His face went white, “Nothing,” he said. “We evacuate.”
“You mean Aliea is going to…” Chris’ voice softened to a mere whisper.
The High Commander nodded grimly.
Aliea was going to be destroyed.
***
“Q!” Taylor called out but he didn’t answer. They needed him right now. He was the only who could give them even a slight chance at saving Aliea from annihilation.
“He is not here,” Jade said.
Taylor was startled. She hadn't noticed the huge griffin sitting in the corner.
“Who’s the griffin?” she asked.
“Met him in the anti-world,” Burke said.
“Guys! Time limit!” Carlos reminded them.
“Q is asking you all to calm down,” Jade said.
Taylor was anxious, “What do you mean?”
A bolt of lightning shot through the sky. Q, she thought. They looked outside the hangar. Q stood directly in the middle of the storm. Huge waves crashed on him from all sides and a blast of wind circulated around him.
“Guys! Look out!” Lisara ran wildly towards the back of the hangar. Taylor looked at her quizzically and turned around. A rogue wave headed straight for the hangar. They didn't have any time to run, and it was pretty easy to see what would happen if it hit them directly.
It wouldn't be a pretty picture.
All Taylor could do was hope that her suit protected to the best it could. She braced for impact. But it never came.
She looked up to see a bright wall of white energy seal off the hangar. She didn't need to be a detective to figure out that Q had protected them with his Elementa of Light. She glanced outside. Q flew high into the air. Waves of white pulsated from him and caused the entire mothership to vibrate.
He stopped in mid-air for a second and then plunged into the ocean at insane speed. For a second there was water all around them.
The next second there wasn't.
The waves of energy had rippled through the water with amazing power and caused it to turn into steam. Taylor looked at the now-bare ground and saw a massive crater where Q would have met the surface. He was digging deeper and deeper into the surface.
“He’s going for the core,” she realized. “He’s trying to get the Hades out of Zygrade’s core.”
“That is not a good idea at all. He could melt in there” Kai said.
“Way to be positive, Kai,” Elizabeth said.
“What? I’m just saying it’s dangerous.”
Carlos and Juliana ran into the hangar.
“Where is he?” Carlos asked.
Taylor pointed at the crater.
“He’s gone to the core?”
Taylor nodded.
The timer on the wall showed one minute and nineteen seconds.
The wall of energy sealing the hangar slowly dissipated. Taylor wondered if it signaled that something had happened to Q.
“What do we do?” Lisara asked. “We can’t just leave him alone.”
“All we can do is wait,” Trisha said. “Just liked he asked us to.”
The timer read thirty five seconds.
“C’mon, Q,” Kai said.
Twenty seconds.
Taylor closed her eyes and focused on her emotions.
Five seconds.
She knew he couldn’t die. He wouldn’t just leave her like this. He would come back
Four.
He would come back wouldn’t he?
Three.
Taylor’s entire body started glowing.
Two.
Powerful surges of energy emanated from her in terrible shockwaves.
One.
Q blasted through the surface with his hands holding up a crystal sphere almost as large as a car.
Zero.
“No!” Taylor screamed at the top of her lungs, her emotions rising up inside her. She felt everything; her fear of losing Q, her anger at being helpless, her hatred at the people who did this.
The Hades exploded.
***
The Hades blasted with a terrifying sound, making Elizabeth’s ears feel like they were going to explode from the fierce noise.
“Q!” she tried to move forwards but the ripples of energy from the blast knocked her to the ground.
“Something isn't right” Carlos muttered. “We should've died by now.”
“Dude! We’re alive and you’re worried about that!” Kai exclaimed.
“I’m worried because I know what it would’ve taken to stop that explosion from killing us.”
“No, no, no,” Kai could see where Carlos was heading. “That can't be the case.”
Elizabeth could feel the ‘welcome to hell’ kind of heat that the explosion radiated. The howling wind eventually dissipated the smoke from the air.
“OH MY GOD!” Elizabeth exclaimed and pointed to the sky.
The smoke cleared away completely. Q’s limp body fell through the air, but everyone’s attention was on the person above him. Taylor floated high in the sky, her whole body glowing with a dark black aura, making her look even more dangerous and deadly than she already was.
Elizabeth though, pushed away from being mesmerized by the sight and went on full alert. She shot out of the hangar and swooped towards Q, catching him a few seconds before he hit the ground. She felt his body go cold as ice. That wasn't a good sign. Her wings flapped and she changed direction. She carried him back to the ship and lay him down flat on the floor.
His body was lifeless. He didn't seem to be breathing regularly either. She put her ear to his chest. There seemed to be a heartbeat but it was very faint. They would have to act fast.
“We have to kick start his heart,” Chris said.
“We’ll just have to use electricity,” Trisha said.
Elizabeth let a smile curl on her lips. She had almost forgotten that they had two experienced medics on board. But even then, she couldn’t help but wonder if that would be enough to save Q from the situation he had put himself in right now.
“How are we going to get electricity right here though?” Chris asked.
“One order of electricity coming right up,” Kai said. He held out his hand and moved it around in a circle. A storm of metal pieces floated through the air. He took a second or two and formed a rudimentary CPR device in front of him.
Trisha took the electrode plates in each of her hands and rubbed them together. Sparks of electricity shot between them.
She held it about Q’s chest and counted.
“One. Two. Three. Charge!” she pushed the plates onto Q’s chest. His torso surged up with the sudden rush in electric charge but his heart rate didn't go up.
“One more time,” she said and counted down again. “Charge!” she yelled. The heart rate still stayed the same. Sweat formed on her brow. She turned to Taylor, “I need you to hit him with an energy sphere,” she said.
Taylor stared at Trisha for a second, “Are you sure you want me to do that?” she asked.
Trisha nodded, “An energy sphere would have much more ‘bite’ than a burst of electricity. It’s our last resort.”
Taylor held her arm out and focused her mind. A small sphere of dark black energy formed in her palms. She concentrated harder and tried to make the sphere bigger. Trisha held onto Taylor’s wrist and moved her hand around to make sure it was right above Q’s heart.
“Charge!” she yelled and pushed Taylor’s hand down on Q’s chest,
This had to work. It just had to.
***
The sphere shot into Q’s chest. His heartbeat jump-started, but he still lay unconscious.
“Phew,” Carlos joked. “He actually took much less time to rise from the dead this time around.”
Now that he was alive everyone focused on Taylor, who still had an aura of dark energy around her.
“Taylor, just what did you do?” Elizabeth asked in awe.
Carlos sighed, “Why am I the only one who notices these things?” he muttered an
d walked up to face everyone. He took a deep breath, “Taylor evolved into her NOVA form. Her Elementa is of course the Elementa of Dark Energy, but its true name is the Elementa of Darkness. It is an extremely powerful Elementa and can be used in ways quite similar to that of the Elementa of Light. Taylor was able to float into the air by creating an energy suit for herself. All Elementa of Darkness users can absorb insanely high amounts of energy, and so she actually absorbed every last bit of energy from the explosion the Hades caused.”
Taylor nodded to let them know Carlos was right. Everyone gaped. They knew that absorbing that much energy would put her on a God-like energy level.
But Carlos kept going, “And as to how she was able to evolve, it probably has something to do with Q’s dire situation. So I guess it’s safe to say that it’s because-”
“-She’s madly in love with Q!” Kai yelled out. The whole place hushed, with Taylor’s face turning a bright shade of red. Luckily for her, Q woke up just then, and everyone moved over to him.
“Ugh,” Q said. “What happened?”
“Well,” Lisara said. “Your Princess of Darkness saved you from that blast,” she joked and then her eyes sparkled. “Taylor, you should call your NOVA form that! The Princess of Darkness!”
Everyone chattered about noisily after that. Q tried to keep away from the excitement, and just rest himself.
Jade walked up to him and turned the conversation more serious. “You did well, warrior,” he said.
Q sat up, “Couldn't have done it without you, buddy.”
“I thank you for the adventures you have given me,”
“I guess that means it’s time to go home huh?” he knew what Jade was trying to say.
“I believe so,” he said. “And do not worry. I will take care of the girl.”
Q knew he was talking about the Taylor from the Anti-verse, “Thanks,” he said.
He threw his hands up, and concentrated. A small portal of white light formed.
“You need only call and I will come,” he said. “The Universe may be vast but there is no space that emotion cannot fill.” And with that he walked into the portal and disappeared.
“I’ll miss him,” Burke said as he teared up.
“You and me both,” Q said.
“So what’s this about a girl?” Elizabeth asked. Q could almost feel the mischief coming from her voice.
“Um… nothing” he said. There was no way he was going to tell any of them about the Taylor from the other world.
“Really?” Taylor joined in as well. Soon, everyone was advancing on Q.
“Guys c’mon. It was nothing really,” he said. Now they all had a look of childish evil on their faces.
Q stepped back a little too far. He tripped over the edge of the hangar and dropped to the ground. He yelled out as the air rushed past him. Elizabeth swooped down towards him, her wings glistening in the sunlight. She put her arms around him and slowed him down until they were just floating in the calm air.
“I’ll never let you go, you idiot,” she hugged him.
Q took in everything around him. It was all silent and calm. Quiet and serene. Not a single noise filled the air. He felt peaceful and happy.
Eternal Bliss.
***
5-5
A month had passed since the invasion.
No one could find out where the enemy had vanished to which is really saying something because Carlos’ information network was pretty amazing.
Q somehow managed to convince the girls that Jade had mentioned a girl just to get him into unnecessary trouble. He still had a feeling they knew he was hiding something. But whichever way he looked at it, he didn’t see any other choice but to keep quiet. Telling Taylor that he had met another version of her in the Anti-verse didn’t seem like a smart thing to do.
Lisara and Trisha spent most of their days dozing off and lazing about. They justified it by saying that they had been on duty as spies for quite a while so they deserved a vacation.
Taylor and Elizabeth spent their time doing their usual things; learning, teaching, and fighting. Taylor’s new NOVA form was getting increased attention from everyone. The Elementa of Darkness was apparently a legendary power, and the fact that Taylor had absorbed an entire Hades bomb’s energy made even bigger headlines. Carlos said she should expect to see changes in her life energy levels pretty soon. He was confident the energy she absorbed would turn her into Druid, which was a class of warrior between a Mage and a Sorcerer.
Burke chose not to go back to his lab and stayed back at Aliea instead. Carlos made him the head of the research team, and he had begun helping them out quite a bit already.
Kai spent his time as usual, trying to tweak the Orion out. And Speaking of the Orion, he had found it safely in orbit around Aliea just like it was programmed to do.
And speaking of Aliea, Carlos had to get the whole place rebuilt. It only took less than two weeks to finish the job. Two thousand workers sorted the place out and built it anew. It was much bigger and more advanced now. The Demon Riser was of course the only building left from the old architecture, and it still dwarfed every other newer building.
It was safe to say peace had come back to Aliea.
Of course, Q knew things weren’t always going to stay this peaceful. The Universe had this annoying habit of getting itself into trouble a little too often. It was almost a certainty that the next big disaster was right around the corner.
But until that corner came, peace and quiet would precede over his life.
The Academy itself stopped functioning since most of the cadets were still relapsing from their injuries. So with all his classes cancelled for a while, Q was left with tons of free time.
And for once, he was happy he had absolutely nothing to do with it.
ECQUEST
Book Four of the Quest Saga
1-1
“Are you sure?” Q asked. He sat inside the council room, his hands raking through his black hair. His stormy-gray eyes looked at his brother, who sat at the head of the large table.
“Why would I joke about this?” Carlos asked. “The Dark Knight Empress specifically asked for our help.”
“It just doesn’t seem likely,” Taylor said from opposite him. She spoke calmly but Q noticed her body language said otherwise. She nervously twirled her curly golden locks around her finger, then kept rubbing her palms together until her glowing white skin blushed with red.
Yup, she’s definitely nervous, Q thought.
“The Dark Knights have much better resources than we do,” she said. “They’re not the Universe’s strongest military organization for no reason. I don’t understand why they would ask for our aid.”
“Well, the Empress actually requested a healer, not a fighter,” Carlos said.
“Wait, what?” Q asked.
“That just makes it even weirder,” Taylor stared at Carlos, her electric blue eyes completely confused.
Carlos put his hands up in defense, “I’m just as clueless as you are,” he said. “The Empress sent me a message, and that was it. She didn’t even tell me why she needed a healer.”
“Are you even sure it’s her?” Q asked. He doubted if this request was the real deal. An enemy force could just as easily have faked the message.
Carlos sighed, “Fine,” he looked up the ceiling. “Replay feed.”
“Replaying feed,” a feminine voice came from the speakers around the room.
A hologram emerged over the table. A face of a young girl stared through, her dark eyes sending shivers through Q’s spine.
“High Commander Carlos,” she said, her voice cold and harsh. “I am sending this message in hope that you will comply with my favor. The Dark Knights require a high-class healer. We have no one but Aliea Academy to turn to in this time of need. I hope you will honor our alliance and acknowledge our request. Thank you.”
The hologram cut off.
“Wow,” Q said. “You weren’t kidding about her abruptness.”
Taylor became a little more nervous than she had been a few minutes ago. The video had riled her up a lot. “The Dark Knights have great healers of their own,” she mumbled.
“Precisely,” Carlos said. “That means she needs a healer better than the ones she can call upon.”
Taylor bit her lip, “Could be,” she said.
Q rapped his fingers on the table, “So we’re sending Trisha over to them?” he asked.
“Actually, Chris volunteered for it instead,” Carlos said.
Aliea had two big name healers - Trisha and Christina, or ‘Chris’ for short. Between the two, Trisha was acknowledged to be the better one, which was why picking Chris instead was quite a surprise.
“Wait,” Taylor said. “What do you mean Chris volunteered for the mission?”
“I spoke to Trisha and Chris earlier,” Carlos said. “Their abilities are very similar so both of them are viable candidates for this mission. Between the two though, Chris was really determined to be a part of this mission. Trisha made things easier by assuring Chris she could handle things on her own. So yeah, we’re sending Chris as our healer.”
“Wait a second,” Taylor said. “The Dark Knights need a healer, not a fighter. Why did you call me and Q for this then?”
Carlos paused for a second, “Well, I don’t think it’s agreeable to send her alone,” he said.
Q grasped what his brother was getting at, “You want us to accompany her there?” he asked.
He nodded, “I’d like to be on the safer side of things. This mission to the Dark Knight’s home world might not exactly be danger-free.”
“I really don’t know,” Taylor hesitated. “Can’t Q take her alone?”
“I understand I’m putting you in a situation, Taylor,” he said. “But I think it would be very beneficial if we had our own Dark Knight on the mission.”
Q nodded, “I guess he does have a point.”
Taylor thought for a while, as silence descended into the room. She finally drew herself up and lightly pounded a fist on the table. “Fine, I’ll do it. When do we leave?”
The Quest Saga Collection: Books 1 - 5 Page 64
