When It Ends

Chapter 21: Tree

I went into his head and showed him the memory of me fighting them.

"Ah, them. Well, those ones are special. They are typically born as sextuplets. They all share one brain so they are pretty dumb."

"But the last one, Pharaoh, he showed me stuff and got into my mind. We could telepathically communicate."

"That was his last resort, you see, when one dies, the rest sort of mentally absorb them. Meaning that they slowly get smarter the more you kill. Because he was the last, he was able to use their natural defense mechanism."

"So... his defense mechanism was to get me to marry him?"

"It varies honestly, you must have wanted a companion at the time, it had to be at the forefront of your mind. It was the only thing he could see, they use whatever you wanted most to make you believe they aren't going to harm you."

"Hold on, so why did it feel like he knew everything about me?"

"Well after the first defense you never broke the connection, so it was still there, that's why you could communicate. He didn't know everything about you. He could only see what you let him. Don't worry, with distance it dissipates."

I didn't tell him I already broke the connection on Earth, he doesn't know the full extent of my abilities.

"Oh okay, gotchu."

"Wait Dasana, I have to ask, did you have your powers when this happened?"

"No, only after."

"Did you feel your connection getting any stronger or weaker as time passed?"

"Weaker, even though we were in pretty close proximity."

"That's strange, it's supposed to last until you're far apart, in order to longer their survival."

"So you know how during the fight I swallowed a little blood, do you think that has anything to do with it? You know, my powers?"

"No, the blood only made it easier for him to enter you're mind, they do it on purpose as a just in case."

"So my powers don't have anything to do with that?"

"No, based on what you're telling me, you're powers don't have anything to do with my kind. With the exception of a few defense mechanisms and parlor tricks, my species doesn't have powers like yours."

He looks at me intensely, in awe.

"You're something different."

"Ha, yeah."

I look away from his gaze and focus on the tree in the corner of the room.

For some reason looking at it calms me down.

"You know," he interrupts the silence "I never really wanted to be king. As you can see I'm still pretty young, I mainly wanted to have fun, live life."

He starts to sound a little sad.

"But then the previous ruler was murdered and I had no choice... I know I'm not the best leader Trixseria has but I truly wish to do better for the citizens.  If we could change our way of life maybe things would be better, I just don't know how to do that, this is all we've ever known."

Wow, I, I didn't expect him to say any of that. Ever since I heard about how destructive to their environment they are I expected their personalities to match.

He takes a deep breath and reaches for my hand. I allow him to grab it and hold it between both of his.

The difference in our hand sizes excite me to be honest, mine look so protected in his. He looks into my eyes.

"Dasana, I had no hope for our kind and this planet. I even sent a team out to scout for a new one already. I know this may seem like a lot to you considering you just got here, but would you consider joining me in my mission to save this planet?"

I already knew my answer when he took my hand in his.

"Yes, I'd love to."

He gives me a beaming smile and a large hug. Wrapping me in his muscular arms, his scent surrounds me. Damn. He smell good.

When he lets go he bends on one knee and puts his arm across his chest. I'm confused because I know I haven't entered his mind and the soldiers took this position when they pledged their allegiance to me.

Is he?

"I, James Arturian, vow to protect my people and this planet, beside you."

I like the sound of that. A lot.

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