Ch10-8: Death is the Beginning
Weightlessness bound him. Floating him over endless currents of afterlife. On to the world that waited beyond.
Death felt disappointingly like a slow-motion faint. Only Kip couldn’t find his arms or legs. So it had its differences. Not that it mattered… soon he would have no need of things like that.
Soon he would be free of it all. Of the fear. Of the pain. Of the endless drive of O.M.E.G.A. coursing through his mind. And maybe, just maybe, if there was any shred of mercy in the skies above, Kip would be allowed to see them one more time.
Shikon… NaTu… Just one more time… and I can rest.
Images of his family flickered past his eyelid. Yes. Even the life-passes-before-your-eyes thing happened. Something Kip might have been more interested in if he hadn’t been the one on the verge of death.
That’s why it was particularly annoying when the strange voice butted into his dying experience.
-Ah, so… it seems big brother is still alive. How come that doesn’t surprise me?-
It was a snide female voice, resounding through his mind. It was probably the only way that he could hear anything at that point, seeing that his ears had begun to refuse to work properly.
-What I don’t understand is how Zemi’s managed to hide his presence from us this long. He was ever the show off. It’s simply not like him not to make himself known.-
There was a long pause.
-Ah, well. This doesn’t change anything. The Sygni must still be destroyed. Zemi will thank us for it later.-
Kip felt the sensation of something circling around as the voice in his mind fell silent again. Then came what seemed to be a near-curious reaction. The presence had stopped directly above him.
-What is this?-
The tone was disdainful. He felt himself rising. Being lifted by some force that wasn’t exactly physical. Then he was turned around a few times before the voice came again.
-Ew. You’ve become an ugly little Earthian, haven’t you?-
Something in the back of Kip’s mind blanched. That’s when he realized his mistake.
The presence turned him around one more time, drawing closer. Closer to his face. He could almost see without seeing the two slanted, burning green eyes boring a scrutinizing look upon him.
-You can hear me, can’t you?-
If Kip had an ounce of breath left to him, he would have been holding it. He never thought that he would have to play dead once he had already legitimately died. Things like that just weren’t fair.
-You CAN hear me!- the voice proclaimed. –You’re ugly but at least you’re not deaf and dumb like the rest of the Earthians on this planet!-
Then came the pause of doom.
-Maybe I can use this… with just a little fixing up.-
Things just went downhill from there.
It felt like his whole body was thrust into searing hot liquid metal. He jolted from senselessness to sudden nerve-rending pain. He could feel his back arching, mouth opening in a soundless scream as every inch of his being was permeated with hot white light. It was as if he was being torn apart and put back together again, just in a different way.
Above it all, presided the cold, slanted green eyes. Observing him. Unmoved by his torment. That’s when he realized that his eye was now open. Breath was once again coursing through his lungs, as if many feet of cold blade had never ripped his chest wide open. His fingertips were tingling, as were the various places where his plates meshed with his flesh.
Realization came to him.
I’m… alive again..?
But he wasn’t fully sure that he wanted to be.
-Lucky it is for you that you weren’t quite dead.-
Kip’s head craned back, his single eye squinting as he attempted to get a grip on what was happening around him. The eyes belonged to a shape. Misty. White. It clouded and shifted as if no form could contain it.
“Who… are you?” he heard his voice. It was a surprising thing. Something he never thought he would hear again.
-SILENCE!-
Suddenly, he felt the jarring pain rush through his body again. His vision was filled with white sparks. He was driven to his knees by the power. When the voice shifted through his mind again, it was cold and domineering.
-You will not speak until you’re spoken to, Earthian!-
He was losing his breath just as fast as he regained it. The roaring in his ears was overwhelming as was the presence that bore down on him.
-Do you understand me?-
Kip’s body shook all over as he attempted to force out a nod. That seemed to pacify the presence. The pain began to subside.
Where they were, Kip did not know. There was nothing to see but shifting light and hazy color. And the thing that floated somewhere before him. Ever so slowly, an image began to form. It was loose and translucent, threads of shimmering white drawn from the atmosphere. The motion was ponderous and strained.
Eventually, he could make out the shape that it was taking – canine in appearance. But far larger than any normal Blue Planet canine was. The sharp muzzle and calculating eyes. Long white fur that seemed to shimmer as the light passed through it. Huge paws and long graceful tail. A green-eyed white wolf loomed over him, fangs gleaming ever so slightly through half parted lips.
Kip found, very quickly, he had control of his limbs again. And he put them to the best use he could – stumbling back and scooting away from the huge beast. Before he could get very far, one white paw batted him back in place, nearly flattening him on his stomach.
-Where are you going, Earthian? Is that any way to thank me for saving your life?-
“You should have let me die,” he muttered. Then he winced, waiting for the pain that would follow his unruly mouth.
But it did not come. The white wolf was inspecting him, nose close to his face.
-You are strange creatures. First you complain about dying. Then you complain about living. Can you not make up your mind?-
“It’s better to die than to live in suffering…”
-Suffering?-She – definitely a she, Kip decided — flipped her tail disdainfully. –Suffering does not concern me.-
“Why did you bring me back?” he pushed himself up on his palms, seeing that the creature was being somewhat conversational.
-Because I could,- came the casual reply. Then a pause. Then, -Because having a servant will be… interesting.-
“Servant?” a chill rushed through his body.
-Even though you are an ugly Earthian.-
“Servant?!”
-Are you really missing one of your eyes under that black cover?-
His voice rose up again, “Servant!!?”
Gleaming fangs snapped back at him. Obviously she didn’t care for his tone of voice. Once again, Kip was driven to his knees with searing pain as the white energy rushed through him. She was making it quite clear what her answer was.
-What did I say about talking out of turn? You’re starting to be a bore already.-
When the energy finally died away, Kip was left with chattering teeth and shaking hands.
No…
Panic began to flood him.
No… I was almost free! I was almost free from O.M.E.G.A.! How did this happen?!
But she was in his mind, too. Watching him with that cold, ruthless wolf smile. She seemed to be enjoying his suffering just a little too much to be the type of kindly presence that rescued people from the brink of death.
He could feel it. The growing connection between himself and the She Wolf. And something in his stomach twisted, nauseated. Again, he was taken. Again, he was denied release.
What are you? Why have you done this?
When she spoke again, only her voice and light filled his mind.
-I am Zazo of the Old Trine. You will serve me as Earthians should serve the Arweinydd. We will reclaim those we have lost and destroy the Sygnus.-