Diana's POV
Surrounded by the beauty of Dark Ninth's flora, I walk outside while I hear a rustle in the shrubs around me, with Mars by my side. We're both watching the way the little feet run through the wet mud.
"So quick to stealth like his father," I whisper to Mars, as I close my eyes and hear the little man sprinting toward me. I reach down and lift him up – the baby grins, covered in moss and sparkles already, as he shows me scary looking metallic teeth – sharp triple canines on both sides, "Maelstrom," I scold him, "Don't run away from me – I'm your mama... and I'm the Galactic Queen! Show some respect!"
Of course, he has no idea what I'm saying, but his large dark eyes look at me and Mars, as he points a chubby hand at me, "Mo. Ga! Qween." his little voice is scared that he hasn't repeated what I said right.
My eyes widen.
So, newborns, on day one, run and speak.
Mars looks so proud, he nods, "That's right."
Maelstrom starts to wriggle and I feel like he has the zoomies, so I put him down and his stealth flickers on as he runs off again.
"I'm afraid to ask, how does he eat?" I look to Mars.
"Fruit and the dust is enough to sustain him," Mars answers quickly, "Don't worry."
"I'm not worried," I lie, and he slowly smiles and says nothing.
I keep walking, and he walks a little behind me.
"Why Maelstrom?" Mars asks darkly, "...we choose their names... not the females..."
"Tough," I grit my teeth, angry, "You don't like the name I chose?"
"I love it, actually, better than what I was thinking," Mars gets my attention by being so vague.
I spin to face him, slowly putting my hands on my hips, "What?"
"I was thinking, Diasphora," Mars looks me over slow, and I get a chill down my spine. Dia like Diana.
"Weird... Maelstrom is definitely better," I stand still now, as Mars approaches and places a hand on my belly.
"I wonder," Mars hums to himself, "...what E will do if he is the father this time..."
"I don't trust E, he's erratic," I whisper, "Cinta broke his mind."
"Sh," Mars looks beyond me, his nostrils flaring. He looks stricken by something.
I smell the air too.
And then I hear her.
Crying from far away.
I turn toward the crying, by one of the distant ruins.
Not just crying. It's sobbing. Grief.
"Stay here," Mars tries to command me, his tone dropping a whole octave – his whole body tensing. He uses stealth and silently sprints for the noise.
I do too. I can tell Mars will approach more hesitantly until he knows for sure what it is, so I just go closer, quicker.
I run around the back of the ruin and run inside.
Within the crumbling walls, in the centre on a patch of dirt, is a thin, frail woman, flesh and bone, her hands on a metallic pile of dust, crying as she runs her fingers through the silver ashes.
"Mama," she cries out and puts her hands over her face, screaming, "MAMA!"
I don't understand – why was a stray woman crying over Fey remains?
I was the last being alive with Fey DNA and it was miniscule.
Logically, it makes no sense. Are we witnessing a ghost? She looks real to me.
I think she must be Fey. Maybe one that got stuck in a time warp. Because nothing else explains this.
I feel warmth at my back and I know Mars has approached me from behind.
I wait for him to pull me back and scold me.
However, I don't expect him to place a hand on my back and usher me forward.
He clearly wants me to make this person talk.
I approach, turning off my stealth, my feet press through ferns and the naked woman spins, her brown eyes wide as she looks up at me.
She looks familiar in a way I can't describe. Like I've seen her face before. She doesn't have hair, it's fallen away from the stress. Her teeth look strong, but her body is barely keeping itself together.
"Who are you?" I ask, and she doesn't answer, so I ask instead, "...do you need help?" I hope I sound kinder, and not so confronting.
"...female?" she asks me back, calming down a little.
I nod and approach.
She's not armed, she's just alone. She's no threat.
"Where are you from?" I kneel right next to her.
"Depends," she wipes her dry eyes, she had been crying but barely any water had come out.
"Where do you come from today?" I change my wording.
She looks to me, as she answers, "Planet... Apastron. I was pardoned."
I pretend to understand how that's possible. I nod. I only understand that she's covered in blue grime, so she must have been one of the prisoners in Alpha Centauri's hold. She looks defeated by life.
"Your name?" I ask.
"Airy," she barks out a painful laugh, "It stuck. I'm half only," as I wait for her to explain to me, she heaves in a deep breath, "Half human," she looks up at me, "You look a little... human too."
"...what's the... um, what's the other... half..." I gulp.
Airy shivers as she looks down at the pile of dust, running the tips of her fingers through it over and over. I'm honestly concerned she may be minutes from death. We can't keep talking forever. She needs strength.
"...airy... the mistake I made... having you... a female, weak and soft like air... so she hid me away..." Airy keeps stabbing her finger into the dust. I reach over and grab her hand, pulling it back, "Fey," she says, "I'm half Fey."
"Have you been locked away for six destinies?" I ask, feeling my stomach turn. I didn't know Kors may have also imprisoned Fey for a life term – whatever that may be.
"I am the only one... released," Airy closes her eyes, "And I wish I was dead."
"Why?" I snap this, feeling bad for being so aggressive but being alive was a miracle.
"I have no home," she admits, "Nothing. They're all dead... cruel to me... but still... all I knew..."
"Is this your... um, where your mama died," I see her looking at the pile, shaking her head.
"No. I don't... grieve... her. She's the reason. They're all dead," she looks at me, whispering so quietly she's just mouthing the words, her voice no longer anything but parched and dry and empty, "My mama was too evil –" she speaks it too quietly, in such pain, I barely hear, I don't know if Mars heard, but I clamp my hand around her mouth, as gently as I can, and I hope she sees the warning in my eye not to speak another word.
If she was her child.
They'd show no mercy.
Even if her father was a human.
"Sh," I try to put on a show for Mars, "No more. You need water. Take my hand. Half Fey, Half Human, that's amazing. I'm like you too," I explain.
I hear Mars come forward now.
Airy turns, her fear is heightened but she has no energy left to react. She looks up at Mars, as he turns off his stealth, and I see Mars taking her in with cold eyes.
"You have your mother's face," Mars speaks without expression, just stating a fact.
Shit – that's why she looked familiar to me. Her face was similar to Cintas. They had the same upturned dark eyes, the same full mouth.
I step in front of her, holding out my arms, "Mars. Don't kill Airy."
"I can't, if my Estori pardoned her, she is pardoned by all Kors," Mars growls over me, "But still. Diana. Alpha Centauri is one hell of a prick. Cinta's blood is an insult to Ninth Squad. It's because of you, he wants you, so he sent a bitch like her here to piss us off."
"Shut up, forget your ego. I doubt that's why. I think it's because Orlai returned with Alpha Centauri," I whisper to him, "If that's the first mercy Alpha Centauri has shown in destinies, it's because of her. It's not to insult you, you arrogant idiot. We need to get Airy water and food or she's going to die."
"Venom will make her better," Mars' sharp eyes cut through mine to Airy.
I turn to see her looking at her feet, slowly shaking her head, "No," she begs, "I don't want your venom."
"Cute Fey bullshit," Mars smirks at me, "She's a liar like her mother too."
"Stop being so cruel, she's half human! She has empathy, can't you tell?" I hiss at him, tears welling in my eyes because I hear the human truth in her statement. I recognise her truth. The way I didn't want venom, neither did she. But still Mars can't help but taunt her, as he side-steps around me and she can't resist.
She stops shaking though, probably preparing for death, thinking that's all that's owed to her.
Mars puts a finger on her neck, over her weak pulse. He slides his finger up and her head tilts to the side.
I speak up, warning him.
"As the Galactic Queen and your Empress," I use what I can, "You better do what I want you to do, Mars – I pay a heavy price for your obedience," I put a hand on my belly, "The price I pay, you pay in return," I glare at him and he cocks a brow at me but he doesn't object.
"I wasn't going to make it lethal," Mars holds the side of her head up, knowing she'll collapse. Mars is so amused by me, he can't help but smile as he leans down to her neck, enjoying my inner turmoil.
I watch as he bites over Airy's pulse.
I feel like I'm watching myself, from an outside perspective.
I see the way she reacts.
Her body does go limp, but she also receives strength.
A moment later he takes his teeth from her neck.
He lays Airy to the ground, letting her sleep, while I see her skin pulse as it starts to heal.
"Thank you," I whisper it, as Mars looks past her to me.
"Let's go back," Mars commands it. I walk with him, wringing my hands together, "She won't forget this mercy," Mars drawls, "As for Venus –"
"He can't know about her," I interject.
"E can and will have her," Mars growls over me, "For science, he can use some live meat."
I gasp by his inability to care that she's half human, "I won't let you or your psychotic cousin kill her," I step into his front, Mars just pushes past me, ignoring me.
"Get back in line, Dark Ninth is mine, Diana – you're our special venom whore. The Galactic Queen and Empress title means nothing when I make the final decisions," Mars is clearly triggered, but even so, his words wound me. I stand behind, feeling ostracised again. Mars shoots a sharp look back at me, "Don't fall behind, Diana. Why so sour?"
"Venom whore. Really? Have you not learnt that I do what I please?" I scream at him, "I'm here because I want to be."
Mars turns back to the prison, laughing. No, you're not, that's what it feels like he's saying.
I'm here because they chose to preserve me and make me sustainable for them.
But me, me though, what I think I am, Queen and Empress, seems to be a mirage for what I really am. I'm their blood. Their food.
That's all I am. At least that's what it fucking feels like when he laughs like that.
"Do you love me?" I call out, scared.
I know I shouldn't ask it. I know he does love me.
Mars knows I shouldn't ask it too.
He looks back, "Just a wimp," Mars teases me, his voice dark and growly, "I love a pathetic wimp," That's better. I smile, until I realise he insulted me too, but Mars sees that I smiled, and he immediately rolls his eyes, "Women."
"Hey! You're not any better, you carnivorous leeching predator! All you do is murder and complain when you're ALONE FOREVER! Ooo, poor me, I can't get a long-term girlfriend because I'm a creepy alien who sleeps while surrounded by all the dust-remains of all my victims. You asshat," I see Mars flinch.
HA! Haahaha!
Damn, I feel good after screaming all that.