Eadric and I make up some excuse at the emergency meeting we call that night, or that morning, depending on how you see it, to explain our sudden departure as I vow to try to uncover Nightblood. But Eerika seems wary of our sudden travel plans given she is one of the only people in that room who knows the full story. All the others on the taskforce team as well as my mother, Einar and David will obviously need to be informed of our actual purpose for leaving, but I reckon Apache will inform Einar and I can handle my mother in order to get as much information and guidance as I can out of her to dedicate the last month or so we have left to cracking the formula for an even more powerful variation of Nightblood, hopefully a version strong enough to handle the expected radiation levels post the wave hitting us. Eadric, for slightly cryptic reasons, is struggling to accept my wishes to go on this little radical mission of mine, but as we exit the meeting hall, Eerika being helped along by her brother himself as we do so, he decides to voice his concerns to me now in hushed tones.
"You realize how pointless it all is, right? To try to make everyone here immune to radiation?" He mutters in my ear once we have managed to get out of earshot of most of the individuals still filling out the large, makeshift meeting hall. "We should remain here with our people, helping to ready this place for the radiation."
"There's little more I can do here, Eadric. But this Nightblood solution could change the course of our lives for the next six years. Does that mean nothing to you?" I challenge, crossing my arms over my chest as I face him head on.
"And what if you can't crack it, Aurora?" He presses, insistent. " You already know your mother is too busy treating burn victims and the occasional injury to those working repairs to offer you any assistance over there, and we have maybe four weeks before the wave arrives if it's not accelerating any, which is a big if, don't forget. I don't think we should do this."
"We don't have to." I retort with a pointed raise of my brow, to which Eadric stills, disbelieving. "You're more than welcome to stay here and monitor conditions here while I go with the team. We can handle this on our own-"
"You know that's not an option, Aurora." Eadric insists, his eyes widening with urgency.
I take a moment to process his sudden change in manner before abruptly clearing my throat to continue. "Then come with us if you feel like you have to. But I have to give this a shot, Eadric, you know I do-"
"Right, for the sake of your people." Eadric interrupts bitterly. "Meanwhile, you've been neglecting them since you've gotten here."
I narrow my eyes towards his biting remark. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Eadric and his sister exchange wary glances before the latter shrinks upon my suspicious gaze momentarily catching her own. Eadric, on the other hand, speaks freely when I look back to him. "Einar has voiced several concerns to Apache regarding the soundness of your people. They don't approve of how much you've changed since you've gotten here, and yet you haven't even begun to realize it."
"My people doubt me because of the uniform I'm wearing?" I clarify in a state of disbelief.
Eadric nods firmly, his stubbornness not wavering any. "They do."
"What about you, Commander?" I cannot help but retort as I take in his own appearance in a guards uniform of his own, his hair only adding to the effect. "You've changed more than I have since we got here, yet your people haven't complained any. Why is that?"
"Because I have taken to personally reassuring my people since the day I've taken the throne. Since I meet with my best hunters, old shopkeepers, children from my clan on a daily basis whenever I can because I make the time to do so, because I care. You haven't shown your people that level of consideration in weeks, and it's starting to show."
I bristle before turning to Eerika, pettily getting back on topic without even bothering to confront her brother's harsh claims. "Eerika, what do you think? Is the Nightblood research a waste of time to you?"
Eerika stills, her eyes widening as she takes in my expectant expression as opposed to Eadric's pointed one. "Uh, yeah, as much as I would love to fuel the flames between this little debate of yours, I'm going to have to pass on that one. Lakote!"
The towering warrior smiles warmly towards his lover once he manages to spot her through the crowd. He limps over to her, a new brace covering his leg, I note. Perhaps Jackie and my mom have been figuring out some upgrades for him.
"Hello, my dear." He greets once he has reached us, taking Eadric's place as he cards an arm around her waist, pressing a light kiss to her cheek. "Everything alright here?"
Eadric turns to face Lakote, his hands on his hips. "She needs rest. Take her back to your room, please."
Eerika rolls her eyes towards her brother's overprotective nature. "Eadric-"
"Of course, Commander." Lakote bows before looking back to her. "Let's head back."
"Fine." Eerika grunts, irritable. "Eadric, come visit me before you two head out, alright?"
He sighs before relenting, "You already know I'm going to."
She nods before turning back to Lakote. Even beat up as we all are at this point, the couple is admirably strong as they head off with their arms laced around one another.
Eadric and I are not so warm and fuzzy at the moment, it would seem, as we are still bickering even by the time I have greeted him back at our room after momentarily leaving him to discuss with my mother and Einar about my plans. The information Anne shared and the tools she promised to provide me with seem promising enough, but obviously this apparently well preserved lab filled with incredible technology on top of my research still might not be enough under this time crunch as I am clearly no geneticist. Who knows what will happen on that island. All I know is I have to try.
But it is already getting old, trying to convince Eadric of this reality. "For god sakes, Eadric, even my mother, who is paranoid towards virtually everything on the ground, thinks I should pursue this."
"She has to know the risks heading to the island this close to the wave arriving, Aurora." He argues, setting his hands over his hips expectantly. "I doubt she has no concerns letting you go four weeks to its arrival."
"Of course she has concerns, but she's also thinking about the future of our people, Eadric, something you should be thinking about as well." I snap, cracking my knuckles under my fingerless gloves.
Eadric stills from where he had begun double checking the laces of his boots, taking a moment to rise tall to his towering form. When he stalks towards me, his gaze is dark, and no less irritated than it has been the entire damn night. "Why are you fighting this?" He begins, his voice low, suspicious. "Why are you so afraid of staying here for the next six years?"
I release a sharp breath, shocked if not unnerved by his sudden prodding. "I'm not afraid of staying in a ship I goddamn grew up in, Eadric." I point out, exasperated.
"Then what is it? Are you afraid of being with me or something?" Eadric stops just short of my feet, his gaze peering down on me invasively.
When my silence lingers, even due to the hollow scoff I release, it only seems to anger him more.
"That's it, isn't it? You're afraid of possibly being with me as more than just friends and allies, as more than just co leaders in an arranged marriage. You're afraid of this," he continues, gesturing between the two of us, "of what we have becoming real."
"It is real, and I'm not afraid of that." I snap, my jaw clenching with my insistence.
Eadric continues regardless of my protesting. "Do you not want to stay with me? Is that what this is?"
"Of course I want to stay with you, Eadric!" I insist, taking his hands in my own.
"But you're afraid to be with me." He repeats yet again, and I pull away, my patience waning. He takes my arm, preventing me from walking away. In fact, he does not relent his pressure until my shoulder is pressed against his chest.
I bristle before stubbornly allowing my gaze to rise to his own again. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Do you want children, Aurora? Do you really?"
I swallow thickly as a burning sensation emerges in my eyes, and I think back to Maaike and Eadric, how brilliant the latter would be as a father, how considerate he has always been of the young girl even when she struggled to trust him. And that is when I am able to truly confirm that the problem has never been how I feel about Eadric. The problem has always been me, and I have always known this.
"Aurora, tell me the truth." He presses long after my mind has finally calmed some in realization. "Do you see kids in our future?"
"The truth?" I ask, already knowing what he is going to say.
"Always."
"Fine." I nod, blinking back my tears. "The thought of it sickens me. All I can think of is hundreds of dead kids in Trident who were killed by my actions, the frightened stares of village children who've heard legends about me that I saw for months walking through both my clan and your own until they finally learned to accept me. Eadric... everything fragile in my hands break. I am still Mors Regina Caeli every time I step into a meeting, every time I confront my clan, even when I wear this goddamn guards uniform, and I don't know how I can survive in a world like this, as a Queen, if I even attempt to change that."
Eadric slowly lets up on the pressure over my arm until he finally releases it completely, his head ducking some as he does so. "You show me everyday that you're so much more than what the people label you as. Is that not enough?" He rasps, his gaze pleading some as he gazes intently into my own.
"You know me better than anyone else on this damn planet, Eadric." I reveal to him, genuine. "That may be enough to you, but I owe you more. I owe my people more."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Eadric asks, setting his hands over his hips.
"It means you were right before, about me neglecting my people, about the fact that I need to start doing better. But that has nothing to do with our future, I promise you." I assure him, setting my hands over his shoulders. "In time, perhaps I'll be ready to have children, and I know you're the only person I would trust enough to try with. There are some reservations I have towards being a mother, yes, but I know I can overcome those fears if you're with me, by my side."
Eadric release a sharp breath upon me confessing this, taking it upon himself to brace his hands over my hips. "Are you sure about that?" He inquires, reasonably wary. "You're not just telling me what I want to hear?"
"I'm sure." I tell him with a firm nod.
He returns it before softly beckoning, "Come here."
I automatically comply, setting my arms over his shoulders as he braces his hands over my hips to press a firm kiss to my cheek. He tucks his head into the crook of my neck before bundling me in his arms. I close my eyes, releasing a deep breath as all the tension seems to fade from my body in that moment.
A soft knock over our door interupts us, however, drawing us apart from one another.
I sigh when I open the door to realize it is Maaike standing along the other side of it, alone. "Maaike, it's almost four in the morning. Why aren't you asleep in Lakote and Eerika's room?"
"They told me you were leaving for a while but never told me why. If you guys are leaving today, I want to be there to send you off."
I kneel down to tug one of the ebony braids framing her face, my grin genuine. "You're a stubborn one, little rat. You know that?"
Her grin comes to match mine as she retorts, "Eerika says I get that from you."
"Of course she does." I state wrly, shaking my head as I retreat some to stand. I hold a hand out to her, an offer. "You can help us pack, but after that, I'm going to need you to obey whatever Olvir, Eerika, or Lakote tells you to do until we return, okay? Promise me."
Maaike swallows thickly before taking my hand in earnest. "I... I promise."
"Good girl." I muse, shaking out the hair atop her head. "Now, come on. Eadric could use a hand learning how to pack his gear properly."
Eadric's grin widens as he meets my gaze, his eyes narrowed in lighthearted protest. "I pack just fine." He declares, stubborn.
"For a warrior, maybe. But you need to start rolling your clothes so you have more space in general. And we're using duffles and containers from Superior for your weapons and armor because I'll be damned if I'm going to hear you complain one more time about them getting damaged on the journey."
Maaike giggles as Eadric reaches up to pull the little girl up to his hip. "You know," he begins once sure she is comfortable, "I'd be more offended if I knew what a duffle was."
My grin and Maaike's laughter release any tension leftover in the room from our previous arguments.
As previously promised, David has the group ready and in the rover with all of their gear and such to last the next couple weeks. We do not quite yet require hazmat suits to protect us from the rising radiation levels in order to step outside, but by the time we head back, that is obviously going to be another story.
My mother is also present to send us off, clinical in manner as she describes all the potential dangers and protocol we'll have to follow in order to remain safe when we head back to the ship. But I see right through it all, not only because I am her daughter, but because I do the same thing when I fear for those I love. "With the radiation levels as high as they're going to get, these suits are going to have to remain sealed any time you leave the lab two weeks in, okay? And that medication can only be taken in the case of emergencies, post exposure-"
"Mom, I got it, okay? We'll be careful."
She eyes me for a bit, her gaze becoming glassy as she sets a hand gently over my cheek to brush back the few strands of hair that managed to escape the knot still tied along the nape of my neck. "I love you, Aurora. Don't ever forget that." She whispers, heartfelt.
I furrow my eyes towards her emotional state, anxious to put her worries to rest. "This isn't goodbye." I tell her, firm. "I'm not going to say goodbye."
"Look, Aurora," she suddenly begins, taking my hands in her own, "I know I told you after Trident that there are no good guys. But that's not true. There are. You are."
I break eye contact from her, memories of all the guttural screams of the grounders we burnt alive and innocents I killed in Trident swarming through my head. My eyes burn at the horrors I have committed for the sake of my people. "Do you really believe that," I whisper, hollow, "after all I've done?"
My mother does not even hesitate before assuring me, "Of course I do. The things you had to do, you did them because there was no good choice."
I swallow thickly, letting the couple tears that must fall as they may. When I speak, my voice is soft, saddened, but exhausted nonetheless as I utter, "There never is."
Anne holds me tight to her instead of offering a response, and I close my eyes as I hear the patter of her tears fall against my shoulder plate.
I do all I can to reassure by the time she pulls back to take in my sure expression and fully geared up build in the guards uniform. "We got this." I promised her, my tone unwavering as a leader's should be.
She takes a moment to take my expression in, to take in the team sitting readily in the rover with Eadric in the driver's seat eyeing us through the rear view mirror. She then presses her hand to my cheek, using her thumb to wipe away the last couple tears and I close my eyes, releasing a shaky exhale. "I am so proud of you, my love. So proud."
"Dad would be proud of both of us." I state, looking to her doctor's jacket she still wears.
"I don't know about that." She mutters a bit sheepishly, a rueful grin over her lips. "But it was true that he gave me the best gift I could've asked for; a daughter as incredible as you."
My lips part as I process her sentiments, another wave of tears threatening to spill.
She speaks again before they have the chance to fall. "I love you so much, Aurora."
I swallow thickly before releasing a shaky breath. "I... I-"
"Aurora!" Jackie barks from one of the benches along the rear of the rover. "You're gonna want to see this."
"See what?" I question, following her gaze.
Einar seems to have taken it upon herself to retrieve Ukaleq from her cell, and my eyes travel down to her hands still bound in front of her as Einar brings her to the edge of the rover. I look to Anne who nods, permitting me to leave her side. We exchange one last embrace, she presses a chaste kiss to my cheek, and then we turn away from each other, my mother walking over to meet David a little ways back. I direct my attention back to Einar and Ukaleq, my gaze already hard as I approach the pair.
"Get in." I order.
Ukaleq's eyes wander to John who looks away in disgust before leaning away from the empty space beside him. "Why do you want me with your group? I thought you came up with your plan, to work with your King to find a Nightblood solution-"
"You seem to have forgotten that it was your blood that inspired this idea. You should be dead, ten times over given the exposure you suffered, yet the rain had no effect on you. The testing I'm going to conduct starts with you."
"I will not be partied to these evil acts." Ukaleq declares, shaking her head in protest.
Einar roughly shoves Ukaleq back in place from where she had attempted to retreat from my exigent glare. "You don't have a choice, Nightblood." She hisses. She proceeds to shove Ukaleq into the rover, setting John's hands over her binds to make sure she does not go anywhere.
As Einar likely predicted, Ukaleq stops fighting then. She turns to me after closing the doors to the truck. "Return safely, My Queen."
"That's the plan." I inform her with a nod. Still, matters do not always go to plan, and because of this, I decide to speak on the matter further. "Einar, in the case that anything happens to me-"
"It won't." She insists, taking a step towards me.
"But if it does," I interrupt, looking to the group, "to either of us-"
"Eerika's next in line for the throne, My Lady, should it come to that. But I have no reason to believe it will as long as you return to us well before the wave arrives."
"Again, that's the plan." I remind her with a grin.
Einar hesitates, then, reaching up to adjust the strap of my staff before looking back into to my eyes again. With evident grace, she sets a hand over my cheek similar to how my own mother just had, her palms calloused instead of smooth, and when she speaks, her voice cracks a bit. "Thank you, Aurora." She confesses, shocking me.
"For what?" I mutter, my words nearly inaudible.
"For saving my people, for trying to save my daughter. You changed my life, Aurora. You gave me a purpose again, and I'll never forget that."
"You'll never have to." I assure her, pulling her hand from my cheek to take it my own.
A moment, and then we are embracing each other, Einar's body steady and firm as she holds tight to the nape of my neck. When we pull away from one another, she presses her forehead to my own to mutter, "Now go save us all."
I pull back to meet her gaze, my drive ignited as I jut my chin downward in confirmation.
As soon as I am sat in the passenger's seat of the rover, Eadric is clearly aware of the weighted discussion I just had as he watches me closely. "You okay?" He asks, tentative.
"Will be." I assure him, meeting his gaze intently. "You say your goodbyes?"
"Apache understands now that I have to do this, stay by your side. And Eerika and I... well, we talked too."
"About her succession to the throne should anything happen to us?"
"Something like that." He muses with a shrug. "Though nothing will."
"You seem sure of that."
"And you don't."
I sigh, meeting his gaze with a relaxed grin. "Don't worry, My King. I want to spend my future here with you, whether that be for a matter of months or years."
"If you two are done with the sap fest, can we get this show on the road?" Jackie pipes up from somewhere in the back, drawing a whistle from John.
"Damn girl, that's some cold cock blocking." He notes with a wry raise of his brow.
Carter adds to his teasing when he slings an arm over Jackie's shoulder to ask, "You really gotta do them dirty, don't you, babe?"
Jackie actually pouts in response to all of this, crossing her arms childishly over her chest as she complains, "Hey, if the King gets to drive, he needs to drive."
Carter grins as he notes with a nod, "Ah, that makes more sense now."
"I'm not mad!" Jackie boldly declares, and yet sends a harsh glare over Eadric's way to add, "But if you scratch one door on my beautiful baby, you're dead meat."
"Fair enough." Eadric offers with a shrug. His grin that follows is unsettling to say the least as he presses the switch to open up the garage. "Hold onto something."
Jackie's shouts of dismay are drowned out by the roaring of the engine coming to life before us, but despite Eadric's risky driving and the tension of having Ukaleq in the truck with us, the eight hour drive is relatively uneventful. It is about six hours into navigating south through the woods, however, when John finally speaks up, having not even managed one nap along the entire journey. Jackie, Carter, Brian, and Alice are all asleep over one another, exhaustion clearly having gotten the better of them, but with Ukaleq right beside John like this with his hand still hovering over her bindings, who could blame his apparent restlessness.
"Are you two sure you know where you're going?" He asks, leaning forward to peer over towards us.
"I'm going by this." Eadric reveals, pulling his small black poem book from his pocket. It is not exclusively just a poem book, however, given the maps, medical entries he has had me put in there, and other survival related materials that have been woven between pages of artistry throughout the journal. He motions for me to turn to the page of the map roughly outlining these region of the south, and the path we are on seems to be dead ass accurate as John takes the journal from my hands to check over it himself.
"Okay," he begins, looking over it closely, "so it looks like we've passed the airplane wreckage an hour ago, but this map doesn't exactly have any distances on it, it could be days before we reach the coastline."
"I know the way and we've done the math." Eadric states, motioning between the two of us. "We should be there within the hour."
"Or two." I cannot help but add a little warily as I lean over to look at the battery we have left.
John sighs upon taking note of this reality himself. "Shit, we're running out of daylight. Maybe we should stop in the sun for a bit, recharge the battery-"
"What sun?" I ask as I peer through the bars of the passenger's window to make out the cloudy skies, this wave of light rainfall luckily not acidic in nature. But still, for all we know, it could turn at any second. "We need to keep moving until it dies."
"We need to keep moving until we get to that lab." Brian states, cracking his knuckles upon rising. "Alice needs a proper place to rest."
"And she'll get that, soon. We all will." I promise.
My gaze falls upon Eadric's tensed form, likely just as antsy as the others to get to that island, but his stress is brought on by more than that, I know it. Maybe a part of him is worried we will not be able to make it back in time despite his apparent bravado he displays in relation to that matter.
As usual, my mentality lies with that of a realist; as of right now, there is no way to guarantee our safety in any practical manner. If we take risks, we will have to accordingly bear the result of said risks. But no matter what happens, everything we do, every risk we take will be discussed and decided as a team.
The ride over with the boat is short, luckily. Eadric drives the aged form of transport overlayed with fishnets and rust with relative ease, showing that he must have done so at least a couple times before.
"It's been years, actually." He informs me when we reach the docks of the densely wooded island. "But Apache taught me to drive it after I came back for my third... or maybe it was my fourth treatment."
"Your blood was altered in multiple stages?" I ask as I eye Carter and Brian who jump from the boat to tie it up along the posts.
"That is how my people went about the procedure, yes. The records we found of Nova's research were pretty rough. I think they were only the first stages of her Nightblood but it was enough for me to accept the flame without it killing me."
"And those who have it hereditarily?"
"That means their blood is purely Nightblood." Eadric explains, confirming my thoughts.
"So, Ukaleq really is immune to radiation, then?" I echo, still awed by this reality as Carter offers her a hand off the boat, John on her tail with her bindings still in hand.
"I doubt anyone could withstand the death wave that's coming for us." Eadric states as he shuts down the aged motor. "But she survived the blackrain without issue, so-"
"So, she could withstand comparable levels of airborne radiation as well, then." I finish for him.
He nods before offering me my staff and backpack. I have pulled the tablet given to us by David out as soon as I have stepped out onto the dock.
"Okay, according to David's map, the lab is in the dead center of the island." I inform the group, directing all their attention my way. "It's practically a straight shot from this point. We just need to keep moving if we want to make it by sundown."
The other's nod, Carter and Jackie walking ahead to begin scouting the terrain.
Eadric takes my arm before I can follow, causing me to accordingly flinch towards the direct pressure over the point where the new chip was implanted into my arm. He sighs at this before nodding to my knee as well. "Are you sure you're up for this, Aurora?" He asks, hushed so the others will not hear him.
I shove his arm off of me before teasing, "Try to keep up with me."
He spares another glance to my knee before smirking.
John and Ukaleq approach us then.
Surprisingly enough, Eadric sighs before motioning for John to hand over her bindings.
"Are you sure?" John offers, wary.
"I am."
John still stalls some before finally giving in to Eadric's unspoken commands.
Eadric turns to me then. "You two go ahead." He states, firm. "We'll take the rear."
I raise a hand to squeeze the padding of his guard jacket before muttering, "Okay."
As we trek through the woods, Jackie hanging back with John and I to occasionally confirm we are on the right track, Eadric speaks with Ukaleq in hushed tones, their conversation warped by their native tongue.
Their conversation apparently does not seem to escape Jackie's attention as she leans close to whisper into my ear, "What are they saying?"
"Who cares?" I state, shrugging her off.
She scoffs before reminding me, "That's your husband talking to another woman about spiritual shit we haven't even begun to understand yet. You know he doesn't want her here as much as she wants to be here. You need to make sure your husband's on our side, is all I'm saying." She remarks with her hands raised in surrender.
I merely shake my head before telling her, "You've been talking to John too much."
"He's always been rightfully cautious, Aurora, even if that made him an asshole on Superior and a coward when he first arrived on the ground. You've got to admit he has a point here."
I bristle before relenting, "Fine. I'll translate."
She nods, stepping up close to my side again.
Eadric speaks up first. "Tu facis rectum."
"You're doing the right thing." I echo to Jackie.
"Nemo ex vobis dedit mihi datur optio." Ukaleq retorts.
"None of you gave me a choice."
She continues, criticising, "Tu, pariterque et mulier, qui creavit nostrum legatum. Sciendum quod."
"You're betraying the woman who created our legacy. You must know that."
"Hi sunt boni, Ukaleq. Non sunt magis latera. Aer Cantavit est quantum membrum hoc Societas, ut quis clan."
I cannot help but release a sigh of relief towards Eadric kind words before relaying them outloud. "These are good people, Ukaleq. There are no more sides. Aer Cantavit is as much a member of this Coalition as any clan."
"Putant sanguis meus vere est capax salutis eis-"
"Salva nos omnes."
"What was she saying before he interrupted?" Jackie questions upon Ukaleq having been cut off.
"Ukaleq was remarking on the fact that we think her blood can save us. Eadric reminded her it would be used to save all of us."
"Well, what are they saying now?" Jackie presses, sparing a brief glance back towards the pair.
By the time we begin listening in again, Ukaleq is speaking, her tone accusing. "Quid, putas, uxor tua esset factum, si dixissem, non?"
I bristle towards her words before slowly relaying, "What do you think your wife would have done had I said no?"
"Shit. What is Eadric saying?" Jackie asks, insistent.
"Quod refert parum. Quid refert tuum maledictum est circa fieri salvatoris nostri. Agere."
"He said that matters little, all that matters is the fact that Ukaleq's curse could save us all."
"And that last part?" She presses when no explanation is offered.
"Agere." I echo, then smirk before clarifying, "It means deal with it."
Jackie's smirk comes to mirror mine before commenting, "Adorable."
I raise my hand to the back of my head, taking a moment before shaking it slightly as I train my gaze back ahead of us.
The exterior of the lab rests over a flat plane, no longer inconveniencing us over the occasionally rocky slopes framing the riverbed we were forced to tread through a little ways back. The entire shape is set up like a right triangle, almost pyramidal in structure if not for, again, the angle of the structure on top of the length of the entrance containing no tapering of any kind. Rust draws from its once sleek appearance, moss and vines crawling up the length of the large entryway which we discover upon actually approaching it.
"Judging by the state of this shit," Jackie begins, eyeing the grand structure dubiously, "I doubt we'll have much tech to loot on the inside."
"You may want to hold your tongue given the lab was built by Nova before the radiation destroyed much of the planet." Eadric simply dismisses, stepping up to my side. "She prepared for this, sealed it for a reason."
Something else about his comment, however, draws my attention. "Wait, Nova was alive before the first wave went off?" I ask, looking over to him.
His gaze pans down to my own, his expression laconic as he nods. "I don't see what that has to do with anything-"
"Except it has everything to do with our mission now." I state, suddenly much more interested in the technology we are seconds away from uncovering in this place.
As expected, the descent downward into the lab is dark and cold, unfamiliar in nature. I slide my fingers along the sleek walling beside us as we make our way inside, however, evident of the contemporary nature of the space I can make out alone from just this detail. Everything we come across once inside, however, only seeks to wow all of us even more as bright, cooly tinted lights come to life as if on cue all around us. Closed off and covered in glass paneling is an office immediately to our left, a sleek metal desk, several grey and white furnishings, a large black and white abstract painting, and several translucent shelves loaded with lab equipment and research within its metal framed edges taking up the compact space. To our right, an open concept space is decorated with white furnishing as though to match the walls. The furnishing include a large medical table in the center set with a computer of sorts on a desk nearby. The entire back wall is covered in more translucent shelving, except instead of lab notes, tools, and such, medical supplies fill this space instead.
That does not even begin to cover what lies further ahead of us from this apparent balcony we reside on.
What the rest of the lighting reveals ahead of the bright red railing is the matching industrial staircase that descends into the majority of the space we reside in. Set over the entirety of this open space is a circular storage area of sorts containing multiple lab set ups set around each of the six tables emitting from its central point. Large, somewhat blurred paneling covers the wall behind it. Tucked away in one of the corners to the left is a mass of screening technology built into a lengthy desk of sorts big enough to house maybe a dozen people looking to conduct some form of research from both sides of it. Blueprints still litter the table containing numerous keyboards as well. Taking up the actual corners along the wall are large screens and monitors, likely intended to display whatever research is brought up on the screen right before it. More storage compartments and clear drawing boards of sorts litter the rest of the space.
"Not bad, Nova." Jackie eventually marvels, breathless.
"Yeah, this space is definitely a step up from the rusty interior of Superior." John scoffs, drawing throaty laughs from Carter and Brian beside him.
Ukaleq is practically shocked still by the foriegn nature of such a setting currently surrounding her.
When I look to Eadric to gage his reaction, my thoughts are stopped by his pressing gaze.
I follow it to a large hyperbaric chamber of sorts set along on of the many divets in the wall, cylindrical on top of the rectangular base, and just large enough to seal one test subject inside.
I realize I do not even need to ask if that was where his experiments to change him into a partial Nightblood were conducted as I reach up to set a gloved hand over his padded shoulder.
His gaze snaps to my own shrouded in sympathy before he briefly nuzzles his nose into my hand, thankful for the distraction. He steps forward to address the rest of the group a moment later. "Okay, so now that we're all here, we need to establish some form of a plan."
"Right." I nod, stepping up beside him to properly face the group. "Jackie, your general genius and background in engineering may play a potential role in helping me to uncover some of Nova's research buried in this tech here. I could use your assistance there."
"Consider me your little assistant come morning." She agrees, resting an arm over Carter's shoulder.
"Carter, you've got a similar background of sorts, but I know it's been a while for you. If we need any assistance, I'll call upon you."
"Sounds good." He states, wrapping an arm around Jackie's waist.
"Brian, John-"
"We're the muscle and babysitters. Got it." John snarks.
I shake my head before looking to Alice.
"I... I guess I can scavenge the space for any ammo or useful tech to bring back, keep the rover in shape. I mean, I don't mind a couple slower days."
"Alright." I nod, thankful for her easy going manner at a time like this. I take in the rest of the groups expressions, however, and some of them are evidently a little less enthused over having not much else to do aside from keeping a prisoner within our grasp. "Look, guys," I begin, trying to keep my exhaustion from lacing my tone, "I get you're all worried something's going to happen to keep us from getting back to Superior before the wave hits. But I promise that the next week or so will be put to good use. I mean, if this works, we may only have to spend a couple months in the bunker, not years. We could get back to our lives and be all the stronger for it. No matter what happens, we are going to make it through this, and if this plan of mine works, we won't just survive. We'll thrive."
With that, all the others exchange gradually more certain looks until secure nods are spreading throughout the group.
"Alright." Jackie begins, speaking up for everyone. "Then let's get to work."
"Okay, Jackie, you're with Aurora." Eadric begins, squeezing my shoulder. "The rest of you, I'll take you back to get situated at the house."
"The house?" I question, looking back to Eadric.
"Nova was smart to station her lab here," he explains, insistent, "and she dedicated her life to it. She couldn't exactly do without having a home to go back to, right?"
"I suppose." I relent, looking to the group warily.
"Is this house going to have enough space for all of us, though?" Carter asks, having automatically taken inventory of the group.
Eadric scoffs, rustling the hair atop his head for a moment before turning back to them, as cocky as ever. "Trust me, you guys, I don't think space is going to be a problem here."
Whether it be a couple hours or a couple days since we got here seems to escape Jackie and I's concerns as we have made a camp of sorts in the medical space set up opposite to the office within the balcony. There have been a couple moments where she stepped out, but my mind was too preoccupied with the task before us for me to think anything of it. Eadric has not been around at all, probably wanting to stay with the guys to keep an eye on Ukaleq, and Alice, while her visits are brief, they prove to be of value as she drops off meals for Jackie to devour periodically. I stick to my freeze dried packs and protein bars, not eager towards the idea of being pulled from my research.
At this time, Jackie's glazed over eyes are currently boring holes into the screen of the computer set over the table in the center of the space as I look through a microscope to peer closer into the molecular technology Nova must have tapped into here.
"God, Nova was good," Jackie marvels after some time, breaking the silence, "and apparently one hell of a geneticist before the bombs went off. According to her research, Nightblood was designed to allow the AI to merge with the human mind without it rejecting it all while protecting the body from radiation emitted from the device. That's why it saved Ukaleq."
"That's how it can save all of us if I can just figure out how she made these cells combine." I mutter, refusing to lift my eyes from the scope I continue to peer through.
Jackie bites her lip, digging further into the research before her. "It looks like Nova was experimenting with percolate chemicals. Oxygenators, the building blocks of artificial blood."
"I know what they are, Jackie, but I'm not seeing that here." I relay to her as I finally slump back from the microscope, officially dumbstruck.
Jackie sighs, rising to sit along the edge of the table beside the computer. "Aurora, you realize we've only just begun to crack into Nova's research, right? I get that we're under a deadline and all, but you can't be too hard on yourself here-"
"I have to be." I state, cutting off her pointless sentiments then and there. "And we need to stay focused."
Jackie watches me closely for a moment before eventually relenting with a heavy roll of her eyes. She slumps down back into her chair again to resume scouring through Nova's digital files.
"What have you got on the structural components of the RNA for Nightblood?" I ask, needing more to go off of.
Jackie hums, her brow furrowing as she continues scrolling through the files before her. "Not much here, it looks like. Just what I've already uncovered."
"If its not in the database, we can reverse engineer it from the blood itself. I need a new sample. Where is she?"
"You mean Ukaleq?" Jackie asks, reaching up to tighten her ponytail. "She's back at the mansion, resting, which we should let her do, Aurora. She's been cooperative so far when I've grabbed her, but we shouldn't push her luck. You've taken too much blood already. Her body needs time-"
"We don't have time!" I snap, my restlessness getting the better of me it would seem.
Jackie bristles, but eventually relents with a solemn breath, rising to go fetch Ukaleq.
I release a heavy sigh upon reliving my outburst, ashamed I let myself get so worked up. "Wait!" I call, drawing Jackie's gaze back to me. "You're right, I'm sorry. Let her rest, and help me run another trial. We can test out sample seven again."
"Alright." Jackie agrees, taking a seat.
Despite my even more intense searching becoming borderline desperate for some results at this point, nothing we have not already taken note of seems to emerge. Not that I expected any different, but still, it is frustrating, a reality even the cool headed Jackie seems to take note of as she slumps into the chair beside me now, irritable.
"Okay, I seriously don't get this shit." She grunts, scrubbing the sleepiness from her eyes.
"Trust me, I'm not exactly all the more solid deciphering this research."
"Yeah right." Jackie scoffs. "You've managed to make sense of this mess of notes I've merely pulled from files. You're doing fine."
"Fine isn't proficient."
"Then let's talk this out." She states, stifling a yawn that follows. "What's getting you here?
"Alright, this is what's confusing the hell out of me." I begin after a moment, drawing Jackie's gaze to the scope before us. "Here, the Nightblood protein chains are broken. My question is, how the actual hell did Nova get them to bind to the blood cells?"
Jackie eyes me for a bit before teasing, "Damn, and here I thought you hated molecular biology."
"What, you mean as much as you hate spacewalks?" I mock, calling back to how she was first arrested and apprehended in the first place.
Her little unapproved venture outside Superior cost the ship a month's worth of oxygen when everything went to hell, but still, even in spite of this and her friends who urged her to go ditching her to get caught and apprehended after the fact, Jackie still manages a fond smile in relation to the memory. "What can I say? Zero G's another animal."
I scoff towards her brashness, the grin crossing my lips almost impressed in a way towards her resilience when her own grin suddenly drops, her brows furrowing. "What is it?" I ask, swiveling some in my chair to better face her.
"Wait a minute, Aurora, what happened when you tried to get the Nightblood protein to bond with Ukaleq's DNA?"
"The structure of the RNA fell apart. Why?"
"Because I think I know why Nova couldn't make it work in this lab." She jumps from her seat, rushing down the steps of the bright red staircase to cross to the corner of the room containing the large screen just itching to display some results for us. "Computer!" Jackie beckons, calling its attention in time for me to reach her rapid pace. "Show me prototype Nightblood RNA binding in a Zero G environment."
I cross my arms over my chest, eyeing Jackie somewhat warily as she nods to the large screen before us. Skeptical, I watch closely as the particles illuminate the screen, warping around one another until a viable strand of DNA formulates before our eyes.
"It would work." I gasp, my arms dropping in time with my breathless remark. "Except, how exactly do we simulate Zero G in laboratory environment, Jackie? I mean, is that even possible?"
Jackie stills, her bright grin diminishing at once. "We... we can't. Not while we're still on this planet, at least."
"Which means we can't create Nightblood down here." I conclude, defeated.
"Shit." Jackie hisses, turning on me. "So, we're basically screwed then?"
"Not exactly." I reveal, the only other grim option I did not want to entertain creeping back into my consciousness. "In theory, we could inject ourselves with Ukaleq's bone marrow, turning ourselves into Nightbloods."
"So, what's with the hesitation then? Why don't we just do that, mass produce the stuff off her DNA?"
I swallow thickly before revealing, "Jackie, the only way to test if that would work would be by exposing someone to radiation post injection."
Jackie stills then, the realization coming forth in her mind. "You mean human subjects, practical testing?" She clarifies, horrified.
"I do. I mean, technically we can do that here, using the hyperbolic chamber." I state, directing her gaze over to the pod a little ways over from our current positions. "It doubled as a radiation chamber for Nova when she was researching a potential cure to cancer-"
"Okay, slow up." Jackie interrupts, her hands raised insistently as she takes a pointed step towards me. "Aurora, you realize we would have to expose a human being to high levels of radiation that would implode every single cell in their body, right? That's what's coming for us."
"I know that." I remind her, stern. "But as I implied earlier-
"It's the only other choice." She concludes, solemn.
"No," I begin, eyeing her intently, "we have to make a choice."
Jackie's gaze flits back to my own from where it had just begun to waver, and she swallows thickly, her breathes quickening just at the thought of what this testing will bring on. "Who do we test?"
I scrape my teeth over my bottom lip as the risks of this all swarm through my head. Find a human test subject, is that even worth it? I mean, we are talking the potential bettering of thousands of lives, but for the cost of one, over a matter that, while valuable, is essentially trivial in nature... can that possibility really be worth it in the end?
"Look," Jackie eventually states, dropping her hands from her she had braced them over her head, "this is a lot of heavy shit, and it needs to be solved soon, I get that. But you've been in here for two days straight, Aurora, and you haven't even been up to the house yet. You and I both know the samples we collect aren't even going to be ready for another five hours, and that's if we had them now. I say we both go back, shower, rest up, and we'll continue this talk in the morning after we've had time to collect more samples from Ukaleq and sleep on our thoughts here."
I look back to the microscope up over the upper level, hating the idea of abandoning our research at a time like this.
Jackie releases a sharp breath, her impatience growing. "Aurora-
"Fine." I relent with a sigh. "Let's go."
We only just manage to reach the edge of the treeline upon trekking up to this house of sorts when Jackie abruptly halts, something clearly on her mind. "Oh yeah," she begins, sparing a wry look back towards me that I can only make out due to the sparse moonlight illuminating the otherwise ebony sky, "this house of Nova's that Eadric mentioned... it's a fucking mansion."
"A mansion?" I question, recalling back to the hold housing catalogs every young child got to see when they were passed around during our primary school days. "From what I remember, those spaces weren't exactly subtle."
"Trust me, neither is this one." Jackie muses.
I start to understand her point as soon as I have made out the extent of the modern house well before we reach it. A lit up pool decorates the ridiculously contemporary outdoor space, short columns providing an elegant railing to frame the steps leading up to the deck decorated with outdoor cooking supplies. That leads to a wall of glass doors illuminating the equally as modern living room with the kitchen set just a little ways back in the open concept space. John happens to be leaning over one of the stovetops as we step up to the sliding glass door, but my more immediate attention is drawn to the living room now right before us as I make out a group of incredulously ordinary looking young adults all drinking to the point of oblivion while dancing to music currently blaring through the surround sound system apparently installed all throughout this incredible property. Most of them have ditched their jackets and gloves, some their undershirts too, but hey, if Alice is comfortable enough around all these guys to dance around in a sports bra and spandex, honestly, who the hell am I to judge?
"You've gotta be shitting me." I cannot help but scoff as I witness Eadric chug an entire bottle of rum within thirty seconds.
"Better than the imported bubble gum sake we found." Jackie states with a pat over my back before circling past me. "Carter!"
Luckily the stocky guardman only manages to stumble a bit when Jackie leaps into his arms, her legs wrapped around his torso. As they dissolve into a messy fit of making out, Brian pulls Alice ridiculously close as they sway to the beat of the next song I have never heard before. John raises a wooden spoon in greeting upon noticing us, and beckons me over as Eadric distractedly settles for a smaller bottle of hard liquor, having not even noticed us entering yet.
"You can cook?" I ask him as he continues to stir around a pot of some sort of rice dish of sorts, it would seem.
"Doesn't taste anything like the cooking videos on Superior cracks this shit up to be." He states, bringing the spoon to my lips. "Go on, Your Majesty."
I roll my eyes before finally allowing my lips to draw over the spoon, and still as the thick comfort food and delicious array of preserved spices warms my tongue. "God damn." I manage with a mouth still full before finally swallowing the delicious bite down.
"Better than the packets of freeze dried, dehydrated bullshit you've been relying on, isn't it?" He scoffs, turning to flick the heat off. He pours half in a bowl for himself before following with another as I take a seat over one of the stools lining the island, and by the time my pack and weapons have been set a chair over, a steaming bowl has been slid right before me. "Eat up." John beckons, leaping up to the counter to sit across from me with a bowl already set in his lap.
I press my lips into a line to prevent myself from foolishly grinning, then turn to pick up my spoon and begin shoveling down the porridge of sorts upon the growling in my stomach only being concealed by the music still blaring throughout the house. "So, what's with the sudden interest in sobriety?" I ask after testing out a couple bites, stirring to take some heat off of the dish.
John does not even bother to pause shoveling the food down his throat as he sputters with a full mouth, "What do you mean?"
"I mean, on Superior you were drunk and on cloud nine more than you were sober. What's with the stone cold morals now?"
John takes a moment to swallow thickly before attempting with a nonchalant air, "Someone's gotta keep an eye on our prisoner, I guess."
"You know she's not our prisoner, right? She's been giving her blood up volunteeringly according to Jackie." I remind him, turning back to my bowl myself.
"I don't care if she is or isn't at this point." He reveals, but the hoarseness in his tone suggests he is unsure of his own demand as he spares a brief glance towards the stairways that must be down the corridor I can barely make out with all the lighting in the house dimmed like this. "She fucked up, and whether she likes it or not, she's going to have to pay the price for her reckless actions."
"You used to be pretty reckless yourself." I remind him with a pointed raise of my brow.
Luckily John merely grins self deprecatingly before offering, "And you always put up with my shit despite me dragging your ass over your status and everything."
"Oh, right." I recollect, remembering back to when John and his little gang used to give me trouble over my dad's rank and all that shit. "What was that you used to call me again? Privileged, I think it was."
"And I'm sorry for that, truly." He offers, setting his already finished bowl aside.
"It wasn't a big deal." I assure him as I push the rice back and forth between my own bowl for a bit.
"Still, doesn't change the fact that I was an asshole back then. But you know, I only gave you a hard time because I thought you were all hot and mysterious."
"Jesus, John," I grimace, ducking my head to hide the heat rushing my cheeks.
"Hey, I'm teasing." He assures me, reaching forward to gently pry my hands I had raised from my face. "I remember you never were quite able to take a compliment, though." He regards thoughtfully after a moment, his grip around my wrists relenting some. "You still seem to struggle with that now."
"Oh, fuck off." I dismiss, pulling my hands from his gentle grip, but there is no bite behind my words.
He grins, looking down to the bowl in his lap.
"You know," I begin after some time, drawing his lowered gaze to my own, "just because Ukaleq's kept under close watch, it doesn't mean you need to be the one keeping an eye on her."
"It should be me. That's what I get for letting her manipulate me the way she did." He states, clearly bitter over the matter.
"Still, that doesn't change the fact that there's a reason she hasn't left us yet." I state, oddly confident if John's confusion that follows is anything to go by.
"A reason?" He echoes, scooting forward a bit.
"Yeah, dipshit. You."
John swallows thickly, retreating back some. "There's no way, Aurora. No way I'm the reason she's still here."
"Why else would she be in a place exploiting her like this?"
"Because the alternative is a station she'd be imprisoned in?" He retorts, surprisingly clever.
Still, that does nothing to change the fact that, "She would've stayed behind had you not been a member of this team."
John begins to pick at the skin around his nails, obviously a nervous habit. "Do you really think that, Aurora?"
"I do." I assure him, setting a hand over his knee.
"This is the part where you tell me to go talk to her, don't you?"
"Wouldn't be a bad place to start." I state with a shrug, retreating back into the stool. "She got her own room?"
"Trust me, everyone could have there own room here if they wanted it." He remarks as he hops down from the island to round the seats. He stops as soon as he has reached behind me. "Thanks, Ashur." He states, raising a hand to squeeze my shoulder.
"Just shut up and get the girl, Raiden." I tease, nodding to the hallway leading upstairs.
He grins before releasing my shoulder to do just that.
"Aurora!"
I practically flinch as Eadric's dark tone barks my name, however not quite as sharp as he usually manages. After taking a moment to take in his wobbly form as he raises a burly arm to wave me over, I stand, realizing I probably am not granted all that much of a choice here.
"Hey, Eadric. You doing alright?" I call a bit tentatively once I have nearly approached him.
Eadric manages to close the distance I attempted to maintain between us by lurching me forward with an arm wrapped haphazardly over my shoulders. He leans in close to my ear to inform me, "I am doing great, my darling Queen. Just great."
I release a low whistle as the fumes of hard liquor reach my senses, incredibly concentrated at this distance. "Yeah, you seem pretty content." I manage some time with a pat to his chest. I leave my hand there after he pulls back some to smile triumphantly, nearly tipping back with the motion.
"Eadric, you coming?" Brian suddenly calls, and that is when I realize everyone is heading for the door leading back by the pool.
"Where are you going?" I ask, looking outside warily.
Eadric scoffs towards my paranoia before raising a hand to brashly assure the others, "We'll be out in a minute."
I have pulled back from him completely by the time he has come to face me again. "What are you guys up to?" I question, crossing my arms stubbornly over my chest.
Eadric lets his hooded eyes drop even more so for a moment before calling exasperatedly, "We're just going to go for a swim-"
"A swim, Eadric? Really?" I nearly shout, shocked silly by his carelessness. "You realize black rain could fall at any moment, right?"
"Babe," he calls with a condescending raise of his brow, "the sky's basically clear out there."
"Right, and radiation's basically taken several of our people's lives now-"
"Aurora, I've lived on the ground all my life. I know when there's a shift in the wind, when there's something to be concerned about. The rivers and streams back home are too far off Superior's grounds to travel safely, and we all deserve a night of fun after having dedicated so much of our time to this Nightblood issue. Especially you." He insists, raising a hand to brush back some hair back behind my ear.
I sigh and drop my head, but make no move to drop my arms.
Regardless, Eadric steps forward, raising both of his hands to the nape of my neck to gently take out the hair tie still holding my hair back into a knot of sorts. "I've already gotten a head start, my dear." He mutters, lacing a hand through the ends of my hair as I stubbornly raise my gaze to meet his own. "Let's get you caught up. Okay?"
I bristle, biting my lip as I think of all the samples I have to collect come morning. Of course, it is a little tricky to completely concentrate as Eadric continues to twirl the ends of my hair between his fingers, his darkened gaze still peering into my own.
"Aurora-"
"Okay. Okay," I relent with a sight, finally dropping my arms, "I'll go out there with you."
His grin can only be described as cheeky by the time he takes my hand in his own to walk us outside.
"You know," I begin as he repositions out hands so his fingers are lacing through my own, "you're pretty confident when you're drunk."
"I'm not sure you could consider this drunk for me. The ground's just swaying a little."
My laughter seems to surprise Eadric as much as it does myself as his grin widens once again.
"You're beautiful when you laugh."
"Oh my god." I mutter, ducking my head away from his searching gaze. "If you say anything like that around them-"
"My ass is falling into that water without my permission, I got it." He smirks.
I shake my head, hoping the dim lighting outside is not enough to showcase the heat in my cheeks as we make our way over to the pool.
"There you losers are!" Brian calls as soon as we have reached his eye line, the rest of the group recently partying already stripped down to their under clothes and drenched as they continue to swim past each other with little caution.
"Since when do you guys even know how to swim?" I cannot help but ask as I watch Jackie's muscled build tread the luminated water with evident grace.
"The grounders who stayed behind taught us when you first left us." Carter explains, his umber torso a little too stalky to manage as much grace as Jackie does as he swims up to rest his arms over the stone edge of the pool. "It's not hard though. You should try it."
It takes little time before I nod, realization that this is the last opportunity I will have to learn for quite some time being the primary factor is urging me to toe of my boots and pull of my gloves before following with my jacket and cargo pants as Eadric does his own. As soon as I am down to my sports bra and shorts, I take the steps into the water, Eadric by my side with a hand over the small of my back as I do so.
He starts with teaching my to float over my back, and although I startle some when he pulls his arms away, it calms me when he joins at my side to do the same. As soon as I have mastered floating, Eadric takes it upon himself to turn me to my stomach to begin teaching me how to paddle. The entire time the others are laughing and drinking and we are all having fun once I finally give in and allow myself to get a little tipsy as well, but soon enough the other tire out and decide to head to bed.
Eadric has other ideas, it would seem, as he grabs my arm when I turn to follow, his grip luckily controlled despite his still somewhat tipsy demeanor. "Come on." He states, guiding me to the steps of the water.
"What, you want to stay out here?" I ask, not quite willing to admit how much the idea of staying in the water excites me.
"I haven't seen you for two days straight. We need to talk a bit before this night's through, don't you think?" He presses, making a move to sit on the steps leading out of the pool.
I take a moment to consider his offer before making a move to sit on his lap. "Fine." I state, doing all I can to diminish my grin.
It is trivial and perhaps a bit childish to admit, but being close to Eadric always given me a thrill of some kind, and tonight is no exception as he sets a hand over my thigh, his other carded around my waist to hold me securely to him. He always manages to warm my chest, to make me feel oddly alert, like all of my senses are at a high every time he steps near me, and yet having his arms around me like this also has a comforting familiarity to it as I wrap an arm behind his neck, my other taking its place atop his own still grazing my thigh. We take care of each other.
While oddly content with the comfortable silence as I quietly observe Eadric's sobering gaze as he looks up into the clear night sky, I take a moment to brush some of the dripping strands of his hair off of his forehead before inevitably asking, "So, what made you want to drink tonight?"
Eadric stills some at this, swallowing thickly. I imagine he is probably a little regretful now towards how much his mind has been slowed. "Lately, I've been thinking about the past." He manages after a moment, however, only seeking to confuse me more as my brows furrow.
"What about it?" I ask regardless, wanting to hear him out.
"You remember when I let you all have a party in the square of my district?" He asks, lifting a hand to shake his dripping hair out a bit.
I swallow but nod, trying to keep my eyes on his own.
"I told you about the time I took a hunting party all the way out to your camp, to see if you all were a threat. You were having a party then, too, and you were a complete wildcard when I finally spotted you. I saw a leader who knew how to enjoy herself, who was brave enough to put herself in a vulnerable position before her comrades because she knew she was in charge."
"And what, you wanted to be a wildcard too, tonight?" I press, grinning some towards my behavior, then.
"I wanted to prove to myself that I still knew how to be, and I wanted you to experience that too, tonight. You deserve a break after all the research you've been doing."
"Thanks." I mutter, genuinely grateful to have Eadric here to look after me in any situation.
"You're welcome." He whispers back regardless, his adam's apple bobbing in his throat when he pulls back a bit. "There... there is another reason I drank tonight though, one I'm less proud of." He suddenly confesses, piquing my interest.
"And what's that?" I ask after observing his hesitation closely for a bit.
Eadric bristles, raising a hand to the back of his neck before revealing, "Apache radioed in earlier. Apparently Iolana's been giving Eerika a hard time since we've left."
I tense at this, always unhappy to hear her name being spoken after hearing how much she hurt Eadric and Eerika beforehand. There is also a bitterness towards my dislike in her there too, but I do not even want to begin to explain that away to Eadric as I try to keep my expression neutral. "So, what is she giving Eerika a hard time about?"
"Everything. From her decisions, to the work hours, to the training regime. I don't think she thinks Eerika can handle ruling in our stead, even if for the time being."
"Well, your sister can't afford to take anyone's shit while trying to control nine clans of... what is it now? Probably roughly 3,400-3,600 people. Does that sound about right?"
"Probably." Eadric sighs, exhausted. "It's just frustrating as hell, that she can still hold a grudge after all this time towards me."
"Maybe we should spar, then, when we get back, I mean." I offer with a shrug. "Maybe I could knock her down a couple notches."
"While I would love to see that," Eadric muses with a rueful grin, "I don't need you fighting any unnecessary battles. And besides, with Eerika's temper and their past, I wouldn't be surprised if she's already done so."
"That's very true." I agree. I hate myself for putting him in this position, but I cannot help but ask after dropping my gaze from his own to lace my hands underwater in my lap, "So, how close did you both get before you ended it?"
Eadric sighs, clearly not proud of what he is about to reveal as he raises a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. "I did take her virginity." He reveals with an evident air of dismay. "I was vulnerable, my father was gone by then, Eerika was so devastated about it all and Iolana... she was there. We were actually broken up by then, we were trying at the whole just being friends thing when she continued to comfort me about my father, about how he would forgive my actions, killing our old King. I looked at her, she took my face in my hands, told me everything was alright, and I... she was there." He finally states, his tone low. "That's all it was."
I press my lips into a hard line as I look away from Eadric's hesitant gaze actively searching my own. By the time I speak up, however, my words feel oddly secure to me. "You didn't need forgiveness." I tell him, blunt.
"What do you mean?"
"For killing the previous King. He challenged your father, put the life of a great man in danger, killed one of his own. You were there, you tried to put a stop to it. You don't need forgiveness for that."
Eadric seems to be in some sort of a trance as his lips part, his gaze unblinking. "Thank you for telling me that." He finally mutters after some time.
I smile a little sadly before offering a single, soft nod.
"Can I tell you something?" He whispers after a moment, lifting a hand to trail it over the edge of my jawline.
My lips part as his softened gaze finds my own, and after sparing a brief glance to his lips, a wave of anxiousness spreading through my body beyond my control, I find my breath having practically been taken from my lungs as I utter, "Yes."
Just as it had done the day I defeated Vlasta, Eadric's light grip urges my chin upwards. My heart beat surges at the contact, and my eyes, once widened in anticipation, now flutter close as Eadric's own darkened gaze does the same. Before I can properly register his actions, Eadric has sealed his lips over my own, the pressure gentle yet firm, strong as his grip over my chin trails back from my jawline to brace the nape of my neck in his hand.
I pull back first, my breaths fragmented and resolve nearly broken as I raise my eyes to his own. With a voice softer than I have ever managed, I murmur, "I thought you were going to tell me something?"
His smile, more beautiful to me than it ever has been before, causes my own lips to spread into a breathless grin as he reveals, "I finally did."
My god, everything about him, his smile, his heart, the way he is gazing so softly towards me now, a man who has brought down civilizations, inspired thousands to fight a die for him, the fact that a man so powerful, so symbolic could look at me in a way that makes me feel like I have become his whole world the way he, in this moment, has become mine, well, I suppose that is what encourages me to press my lips to his own once again.
Surprisingly enough, there is no sense of uncertainty between us. Every curve of my body, every rigid muscle Eadric's rough palms trail over marks a path that somehow feels intimate to him, natural. I cannot say I feel all that differently. The sharpness of his jaw, the hollow of his cheek, the thickness of his brows furrowed in concentration I trail my fingertips over now with the entirety of my hand splayed over the side of his face to feel his jaw working as he deepens the kiss, it all only rings as familiar to me, as safe.
Even as he tilts his head, applies more pressure, relents to reposition himself, to give us the chance to take a breath, every single motion of his he instills I compliment, and it just feels so right. This moment, everything about it, because of how sudden yet anticipated it has been, because of how long we have been trying to find some source of comfort, of relief, something we can truly only do in each others arms, it feels so damn right.
And when we retire to bed that night, and Eadric pulls me close to press yet another soft kiss to my lips, a kiss I respond to in earnest as I warp both my arms around his neck and shoulders, pulling him close, I can truly say I have never felt more cared for... or more loved, in my entire life.
--- A/N
... So how are we all doing, folks?
Okay, so in explanation if this last scene feels like it needs some desperate reworking, did I go into this chapter anticipating a kiss between these two? Honest answer; no. Actually, I never planned for it, their first kiss. It just felt right to put it here despite the foreign environment and imperfect circumstances it occurred under, but I sort of feel like those circumstances compliment the rugged, still somewhat teen-oriented tone of this story, if that makes sense. Maybe tomorrow I'll feel otherwise, but for tonight, I have to say regardless of the concerns I listed above, I'm pretty content with it. For now.
In regards to the general dynamic between Aurora and Eadric, obviously the language I used was rather emotionally heavy and the experience probably came across a little vague because of it. The internal and emotional growth these two had this chapter was intended to illustrate the mental impact Eadric and Aurora have on one another, how they full heartedly trust one another to such an extent that Aurora would reveal one of her biggest fears to Eadric despite not knowing if he would continue to trust her after she did. He still does now, luckily. And, in case any of you are worried, there's no need to fret. The change in Eadric and Aurora's dynamic will definitely be notable from this point on in the story, and I hope you're all looking forward to it!
On another note, this whole Nightblood solution is probably starting to seem more like a source of problems than anything else. To hint at what's to come without risking too many spoilers, I will say this much; it definitely was a bad time for John and Ukaleq to start making amends You can interpret that comment however you wish up until the next chapter is released. Until then, however, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I'm so sorry if this kiss scene feels at all rushed or unnatural in any way-just let me know in the comments if it does-and, as always, I hope you're looking forward to the next chapter of World's Apart!