I jump out of bed, nearly slipping as I race into the living room and out into the commons. I'm still in my pajamas, but there's a bigger issue at hand so what the hell. I rush into the Teachers dorm, banging on the door with Elian's name next to it. Elian swings open the door. "Kid what the fuck?" He asks groggily. "I should be asking you the same damn question, Elian Timor." I growl. That wakes him up. His eyes widen as he looks down at me in horror. "You wouldn't understand kid..." He groans. "So you ARE a traitor then. And what the hell do you mean? What could I possibly not understand about this?" I ask, trying to keep from shouting. "Family comes before all else." Elian whispers. "WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN??? AREN'T WE LIKE FAMILY?!?! WHAT ABOUT H-"And then... everything goes black as something heavy and cold hits me in the head.
I open my eyes and slowly sit up. I'm in medbay. Again. "What happened?" I ask. Hera is in the corner glaring at the floor. Nat and Lane are asleep in two chairs next to the cot. "We found you unconscious next to Elian's dorm. You were propped up against the wall and covered up with a blanket. Elian, and his things, were gone." Hera growls. Nat startles awake. "Huh? Oh you're up. That's nice." She mumbles before falling back asleep. "We reviewed security footage. He betrayed us." A woman says, walking into the medbay. "Son of a BITCH!!!" Hera yells angrily. Two spikes of ice seem to fly from her fingertips and sink into the wall as Hera storms out. Lane and Nat wake up, looking around in confusion.
"She's less than pleased." The woman mutters, looking at the two icicles now stuck in the wall. "I'm general Gwendolyn. I'm the one currently in charge of this base. Anaideia was a newer soldier, so her betrayal was horrible, but it wasn't much of a shock. But Elian.... he's been with us for quite sometime. This is surprising." "He said something about "family comes before all else". That's the last thing I remember. What do you think that means?" General Gwendolyn pauses to think. Then she snaps her fingers.
"Of course! The forgotten brother. Anaideia is a Timor, better known as the family currently running the L.O. Her Father used to have a brother, but he disappeared from the battlefield about ten years ago. No one knew what happened or where he had gone. His older brother, Eligio Timor, acted like nothing happened. About two years later, Elian showed up." She says. "Ok...? That might be a coincidence."Lane says. "But it's not. And I know because both Elian and Anaideia have golden eyes. It runs in their family, but golden eyes are still pretty rare." Gwen says. I nod. "And considering what I confronted him about..." I mutter. "What?" "I was only there late at night because I had a dream where Anai ran into what looked like a throne room and a man turned around and it looked like an older version of Elian. Last time I had a dream like that it was of Anai, and I ignored it. Look what happened then." I say. Lane and Nat both wince. "Well... there have been stories of Star Beings having prophetic dreams." Nat mutters. "Someone's been researching. Anyways, tell the other Star Beings that you all have the day off. Hera needs time to-" as if on cue, one of the ice spikes breaks off and shatters on the ground. "Cool off..."
After Lane, Nat, and I told the other Star Beings what happened we headed back to bed since it was like five AM. But I couldn't sleep. So I got some coffee and trained for two hours. Now I'm taking a shower. My thoughts drift to Elian. How could he betray all of us? He said something about family but it feels like his "family" is the reason he isn't as strong as he used to be. What happened to found family? Hera, the other Star Beings. Hera loved him and the rest of us kinda saw him as an uncle. Like uncle Iroh, but foul mouthed and slightly mad at the world. "Why? Why would he do this? And why does it hurt so damn BAD?" I punch the wall, cracking the tile. "Fuck..." I groan, staring at my now bleeding knuckles. I turn off the water, put on some clothes, and bandage my hand with some gauze under my sink. I sigh and look at myself in the mirror. My hair is a mess from where I got hit. I smooth it back. Everything hurts. And the betrayal stings worse than any injury.
I don't even know why. Anai threw me off a cliff, but it still didn't hurt me like this. Maybe because, now that I'm looking back on it, Anai was sloppy. She wasn't careful, and there were little hints. But with Elian... nothing. He knew exactly what he was doing. And it's frustrating that no one saw it coming. I yell in anger and walk out into my bedroom. "Maybe I should go train again..." my door creaks open. "Hey. Someone mentioned caves and now we're gonna check it out. You're coming." Lane says. "You say that like I don't have a choice." "You don't. We're all feeling confused and betrayed and combined with the fact that you knew both of them personally... yeah I really don't want to leave you alone. Also, why is your hand wrapped?" I quickly hide my hand behind my back. "No reason. Let's go look at those caves."
There was only one warning before we stepped inside. Don't touch the black crystals. Something about weird properties. Lane and Nat are up ahead. I look around the dark cave. I can't see much. I light my hand up, green flames erupting up my arm. Small crystals become visible as they refract the green light. They're pitch black in color. "How the hell are we not supposed to touch them if we can't see them?" I mutter. "DJ! Come here!" I hear Nat shout. I run over to Nat and Lane. The other Star beings are gathered around them, staring at something on the wall. I push to the front. It's a mural. A picture of a green humanoid figure lights up as I step closer. "Oh christ!" I jump, my hand extinguishing as I do so. The light fades. "Everyone, light your hands up!" Nat says
Multicolred fire slowly lights up the cave. The mural starts to glow, each little figure emitting a light from its chest. "Cool." Hade says. "Yeah. But weird at the same time. Why is this down here?" Nat says. I shrug. "Who the hell knows. Let's go look for more." I say. I walk away, my hand still on fire.
We search the cave for hours, but we don't find any more weird murals. After about two hours we start heading back the way we came. "Wanna race?" Hade asks Lane. "You're on." They bolt for the mouth of the cave. "CAREFUL!!!" Maxine shouts, racing after them. I laugh and watch as the other Star Beings speed up. I pick up the pace, following behind.
And then I trip. And fall. And scrape my hand on a crystal. I keep from yelping in pain, but god damn it hurts like hell. I look down at my left hand. There's a deep cut. Little flakes of crystal surround the wound. I dust off my hand on my jeans and heal it. "DJ? You coming?" I get up quickly. "Uh... yeah! Be right there!" I shout, heading for the mouth of the cave. Nothing super strange happened. I guess Hera was wrong.
We run back to the dorms. I walk behind everyone. Why do I feel so tired all of the sudden? I walk into the common. "DJ? You good?" Nat asks. "Yeah... just a bit tired. I'm gonna go take a nap." I say with a weak smile. "Ok... sleep well."
I open my eyes, sit up, and yawn. It's still light out? I pick up my phone and look at the time. "IT'S NINE AM???" I yelp in shock. How long was I asleep??? "Last night was wonderful." I hear a voice say. "Well I can't really remember but... WAIT WHO THE HELL SAID THAT?!?!" I shout, jumping out of bed and promptly falling over. "Me, silly." My left arm jerks up, seemingly on its own. A large black crystal is growing out of my palm. "OH FUCK-" "DJ?"
Lane opens my door. I hide my arm quickly. "Um... you good?" I nod. "Ok. You were acting weird last night. We don't have training today, by the way." I nod again and Lane closes the door. I quickly get up and look at the crystal. "What the hell are you?" I ask it quietly. "Oh, no one can hear me. And I'm technically a parasite. But you can't get rid of me. Because if anyone else touches that little shard there... well, I'll spread. And we wouldn't want that, now would we?"
I race into the bathroom and stare at myself in the mirror. "Get out of my head." I growl, smashing my hand against the counter in an attempt to shatter the crystal. I yelp in pain when it doesn't budge. "Yeah, that won't work. I'd suggest a glove. We're sharing headspace now. Actually, let me show you a little something I can do..." I feel my expression change. One of my eyes goes green. I stare at my smiling face. I wave at myself. "I'm in control now. You're my little puppet." I watch as my arm raises and swings around mechanically. Suddenly, I gain back control. "I'll let you drive for now. Just do what I say, and we'll be fine."
A loud boom echoes from the front of the school. "Again?" I groan. "Why don't I take care of this?" I hear the voice say. "Fuck off." I whisper. "Well then. I'll ask one more time. Why don't I take care of this?" "And you'll get the same damn answer. No." I growl. Then... everything goes black.
I blink. I'm on the battlefield. Hade is in front of me, looking terrified. Then I realize I'm holding my weapon and I'm ready to strike. I yelp and drop my mallet. "DJ...?" I hear Nat ask from behind me. Hade scrambles up and runs away. I turn around slowly and nearly throw up. There's bodies strewn around the battle ground. The other Star Beings are still standing at the entrance of the base, looking at me in horror, disgust, and confusion. "I... did I do this?" I say quietly, looking down at my now gloved left hand. "Yeah. You did." I hear Lane say in a disgusted tone. "You teleported onto the battlefield. You started killing enemy soldiers immediately. You showed no goddamn remorse. They may be on the wrong side, but what the actual HELL DJ?!?! AND YOU TURNED YOUR WEAPON ON HADE!!!" Lane yells, pushing to the front of the group. "I got caught up in the heat of battle. I'm still pretty pissed about what happened last night." Lane laughs at my lame excuse. "THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN GO PUT HERE AND START KILLING PEOPLE!!!" She shouts. "Shut up..." I whisper. "She's right though. You did something truly terrible, Delilah." That voice. That stupid fucking voice. "CAN EVERYONE JUST PLEASE SHUT UP!!!" I scream. Lane startles back. "DJ...." I hear Maxine say as she steps to the front of the crowd. "No one else was talking."
In a panic, I teleport back to my room. I lock the door immediately. I don't want anyone near me. After what I did... I shake the thought away. "How horrid. You killed all those people..." "No, you killed all those people and nearly killed Hade. You're a fucking parasite. And I'm gonna destroy you." I growl. I yank off the glove and then gasp. Little black tentacles stretch across my palm. "Nice try. But I'm in your bloodstream now. Do something I don't like and..." I watch in horror as the tendrils grow, spreading across my hand and starting to reach up my wrist. It hurts like hell. "Again, do as I say and we'll be fine." "NO!!!" I yell, clawing at the crystal with my free hand. The black spreads further up my arm. I yelp in pain and double over. I hear the door slam open. Did Lane just pick the lock? "DJ? What the hell happened.... what the fuck?" I look up at Lane, tears flowing down my face. I raise my left arm to show her the crystal. Her eyes widen in fear. "Run."
Lane slams the door shut. I hear her quick footsteps heading out of the dorm. Thank god. "You won't hurt any of them." I growl at the crystal growing out of my palm. "Bold of you to assume you have control of that, you mortal bitch." And suddenly, I feel like I'm knocked out of my body. Well, not literally. More like I'm shoved behind a pane of glass and forced to watch what's happening. Which is actually kinda what it looks like. Except I'm in chains.
I watch as a puff of black smoke starts to take form. I stand in front of myself. Except it's not me. She's more perfect. And her eyes are bright green. "I'm in control now." She laughs. I laugh? I dunno, this is confusing as fuck. "What... the hell... did you do...?" I ask weakly. I think these chains are draining my energy. "Life force actually. Also, we're in the mindscape. All of your thoughts are blasted at full volume here. Have fun getting the life sucked out of you!" Not-me disappears in a puff of smoke. I stare at what looks like a window. I'm pretty sure that's my eyes. "Have fun with my view for a bit, Delilah. I can't wait to destroy everyone and everything you love." Not-me says in a sing-songy voice. "Fuck you!!!" I yell, straining against the chains. I watch as I slam open my door, walking out into the living room and then into the commons. "NO!!!"
Not-me moves with confidence. But Nat, Lane, and the other Star beings are already waiting for me. Her? I dunno. "DJ... or whatever you are... please, stop. We can help you but don't hurt anyone." Nat begs. "Silence mortal." Not-me says. I watch as the ground explodes, sending rocks, and Star Beings, everywhere. "STOP IT!!!" I scream. I know the only person who can hear me is Not-Me, but I don't care. I strain against the weird shackles around my wrists. "LET ME GO YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!" "Nah."
Not-me walks through the chaos, teleporting away from the Base and into what looks like a village. "No... don't! Please, these are innocent people. AND YOU ARE LITERALLY A ROCK, WHY ARE YOU SO ANGRY?!?!" I yell. I hear Not-me's laughter in my head. "Because it's fun."
"Is that the green Star Being?" I hear a villager ask from behind me. "NononononoNO!!!!" I pull against the chains again, but they still don't budge. "Yes, that's me." Not-me turns around to face the villager. "I've come to warn you of danger." Not-me says. "The Luminis Obumbratio?" They ask. Not-me shakes her head. "No." "Who then?" I can't tell, but I'm pretty sure Not-Me smirks. "Me."
Within seconds Not-me has my weapon and easily strikes the person down. Then her hand lights up in green flame. "NO!!! STOP!!!" I scream. I scream until my throat is nearly raw. Not really sure how that works but whatever. I yank on my chains. I stomp my feet. I have to break free. I watch as Not-Me kills a person. And then another. And another. And another. Then she sets her eyes on a child. I gasp in horror. "NO!! DON'T YOU DARE!!!" I scream. Not-Me steps towards the kid. "I SAID STOP IT YOU DEMONIC MOTHERFUCKING BITCH!!!!" I pull on my chains one more time. This time, I don't hold anything back. I watch as the chains crack, and then shatter out of existence. "No..." I hear Not-Me say. "Yes!" Within the blink of an eye I'm back in control. I stare at the scared little kid in front of me. "Run. Now. Go get the other Star Beings." I command them. They nod and run off. "You bastard." I hear Not-Me's voice echo. I smirk. "What? I'm determined to keep people safe." I chuckle. "Why are you so desperately trying to stay in control?" Not-me asks. "What?" "Oh be honest. You would rather be on auto pilot. You're tired. You're depressed. You're blaming yourself for what happened."
"Stop it." I growl, covering my ears in vain. "You wish you weren't around. You think that doing anything for yourself is selfish. You give and give, but don't think about yourself. You're desperate to prove you're a decent person. Because deep down, you're afraid what you think of yourself is true." "SHUT UP!!!" I yell, tears starting to roll down my cheeks. "What? I'm just speaking the truth. I know you're hurting. Let me help." I shake my head. "No. You'll only hurt people." I sob. "I promise I won't hurt any of your friends." Not-Me says in a sweet tone. "Just let me help." I stare down at my hand. At the crystal growing out of it. And the black tendrils that are slowly growing up my arm. "I don't have a choice here, do I?" I ask quietly. "If you let me help, it'll be easier on the both of us." I hear her say. "Just... please don't hurt anyone..." I sob. I feel myself drift away. "I promise..." and as I feel my conscious fading, I hear Not-Me speak one more time. "Now, to burn this place to the ground."