All characters, places, and events are fictional and belong to the author.
Disclaimer: The following may contain explicit events between consenting adult males. If you are not of age or it is illegal for you to read this, please leave now.
Chapter One:
Trey rolled his shoulders, trying to work the ache out of them. The overseer had been hard on him that day, not to mention that he had talked back. The Cubrecht lord had been prepared to beat down an elderly lady because she had not been hustling fast enough. Trey could not stand for that. Consequently, when he had spoken out against the harsh treatment, the whip had been turned on him. Better him than that poor old woman.
He hated the Cubrecht and what they had done to his planet. Trey had heard stories from the older ones about how Planet Zelzior had once been free, once been beautiful, filled with joy. Then the Cubrecht had come. Like a plague they had washed over Zelzior, killing the members of Parliament and the King and Queen. Enslaved his entire world. Now Trey lived in a place where all he knew was backbreaking work and pain from the numerous beatings the Cubrecht inflicted. At this point, all he had were the stories the elders told of his world before the Cubrecht.
Sighing, Trey went back to what he had been doing. He was kept as one of the slaves residing in the former imperial castle. At night he snuck from slave quarters and wandered around, trying to discover more of his once grand planet-nation. The Cubrecht lords did not encourage the elders telling stories of the times before. It tended to incite riots and uprisings. One night he had come across a long forgotten room in one of the basements of the castle. It was filled with books and a busted up machine. Trey had no idea what the machine did. The books would probably have told him, but the Cubrecht had not allowed anyone who did not know how to read to learn. Luckily, he had found a fairly clear diagram that gave him a decent idea of how the parts should work.
Walking over to the machine, Trey picked up one of the few tools he had managed to pilfer without anyone noticing. To Trey, the thing looked like a gargantuan mirror with the addition of all the mechanical parts attached to it. He had been working for the last year or so, trying to get whatever it was working again. It gave him something to do, something to concentrate on other than how miserable his life was. Every day he felt like he was getting closer to fixing it. He had even figured out how to turn it on.
He chuckled briefly. Trey remembered the first time he had figured it out. All he had to do was push one simple button. About sixth months ago, he had pressed that button and received a very painful shock. The mirror glowed for a brief second and then went black. At least he knew what it looked like when it was working. Trey knew that when he had managed to make the mirror glow again, it would be done.
Trey sorted through the parts he had, picking up one that matched with the diagram, and replaced the one that was obviously broken on the machine. That was basically all he could do. Replace the parts that appeared broken as he managed to take them. He worked the rest of the night like that until he could do no more.
Exhausted, Trey snuck back into the slave quarters. He had to be very careful. If he were caught out without authorization, he would probably be beaten to death. The overseer would assume that he was trying to organize some kind of rebellion. Needless to say, it would be very bad for him to be discovered.. Trey stuck to the shadows, holding his breath when one of the Cubrecht lords walked right by his hiding space behind a dusty statue. He exhaled in relief as the lord passed without finding him and continued on his way.. There was a secret passage behind an old tapestry that would take him back into the quarters without him having to pass by the guards outside his door. Making it to the tapestry, he quickly slipped behind it and wound his way through the narrow little passage. Trey stepped out, relieved that he had made it back unscathed yet again.
"Where do you even go?" a voice questioned before he could even get his bearings.
"What would be the fun in telling you?" he replied, turning to face the woman before him.
"I just worry. You could get caught."
"No such thing, Shiloh," Trey said. He tried not to be annoyed with her. It was obvious that the short blonde woman had feelings for him. Unfortunately, he did not return them. And it certainly didn't give her the right to treat him like some errant spouse when his wanderlust took him.
"People here care about you," she shot out, gearing up for a major rant.
"Don't even start. It's not your business where I go or what I do. I need this, Shiloh. It's the only thing I've got that they don't control. For a short time, I can sneak out, be my own man, my own person, not have them dictate everything I do."
"You know what? Other people have sex to cure that problem." She sniped, glaring at him.
"I don't particularly like sex," Trey said, remembering the many times his masters had tried to breed him with some of the slave women. Luckily he had proven unable to sire a child and they had eventually stopped bothering him with that particular plan.
With that statement, Shiloh turned and walked away in a huff. She didn't understand why Trey would not accept her advances. She knew she was pretty enough. Many other men had asked for her hand in marriage, such as they were allowed to marry as a slave. So far she had turned them all down. Trey would eventually come around. If she couldn't have him, she didn't want anyone.
Trey sighed and ran his hand through his jet black hair. At least she hadn't instigated a shouting match today. That had happened in the past. Damn, he just wanted some sleep. His muscles ached and his back hurt from where he had taken the whip earlier today. And he couldn't seem to block out anyone's aura today. It was very distracting when he was trying to sleep. All around him he could see the glowing reds of the pyros, the yellows of the forgers, the oranges of the earth movers. With so many glowing bodies close to him, he could almost see the light through his closed eyes. After much tossing and turning, he finally managed to find sleep.
+++++
"Ouch! Watch what you're doing Shiketh!" Trey snapped, sucking on his fingers where a large stone had mashed them.
"I'm sorry. I did not mean to," Shiketh said.
Trey angrily eyed the man before picking up the other end of the stone and continuing to work. Shiketh was Cubrecht, although it did not appear that they had a problem with enslaving some of their own people. No one knew the whole story, but it was speculated that Shiketh had been forced into bondage after angering the current Cubrecht ruler. However, just because they were together in bondage it did not mean that Trey trusted the man. Shiketh was still part of the people that had conquered his nation.
Trey hated the Cubrecht, even down to the way they looked. Their appearance was a testimony to how destructive a people they were. The elders said that thousands of years ago, they had all been one people and Zelzior had not existed. A civil war had broken out on the planet Cubrechtar. The people who had founded the planet-nation of Zelzior had left, not wishing to participate in the nuclear war that was sure to destroy their home planet. Now Cubrechtar was nearly a dead planet, with small pockets of people still able to live on its surface. However, the radiation had imprinted itself upon those people.. The Cubrecht had neon green skin and dark green hair. At night they glowed. Everything about them screamed of the destruction they had wreaked upon themselves and their planet.
Placing the block down on the half constructed wall, Trey and Shiketh turned around to head back for another block. They had both been assigned to work on a new defensive wall being erected around the city. It would seem that even after the Cubrecht had conquered a planet and people, they could not stop fighting with themselves. Something of a feudal system had been set up in place of the previous monarchy/Parliament system. The lords of other cities were constantly trying to overtake each other.
After hours of hauling and setting stones the welcomed call of, "Dinner!" came and all of the laborers knocked off for the evening. It was well passed dark and breakfast had worn off hours ago. The food was never plentiful, as shown by the ribs apparent on every frame who sat around the slave table. At this point, Trey hardly noticed hunger anymore. It was one of the most constant companions he had. Honestly, he didn't really even care about dinner. He ate it to live, but took no joy in it other than that. What Trey looked forward to was after dinner, when he could go and see his machine again. He was getting close, he just knew it. He tried not to think about what he would do after he had fixed it.
After dinner, all of the Zelzians were herded back to their quarters for the night. Trey could hardly contain himself as he waited for the nightly ritual of the bed check to end. He was almost certain that tonight would be the night. He barely concealed a cry of relief as the guards finally exited, leaving him open to slip out the secret passageway. The trip to the mirror's home was uneventful.
Trey worked franticly through the night. He had managed to steal several parts today, things that he knew were needed to repair the thing. Finally, he had used up all of his parts and was gearing himself up to try the ritual he did every night after he had gotten as far as he could. Holding his breath, he brought his hand up to press the button. Nothing happened. Disappointment nearly overwhelmed him. Trey had been almost positive that it would work today. Dejected, he began to turn to leave the room.
Suddenly, Trey heard a whirring noise. Shock filled his face as he looked back over his shoulder to see that the machine appeared to be coming to live. Parts moved, electricity sparked over the surface of the mirror, solidifying into a soft blue glow. Transfixed, Trey didn't hear when the door opened behind him.
"What're you doing in here?" a Cubrecht guard hissed out. Trey was frozen with fear. Surely he would die now. This man would beat him to death and then display his body as an example. He felt a fist connect with his face, knocking him to the ground. There was nowhere to run, nothing he could do. Curling into a ball, Trey tried to minimize the damage that was being done to his body, unwilling to consider the futility of the action.
+++++
Aeleon ran his fingers through his waist length sky blue hair. He tried not to fidget, although it was proving to be very difficult. As the prince to the Oelaen throne, it was important that he attend these council meetings, but they were horrifyingly boring. Mostly it was just a group of old men and his fathers sitting in a room and discussing current events. It had been years since the planet had actually had a real crisis. Sighing, he tried to pay attention to what was being said.
"King Elios," a councilman said, addressing Aeleon's father, "It had been twenty years and no contact from Zelzior. They are more than our allies, they are our friends. Sire, you and the Queen were best friends with Zelzior's monarchs. Do you not wonder what has happened?"
"I do," Elios answered him, "I wonder every day. But without the portal open, there is very little we can do to change the situation. It is too dangerous to send a ship through the old mine field, unless you are willing to risk those lives?"
Now here was something Aeleon could find interest in. He dreamed of going to Zelzior. There had been a time when all the children of the council and of the King and Queen would cross the portal into Zelzior and spend a length of time on the other planet. Zelzior also sent the children of their own ruling class over to Oelae. Many came back with mates. It was even encouraged, although not mandated, that they find someone of the other planet to bond with. It led to good relations.
That was something that Aeleon was very thankful for. There was no such thing as an arranged marriage or a political marriage on Oelae. The royals could marry Zelzians, commoners, or abstain from marriage at all. Love was what was important. Aeleon had heard tales of other nations whose rulers were forced into wedlock with people they did not know and did not love. He could think of little worse than that.
At nineteen, he was nearing that age where he would have been scheduled to go to Zelzior. However, no one had been to their sister planet in nearly twenty years. It was suspected that the portal had been broken on that side, although the claim was unsubstantiated. It seemed unfair to Aeleon that he would not be able to go. He longed to see the other planet more than anything else. His uncle had fallen in love with and eventually married a Zelzian woman he had met on his trip. She had told him of wondrous things. Blue skies, blue water, green grass. The same, and yet so different to his own world where the sky was a light green, the water a deep purple, and the grass a shining silver.
"What do you think Queen Aidnae?" the same councilman asked of his other father, snapping Aeleon out of his reverie.
"I think that if all other attempts at contact fail, then perhaps a ship should be sent through the mine field to check on our Zelzian brothers and sisters," the man said.
Oelae and Zelzior were unique governing systems in that the terms "King" and "Queen" were not gender specific. Typically, the king was the person who belonged to the royal bloodline and stood to inherit the throne, man or woman. The queen was whomever the king had chosen to marry. It was not uncommon for two males or for two females to marry and rule, such as Aeleon's fathers had done.
"Alright," Elios said, standing from his seat at the head of the table, his silver eyes scanning the room, "I believe this meeting is adjourned. We shall meet again in a week and further discuss our options with regard to Zelzior's silence.."
Slowly, the councilmen and women filed out of the room. Elios and Aidnae remained seated, waiting to see if their son wished to eat dinner with them that day. Usually they tried to eat together at least three times a week. They loved their son and Aeleon loved them deeply in return. However, like someone who is beginning to exert their independence from their parents, Aeleon was spending more and more time with his contemporaries and less with his parents.
"Aeleon, would you care to eat dinner with us tonight?" Elios asked of his son.
"Yes father," he said, smiling at the silver eyes that matched his own.
"Lovely. Let us go then," Aidnae said, leading his husband and son from the conference room and to a small dining room where platters had already been prepared.
"How had your day been?" Elios asked of his son.
"Good. I still can't get into the council meetings though."
"Ha!" Elios laughed, "That is not uncommon, my dear. When I was your age I always felt they were an awful bore. Hell, sometimes I still have trouble staying awake."
Aeleon grinned at his father, glad to know that his problem was not so uncommon. The meal progressed, the three family members talking and laughing, just catching up with each other. It had been a few days since they had all been able to sit down and enjoy each other and they were using the time to its fullest advantage.
Once the meal had finished, Aeleon turned suddenly serious and blurted out, "I wish to go to Zelzior."
His two fathers looked at each other for a moment before Aidnae said, "We know you do. I truly wish you could. I was able to go for the first time when I married your father. It is a beautiful place."
"It is just not possible right now," Elios said, looking sadly at his son.
"I understand.." Aeleon replied, looking down at his empty plate.
After several more minutes of conversation, the three broke up for the night. Elios and Aidnae went to their quarters while Aeleon went to where he spent most of the evenings he was not with his friends. Opening the door, he looked at the forlorn portal that resided in the room. It had not been used in twenty years, although it had been turned on nearly every day since then. Aeleon knew it was stupid to come here every night, turn the thing on, and hope against hope that it would not glow blue for once and allow him a glimpse of the world on the other side.
Already resigned to the fact that today would be no different than any other day, Aeleon didn't even look as he pushed the button and the machine sprung to life. His head snapped up however, when piercing screams filled the air. He locked his silver eyes onto the portal and watched in horror as a glowing green man mercilessly beat a Zelzian. He recognized the green man as a Cubrecht, one of the most detested groups of people in this solar system. This was not right.
Without a second though, Aeleon jumped through the portal and rolled to his feet on the other side. Pulling the bladed fans from his belt, he advanced on the Cubrecht.
"What the hell are you doing?!" he shouted angrily, taking a swipe at the man with his fans and slicing his arm open. The green man looked stunned for a moment before turning from the room to run for more guards. He had no idea who the pale, blue haired thing was, but he was taking no chances.
With the immediate threat to his person gone, Aeleon allowed himself to focus on the battered Zelzian. He strode toward to cowering man, taking in the blood and bruises, cringing and cooing as the man recoiled back in fear.
+++++
Trey was sure that he was going to die. He did not know how long the Cubrecht soldier had been beating him, but it seemed like an eternity.. He was on the verge of passing out when suddenly something shot through the mirror.
"Haec al lucifae swa ta doaega?! He heard the thing shout as it advanced on the guard. It sliced the guard's arm shortly before the guard turned tail and ran. Trey was frightened when it, no, he, turned his attention to him. He had never seen anything like that man before. He was small, probably only about five feet tall, light blue hair, silver eyes, very pale skin. To Trey he looked like a miniature, oddly colored version of his own people. He recoiled at the being turned his attention to him.
"Swa ta wael?" the pale man asked. Trey had no idea what he had been asked. The man spoke again, "Doae ta compra ma?"
Trey merely gazed at the man, wondering what he wanted and if he was going to be hurt again. He noticed as a light seemed to dawn in the small man's eyes as he cleared his throat and shook his head. Trey was surprised at what came next.
"Are you alright?" the man asked in perfect Zelzian. Trey only had the time to shake his head `no' before his vision went black and he fell unconscious.
Aeleon could hear running feet and he assumed more Cubrecht were coming. He might have been trained in fighting, but he couldn't expect to win in a fight where he was significantly outnumbered. Making a quick decision, he grabbed the unconscious Zelzian, struggling with the weight. The man was significantly larger than him. But the portal was only a few feet away...
Breathing heavy with the exertion, Aeleon looked up at six Cubrecht guards burst into the room. Pulling one last final time, he and his overly large dead weight fell through the portal. Frantically, Aeleon picked himself up off the ground and punched the `off' button on the portal.. No way did he want those guards following him through.
To be continued...
Author's notes: Well, that's it for now. If it's any good, leave a review at noonecory@yahoo.com. I really appreciate them and they make it so that I can know what you think of my story. I will also be doing any translations that need to be done down here.
Haec al lucifae swa ta doaega? = What the hell are you doing?
Swa ta wael? = Are you ok?
Doae ta compra ma? = Do you understand me?