FIC • Into the Unknown (Sphere/Vitaen)

[khristalized]

Setting: Aquios | SD 791
Characters: Khrista, Marcus
Summary: Khrista has the makings of a plan to save her father...

Sixteen-year-old Khrista sat on the railing of one of Castle Aquaria’s balconies, legs dangling, the Traydors’ communicator (which she’d long taken and used as her own) out in her hands, in plain sight. She wasn’t worried about being spotted, though; her little nook was someplace only she -- and one other person -- knew about.

She stared down at the message on the screen.

Doesn’t exist, K.
Might be Fed territory. Top-secret sort.
I’ll help you, if you help me?

She bit her lip and averted her gaze to the lake, turning the communicator over and over in her hands as she thought the matter over. Could she dare? To leave her home, her family, and head out into the unknown -- out there, among the stars?

There was a knocking sound from behind her and she flinched, caught off-guard. She whirled around and got to her feet with practiced movements, slipping the communicator smoothly into one of her pockets, but visibly relaxed as soon as she recognized who the newcomer was. “Look at you!”

Marcus waved shyly at her. “H-Hey.”

“You look good,” she commented, looking him over curiously. It had only been a couple of months since he’d enlisted in the Storm Brigade, but he’d seemed to have matured... or was it just the uniform and the weapon strapped to his back?

He quickly turned red and mumbled his thanks, slipping back into the shy, unassuming boy she’d known since childhood. He tried to compliment her in return, but he was having a little difficulty getting words out of his mouth. When he finally managed to, the first words out of him were: “How’s your dad?”

At his question, her face fell. She didn’t even bother to hide it, never needed to, not from him at least. She motioned for him to move closer, and he complied with only a moment of hesitation and a worsening blush. She didn’t think much of it, though; despite his good looks, he was terribly shy when it came to women, something his twin sister had been struggling to rectify but to no avail.

When they finally stood side-by-side by the railing, she answered in a low voice, “Not good. Worse, but nobody wants to admit it. Nothing here’s working. Not the medicines, not the runes.” Her frustration was evident. “Mother... she’s mentioned traveling to Father’s homeworld.”

“Aquavitae.”

She nodded. “But it doesn’t exist.”

He looked at her, confused. “How can it not exist? He had to come from somewhere, right? From beyond the stars?”

She didn’t say anything to that, and she was quiet for a long while.

Worried that he’d somehow offended her, he hastily, although awkwardly, decided to fill in the silence. “Um... I’ll be here for a couple of days. We’re escorting the Queen’s Guard, and they’re escorting the Queen.” He managed a small smile. “I’m pretty sure it’s just Mom’s excuse to have me over. When did the Queen’s Guard ever need a juvenile--”

“Marcus,” Khrista suddenly interrupted, turning to face him. “When you... when you decided to enlist, how did you bring yourself to do it? I mean, you said that everyone wanted you, expected you, to be in the Dragon Brigade, but you like, ran away to the opposite direction?”

Hurt flashed in Marcus’ face -- not only was it a sore topic for him to begin with, she’d actually said he ran away -- and he tried to keep the ice out of his voice as he answered, “What does this have to do with anything?”

She didn’t notice; her attention was back to the lake in front of them, her gaze distant, her eyes somewhat glazing over. “Mother and Father... they’ve been arguing. I’ve heard them a couple of times. The planet doesn’t exist, but Mother wants to go look for it, anyway. You can guess how Father took that.” She took a sharp, deep breath, then let it out, and her next words along with it. “I want to go out there, and look for it.”

“You... what?”

“I know, the problem’s right here, yet I want to turn and run into the opposite direction.” She gripped the side of the railing with both hands, tears pooling within her fierce blue eyes. “But nothing here’s working! What else can I do? I can’t just... I can’t just... watch Father--”

Her shoulders tensed up as she suppressed a sob, but she didn’t cry.

A moment later -- although a great part of him had actually feared that she was going to twist his arm off for doing so -- Marcus laid a hand on Khrista’s shoulder. “I just did what I believed to be the right thing to do,” he said, answering her previous question, about his enlistment in the Storm Brigade. “And, well, told myself I just have to own up to the consequences.”

“And how’s it been so far?”

“Lonely.” He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze, then let his hand drop. It was his turn to look out distantly into the horizon. “Especially without Nausy. I never thought I’d actually miss her.”

She nodded sadly. “I’ll miss Merlot, too.”

“You’ve made up your mind, then?”

Had she? She tucked her hands into her pockets, one of them gripping the communicator -- the key to her plan, if she could ever muster the courage to act on it.

“I don’t know.”

---

Later that night, Khrista lay in bed, staring absent-mindedly at the ceiling. Their place in Aquios was much smaller -- and less homier -- than what they had back in Surferio; the only thing she really liked about it was getting to share a room with her younger sister.

Merlot was still out in the living room, though, studying for her runology exams. That left Khrista with all the time to ponder on her plan.

She held up the communicator again, and looked at Amber’s recent string of messages.

Prison break, of course.
Elspie’s on board.
Her hair’s pink.
You coming?

She sighed. Could she really bring herself to do this?

She stared at the response she’d typed up hours ago.

I’m in.

She closed her eyes... and hit Send.