Meeting on Warship 666

Caz pulls Zyria close to him, wrapping his arms around her and gently stroking her hair. "It's okay, Zyria. They're okay... Everything is going to be fine. The Thel-ghan'che is still inside Tam, so we have to focus. No medicine will help them now, but there is still something we can do. We can find the cure." A pause, and then he continues, "I hope they can both convince each other to come back to us. I trust Tam to do that, and if Emerik has any sense of understanding then he will try to save the one who saves him. They will both come out of this, I know it. But we have to hurry. If the parasite returns while they are together they will be alone to fight it. C'mon Zyria, be strong. Be strong for them." He holds her ever closer, gently kissing her hair and her cheek, lending his strength to her in an attempt to stabalize her mind. He hopes that it will work.

-Zyria sits there, her face mildly blank. As Robless and Caz talk, her eyes appear less glossy. As Caz hugs her, kisses her, Zyria's cheeks begin reddening. Suddenly, Zyria is just....back. Her mind may have gone through all that's happened, it may have noted the comfort given for her, or it may have sensed something in Ebert and Tam's minds. Either way, Zyria blinks, her eyes focusing, looking up at Robless, and says,- "Emerik and Tam will be fine, they just need to talk." -She looks around, realizing Caz is right there, kissing her hair. She moves back in surprise, but not enough to be out of his arms. Her face is bright red as she glances away from him, but doesn't show signs of wanting to move anytime soon.-

Caz smiles slightly as she jumps, but once she realizes what's happening he just wraps his arms around her even tighter. While he does he looks up at Robless, speaking, "We need Archelaus. We need him to explain why he did what he did, and we need him in order to get Tam's cure. We must hurry, time is of the escence. I don't want Tam and Emerik trapped, fighting the Thel-ghan'che alone." He kisses Zyria's hair again, not because he wanted more than that, not because he was trying to comfort her, simply because he could and because it felt right.

Robless took everything in, but didn't really have much left to say. He walked over to the still-glowing blade, and picked it up, examining it in detail. The glowing nanites moved along the sides of the sword, forming their intricate patterns of circuitry. It was made of a material that felt similar to carbon-steel, but with the shine and color of well-polished silver or chrome. The handle itself was a reinforced carbon fiber material, nothing different than most bladed weapons of the time. Ignoring the fact that Zyria and Caz were making out, Robless calmly walked back to the room with Archelaus, and sat down on one of the benches there, waiting for him to wake up. Meanwhile he started turning the sword end over end, running his hand along the fine details and impressions, trying to get any meaning out of it.

[^Thx Robless, way to be romantic XD]

-Zyria tries to.....well, she tries. Whatever it was she trying, though, her reddened face is all one would need to see. She barely notices Robless leave, if only to recognize that, other than the unconscious bodies nearby, it was just Caz and herself. She realizes there is a lot to be worried about, a lot to think about, but, with everyone not going anywhere until Tam and Emerik woke up, she could ask some questions. Gently, Zyria pushes Caz away and says,- "Since we're alone, I'd like to ask you some things."

Caz reluctantly lets go of Zyria, turning to face her completely. "Anything. What is it?"

-Zyria thinks about how to pull all her questions into just a few, but an idea for them were already in her mind.- "Well, my first question is: Why...why do you seem to...care so much for me? Sure, you've saved my life and I yours, but so have many on this ship...plus, we hardly really know each other..." -She sighs, having finally asked the question, her face seeming even brighter red.- "My second question has to do with your implant. When I fixed your lung, you had the anatomy of a humanoid, how is that possible?" -This time there is a glint of interest in Zyria's eye, her usual curiosity emerging. Then, though, her face seems to slowly fall as she takes a deep breath.- "My final question is...sort of similar to the first, yet different...Why would you care for me? ....After Tam is saved, won't you...won'tyougoandtrytofindyourNeiede?" -Zyria forces the question out, not wanting to know, but having no choice but to ask. She keeps recalling her time with the Shadow, and her dread before they even entered Tam's mind, and realizes she needs closure, she needs to know from Caz himself.

D'garar suddenly awakens with a gasp, his eyes shooting open, he cries out in pain. He looked over at the others, his expression suddenly void of emotion. He stands up, his pain seeming to have vanished. In an emotionless voice, he utters three words, "Archaelus, destroyed her." He looks at Aurora, still void of emotion, he walks out of the room, heading for the bridge of the Demigod. If anyone tried to stop him, he intended to kill them on the spot.

Caz started to speak, then sighed and looked down. "Zyria... I don't know. I... I care about you... because you're strong. You're independent. You don't give up, but at the same time you know that sometimes there are things that simply must be done. And... from the moment I saw Tam on you, when Thel-ghan'che was in control of her... I knew that I would do anything to protect you. I knew that even if... even if it meant I had to die to do it, I would protect you. It's hard to explain, but as soon as I saw you I knew it was true." Having answered the first question, he exhaled slowly, trying to relieve some of the pressure which had built in his chest. He moved on to the second one. "As for the implant... well, the Kazesqui are essentially beings of raw energy. Just like the technology used on holodecks and such holographic imaging that is solid, the implant coverts energy to mass and back again. Well, since we are purely energy, the implant basically converts us into something else, like right now. As soon as I will it, it converts me back into my true form. Does that make sense?" And then, not waiting for her answer, he took a long pause, thinking. He realized he didn't have a real answer for her. "I... I don't know, Zyria. I might j--" he was cut off as D'garar stood up, and he frowned as he heard the three words and continued frowning as the Warchief stormed off. Well I already knew that, but... what's gotten into him?

-Zyria recalls that moment when Tam had been seconds from killing her. Had....Had he really felt like that since the moment he saw me? The thought makes her face flash with warmth again. She was busy thinking through what Caz knew about the implant when D'garar stood up without any warning, and left. She looks after him with worry on her face. What is he thinking? I hope he doesn't do anything too irrational... But she shook her head. She will go if she's needed, but she also needs this closure. She looks back to Caz, who was also looking where D'garar left. She gently touches his shoulder to regain his attention.- "Okay...I understand the first answer, and the second as well, even if you don't think you completely answered them. If there's anything I'd like to know, it's the last..." -Zyria bows her head, her hair hiding her eyes, ashamed she's asking such hard questions.- "I-I know what will happen, basically, but...I-I just need it....said, instead of going over it again and again in my head..." -She stops, unable to continue. Noticing a little too late, Zyria realizes that Caz can probably tell why she's been so upset since her run-in with the Shadow, and she sighs.-

Caz looks Zyria in the eye for a moment, then lets go of her comepletely and sighs almost in defeat. "I... I don't know. I suppose I will. I suppose I'll have to. There are so few of us left now, and without the power of the Neiede, none of us are strong enough to create any more of us. I... I'll have to. I'm sorry, Zyria... I don't even know if it will work. If I'll be able to find mine. I'm..." He trailed off, only thinking the rest, I'm already in love. Will I be able to make the connection with an Alteriia? Or is my heart already taken with someone else? "I don't know."

D'garar briskly walks onto the Bridge and takes command of his ship once more. The Demigod's engines restart and the ship comes to life. His voice rings out over the intercom "I want Robless and Archelaus on the Bridge as soon as you both ar available. Zyria and Caz, watch over Emerik and Aurora. Inform me when they awaken." The Warchief seemed to have gained his drive once more as he quickly brought his ship under control. He began barking orders to his fleet and within minutes the Agorian Army was once again prepared, their leader returned, for war.

His voice rang out once more, this time across his entire fleet. "My brothers, my sisters. I have returned. As soon as a matter of life and death concerning the leaders of the other Dimensions is solved. We will be launching a counter-offensive upon the enemies who dare to strike us. We will be swift. We will be brutal. We will be victorious. Once again, the Agorian race has been challenged, and once again we shall show that we are not a group to be crossed. For Agoria! For Warchief Argos, the legendary warrior that brought our race to the 24th Dimension. We will rain down upon the enemy with a power unrivaled!"

As his speech finishes, the Agorians throughout the fleet begin cheering and roaring. The sound builds upon itself. It becomes more and more deafening until finally, the war cries and cheering dies down.

{ZYRIAAAA}

-Zyria looks at Caz, knowing this is just as hard for him as it is for her. She goes back to him and moves his arms around her so he's embracing her again.- "Then let us enjoy what time we have." -Zyria is obviously trying to comfort Caz and herself, and when she glances up into Caz's eyes, there is a pain in her own, not exactly hidden, but overshadowed by a want to forget, at least for that short moment, that their time was limited, and to just enjoy each other's prescence.-

Caz looks into Zyria's eyes as well, and the pain in his eyes matches hers. "Alright." He holds her close to him, pressing his chin and cheek into her hair, and silently shedding a few tears, tears for the future. He sighs at length, trying to let himself relax, let himself be with the girl he has so desperately fallen for. He wonders, somewhere in his mind, if it will last, and for how long. But he pushes that thought away, just trying to focus on now, on today.

-For a moment, Zyria just...sits there. Her whole body tingles slightly as she rests against Caz, but she doesn't hide it, she just enjoys the closeness. She forces her mind to shut off, just to enjoy their time....and for a moment, she does. Suddenly, though, there's a loud buzz of feedback, and D'garar's voice is booming from an intercom. Zyria looks towards the direction of the sound, and hears D'garar's orders. Sighing, she looks up to Caz again, realizing that their moment, for now, is over.- "Well, I guess we should actually watch over Tam and Emerik, in case something noticeable happens." -Caz reluctantly, sadly, stands, pulling Zyria with him. As Caz turns around though, Zyria stops him. She looks into his eyes, his understanding eyes, and embraces him. Before she lets go, though, she whispers to his ear,- "I think I love you, Drel-Caz."

Something blue shimmers into view, but Robless takes no note of it. A soldier's voice spoke.

"Commander." Robless looked up and saw a Black Legion Special Operations soldier. He steps up to shake his hand.

"Sir. Cassus Drugari, 1st Fleet SpecOps. I believe we've met before."

"Drugari? That's you? Been a long time."

"Yeah. Still best in the Legion. Still rated most lethal asset." Drugari took a seat next to Robless, still in his full combat armor. He was the most renowned and feared soldier of the entire Black Legion, with a kill count far exceeding any of those from even highly-decorated combat officers. His specialization was stealth and marksmanship, although he could hold his own with any form of combat.

Robless spoke up again. "How'd you get aboard?"

"Stealth shuttle."

"OK, that will suffice. D'garar wants me on the bridge ASAP. We'll chat on the way there." The two of them got up and walked down the hallway together.

"Warchief D'garar Und'gha'od? I guess this is his ship, so I assume diplomacy went well."

"You could say that. Not counting the thousands of Fleshers that nearly killed us all."

"Never thought they'd be back. I should know by know, assumptions are what everyone gets killed by."

"I don't think Twintongue will be happy with this, but we're now fighting with the people who were our enemies. Eris-Tam, the one that I nearly killed, ended up saving my life."

"Heard about that. Couldn't have been a pretty scenario."

"No, her life's on the line after taking away...the parasite."

"The Thel-ghan'che? I've heard they were exterminated long ago. I could feel that something was bothering you all this time."

"I owe Tam big time." Both of the Stalker war heroes opened the door to the Demigod's bridge.

As they entered, D'garar collapsed, clutching his head. He cried out in pain, something rare for an Agorian. As he fell his sword came out from its sheath, and the hilt banged on the floor. Before it could tip over however, D'garar fell onto it. It impaled him through side of his chest and came out of his back. He groaned in pain, "Robless...I think the parasite was breeding. I can feel the compulsion to do evil. I can feel it breaking down everything good that I stand for. I....won't let it control me." He draws the sword from his chest, and he slits his own throat. The clean swipe goes through his jugular and air pipe. He dies instantly, knowing he would not be able to beat it. Knowing Aurora, someone much more powerful than he, was barely winning the same battle he was about to undergo.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Both men cried out in unison. Robless moved forward first, examining him for any sign of life. Dead. "Oh God, D'garar, why?"

Drugari spoke from where he stood. "Nothing you can do. Better tell the others." Robless got up from where he was crouched, and started running towards the medical bay, where everyone else was.

Robless and Drugari shoved the doors open to the medical bay, not even waiting for the automatic door to kick in. To everyone in the room, Robless spoke. Not quietly, not loudly, but solemnly. "D'garar... He's dead. Suicide. The parasite got to him too." He looked around, catching everyone's eyes again. "D'garar is dead."

Acceptance of death came quickly, but not lightly. The life of anything was irreplaceable, more so than even the collapse of entire dimensions. Death follows life, and when life trips, death is always near.

Archelaus floated...
Literally...
He was floating through an infintite grey. Nothing had color any more. Not black, nor white, no greens, blues, yellows...
Everything... EVERYTHING. Was blank.
Grey like the ashes that seemed to float around him...

There was nothing.
He had nothing.
He was nothing.
Nothing consumed him.
Nothing was him.
He was with nothing, and nothing was with him.

No motivations, no faith, no honor, no hope, no code... just nothing.

He did not know how long he stayed here... in the land-that-was-not-anywhere of nothing.
Time did not matter. Time did not exist.

Archelaus, who felt he no longer had a name, could feel his eyes moving, his senses prowling, his ears receiving sounds...
But all he came across was nothing.

And more nothing.

Faintly, a single thought crossed his mind, which was absorbing more and more of the grey around him...
"I hope she is happy with him... Him that could be everything that I am not.
I am not good enough. I am not worthy enough.
I am grey. I am nothing."

---
To the eyes of those around him,
Archelaus had fallen flat on the ground, his eyes unseeing, his muscles not moving. His hearts were beating, his lungs were still breathing...
And yet there was no movement, no response to stimuli, except his eyes, which were desperately searching for something that they could not find, nor see.

His mind, which use to be a barely recognizable comfort to those around him, was simply projecting a meager amount of grey. Grey everywhere. Grey...

Once you have found your Neiede, you cannot give her up without being cast into a place-that-does-not-exist of grey.
He knew the reasons why he did it... and hopefully so did she...

But breaking the bond, even if faced with death is unforgivable.

It has never been done before in the history of the Alteriia.

Only Aurora could re-initiate the bond... if she could ever forgive him...

And until then, he floated in a world of grey.
Of nothing.
Just like life had become to him without her, without her color, Her radience her grace, her beauty, her ideals, her... LIFE... His was worthless. She made him into who he was. She was....
Literally everything to him.
And he gave her up to save her.
And so he felt...
Nothing...

Caz stood up abruptly as he heard the news. "Shit..." And then his eyes widened in realization. He turned to Zyria, quickly kissing her forehead and murmuring, "Stay here."

And then he was gone, flying down the hallways of the Demigod towards the bridge. He knocked over anyone who stood in his path, barreling straight through the doors and towards D'garar's body. He arrived just in time to watch as a tiny black ooze left the dead Warchief's body and began making its way towards another victim.

Caz felt himself fall into his true form, and then he was on the creature. No... You're not getting away this time.

And the room exploded into bursts of light and dark as Drel-Caz fought the parasite. I will not let it control me! he thought fiercely, but it seemed like he might lose the first battle. No! Zyria needs me, my people need me, I can do this! Suddenly there was more light than dark, as Caz slowly overpowered the creature.

After a few more moments, it was all over. The light quickly dissapated, and as it retracted it revealed two things.

Firstly, the clean slice that had ended D'garar's life as well as the place in his chest where the sword had been driven all the way through were both healed. The excess energy that Caz had given off while fighting the parasite had been enough to heal his wounds, as his body was so close to the fight.

Secondly, Caz had been reduced to no more than an orb of light. He had expended much of his energy fighting the Thel-ghan'che, and though it had not hurt him he was still severely affected by it. As he looked to D'garar, he realized what his energy had also done. Though it could not restart D'garar's heart, maybe if his wounds were closed somebody else could.

A tiny seed of hope planted itself in Drel-Caz's mind. He called to the nearby crew, as loud as he could muster. "Quickly! Try to restart his heart! If he has any chance of living, you have to do it NOW!"

For several minutes the crew tried to restart D'garar's heart with the sparse medical equipment they had. Every attemped failed. At a point, Caz realizes that it's too late. "Stop... It's been too long. We've failed. Even if we manage it, at this point the brain damage will be tremendous. We've failed, stop..." He let his small form rest against the floor and wall, sighing in defeat. We've failed. We've killed them. Not only have we failed Tam, but we've failed D'garar and Archelaus too. D'garar is dead... Tam will be devastated. She... she's lost both of the people she loves, now, and... she may not have the strength to keep fighting. She... we've failed her. We've killed them all. We've... failed... Caz drifted off into a tired, uneasy sleep, stunned, feeling his fatigue and his lack of energy more than ever.

{ZYRIAAAAAA}

-Zyria stays. At first. She knows if whatever Caz was worried about related to the parasite, she wouldn't have a chance. But after a moment of thinking about her vow to keep Caz alive, she decides to at least go see. Peeking in the room, she sees an orb of light speaking to the crew. Caz? she thinks in slight confusion. An orb of light wasn't his usual or true form, something must have forced him to change. When she sees the crew surrounding a body, she angles her head to see. D'garar. The only sound she can make is a small 'eep' as she closes the door. For a few moments, Zyria sits there., her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide in surprised grief. She had seen the deathly look of him, she could tell he was long gone. *Another of my friends, gone. But this time there's not hope.* She rests there, trying to get past this realization, and finally, she stands. Zyria walks into the room, just as the orb slowly floats to the floor. A few men continue to work on bringing D'garar back to life, and she walks up to them, placing a hand on a couple men's shoulders.- 'Stop. He's gone. Take the body to be readied for whatever way you treat your dead.' -She looks towards the orb, dimly glowing, in what she supposes is a fitfull sleep. Pulling out some clothes and a blanket nearby, she places them near Caz, leaving a note for him: In case you need them. Standing to her full height, she turns to Robless, nodding to the man next to him.- 'This has been a great tragedy. But we have Tam and Emerik to worry about. D'garar is dead, he won't need aid anymore. Tam will be devastated, so we must be wary when she finds out. For now, we can wait for Tam to emerge from Emerik's mind, or you can go in with them. It is your choice.' -Zyria glances back at Caz, and recalls Archelaus, also unconscious in the other room.- 'Whatever your choice, I will stay here, mend wounds, watch over the ship.' -She turns, and leaves the room, her walk full of confidence now that she had taken charge of the moment.-

Drugari spoke to break the strange silence that had engulfed them after witnessing both D'garar's death and failed revival. "Commander, I have something to say. After seeing Tam..." He hesitated, unsure if he should go on.

"I will use nothing against you." Robless waved off his suspicions.

"Well...I'm part Kazesqui." As Cassus Drugari spoke, Robless just turned his head in shock. "It was back when the Kazesqui race was...more alive than it is now. My mother was a Kazesqui and my father was just a normal human like you and I. I inherited the body of a human, but I still have much of the powers of a Kazesqui. I also had a sister..." Drugari's voice trailed off.

"Had? What happened?"

"My family...they were all murdered. It was a fanatic racist that managed to break into our house and killed both of my parents. He was the first man I ever killed. Took my father's hunting rifle and put a round right through the guy's head. I was only 12 then."

"You mentioned you had a sister?"

"She ran off and went missing after my parents were killed. She was pretty much completely Kazesqui. That's where...I don't know. Tam...she has those same blue-violet eyes...the same auburn hair...She could very well be my missing sister."

Robless and Drugari both looked down, away from each other, to contemplate what this meant. Could Eris-Tam be the long-lost sister of the most lethal man alive?