Surprisingly, there wasn't any protest when I announced we were going to rescue my siblings. Instead, everyone began talking excitedly about the best way to get there and how to catch Titan by surprise. Obviously, there were multiple concerns thrown around the room but for the most part everyone was ready. They were ready to defend their first home. They were ready to save my family. They were ready to prove to the Minds that someone could defeat Titan. They were ready to get revenge for their fallen brothers and sisters.
They were ready for war.
I was ready for war.
As Neptune drew a map of the lab, the twins worked on a battle plan, Henrie prepared an emergency kit of scattered supplies incase something went horribly wrong, Jupiter started outlining a way for us to get there without getting discovered and Pluto silently watched. As he did, I noticed him fiddling with something in his pocket and I assumed it was Venus' medallion.
Perhaps, perhaps he was feeling hopeful to?
At some point, I did go back to the room with Gemma and told her we knew where the others were, and her tears turned into a frown of determination as she joined in on planning. I could feel she had the same anger boiling in her veins that I did. She was angry, murderously angry. Titan wasn't going to stand a chance against us, because unlike the mad scientists he attacked that night, Gemma and I both had something to lose.
In little time, we were packing up our supplies, ditching the cars and making our way on foot to the train yard. As we walked, Mercury carried Pluto on her back and Mars carried me on his. Neptune led the way with Gemma walking at her side and Henrie had perched himself sweetly on her shoulder. Surprisingly, Gemma wasn't afraid of him, she liked the charming piece of scrap metal and I didn't blame her for it. I did, however, still feel hostile towards Jupiter who was walking at the back of our determined group. Although he had helped planned our route, he had been quiet for some time now and seemed to be lost in thought.
I didn't ask him what was on his mind though, I didn't care.
After sometime walking, we finally reached the train yard and as soon our designated ride pulled up Mercury passed off Pluto to Neptune and broke the lock off a cargo car and helped us all into it before the train left the station. Once we were all inside, we each picked a corner to rest in and a silence settled across our group.
At first, I hadn't been able to rest because my mind was heavy with anticipation, but eventually I started to fall asleep. Before I could completely drift off though, I heard heavy feet on the ground. Blinking hard to clear my dark vision, I looked up to see Pluto was weakly leaning against the wall next to me.
"What? You want to watch me sleep?" I asked, rubbing my eyes as I pushed myself up and away from Gemma so I wouldn't wake her up.
"No, I just wanted to see if you could take the necklace back," He said, holding it out.
"Wouldn't it be safer with you though?" Smiling sadly, Pluto slowly sat down. He then looked at the necklace as he turned it over again and again between his fingers.
"I'm probably going to die down there Abigail."
Instantly I doubled over as I grabbed his arm tight. "No. You're not! Why would you say something like that?" I asked harshly, trying to keep my voice quiet.
"Because I'm the weakest one." He shrugged. "I'm not good in combat, I'm not well versed in knowledge, I can't find things; the only thing I'm programmed for is to be a caretaker."
"Pluto—"
He shook his head at me. "I couldn't protect Mac, I lost your family, I lost you and got captured on multiple occasions. The only way I'm not a danger to this mission is if I'm the one who stands in between you and Titan. If I allow Titan to kill me, it might give you and your family the opportunity you deserve to survive." He then opened my hand and put the necklace in it. "After you rescue your family, you need to make it your mission to find Venus. She's the only one who can truly stop him. The best we can do is subdue him," He said as I wrapped my trembling fingers around the medallion and slowly put it in my pocket.
"You're not going to die Pluto, please don't convince yourself the only way to prove your worth is by letting him kill you." I pleaded as he looked away.
"Gail, I need to make sure you make it. This isn't your war, it's ours. It's mine."
"You aren't proving anything if you let Titan kill you," I said, then grabbing Pluto's chin to make him look at me. "You are stronger than you give yourself credit for Pluto. You're smart, you're resourceful, you're a caretaker. A proper caretaker who cares about the ones their looking after is stronger than any gun or piece of knowledge. You believe me, right?"
I meant what I said. Even though I gave Pluto a hard time in the beginning I gradually realized he might one of the only reasons we have a shot. He was equivalent to everyone else in this team and I couldn't bear the thought of losing him. So maybe that's why I found myself leaning forward and kissing him, or perhaps it was my adrenaline. Either way I locked lips with him quickly before pulling back just as fast.
"Sorry. I'm sorry. That was wrong I shouldn't have done that," I stuttered as I then noticed his tired eyes were glowing a fluorescent blue in the dark and the outline around his pupils started spinning clockwise. "What...what's happening?" I asked as he grabbed my elbows to pull me closer with deep look locked on his face.
"When I feel happiness, my eyes get brighter," He said before kissing me again and he didn't shy away like I did. Feeling something stir inside me and make my legs weak I willingly kissed him back. I had only ever kissed one other boy and kissing Pluto felt like kissing a human. Only warmer and more secure. He was stronger than a human, obviously, and because of the mechanics in him his touch was more heated.
The kiss felt incredibly wrong, but it also felt right. Maybe that was the pain meds Neptune gave me talking. Either way I wasn't planning on pulling back, even when I felt his hands wandering over my back then grip my jacket and shirt between his knuckles. I wonder what this felt like for him.
Was he programmed to be into kissing, or did he naturally like it?
If his feelings and actions were independent of his programming, was that how his brain was designed?
I didn't really get a chance to think further about it though because a high-pitched squeal filled the cargo car and a heavy thump was heard. "Neptune!" I heard Mercury yell and as I covered my ears to block out the ringing, I saw that Neptune had collapsed on the floor of and she started convulsing as her chest opened and a thin rod slid up from it.
"What the hell is happening?" Mars shouted above the noise as the head of the rod spread open and projected an image of a woman on the ceiling of the cargo car. When it came into focus, the ringing stopped.
"This is Dr. Gavino of the Archytas Protect, I am contacting you all tonight to give you your final warning to cease and desist from the detour in your mission to take Abigail Williams to the designated safe house and await further instruction. By not following our current instructions, we can only assume your systems have been compromised and Abigail Williams is in imminent danger. If you do not follow our orders to go back on course, immediate action will be taken to obtain you from your current location. Do you understand?"
Sharing terrified glances Mars, Mercury and Pluto all remained silent as Jupiter quietly spoke up. "If we had done what we were trained to do in the first place, maybe we could've avoided the current severity of this mess. We do not comply with any of your bull. We're going to get the Williams family and after we do, we will be in contact."
At that, the lady smiled calmly. "Well, if no one else is going to speak on the behalf of your group then we shall see you soon," She said before the image disappeared and the rod slid back into Neptune's chest. Once it did, she shot up with a gasp.
"Their coming. We need to get off this train now!"
"And go where exactly? According to my satellite map we're in the middle of a forest right now! We still have seven more miles until its time to get off," Mercury informed as she looked up from the white glow of her wrist.
"Did you know there were prior warnings Neptune?" Mars asked helping her up and regretfully Neptune nodded.
"Since we went off track of our mission to rescue Pluto, they've been sending me warnings. At first, I tried to reason with them, but they weren't listening, so I started ignoring them because I realized the wrong of their ways." She pulled her sword out from her belt. "We're not accomplishing anything by hiding, we were built to fight. If we had started pushing back sooner, maybe Titan wouldn't have grown as strong as he is. That doesn't mean though we shouldn't still try." She looked at me reassuringly. "Anyways, I think in this scenario Abigail stands a better chance fighting than hiding."
Before I could add anything on in agreement though, we heard a loud screech from the front of the train and the whole car jolted, knocking us all on the ground.
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Hey guys! Wow, I'm a little ecstatic right now because I am less then 10 chapters away from finishing this story! The reason I'm kind of low key hyped is because this is one of the most complicated plots I've ever written and its taken me so long to get this far. Hopefully you guys are still enjoying it and will be reading the second book.
-Mari.