The Rise of Planet Rubicon - Part Three

by Dasrim Hasik

  He didn't want to think about those dark days at all. Of course, had to thank them in a way -- they allowed his takeover. They allowed him to dig down deep, to tap into the hearts of people that were tired of being take advantage of.

  Some would say that he was no better than the people that he was trying to overthrow, but he figured that he could smooth things out in time. Even the Dreamers, who were supposed to have all this immense power, weren't doing anything about his rebel forces. If they were so powerful, why weren't they doing their jobs?

  That was something that always amused him greatly. They were supposed to handle him, yet they never showed their faces. That definitely meant that he was the victor. He was far stronger than them, and they were too afraid to admit it.

  He knew the Silent Sage that helped him had been destroyed, but that didn't bother him. When someone knew their role, it was only a matter of time before they wouldn't become useful anymore.

  Such was the way of things in his world. He could always coax someone else into acts they never thought they would do. He wasn't really sure what he would do with Alara.

  Other than her physical appeal, he wasn't certain if she would be useful to him. He wanted to make sure that she didn't escape, but he knew that eventually the constant captivity would cripple her usefulness in the long run.

  Like Delise, she needed to be given the illusion of freedom before anything else. If she had the illusion that she was really free, then she wouldn't rebel against them in the long run.

  She would actually become an ally in the rebel movement, something that pleased him. The troops were losing focus. The months and months of constant preparation that didn't go anywhere important had weakened morale.

  They wanted to go out and do something other than terrorize small villages. The villagers didn't have anything of value, and it was getting old with the different crews going out all the time.

  He needed to plan something big, and it would have to be soon. He got the feeling that everything was building up to a point where he wasn't sure what else would happen. He knew that either this would work beautifully, or it wouldn’t work at all.

  He knew his role -- his role would be to rise victorious through all seasons. He just needed to march into winter with more strategy than what he had at the moment. Things would change eventually, and that would lead them to where he needed to be...eventually.

  Bridget paced. Alara was still sleeping, unable to believe that the woman she despised was actually a full out Dreamer. That changed a lot of things.

  She was far more powerful than anything Alara could identify with, and that wouldn't bear well for Alara's agenda at all. She wanted Jack, but how would he see her in light of Bridget being a Dreamer.

  Bridget blinked; annoyed that she could literally read Alara's thought patterns so clearly. It must have been a side effect of her new powers.

  She could flip back and forth through Alara's emotions, her pain, and her misery. None of these things pleased her, but she accepted that it was part of her new responsibilities.

  She had always known that she was different, which was why she was always being sent away. It wasn't because her parents didn't love her.

  She just knew that they had to protect her from all of the demands that would be coming her way. It was a lot of stress, but it all became worth it. She just figured this was probably what her parents didn't want her to know about. Like most Reversians, she had an extensive database of knowledge at her fingers.

  The information was out there, if you wanted to seek it out. She had read all about the Dreamers and the things they could do -- as well as the many responsibilities that they had. If you were a Dreamer and you paired with another Dreamer, it was important that you started a family. It would generate the next wave, and that was always important.

  She blushed slightly, wondering if Jack would even want her now that she was so weird. Her hair was the color of fire, and her eyes were a milky white that had no impurity to be found in them.

  Her hands glowed with a light blue energy field around them, and her mind was filled with activity. There were so many things to think about, but everything felt so clear to her.

  Gone was all of the confusion that plagued her steps before. She wasn't conflicted on Jack at all -- she wanted him.

  She didn't even hate Alara -- she felt sorry for her. Being able to see the pain and misery that was constantly going on with the girl made her feel more sympathetic than she had been.

  This wasn't personal on Alara's part -- it was something that the other woman felt pressured to do. Her parents wanted her to be the queen of Reversia at any cost, because they knew they could control her every action. It meant that they had supreme power over her, and there wasn't anything that Alara could do to change it.

  She knew that the young woman needed healing in the worst way, like a bind that had two broken wings. But there would have to be a thousand other things occurring in order for anyone to see the healing that truly needed to take place. Alara had other lessons to learn.

  Bridget closed her eyes. Her new powers were going undetected by most, even though she knew that moment would be gone soon.

  They would know, and the pieces would have to be moved into place. There was just no going back. You really could never go back. And once you knew your role, you didn't really want to.

  Chapter 9: Stay the Course

  The path back to Schaler from Rollander was rough, but Delise made it thanks to the help of her new Weaver side. They skimmed across rivers and made it over land with a speed that might have made JANE jealous. The famous car was known to set quite a few land speed records, and even more on the water.

  Delise was lost in her own thoughts, hoping that she made the right decision. This was a decision that could easily get her killed, and then where would the cause really be? Without any type of leadership. She knew there were others in the rebel camps that felt like they had a chance to actually work things out with the king, if only they could actually be heard.

  But when no one really took them seriously, they felt lost and very unsure about everything in life. This wasn't really the time to think too deeply about any of these things. She wanted to have a life back in Reversia, and she knew the king would accept them back if they could provide themselves all over again.

  She might have to serve prison time on the lonely planet for her crimes. She was willing to do that. It was going to be okay. The Weaver girl reminded her, mentally, that it was just time to stay the course. There was no point in chasing tomorrow's troubles when the day wasn't over yet. Morning had just barely started turning to afternoon, and they still had quite a journey ahead of them. They had to move carefully in order to avoid suspicion.

  If she was caught with active rebel markers, she would be captured and put to death. That would obviously ruin her plan as well. So the Weaver girl was very correct -- she would need to just stay the course and lay low. She just hoped there was enough time.

  The training rounds were intense, and each mistake carried not only disappointment with it, but physical punishment. The stings from the punishment whip grew in intensity, crashing louder and louder across his body until he was nothing but a round ball of pain from head to toe.

  The cycle of pain was supposed to teach him something, but all he really knew was that he ached and he wished that he didn't. His powers were coming along nicely. He thought of Bridget, and learned that she was looking for him. He wanted to be with her, wanted to know that she was okay and she wanted him very much.

  It was something that was very hard for him to deal with, considering that he wasn't used to being away from Bridget. Even though it had been months and months since her abduction, he still held onto the thought of being with her again.

  The Dreamers taught him a lot about the power of intention, the need to remove doubt, and the power of words to shape the future. So in his head, while he rested and waited for the next teacher, he dreamed of his life with Bridget. He did
n't give himself any outlet to think that she wasn't going to be back home in his arms.

  There were so many things that he wanted to tell her when she got back. He wanted to tell her that if she would have him as her husband, he would be honored to have her as his wife.

  He would take off the weekends just to show her that he could make time. He would make sure that he was home at a reasonable hour, instead of crashing into bed late night.

  There was a longer list, but he was in a lot of pain and it was all he could do to fight climbing into bed and going to sleep. There was a lot to be said about the need for sleep, but the teachers weren’t going to back down. He had to confront his fears head on. He had seen a phantom version of Katja floating around, taunting him at every turn.

  He had to draw upon his old memories of her to realize that Katja was better off without him. She would be lovingly tended to by her boyfriend and his family. They probably were having a blast with Katja.

  Everyone had liked his sister, and even though he wasn't even on the planet anymore, he had to admit that he would still always consider himself a citizen of Earth, an American, and even a young man from Missouri. Springfield, Missouri had never really been his favorite place to live, but he missed it.

  He stopped to give gratitude for the things that he had received during that era. The lessons unfolded around him as he looked back. Sure, he was a nerd but he was appreciated by people that liked intelligent men. He might have been quiet, but someone realized that he had his own song to sing.

  He had a lot of life left in him, so why act like the world was ending around him? He wanted to live and truly live, to enjoy each and every moment. If she was alive and would have him, he wanted Bridget. There was just no way to get around it. But in order to have those things, he had to stay the course. So it was a matter of training hard and giving himself rest periods when he couldn’t move anymore.

  The knowledge that flooded his brain was overwhelming, but it felt very necessary. He needed to have the knowledge in front of him. He needed to get stronger. He couldn’t and wouldn't think of failure. As he rested, he realized that there really was no turning back now.

  He felt brand new, in a way he hadn't felt before. It was time to finally move things along, and close old doors to make room for new doors to open. More than ever, he was truly ready to be the King of Reversia.

  Bridget was ready for anything, even though there was a lot of waiting involved. There would be times where she thought a guard was coming near her, only to find that it was just a random solider that wanted to gawk at her.

  They didn't think she had any power at all. They just ignored her, waving their curveblades around in case she didn't realize they could cut her. She put no faith in their weaponry anymore. Her mind was already assessing the area around them. It was time to begin making a move.

  She used her power to slowly draw in a guard that was indeed walking down the hallway. The guard was watching her intently, not sure if he could step closer or not. She lowered her voice and whispered, "Are you going to give me some attention, dear sir?"

  The guard was smug and he straightened his pants in a way that was a feeble attempt to be overly masculine. She could read his insecurity clearly, which made her laugh to herself. She flashed him a bring grin, waiting until his eyes locked with hers.

  Then the smile faded. "Open the door. You will open the door and invite me out. You want to be free, and the first step is to free me. Ask me my name, and then invite me to come out with you."

  The guard nodded, the instructions crashing into his confused brain.

  "What's your name?"

  "Ginger. Call me Ginger."

  The guard followed his new instructions graciously.

  "Uh, Miss Ginger, would you like to come out with me?"

  Ginger, formerly Bridget, nodded carefully.

  "Yes, I would. My friend will be coming with me too."

  She half expected Alara to fight her out of spite, but decided that she would have a little faith. Alara walked out with her, and they were looking at a large expanse of rooms before them.

  "To the field. The inner field is not as protected, and I need open land."

  "Are you seriously going to take me with you?"

  Ginger shrugged. "You're a captive. Why shouldn't you be free too? Come with me. Forget the past. We can rebuild and move on, the way we always wanted to.

  You can have a chance to throw both masters off your back, if you just believed in yourself."

  Alara teared up, thinking about her future. She could get away from her mother and father. She could actually have a life and live in her own place. She imagined a house that she would be able to decorate. Even though she had turned Quiet River into her home, she was okay with the fact that she was giving it up.

  It was someone else's home now, and even the home for multiple people. It just depended on the way you saw things. Alara decided, for once in her life, that staying the course wasn't such a bad idea.

  Chapter 10: Pawn Progression

  As they got out to the field, Bridget felt incredibly better. Her feet were without any shoes of any kind. She had thrown them off as bare contact with the ground felt too good to pass up.

  Alara was studying her trying to figure out what everything really meant. The insecurity over Ginger's body and her new powers was very obvious.

  "You know, if you had given me a chance, we could actually have been friends. Why did you reject me if your own caste rejected you?"

  "It was easier just to hate you because I could never do the things that you did as a kid. You had so much freedom."

  Ginger felt sorry for the other woman. She had labored under the belief that freedom belonged to everyone else but herself for so long that she truly felt convinced. She did things that would only reinforce her bonds, and Ginger knew that it was always going to be like that.

  It was time to shake things up. She manifested a very long staff, nearly seven feet high. She began to twirl the staff back and forth, closing her eyes tight with concentration. She imagined the ground vibrating in time with her power, expanding until the bonds of every captive were broken.

  For a few moments, it felt like nothing happened. Then there was a rolling of earth as loud crashes could be heard all over the prison wing. There were shouts as guards realized that people were trying to escape. They would aim their pulse weapons at escaping captives, only to find that they were blocked from using them.

  She cracked a tiny smile at her victory, until she saw Raest coming into the clearing with them. His hands crackled with energy, and his eyes were as lifeless as could be. He was not amused, and he knew exactly who she was. He smiled.

  "Ah, a Dreamer. How lucky can I get?"

  They were fighting in mere seconds, both of them flying fast towards each other.

  The battle had just begun.

  Jack felt a rumbling and a roaring in his head and Seleron looked nervous.

  "Jackson, we are out of time. You must leave to handle what must be done."

  The young man looked at her hands literally pouring over with mental energy and he frowned.

  "What about being tested?"

  "Did you not feel tested when all of your teachers drilled you? That was test enough. Trust us, my young king, if we did not find you worthy, you would not have been able to finish here. Now go!"

  Jack made a gateway appear with his thoughts, and jumped through quickly. He raced towards the City of Schaler, realizing that he could actually propel himself where he wanted to go.

  He wasn't sure if that was something that only he could do, or if it was something everyone could do. All he really knew is that his love needed him, and he was going to fight hard for her.

  Delise slipped back into Schaler and then transported herself into the compound. The compound was going haywire. People were running, guards were trying to catch them with nets, and the whole place smelled of chaos and despair.

  A guard saw her and tried to rejoi
ce in her coming back from him, only to find her throwing knife in his throat when he tried to summon her help.

  He fell instantly and she moved down the corridor, looking for a way to get to Raest. She wanted to take him out, wanted to make him pay for all of the pain she had suffered as a result of his bad decisions.

  On the field, the dance had been complicated. Raest was all brute strength, while Ginger was more graceful beauty. But they had their own strengths and weaknesses that one really couldn't get past.

  You had to realize that neither party was weak in any way, bringing their own talents to the forefront. For every hard hit of physical energy Raest threw, Ginger returned with a graceful wave of power that threw him off.

  She pulled at his energy and began to unstitch the mental images that had led his journey so much. She waited for more openings, and attacked his memories again.

  All of them came at her, including the fact that he had to bury his mother. She decided to try to see if she could spare his life. She did not want to take his life if she could avoid it.

  "Your mother wanted peace, yet you make war in her memory. Why do you do this?"

  "Be quiet. Get out of my head."

  "You don't want this anymore. I can see it. You want to give in but you know you will be put to death."

  "Be quiet!"

  Raest began to fighting harder, striking her over and over with blasts of mental power. But it wasn't working, and they both knew it.

  Just before Ginger could move, there was a flash of movement and a sharp cry from Raest. The attacker whispered a silent command and then ripped Raest in half.

  The sheer force of will and power that accompanied the physical movements were enough to carry it out, and Raest screamed his last before being destroyed completely.

  Ginger revealed the woman and gasped.

  "The crazy woman that was interrogating me...why did you do that?"

  Delise smiled back at her. "I want Reversia to stand tall again. You are a Dreamer, are you not? You may look into my mind. I carry a Weaver within me, so I cannot lie or mask my thoughts to you."