by Quil Carter
They took after me more than Silas.
“I wish I was old enough to get a request,” Valen said with a frown. His pink eyes looked purple from the LED lightening that was hanging over the rows upon rows of plants that were growing all around us.
We were in one of the production rooms inside of the D.A.S building, a veritable vertical farm that wielded us food grown completely indoors. There were metal shelving surrounding us, stretching to the far corners of the room, and rising up high above us for another twenty feet before the next floor started. Each of these metal shelves held a vegetable or fruit of some type inside of them, this room was for carrots, but all throughout this building you could find all of the popular pre-Fallocaust foods: carrots, peas, broccoli, lettuce, cucumber, and fruit such as strawberries, bananas, blueberries and more. Every fruit or vegetable in this building had been studied closely so that the agricultural scientists gave them exactly what they needed; some of the fruit and vegetables sat in several inches of soil, some didn’t need soil at all, and with their irrigation system they’d reduced water consumption by 90% compared to traditional farming methods. There were even active beehives inside of this building with exit and entrance points for the little insects to move from floor to floor. The Dek’ko skyscraper was one of Silas and Perish’s proudest achievements and it was because of them that Skyfall had flourished.
And it wasn’t only this indoor skyscraper garden that was feeding Skyfall. On the mainland and the Dead Islands, we had large buildings that grew our staple crops, all in areas completely free from radiation so the bees could survive there as well. We grew corn, potatoes, rice, wheat, apples of many varieties too, peaches, lemons, and pears. There wasn’t yet enough to go around, fresh fruit and vegetables remained rather pricey, but of course, the royal family was supplied with the best of the best.
“What were you going to ask for, Valen?” Felix asked. The five-year-old brute chimera boy, with brown hair and dark green eyes, was standing on his tiptoes to try and get a good look at some carrots that were already growing. Apollo picked him up by the underarms to give him a better view.
“I really really want brussel sprouts!” Valen said. “They’re like baby cabbages. They look so cute. I want to eat them.”
I had to chuckle at this. Before the Fallocaust children would pitch fits about eating their vegetables, now the children of the apocalypse gazed at those fresh fruits and vegetables with dreamy looks. Whenever a child on a cartoon or a movie showed distaste over eating such things, which happened all the time in shows geared towards children, the first generation and Silas would express how foolish those children were and that the chimera children we were speaking to knew better and were much smarter than the kids on the television. A little bit of conditioning went a long way, and the children had grown up to be adventurous eaters, and regularly expressed pride at being smarter than the picky (and now dead) children on TV.
Children were easy to manipulate, especially when they looked up to you.
“I want Corn Pops!” Ceph said. “Silas denied my request last year for it, so I’m hoping he’ll say yes this year.” We reached the metal door at the end of the room containing the carrots and walked through it. It was a relief to get out of the humid room, I didn’t envy the scientists who needed to be in those rooms on a daily basis.
“I’m going to ask for a Stradivarius!” Apollo said excitedly. “Nero has been speaking of making an expedition to New York and I know they must have one in a museum or something.”
Ceph snorted at this. “We have violins everywhere,” he said. The boy, surprisingly, had also picked up the talent. Most likely because Nero himself played the instrument and Ceph idolized him. Nero had even been the person to teach the boy. “Just use one of those. There’s no difference.”
Apollo looked appalled at the mere suggestion. “No difference? Maybe to a lowborn.”
A lowborn? Someone has been reading too many fantasy books. I ignored their bickering and stood to the side of the elevator as they all walked in. Apollo and Ceph continued to argue about musical instruments, and not surprisingly, Artemis joined in to gang up on Ceph. I knew what would eventually happen, the same thing that happened when Nero and I went toe-to-toe: Eventually I’d out-talk Nero, making him feel stupid, and then he’d punch me or do something violent to try and win the argument the only way he knew how.
The elevator began to descend. I checked my watch and decided I’d walk home with the children to help them burn off some energy. The Dek’ko building was only a half an hour walk and the weather was enjoyable, so I didn’t bother calling for a vehicle.
Sure to my observation, Ceph got frustrated and pushed Apollo, calling him a prissy little bitch. Artemis pushed him back, but just as Apollo was aiming to hit him in the face, I cleared my throat.
All three boys looked up at me with large eyes, as if their small brains had forgotten my existence, and just like that, the three boys quieted down.
When the elevator stopped, I felt Jack’s little fingers creep into my hand. I looked down and saw his shyly smiling face. The boy had grown even more attached to me in the last year. He’d become more introverted as well, preferring to play by himself in his room in my apartment. This was concerning in some respects because I remember the older I got the less I wanted to play with others as well, but I’d decided long ago to let the children have their own individuality, even if I saw a few traits as red flags, if only because they’d, in the end, negatively affected me.
That was one trait that Apollo and Artemis had not picked up from me; they had Silas’s charisma and his extroverted nature. Yes, Silas was introverted in many respects, but I believe I took the crown when it came to that.
Once the elevator doors opened the children were thrilled to see plastic containers for them containing various cut up fruits and vegetables, smaller ones for the younger children and bigger ones for Ceph, Apollo, and Artemis. The icing on the cake for them was the appearance of whip cream for the fruit which made them dance around like cats when they heard a can opener. The children were often spoiled during these educational outings, to the point where they were receiving so many gifts and special privileges Silas had made it a requirement to clear it with me first. If we didn’t, they’d be returning home every afternoon with a basket of junk food in one hand and a kitten or a puppy in the other. The elites of Skyfall knew that the way to win Silas’s favour was to make the children happy. It was overlooked most of the time, but I had used it as ammunition several times when a few elites were blatantly trying to suck up.
“Stick close to me,” I called to the boys when they ran out of the building. The sun had disappeared into the grey clouds that had snuck in while I was inside with the children. It appeared like it might rain tonight, but that wasn’t enough to cancel the short walk. Even if it did rain, the boys wouldn’t melt. A bit of cold would be good for them; they’d all had quite easy lives so far.
“Can we run ahead and play in the park until you catch up with the slowmos?” Ceph called. Apollo and Artemis were beside him, all three walking backwards.
“Very well,” I said. “But if I have to ask you twice to carry on walking this will not happen a second time.” I heard Valen let out a whine, followed by Felix. “Ceph, you can pick up Valen and bring him with you. Felix can run by himself but Artemis hold his hand.” I knew Jack wouldn’t be interested in going so I didn’t bother asking.
The five children ran off and I remained behind with Jack. The boy was still holding my hand and the other hand was running fingers over the flowers that were planted in raised concrete beds between the sidewalk and the building.
“You never wish to play with them. Why is that?” I asked.
Jack shrugged his shoulders and continued brushing the flowers, tulips of many colours, with his small fingers.
“A shrug is not an answer,” I said curtly. “When Silas or any of your first generation brothers or sister ask you a question, you must answer it.”
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Jack shrunk down at my words, not a lot, but enough to make his submission obvious. “I just like walking with you more,” he said simply. “I don’t really know why. But if I’m allowed to do it, I’d rather do that.”
Well, I suppose that was as much of an honest answer as I’d get from a six-year-old.
The two of us walked quietly down the sidewalk, the park just starting to be visible in the distance. The park in question, Sunshine Park which I was still familiar with, was surrounded by old-growth maple trees whose leaves were in the middle of turning from green to red. Skyfall was beautiful during all of the earth’s seasons, but fall adding those yellow, oranges, and reds always appeased the more aesthetic side of me. I was glad it was not my job to clean the leaves from the park grass however.
“People are looking at us,” Jack protested quietly.
I glanced around and saw that he was right. The men and women walking on the sidewalks all had their eyes shifting towards us; I even spotted a shopkeeper peering through the window as we passed by, though when we made brief eye contact he quickly turned his gaze towards the bread he was stacking in front of the window.
“It’s not every day they see the princes of Skyfall,” I told him, remembering how weird I felt when people on the streets would crow about how tall I was getting and my eye colour. The residents weren’t as brave now as they were then however; Silas’s fear factor had risen in the past twenty years and now the people of Skyfall were more hesitant to make their presence known to the king. I myself was viewed in the same respect, it was a rare day that a random person addressed me. They knew I had little interest in their empty compliments and thus admired me from a distance.
“Still, I wish they wouldn’t…” Jack mumbled, squeezing my hand. “I’ll make that my request once I’m ten… Stop looking at Jack.”
I chuckled. “If it means that much to you, you can make that a request.” Then I noticed him looking intently at the flowers we were passing, these ones now red and purple roses. “If you wish you can pick one for your room,” I said. “It would go nicely with the theme, especially the purple ones.”
Jack stopped and touched the pedals of one with his fingers. “But then they’d die,” he whispered. “Only ugly things get to die, because then I can make them beautiful.”
That was… a strange thing for him to say. “What do you mean?” I asked. But as I spoke those words, I remembered the conversation we’d had last year in Stadium. How he killed the mice and rats and made art projects with their insides.
Jack gave me a pained look, as if frustrated that I wasn’t understanding his peculiar logic. “There are lots of ugly creatures in the world and I like making them beautiful,” he explained patiently. “Master Silas says I’ll do that with immortal chimeras one day, and him too. But for now, I do it to ugly things.”
“I remember you telling me what you did to those rodents,” I said. “Is this still going on in the basement?”
Jack shook his head no. “Where are you making these ugly creatures beautiful then?” I asked. It couldn’t be his bedroom in my apartment at least. I went into the boy’s room often since he’d picked up a habit of bringing home grasshoppers in jars. I can still smell the stuffy hot aroma of baked insect when he’d left the jar on the sunny windowsill.
The boy gave me a sheepish grin, which made me narrow my eyes at him. He then cupped his hands over his mouth and whispered, “I do it in my bedroom. I take pictures then I give them to Bingo.”
He takes pictures and… gives the carcasses to the family dog? “So your art projects have graduated to photography then?” What a strange child.
Jack had no time to answer. Just as the boy’s mouth opened, a gunshot cracked through the air like thunder, a strong echo following the blast that made me jump and Jack cry out.
What the fuck was…
The park. It was coming from the park.
I had no time to wonder just how that was possible. I didn’t even allow myself time to properly deduce that it had happened in that direction. The first thought that entered my head was that I had to reach the boys and make sure they were safe, then get the hell out of there and bring them to safety.
I picked up Jack and ran as quickly as I could towards the park. I had never run this fast in my life; I swore my feet weren’t touching the ground.
Many years ago, it was Silas running towards us when he’d seen us in danger, and I now understood just why I believed that day that Master Silas could fly.
My heart sunk when I heard Valen crying. I ran across the street, jumped over the chain that hung across the wooden fence poles, and looked for them.
I first spotted Valen, a group of onlookers were narrowing in on him. The boy was crying but he wasn’t alone, below him was a man lying down on the grassy ground.
Next, I spotted Ceph, Apollo, Artemis, and Felix. Ceph was in the process of running towards Valen with Apollo beside him, Artemis was staying back with Felix.
“What happened?” It looked like they were okay, but that didn’t explain just what the fuck was going on.
I slowed my run as I got closer, then stopped altogether when I saw that the man Valen was standing over… was dead.
The back of his head was blown off, and his eyes were popped out of his skull. There were bits of blood and brain everywhere, including down Valen’s front.
I turned to Ceph, the boy must’ve seen the look on my face because he froze, his face going ashen. But I had no patience for the boy’s fear. “Tell me right now. What the fuck just happened?” I snapped. I looked around the park. I was expecting to see some maniac with a gun but… there was nothing, the people watching us with dumbfounded looks seemed just as shocked as I.
“I don’t know!” Ceph cried, an anxious expression on his face. “I heard a gunshot and some guy… some guy fell to the ground and he had Valen. He was…” Ceph’s face paled. He took one look at me and then turned and ran towards Alegria.
I chased after him, my temper flaring. I caught him after several paces and yanked him towards me and spun him around. “He was what?” I snarled. “Answer me, you pathetic little dumbshit. What was he doing?”
Ceph turned crimson. “I think he was trying to… trying to take him away.”
I dropped Ceph and turned around. With a sea of eyes watching my every movement, I walked to the man with his head blown off and turned him onto his back.
He looked like a regular Skylander, besides the fact that he was surrounded by blood-drenched grass and his own brain matter. A man in his late thirties with glasses, no one that I’d ever seen.
I scanned the park, expecting to see a legionary or a thien running towards me with a gun in hand, but there was nothing.
“Find a thien and get Commissioner Talbot,” I said. I wasn’t talking to anyone in particular, whoever could reach the precinct, or a thien, the fastest. “Tell him what happened. Every single one of you is going to remain here and give individual interviews.” I picked up Jack and Valen, instructed Ceph to carry Felix, and we all quickly walked back to Alegria.
I could only breath a sigh of relief once we were inside the safety of the skyscraper. The last thing I wanted to do was bring them up to Silas’s apartment, but I knew he’d have heard about this by now and he’d want to see for himself that the children were safe.
Sure enough, the moment the elevator doors opened Silas burst through the double doors. He immediately took Valen from me and put him on the ground in front of him. “Are you hurt, love?” he asked. I snapped my fingers and pointed to the doors and Ceph, the twins, and Felix left. Jack stayed in my arms, his tight hold on me telling me he wasn’t about to go anywhere where I wasn’t.
“I’m not hurt,” Valen said quietly. “I was just going to help him find his puppy. But then his head exploded and he dropped me.”
Silas’s eyes widened and my own did as well. There was no other explanation… Valen had almost been kidnapped.
“How did you let this happ
en?” Silas whispered. I thought for a moment that he was speaking to Valen, only for his dark green eyes to shoot up to me. They then narrowed to two glaring slits. “How did a man almost lure my child away from you?”
I froze, like a coward, I froze. “Ceph asked if the boys could run ahead to play in the park while Jack and I both walked by ourselves,” I said to him, a tightness cutting off my oxygen. “I heard a gunshot and came running, I was there in under twenty seconds.” As I said this, Silas rose to his feet, his eyes glaring.
“Put Jack down,” he said coldly.
I did as he asked, knowing what was next.
And I was right, the moment I looked up from placing the boy down on the ground, Silas hit me so hard my head snapped back and hit the wall I was standing near. Both Jack and Valen began to cry, and I felt warm liquid begin to fall down my nose.
“My child almost got kidnapped because of you!” Silas yelled. He hit me again, this time throwing me off of my feet and onto the ground. “You should’ve never let them out of your sight!”
“It’s not his fault!”
I squinted my eyes and tried to focus them. I saw Apollo and Artemis standing defiantly in the doorway, anger burned into both of their faces. “If that park is so dangerous that we can’t play by ourselves, that’s YOUR problem, not Elish’s!” Artemis yelled. “You’re the king! So if Skyland is that unsafe, it’s YOUR fault for letting it become that unsafe!”
It wasn’t until later that I truly took the time to appreciate the fact that these two boys, the politest and most obedient ones, were standing up for me. At this moment though, my thoughts were only on the fact that I knew Silas was going to beat the shit out of them for their disobedience.
