Who is she?" Clint asked instead.

Ted's eyes bore into him. "Answer my question."

"Yes, she said her name was Kathleen. But she told me to call her Kick."

Ted's mouth looked numb. "She is your aunt. She died years ago. She had what we Zygers call Black Plague. It's not anything related to yours, but she died. This disease was brought by the Hoolians."

Clint looked behind him. "I... I..."

Ted shakes his head. "There's nothing to it, Clint. It's over. Say bye to your human race. Once, Jack gets back to earth... It's simply game over."