“No, it was a mercenary race,” she said. “The White Knights had many enemies even back then.”
“Figures,” he mumbled.
“There was no trace of the planet after that, and so the new maps do not have it jotted down,” she said. “The maps in the Palace of Darkness date back to years before the Great war.”
“Ah, so you’re the only ones who would know about this place.”
“Well, us and the White Knights themselves of course.”
“Anyway,” he said. “You said Orpheus was destroyed right?”
She nodded. “And yet here it is before us.”
“So that attack was a lie? Misinformation maybe?”
She bit her lip. “At this point I have no idea,” she said.
Q felt a slow pressure push him backward, growing stronger with time.
“We’re heading into re-entry,” Zelph said.
“The stealth fighter will follow you in,” Andrea assured. “Remember to grab Valkyrie as soon as you can.”
“Understood,” he nodded.
“Good luck, Q,” she said, a little hesitant to cut the feed. “Come back safe.”
“I will, your Highness,” he said and Zelph stopped the transmission.
The ship rumbled harshly. Q lowered his body to keep himself steady. We’re in the lower atmosphere, he realized.
“Control estimates touchdown in T-minus ten minutes,” Zelph said.
“That’s a hell lot of time,” Q said, surprised. Touchdowns usually didn't take that long.
“I think it takes longer because this is a bigger ship. It has to go slower through the air.”
“Could be,” he said and looked around.
“Do you think we should get out of this place?”
Q nodded. “Might not be the best place to be during a landing.”
An orange line opened up into Q’s vision once again, leading him out of the illusionary wall he had gotten through in the first place. “Time to go,” he said and took a peek outside the wall to see if anyone was there.
Empty, he chuckled.
“Not a surprise really,” Zelph said. “Everyone is buckling up for touchdown. And here we are going on an adventure instead.”
“This isn't the moment to complain about all that,” Q said and charged out. He summoned his life energy and pushed it into his body and his mind, ready to attack anyone that faced off against him. A few corridors later he saw a dark blue sky shine through the glass windows on the wall.
I’m at the edge of the ship, he realized. Zelph, where exactly are you taking me?
“To the holding cells,” he said, his turning into a whisper.
What? Q asked, panicking.
“I’m sorry, Q,” he said, laughing dryly. “But I’ve been working for the enemy all along.”
Q stayed silent for a few moments. “You,” he said, irritation on his face. “You really think this is the time for jokes?”
“Ah, you didn’t buy it,” Zelph laughed. “Damn, I was so sure it would freak you out.”
“You idiot,” Q smiled. It was a hell of a panic attack, but the humane nature of it all put a smile on his face.
“I’m actually taking you to the ship’s hangar,” Zelph said. “That’s the easiest place to run from.”
“Wouldn’t the air vents be easier?”
“The ship’s records say that the vents will be flushed out after they land. I wouldn’t risk going into those again.”
“Why does everything had to be so complicated?” he complained.
“Hey, if infiltrating the White Knights is like a bed of roses then something is terribly wrong.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get your point,” he said just as he entered the hangar.
Small white spacecraft were docked inside, some polished and ready, others half-built or broken. Machines and tool-kits lay around the place. Q quickly hid behind one of the smaller ships, putting himself between the ship and the wall, and scouted around for White Knights
“Do you think we could make our getaway in one of these?” he tapped the ship gently.
“I wouldn't count on it,” Zelph said. “It’s easy for me to get in, but it’ll set off too many alarms for it to be of any benefit to us.”
The hangar suddenly darkened, as though the lights were running out of energy.
What’s going on? Q asked.
“I’m as clueless as you are,” he said.
The ship in front of him glowed with a dark flame and crumbled into dust. Taylor walked out from behind it, a dark flame surrounding her completely. She glared at him, her eyes no longer blue, but a dark, terrifying black.
She sent a storm of darkness right at Q, and it grasped him before he could even flinch.
I can’t fight her, he surrendered as the waves of black washed over him and sent him to the depths of unconsciousness.
***
“Get up boy!” a roaring voice jarred Q awake.
He stared around him, his eyesight blurry, his mind confused. He tried to move his arms, and realized he had been bound. He looked ahead of him and saw a massive white throne. His eyes shot open and his vision cleared. In front of him was a throne of white, its top rising high above the ground. A large red ruby sat at the very apex, glimmering in the light.
On the throne sat Albion, smiling at Q like a lunatic. “Why hello there, my boy,” he said, his voice alternating between highs and lows like crazy. “It was so nice of you to stop by.”
You, Q clenched his teeth. He looked to his side and saw two White Knights guarding him.
“He is a very special guest, your Highness,” Levi strode forward from behind him. “We must treat him especially well.”
Q tried to not to show the panic he felt at the emphasis of that word. He did not need to think about what was going to happen to him. He was already messed up as is. He realized one very important thing; he was completely helpless before Taylor. He couldn’t attack her. Just couldn’t do it. In fact it was so bad he hadn’t even defended against her attack, an attack that might have actually killed him.
Death would be better than all of this, he told himself.
“Levi, are you sure he is subdued?” Albion asked.
“Ah yes, your highness,” he said. “Our Dark Knight seems to have quite a knack at trashing him. Even otherwise, the Masked Magician has come along as well.”
Q remained silent, unwilling to provoke any conversations between him and the two crazy gentlemen in front of him.
“Take him to his chambers,” Albion said, and the guards pushed Q to the side, leading him away from the throne.
Levi strode beside him. “You know, Q,” he said. “I heard a saying once. Light may dispel the darkness, but darkness will always conquer the light.”
“So?” Q asked, unimpressed.
“Even if you manage to beat Taylor, her Elementa of Darkness will come for you again and again. It will never rest until it has conquered and consumed every last bit of you.”
“Great,” Q said, trying to sound as blunt and emotionless and possible.
Levi smiled. “I know you well, Q,” he said, “You always become emotionless when one particular emotion rises up within your mind,” he leaned in. “Fear,” he whispered. “Pure, horrifying, fear.”
Q remained silent, not showing any emotion on his face.
“Do not worry,” Levi said, just as the Knights opened up a door in the corridor wall. “We’re going to have lots of fun.”
Q felt his handcuffs flick open. The Knights pushed him through and the door slammed shut, leaving him in silence.
“Well, that went worse than I’d planned,” Zelph said.
“Where were you all along?”
“Did you really want me to talk to you while all that was going on?”
“No,” Q said quietly. He looked around, and saw only darkness. He summoned a bit of his life energy and used his Elementa of Light to create an orb of light. A red dome of light surrounded him, too dim to be blood-s
haded, too bright to be non-existent.
“A force field,” Zelph said.
Q grit his teeth. “They were prepared,” he said.
“You can’t break through one of those?” Zelph asked.
Q shook his head. “I’ve never done that before,” he said.
“Oh so you haven’t tried it.”
“Sure, whichever way you wanna put it,” he said. “What about you? Are your communications still up?”
“Of course they are,” Zelph said. “Force fields don’t really-” he stopped short.
“What?” Q asked.
Still silence.
“Zelph?” he asked again, a bit perplexed and worried.
“I’m back,” the AI said.
“Don’t scare me like that,” Q complained.
“Sorry, sorry,” he said. “I tried to get into the Palace’s mainframe.”
“And?”
“I couldn’t find it.”
“What?!”
“There’s no network for me to connect to.”
“Yeah, but wasn’t the computer in the cloning room the same?”
“That one had its own network. It just wasn’t connected to the main one. This mainframe has no network at all.”
“Couldn’t it be that this one has a network but that you’re just not able to find it?”
“I never thought a day would come when I’d be locked out of a network.”
“It’s probably being hidden with some sort of code.”
“It’s highly unlikely, but still possible,” Zelph said. “I’ll just try to pry at it for a bit longer.”
“Yeah okay. That main frame is the only way we’re ever getting out from under this force field.”
The door to the cell opened up, just minutes after he had been locked in, and a man’s silhouette stood in the doorway. Q heard a low beep and the force field disappeared almost instantly.
“Come along, boy,” the silhouette said, the voice showing he was an elderly man.
Q hesitated for a moment and then jumped out the door. The man was in full White Knight armor, including the helmet.
“This way,” he said and led Q down the corridor in the opposite direction from how he was led here.
“Wait, is this guy helping us?” Zelph asked.
If he is, then great, he said. And if he isn’t then there’s no point resisting him is there?
“So you’re saying you’ve got nothing to lose huh?”
Yes, he said. You should check and see if you can connect to the mainframe now. The force field could have messed up your comm systems.
“Yeah okay.”
The White Knight stopped in the middle of the corridor and knelt to the floor. His hands pressed into it and a section of the floor slid out, revealing a staircase leading underground.
“In here,” the Knight said and asked Q to go in first.
Definitely helping me out, Q smiled and promptly headed in with no hesitation. The Knight jumped in after him, and the opening closed.
Q summoned his light orb, and lit up the corridor in front of them.
“Your light orb is very useful,” the Knight said. “Now stay still.” He tapped his finger on five points on the wall.
A section of the floor underneath them lifted into the air and zoomed away at top speed.
“A hover board!” Zelph said.
Q on the other hand, was more focused on the issue at hand. “Where are you taking me?” he asked. “And why did you help me escape?”
The hover board slowed down, just as they neared an opening in the ceiling of the corridor. The platform floated up, pushing them through the opening.
Q’s eyes darted around, at the carpeted floor, the bookshelves, the windows, the curtains. At everything.
“Welcome to my humble house,” the White Knight knelt. “Son of Periel.”
***
“You know of me?” Q asked, his eyes both comforted and suspicious of the fact that this man knew of his lineage.
“I do,” the White Knight said, still kneeling on the ground. “I knew it was you the moment I saw you.”
“Do I really resemble my mother that much?” Q asked.
“Your eyes,” he said. “They are just like hers, mysterious and radiant.”
“Q, you may want to ask him to stop kneeling,” Zelph said, in a why-are-you-so-stupid tone.
“Ah! You don’t have to be so formal with me,” he said.
“Thank you,” he said and stood up. “I am Loreas, your grace.” He took off his helmet, finally revealing his face. His hair was silver, and was cut short. He had absolutely no facial hair and his mildly wrinkled skin was the only sign of his age.
He reminds me of Lokai, Q sighed.
“Why have you come to this planet, your grace?” he asked.
“Please, call me Q,” he said. “The ‘your grace’ part is unnecessary.”
He smiled. “Why have you come here, Q?”
“I was captured,” he said. “By Levi.”
“Ah, Commander Levi,” he said. “The Quantum Array commander.”
“Yes,” Q said.
“That man has defected to the White Knights now,” he said. “I believe the Quantum Array was disbanded quite a long time ago. A decade if I’m not mistaken.”
“What?” Q asked, his eyes wide. Levi had bragged just a few months ago about how the Quantum Array was going to crush all their enemies. And now this?
“That man is quite odd,” Loreas said.
“Loreas, you keep referring to him as a man,” Q said. “You do know he’s a boy right?”
Loreas smiled. “The body of a boy, your highness, but the spirit of an old man.”
“What?” Q asked, confused all over again. “Body of a young boy?”
“The man is not human,” he said. “I believe he is in fact much older than I am.”
Q stood there, completely stunned. “You can’t be serious.”
Loreas laughed. “That is the reaction of most who hear of this tale for the first time,” he said. “That man has secrets far more mysterious than you can ever imagine.”
But all of sudden, this new development made sense to Q. This was probably why Levi knew all about Q’s lineage.
He had been there to see it.
“Boy, this is like a soap opera!” Zelph said. “It’s too much to handle at once.”
“Have you met the White Knight King?” Loreas asked.
Q nodded.
“I see. That is most unfortunate,” he said.
“Why? Because of what he did to my mother?”
Loreas stared at him for a second, before regaining his composure once more. “The man seemed like a demon when he killed your mother,” he said. “But he became the devil with what he did afterwards.”
“I sense a story coming,” Zelph said.
Shhh, Q said, trying to listen.
“Albion, along with a few other nobility murdered your mother the night after you were born,” Loreas said. “Your father, anticipating the attack, had hidden in the Empress’ quarters to protect her, but he was killed as well. The nobility overpowered them with their sheer numbers.”
He sighed. “Soon after, Albion, the man who laid the final blow, became our new king. He began his new rhetoric of hate, saying that the Empress was belittled by the Dark Knights, and that she was used and tormented by the Dark Knight Emperor. Albion called her a fool for being so weak, and decreed he would be the strongest leader they had seen.”
“Ah…” Q said, realizing this is where the immense hate for the Dark Knights had come from.
“Albion himself doesn’t believe in any of that,” Loreas said. “He knows of the truth, but he will not acknowledge it. His only desire is power. He could have destroyed the Dark Knights ages ago, but he does not desire to destroy them,” he said. “He wishes to control them.”
“He wants to build an empire,” Q said softly.
“Yes,” Loreas nodded. “That is what he wants.”
“Ah,” Loreas said. “I believe it is time for you to leave, Q.”
“What?” Q asked, confused.
Loreas tossed him a white cloak with a hood. “This is the robe of the White Knight priest,” he said. “The priests always walk with their face hidden. This will help you hide your true identity. Wear this and leave,” he pointed to the door on the wall next to him. “And do not say a word to anyone.”
“What is going on?” Q asked, slipping on the robe quickly.
“The White Knights are searching for you, Q,” Loreas said as he flipped a few switches on the walls. “And it is obvious that I would be the one hiding you.”
“What?” Q asked. “Why is it that obvious?”
Loreas grabbed Q and threw him out the door. The old man smiled at him, warm and gentle. “Because Periel was my daughter.”
And the house exploded.
***
4-3
Q charged away from the explosion.
Body over mind, body over mind, he kept thinking as he forced his legs to pump hard, ignoring the nagging feeling in his mind, the feeling of discovery and loss, the feeling of having something right in front of you only to have it whisked away like it had never existed.
My grandfather, the words echoed through him as he ran as fast as his hooded cloak let him, darting through the streets. He hustled into one of the narrower, darker allies and sat himself in the lonely place. He kept his hood on and gave his legs a rest.
That man was my grandfather, he thought.
“I mean, who would have guessed?!” Zelph said. “I don’t want to sound insensitive, but all of a sudden, everyone we meet seems to have connections to your parents!”
A small smile came across Q’s lips. “Yeah,” he said as he leaned back. “Do you think it’s weird for me to not mourn for that man right now?”
“Well, he’s your grandfather. But you’ve known him fifteen minutes, so I’m not really sure. I don’t think ‘not mourning’ is wrong though.”
“It’s not like I don’t care,” Q sighed and stood up, flexing his muscles to see if they were okay. “I just don’t feel anything. I just can’t see him as a family member I guess.”
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