Chapter Three
Iris
Remus was right. Xyrannis is a world of wonder.
I am sure this is just the tip of the iceberg as the ship attaches itself to a floating platform high above the city.
From this angle, I can see straight into their civilization, the beauty daunting.
It’s a utopia. They have quite literally fused their buildings with nature.
Even the glass buildings have balconies overloaded with foliage that billows in the breeze.
And instead of building dams and redirecting the water beneath, they have built bridges over the necessary areas.
I see more clearly now why Remus was unimpressed with our world—why it was stripped down upon his arrival. Our buildings disrupted our planet’s growth. Compared to this world, Earth looked like something from a dystopian horror film.
“Are you ready?” Remus asks, stepping up next to me.
The phrase is simple, but it has so many meanings. Am I ready to leave? Am I ready to embrace this new world? Am I ready to officially leave my world behind?
But all I can manage is a meek yes.
Remus senses my anxiety, placing his hand in mine. He brings my fingers to his lips, placing a soft kiss as his eyes pull me in.
“I will be here every step of the way,” he says gently.
Instead of exiting the ship with everyone else, we take a separate exit.
We never step foot outside, however. We enter a glass elevator that takes us down and into the city.
I am still in awe as the city comes closer and closer to us the lower we descend.
I note that larger taxis are taking big groups of the crew to separate destinations, making me curious about the lives of these Leviathan who spend years away from home to be a part of the conquering of worlds.
As we get closer to the buildings, I notice the Leviathan going about their lives below, some stopping and pointing at the ship in the sky while others are noticing the glass lowering itself into the building. Excitement is evident on all their faces.
So, this is what it’s like to be on the side of the victors.
As we enter the building, the outside world is blocked from view, but the interior of the building is something else entirely.
It’s a busy location, with vehicles and Leviathan moving about at a hurried pace.
I note that we aren’t the only ones entering in our glass transport as we reach a platform.
And once we exit, I see faces I wasn’t expecting to.
Ezra steps out onto his platform, and to my shock, I see Sky obediently following him.
My heart breaks for her as I take in the inhibitor on her temple.
She has just begun her journey at the mercy of one of these aliens.
And she doesn’t have the hope I was able to cling to.
Everything she had is gone—lost. Taken from her in a terrible display of power.
But my heartbreak is short-lived when I look at the ground floor. Xion steps out of her transport, and a chained Iriel follows close behind. Leviathan guards surround them as they make their way across the floor.
“How—” I trail off when my eyes meet Remus. His expression is murderous as he takes in Iriel, sending a chill down my spine.
“He will stand trial for his crimes,” he says, giving me a curt answer.
My body grows warm as I mirror Remus’s anger, but for different reasons.
Iriel used humanity and what little resources we had.
He had no compassion for the bodies he was hiding behind to make his outlandish desires a reality.
He is partially to blame for Jude’s death.
And for his mental state before that death.
He is the biggest coward I have ever encountered, and I don’t think he deserves a trial.
I wish Remus had killed him that day. I wish I could kill him.
“Don’t get yourself worked up over him. Leviathan laws are stringent.
He will pay dearly for what he has done,” Remus says as he places his hand against the small of my back.
He leads me to the edge of the platform, and I tense when I hear a muffled roar.
I look around in confusion, my panic dissipating when I see what it is.
The Leviathan on the outside of the building have gathered at each level to witness the arrival of Remus and his siblings. Within minutes of our arrival, a large crowd has formed outside of the building. The excitement is electric as they look upon the arrival of the Divine Three.
It’s truly a sight to be able to see how many Leviathan in this area alone adore Remus and his siblings.
And that there are so many more in his home world than there are who decided to travel across the galaxies to settle our world.
I don’t have time to continue to ogle it as Remus helps me into a waiting vehicle.
Remus gets in the seat next to me, looking at me before anything. “You’ve been quiet.”
“Still processing everything,” I say, looking out the window.
There are so many emotions I want to feel.
But none of them seem possible at this moment as I remain suspended between breaking down and constant awe.
Thankfully, Remus doesn’t push me to explain how I’m feeling.
He goes through the required steps to start the vehicle, and the slow lift makes me realize it flies.
As I look ahead, I notice the wall in front of us lowering to reveal a space just big enough for this to fit through, and we are off. We pass through the dark tunnel, exiting just as quickly to climb high in the sky.
“What do you think so far?” Remus asks, once again breaking the silence.
“Obviously, it’s breathtaking,” I say in irritation, to which Remus laughs.
I almost missed the sound of that laugh. He’s been so quiet throughout this trip, carefully reacting to me, that it’s made him eerie in my mind. A small part of me is glad to see this side of Remus. It makes him less scary after what I witnessed on Earth.
“Obviously,” he repeats.
“Where are we going now?” I ask.
“To my home,” he says.
I can’t imagine what Remus’s home would look like.
In all honesty, I haven’t even thought about it until now.
Remus never stayed in one place on Earth.
He constantly traveled, never allowing me a glimpse into the way he lives, further adding to the mystery that is Remus.
And as I think it, does it occur to me just how big of a development that is.
The remainder of the trip takes about thirty minutes. As we descend beneath the clouds, the newest landscape is revealed to me.
“What…?” I whisper as I press my hands against the glass.
We’re in the mountains. Though like most things in this world, they look nothing like Earth’s mountains. The large mass of rock stretches toward the sky in a jagged formation, but there are loose pieces of land floating as we pass through.
“How?” I whisper.
“We’re very close to the planet Llora. You can see it in the atmosphere.
It shifts gravity and has been doing so for thousands of years,” Remus says as if the explanation is simple.
Before I can respond, I notice a mountain in the distance that looks different.
The snow is a different color, I realize as we get closer.
It’s a very soft and pale lavender. And as we fly over the icy wonderland, I note that Remus has slowed down.
A house sits just like the buildings in the city, carved into the side of the mountain.
The windows reflect the world beyond as they stretch higher than any I’ve ever seen on a home, with what looks like marble walls peaking from the mountainous terrain.
I find myself laughing as I get the first glimpse into Remus’s true personality.
“What do you think?” Remus asks, pulling me from my thoughts.
“It suits you.”
Remus laughs at my response, but it rings true for me.
This is his home. This is where he can be himself without any outsider getting a glimpse of it.
It’s elaborate and elegant, just like him.
And as the ship descends onto the platform extending from the house, I become more and more anxious, just thinking of what I will see.
The ship powers down, and Remus turns to me, pulling his cape from his shoulders.
He wraps it around me, and I notice his fingers lingering as he fastens it.
But I don’t mind. The entrance to Xyrannis, the trip here, and my body’s sad attempt to adjust to this world are exhausting.
And because of the bond we now share, Remus’s presence helps calm me down.
His purple eyes meet mine, glowing in excitement.
“Shall we?”
The air is frigid as we step out of the ship and I suddenly understand why Remus gave me his cape, even if the distance to enter his home is short—my cheeks already sting from the air.
But I can’t look away from the snow—or the mountain range.
I squint as I take in much larger formations floating in the distance.
“Come. You’ll freeze to death if you stay out here,” Remus calls to me from the entrance. His clothing is a thin long sleeve, yet he looks unbothered by the cold. But I take one last look in the distance before following Remus into his home.
Remus
I should regret the things that I’ve done.
But I don’t. I don’t feel remorse for taking Iris’s home world.
I’m just glad I stumbled upon her before she became a part of their history; a planet that once housed intelligent life that wasn’t intelligent enough to take one look in the mirror. And Iris saw that up close.
I’m glad her people are suffering.