Karlol

by Phoebe Nix

  Chapter 18

  The golden glow of the morning sun tickled Jocelyn’s eyelids.

  She could feel a smile lingering on her face, despite still being half-asleep. She kept her eyes closed and turned onto her side, the covers tangling up between her bare thighs. She slowly opened her eyes to find that she was alone in bed.

  Jocelyn gazed at the creases left where Karlol had slept, her smile growing wider as her fingers playfully ironed the creases away. She lifted the cover to her face, and chuckled. Even though it had been a few days, she still found it hard to believe that she was falling for a Prince.

  And that Prince just happened to have wings and be on another planet.

  Whenever she felt that the ecstasy of her feelings was sending her on a high, she would instantly remember Liz and her friends, and her smile would disappear. Guilt consumed her as she considered staying on this planet for the rest of her life, even if she was given the option to go back home.

  Jocelyn stretched her arms to the ceiling, her face wrinkling as she yawned. She sat up, admiring how the sunlight sparkled on the floor, as though the wooden panels had been adorned with glitter.

  She felt selfish to even consider the option of staying on Lookar, where she enjoyed the luxuries of living in a Royal household, while her friends were likely still struggling wherever they had ended up. But she couldn’t find it in herself to travel back to Earth when she was beginning to feel that she belonged. Even if it were with another species entirely.

  Stretching her legs, she smiled at the shaft of sunlight sparkling on her skin. She climbed to her feet and walked into the bathroom with her eyes still half shut. She leaned against the tub and turned the water on, immediately stepping in.

  How can I ever go back? I can’t go back. But what am I doing here? They have no reason to keep me.

  She leaned her head against the tub’s edge and closed her eyes, lifting her foot to push the tap closed. She could hear her breath echoing in the stone room, but even a warm bath in a palace couldn’t stop her from stressing about her fate.

  I need some fresh air.

  She climbed out of the bathtub and wandered to her wardrobe. There were nothing but robes and coats, but one of them was short enough for her to move about in freely. She snatched the red velvet fabric from the hanger and slipped her arm into the sleeve, pulling it around her without bothering to check what she looked like in the mirror.

  There was a knock at the door, and she rushed to answer, hoping it was Karlol.

  She flung the door open with a smile that quickly faded when she saw no one was there.

  Poking her head out, she looked right and left, but there was no sign of anyone.

  Now you’re hearing things. You really do need some fresh air.

  She slipped into her sneakers, and walked down the hallway, initially planning to take the spiral stairs that led to the roof. She placed her hand on the railing, and was about the climb the first step when she stopped. She turned around, her hands on her waist. She peeked left and right before she snuck down the stairs to the floor below.

  The hallway was sunlit with fewer doors. She grasped the railing with both hands and looked down just as a couple of guards flew into the main hall, landing on their feet. Their expressions were serious, and the way they waved their hands as they spoke gave her the impression that they might have been arguing for quite some time.

  “You might be able to fly for longer, but I can definitely fly higher,” one of them argued.

  “We can test the theory another time,” the other replied as they disappeared into the hallway.

  Jocelyn smiled, pulling herself away from the railing. Vogels were not as dull as she had initially thought, and many of those she had already spoken to seemed to enjoy a sense of humor. She felt less alienated every day she spent here, and even someone as hostile as Lore was slowly learning to get along with her.

  She turned around, and one of the doors caught her attention. Her sneakers squeaked as she approached it, her eyes studying the engravings on the stone double doors before she pushed her way in.

  Whoa.

  The room was narrow, but had great depth. The walls were decorated with paintings, all of them signed in a language she couldn’t read. She ran a finger down the painting closest to her and smiled, her eyes wandering across the walls. In the corner, sculptured artifacts were displayed on stone stands.

  She recognized one of them, which resembled King Mendius. She was about to walk toward it, but a guard’s voice made her crane her head to the door.

  “And they say she might be the savior,” a voice outside said.

  “Is that why she’s here? All I know is, she came from…” another voice said, growing fainter until it was inaudible.

  Politics is everywhere.

  Jocelyn walked outside, quickly climbing up the stairs to the roof, ambling straight to the short palisade where she took a deep breath of the tropical air. She found herself smiling as she heard a Vogel whistling a tune in the distance. She had never heard any of them sing, but their whistling was harmonious enough to send goosebumps down her bare arms and legs.

  They were so high up that there was nothing to see but sky. Even in the light of day, she could see the full moon. It was warm, but there was a chilly breeze. At this moment, the only thing she could think of was how lucky she was to still be alive and experience what she was experiencing.

  In the corner of her eyes, she spotted a dashing shadow. Jocelyn stiffened as she looked to her left.

  “Hello?” she called out. “Karlol, is that you?”

  She heard something rumble and click in the distance, like the sound of a door being unlocked before it was yanked open. Although wary, she followed the sound, her hand fixed on the railing as she quickened her pace.

  “Who’s there?” she called out.

  Jocelyn felt like the idiot in a horror movie who ignored all the red flags and happily ran headfirst to their death. She considered turning back and leaving it at that, but found herself following the sounds through the maze of tree trunks until she reached a clearing.

  There was no one in sight.

  She was so lost in her own thoughts, fixated on finding whoever it was who was taunting her, that she nearly fell down the stairs of an underground room she hadn’t seen earlier. The flip door was open and it matched the floor in color. She leaned down to take a peek, but the darkness made it impossible to see further than a few steps. She hesitated, if only for a moment, before she descended the steps.

  She gripped the wall on her left as she slowly walked down. She craned her head to the right, and saw a long hallway which looked like it was painted in a shade of light blue. As she walked further, she realized it was made entirely of glass, and that the blue she was seeing was the sky outside.

  With her hands outstretched and legs spread for support, she gasped for breath, suddenly terrified to make any sudden movements.

  Holy hell, I’m standing on fucking air.

  Her head was heavy and she felt drowsy, terrified that she would drop on the glass, break it, and plummet to her death. She heard the sound of talons knocking on the floor, but she couldn’t move as she stared at the vast sky peppered with flying boulders and roaming clouds.

  She suddenly felt a hand grasp her shoulder and she let out a scream, turning around quickly. An old Vogel woman who looked like she had seen better days stared at her. Her wings gleamed silver in the sunlight, and her eyes were completely white.

  “The savior has arrived,” the woman said, smiling at Jocelyn as she grabbed her wrist to pull her closer for a whiff.

  Jocelyn freed herself from the woman’s grasp, moving back slowly, wary of both the woman and the glass. “Who are you? What savior?”

  The woman seemed to process Jocelyn’s words for a few seconds, which made her all the more eerie. The woman charged forward and grabbed Jocelyn’s wrist again. This time her grasp was firmer and a little more painful.

  The old Vogel cac
kled like a witch, her long white hair resembling a mane. “It is already prophesized, my dear. A woman will fall from the stars and grow an inseparable bond with the handsome Prince, binding humans and Vogel folk together as one to fight the darkness.”

  Jocelyn’s lips trembled. “What darkness?”

  The woman’s grip on Jocelyn’s wrist tightened. Her fingers curled as she lifted her hand and pressed her thumb between Jocelyn’s eyes.

  Jocelyn gasped through her teeth as she felt her consciousness retract, slipping away from her before the image of the old woman was replaced by flashing images and muffled voices.

  The more images rushed before her eyes, the harder her head pounded. Her eyes darted from left to right, trying to make sense of the chain of events that hurtled past.

  One of the images stopped.

  Jocelyn gasped as a majestic white bird flew towards her, talons extended, large wings flapping in anger. A spear shot out from the corner of her vision, piercing the bird’s wing, and the creature let out a shriek so terrible, she felt it tear at the inside of her skull. The bird was pulled to the ground, and several men surrounded it, quickly wrapping it in chains.

  Then another image. The bird in a cage, blue liquid slushing through tubes going in and out of it. A man in a lab coat was watching it intently, jotting things down on a clipboard.

  The images rushed past her again, and then stopped once more.

  She saw a man in a glass container. He floated in murky liquid with tubes attached to his spine. His finger twitched every now and again. Two men in lab coats approached the tank, tapping on the glass. The floating man groaned, looking like he was begging to be let out. As he squirmed and turned, a wing suddenly pierced through his back, flapping out of control.

  The researches shook their heads, skimming through their reports as the man wailed in agony behind them, spitting out bubbles and kicking the glass for help. One of the two men lifted his finger and shook it. The other one laughed before they walked out of Jocelyn’s field of vision.

  Jocelyn could feel herself trembling, her head pounding harder and faster.

  Then she saw a corporate meeting room. One of the two researchers she had seen earlier stood in front of a holographic screen, proposing an idea that the attendees didn’t seem to like. The screen read Self-experimentation: An Alternative.

  They all sat round a table in a room made entirely of glass. In the distance, there was a corral of floating boulders in space forming a ring around the construction they were in, which seemed to be suspended in outer space. She couldn’t hear a sound, but she could tell many of them weren’t happy as they spoke with the researcher.

  The image faded into darkness.

  Jocelyn gasped for air as she was suddenly back in the laboratory.

  A researcher willingly climbed up a ladder laid across the glass container, then plunged into the liquid and plugged himself in. One of his arms was hairier and longer than the other. His face was deformed, like it had been burnt in an accident. He pushed a button in the base of the tank with his toe, and in a few seconds, the liquid was boiling, smoke swirling around the tank as bubbles filled the murky water. Jocelyn expected to see him scream or squirm, but he seemed to handle the heat perfectly fine, and in seconds closed his eyes and dozed off to sleep.

  In the tank next to him, another researcher clambered out, leaping onto the floor where one of the tiles immediately shattered from the weight. His bare body was covered in scars, and one of his legs was more muscular than the other. Leaving a trail of liquid behind him, he walked toward a desk, grabbing a pen to record his progress. The pen was crushed between his fingers and he let out a frustrated huff, as though this had happened to him many times before.

  The image slowly disappeared, revealing the old Vogel’s smiling face. Jocelyn tried to pull away, but the woman held on to her.

  “Two paths, savior,” she ominously said in a wheeze. “One where a corrupt leader threatens Vogel and human lives alike, and the other,” she paused. “The other needs you.”

  “What did I just see?” Jocelyn stammered, her eyes tearing up.

  “The past,” she answered. “And now, you must see the future.” She pressed on her forehead again.

  This time, Jocelyn felt like she had somehow adapted to the pain. She could still feel a thrumming that pricked at the back of her head, but she focused on the images that flew in front her eyes like a slideshow on a screen.

  She saw what looked like a tower, or a monolith. She saw herself running down veneered steps that led to a secret chamber completely cloaked in darkness. Jocelyn still couldn’t hear anything, but she felt someone else’s presence with her, as though she was the one leading them to this place.

  It was dark, save for a massive screen where a three-dimensional image of a rotating planet floated. She gestured for the person behind her to follow, but she still couldn’t see who it was.

  As if she knew exactly what she was doing, Jocelyn pressed on the image of the planet, then picked up a touch pad, and with a few touches, the chamber burst into life, revealing a commodious building filled with weapons and spaceships. She twirled in place with a smile that suggested she was proud of herself.

  “Jocelyn,” she heard Karlol’s voice call out for her.

  She smiled as the image of herself pirouetting faded to black.

  “Jocelyn!” Karlol repeated.

  She slowly opened her eyes and saw Karlol on his knees, his hands gripping her arms. He looked like he had been trying to shake her awake for a while. His face slowly came into focus. Jocelyn couldn’t understand why he looked so terrified, until she looked beneath her and saw she was floating on air. She rose to a sitting position, one hand rubbing her forehead and the other making sure the glass was still intact.

  “Wait,” Jocelyn said. “So that wasn’t a dream?”

  “What wasn’t a dream, Jocelyn? What the hell are you doing here?”

  “Karlol. I think there’s something I need to tell you.”

  Chapter 19

  “And, and, and,” Jocelyn stammered as she struggled to string her thoughts into speech.

  Her hair was disheveled with her robe hiked up and her legs stretched out. She paced back and forth in Karlol’s bedroom, confused and lost in her own thoughts as she tried to piece her story together. Although he could see in her eyes that she wasn’t lying, he feared that whatever she had seen were delusions from the shock she endured after walking into the glass room. He could only imagine how it could be quite shocking to a species incapable of flying. Even Vogel children who had not yet grown their wings had been too scared to step into what they called the Air Room.

  “Calm down now. Do you need some water?” Karlol said, his hands following her as she continued to pace from one corner of the room to the other, pressing the sides of her head as she tried to render what she saw into a remotely comprehensible tale.

  “I need you to listen to me!” Jocelyn snapped.

  “And I need you to calm down so I can understand you!” he growled, grabbing her by the arms and gently shoving her toward the bed, sitting her down.

  She pursed her lips into a pout, taking in deep breaths, her eyes closed.

  “Are you alright? Has someone hurt you?” Karlol asked, kneeling by the bed.

  “No one hurt me. I guess,” she said, shaking her head.

  “What do you mean you guess? Jocelyn, why were you in the Air Room? How did you even have access to it? That room has long been locked.”

  “I didn’t mean to go there!” she answered. “I was just on the roof that you took me to before. You know,” she paused, her hands waving about. “Because I thought it would look different in the morning, and it did.” She gulped, shaking her head before she continued. “But then I saw a shadow, and I knew it wasn’t a bird. It dashed by so fast, but I could see that it was someone in a robe. I thought someone was following me, and I panicked.”

  Yeah, that definitely sounds like the Oracle. We need to talk t
o that woman about better ways to approach strangers.

  “And you found the room unlocked?” Karlol asked softly.

  “I swear to you!” She spoke with such vehemence like she was testifying against a murder charge. “I did some exploring in the palace, yes, but I didn’t pry any doors open.”

  “I believe you. I’m not chiding you. I only want to know what happened, okay?” he consoled her, gently swathing his fingers around her thigh.

  He could feel the heat radiating from her quivering body. He looked up at her, but her gaze refused to meet his. Her pupils were dilated and she rocked back and forth like she was having a manic episode. But Karlol knew that it was only the effect of everything she had been forced to see, and he needed to hear every detail of it.

  He saw hesitation in Jocelyn’s eyes, as though she feared that he wouldn’t believe her. There was a red flaring dot between her eyes, and it was dented. Karlol sighed, reaching for Jocelyn’s wrist and turning it over. The Oracle’s fingers had bruised her skin.

  “I know who you saw,” Karlol explained. “I just need to know what you saw.”

  Jocelyn shut her eyes, a tear leaking out from under her eyelid. “I saw everything. Everything that happened to your people. Everything it took to make your species. I saw it all.”

  “Tell me,” he requested, rising to his feet and hoisting himself beside her.

  She wiped the tears pricking at the corners of her eyes, sniveling uncontrollably. “I saw birds. Beautiful, majestic birds. Captured. Chained. I saw humans being confined against their will, in some sort of tanks. They were being experimented on, tortured. I saw one of them sprout wings, and it looked painful.”

  Karlol nodded. “Go on.”

  “But then those people started using themselves as lab rats, and I think they were trapped in space or something. They looked human at first, but then some of them looked like wolves, others looked deformed, but they were getting powerful. Their eyes.” She paused, shaking her head in disgust. “They looked so devoid of feeling, and a little wicked.”