Chapter Text
Gal
I'm practically floating down the halls of the Torrent, the taste of Ettian's kiss still burning brightly on my lips. A stupid grin is plastered on my face as I make my way back to my room and it feels like an unbearable weight has been lifted from my heart.
I'm staying. It was my choice. For the last few months is has felt like the whole galaxy stood between us, with no chance of our worlds returning to each other's orbit. But now...now Ettian and I can finally start rebuilding what we had, and I'll support him as Emperor no matter what. I'll no longer be a prisoner under him, but an equal at his side.
A thrill stutters through me and I think of what my mother would say if she could see me now. Good thing she can't.
I walk unaided and practically invisible back to my room, already counting down the minutes until Ettian returns. I enter the common living space and glance around. Wen is gone, probably training with Esperza, and I start to pace, trying to expel my nervous energy. I don't know what to do with myself now that my usual daily routine has been shaken so greatly. What do I do now that I'm free? How do I fit into all of this?
I sink onto the couch, exhaling sharply. My heartbeat is a staccato in my chest and I shamelessly replay the kiss Ettian and I shared against the Ruttin' Hell less than an hour ago, grounding myself in it.
Oh, the things I want to do to that boy.
I must have dozed off. The sound of the door opening startles my brain awake, shaking me from my thoughts. Ettian said he had a meeting this afternoon so it must be Wen returning from her training.
"Big news, Wen. We'll be getting a new roommate," I say lazily, forcing my heavy eyes open. The words stick in my throat and my heart rate spikes painfully as I begin to process what I'm seeing. Five people that are definitely not Wen enter the common room. They're dressed in lightweight black armored tac suits, and their faces are covered in tinted helmets.
And they have guns.
Panic rips through me as I remember the last time this happened, the last time someone tried to kill me. I barely escaped. And that guy didn't have a gun.
I don't have time to think or I'm dead. I surge forward, reaching for the knife I know Wen keeps hidden under the table next to the couch. I crash into the table, knocking over the lamp perched on it's surface and the bulb shatters against the floor. I can feel the hilt of the knife in my hands seconds before a stunner bolt hits my shoulder. The knife slips as my muscles spasm painfully, seizing from the hit. The blade falls and slices my arm. I fumble for it desperately, trying to push through the effects of the bolt but I only end up cutting myself more. My hands go numb.
Hells.
Blood drips from me as heavy, armored arms wrap tightly around my chest from behind, forcing the air out of my lungs before I can yell. I kick off the ground and instinctively snap my head back, forgetting about those ruttin' helmets until it's too late. My vision wavers and I feel myself begin to go limp, cursing my stupidity. A gag is forced into my mouth and I choke. Bile rises in my throat and I muster the last of my energy to struggle desperately against the body holding me, a familiar fury boiling within me.
Then I hear a sickening crack and feel a sharp pain in my temple just as everything goes black.
Ettian
My leg is bouncing up and down uncontrollably and I'm barely hearing the words being spoken to the room. I'm on edge. All I can do is think about Gal and how happy I am and how much I do not want to be in this meeting right now.
To distract myself I start to go over the logistics of elevating him to a part of my staff. I expect resistance from the crew, as if having him around as a prisoner hasn't already caused people to question my decisions as Emperor. But my biggest worry lies with Maxo Iral. He's not going to like that I nearly let Gal go, and he's definitely not going to like that Gal chose to stay.
I decide he doesn't need to know that part.
Two unbearable hours slip by and I resist the urge to check my watch impatiently. I think I've ironed out all the details of Gal's integration and I'm anxious to talk about it with him. His smile flashes across my mind and I can't help but smile at myself like a kid with a crush.
Suddenly, my datepad chimes loudly from my pocket, sending all eyes to me. I wince apologetically and take a quick glance at the screen, intending to silence it and return it to it's pocket when I my brain registers what the message says.
It's from Wen.
Five words.
'Gal's gone. Get here NOW.'
A cold dread settles over me and I rise abruptly to my feet, once again forcing everyone to look at me. I barely acknowledge them. I'm out of the room in a heartbeat, the door closing behind me and cutting off Esperza's questioning call after me.
I run as fast as I can through the labyrinth of halls, my heart pounding wildly in my ears. I stop only to gasp against the walls of the lift as it pulls me to the floor where Gal and Wen's rooms are. Questions with no answers rattle through me. What did Wen mean, Gal's gone? He said he'd stay here, said he'd stay with me. What changed? Did someone convince him to change his mind?
The lift ride is agonizing and I slip through the doors as soon as they part enough for me to squeeze out. I continue to run.
Finally, I round the last corner and see Wen, encased in her powersuit, standing outside the doorway. Her face is bloodless and white and her eyes grip mine with a look that scares me. I come to a stop in front of her. I breathe hard and fast, forcing air into my lungs enough to ask,
"Where is he?"
"Ettian..." her voice breaks and that scares me more than anything. I push past her and open the door, barreling into the room where Gal should be, knowing he won't be. I freeze in my tracks as nausea rolls through me.
There's blood. There's blood and a broken lamp. There's blood and the side table is knocked over.
There's blood. There's blood. There's blood.
I grab onto the wall for support.
I hear Wen call my name but her voice sounds like it's coming from a mile away.
"Someone," I gasp. "Someone took him. Someone got in." This wasn't supposed to happen.
Wen is speaking again but I can't process it. She moves in front of me, forcing my attention to her.
"Ettian. A ship launched less than two hours ago from the Torrent," she said quietly. I try to focus on the shape of her words. "The override was approved by General Iral."
My blood runs cold and I stop breathing.
No no no no no, this can't be happening. How did he find out?
"We need to go after them. We need to stop him!" I manage. Wen shakes her head softly like I knew she would.
"Ettian, that was two hours ago. They could be anywher-"
"We're going after him!" I yell at her. Even as the words leave me I know it's impossible. She's right. There is no way to track them.
They're gone.
I slide down the wall to the ground, my head buried in my hands.
Wen steps back and looks back at Gal's attempt to fight off his attackers. I don't see as her face molds itself into one of deep contemplation, but I hear as she quickly moves to enter her adjoining room. Only when she returns to my side, muttering "Rocks and rust, I forgot about this" do I look up. She hands me an earpiece, crams it's twin into her own ear and draws out her datapad.
"I planted bugs in Gal's clothes in case he ever tried to escape," she explains hurriedly. She thumbs through her transmission applications. "They were ruttin' expensive and I doubt we'll pick up anything if they've gone luminal, so don't get your hopes up." She's ranting, no doubt trying to get her own nerves in check. I stare at her.
"You bugged him?" I asked.
"And you," she admits, continuing before I can curse. "I've never needed to use them!" she defends herself. "It's not like I was listening to yo-" she stops suddenly.
Iral's voice, though faint and muffled, is unmistakable in our ears.
We both hold out breath. Then, closer and louder, we hear a soft groan.
My heart stops.
Gal.
"That's way too clear for them to be off the ship," Wen says, surging to her feet in an instant.
I scramble up after her. The Torrent is over 20 miles long with thousands of places they could be. But if Gal was here, I would find him.
Wen calls up another feed on her datapad.
"Can you track him?" I ask, desperation leaking into my voice. Her lips go tight as she shakes her head grimly.
"I didn't think he'd actually run," she admits. "Not with you here. The bugs were expensive enough as it is."
I slump against the wall and strain to hear what Iral is saying. Wherever Gal is, Iral seems to be a good distance away from the bug. I listen for Gal again but he's gone quiet.
Wen taps on her pad and she's clearly called up another line.
"Hanji, it's me," she says, casting me a glance and ignoring my questioning look. "Time to get yourselves out of there. Iral has Gal and they're somewhere on this ship. We need to find him and fast. Ettian and I have a line but Gal can't hear us." She listens for a moment and then nods. "Keep me posted."
"You need to make an announcement ship-wide," she says to me before I can speak. "Someone has to have seen Iral, if not Gal being hauled off somewhere. Let him know you're after him and ask for any information anyone has."
I nod numbly and push myself from the wall. I cross the room with a growing determination and set my sights on the computer panel laid into the opposite wall. I reach up to enter the commands and then freeze.
"Watch and remember, Iva emp-Umber." Iral's voice is suddenly clear in my ear and my heart clenches. "Watch as your heir suffers, just as you made my brother suffer. Watch as his bloodright spills from him."
There's a moment of silence.
I'm not breathing.
Then I hear the unmistakable sound of metal hitting bone, and that bone is breaking.
And suddenly Gal is screaming.
Gal
I handled the knife being sliced across my skin with a merciful lack of self awareness.
My head swam and I was too busy maneuvering through the dizziness to really make sense of what was happening. I felt the cold metal run itself all over me, again and again, but I only ever felt a dull pressure accompanying it.
I had woken up from the darkness to Maxo Iral looming over me and he immediately began trying his best to beat me back to senselessness. The stunner bolt left me too weak to do anything but take it, but Iral hit and kicked with such a fury that I don't think I could have fought back even if I wanted to. A final kick to the head before they strung me up was enough to distract me from any other pain they inflicted.
That is, until Iral annihilated my leg with a metal rod.
The immediate and overwhelming pain of it snaps me from my stupor and I can't help but scream. I can feel the bones grating together as they break within my knee. Iral pulls back and hits again. My kneecap is reduced to a gory, broken mess as my left leg bends impossibly in the wrong direction. I seize against the chains holding me in the air, my screams echoing loudly in the small room. Every movement sends fresh waves of pain streaking into my leg as the bones move where they're not supposed to and I struggle to remain conscious.
Or maybe I shouldn't.
Iral is saying something but I can't hear him over the blood pounding in my ears. I know he's speaking to my mother. I know he's broadcasting this. For HER. His long awaited revenge for the death of his brother is finally at hand.
And I know I'm going to die here.
I close my eyes and grind my teeth against my screaming. I try to force myself back into the comforting blackness of unconsciousness, away from this nightmare come true. I should have known better than to stay on a ship with Archon's most feared General and Umber's deadliest enemy. I should have known better.
Ettian's voice suddenly rips through the room and I open my eyes, my heart hitching. I look for him through my unclear vision, confused when I don't see him. Iral has gone still and everyone in the room is listening intently.
"...has taken a high value member of this ship hostage." Ettian's voice slowly breaks through my fog and I soak in the music of his voice despite myself. "I repeat: General Maxo Iral has committed an act of treason against the Archon Empire and his location is unknown. He is believed to be armed and dangerous. Anyone who has any information about the traitor's whereabouts are commanded to report it to me immediately."
The message repeats one last time and I allow myself a fleeting moment of hope. Ettian. He's looking for me. He's going to find me. I hold back a sob of relief, lowering my head to my chest.
Iral sighs heavily and I hear him turn to face me.
"It seems we're running out of time, your majesty," he growls. "But don't worry, I'll make sure not a single second is wasted." The fear returns then, heavy and consuming. He steps over to a console in the middle of the room, shoving past one of his armored guard. He flicks a switch and a soft hum echoes around me, coming from the chains over my head and the collar attached to my neck. I have no time to process what's happening and I realize too late it wouldn't help even if I did.
Iral presses a button and my body is seized be the electricity suddenly coursing through it. My jaw locks up so that I'm screaming through my teeth. Every muscle in my body is pulled taut and I can't help but think about Iral's brother, dying on an electrified crucifix, and I wonder if he regretted taking Iral's place in the end.
The pain intensifies as my broken leg is given new attention. It builds into a crescendo until I feel like my heart will give out.
Finally my brain takes the route of self-preservation and I sink willingly and quickly back into the darkness.
Ettian
"Wen!," I yell. My barely suppressed panic threatens to overtake me as the feed goes quiet in my ear.
"I know!" she yells back. I'm holding onto her for dear life as she rips through the Torrent's halls, her power suit propelling us at dizzying speeds through the ship. Hanji reported finding a broadcast eating up most of the ship's transmission data being sent on a private channel from the ship, and she followed it's scattered path directly to the Umber Interior. That explains Iral's one-sided conversation with Iva. The video shows Iral, Gal, and a handful of armored guards in a room that Hanji - thank the gods for her - recognized as similar to the storage bays on deck 8.
Wen and I are on deck 34.
Hanji had sent me the broadcast but I haven't been able to open it, terrified of what I'll see. Gal's desperate and raw screams are a sound I'll never be able to forget and the thought of seeing what is being done to him makes my stomach churn.
But as the feed falls quiet I'm desperate to know that he's alive.
I scramble for my datapad and press the playback button on Hanji's message.
Gal's is hanging by his wrists in the middle of a well lit room. His body is limp. His chin is sunken into his chest as blood runs in frantic lines down his body and drips at his feet.
I let out a strangled sob.
"Hanji says he just passed out," Wen yells over her jets, sensing my distress. "Iral's giving him hell but Gal's fighting through it."
She leaps to the opening of one of the ship's emergency hatches and wrenches off the cover. The metal tears easily in her grip, exposing a long drop down at least 10 floors. A metal ladder hangs from the side of the tube and I shove the datepad into my pocket to grab onto Wen tighter. She grabs the edges of the ladder and kicks out her legs, sending us into a controlled fall that leaves me holding my breath. We land heavy and every bone in my body is jarred painfully with the impact.
"Hanji and the others are approaching floor 8 but it's still a ruttin' big ship," she reports, turning to the next hatch. "We're going to be cutting it close. But the feeds on that floor were cut, so at least we know we're on his tail."
I know she's trying to keep me calm, to talk me though this so I don't get lost inside myself. It's too late. Gal's hanging body is seared into my memory.
As we land another 10 floors down I hear a ping from my datapad. Wen pauses as I pull it from my pocket, frantically reading over the message. Relief floods though me.
"Someone reported seeing Iral on level 8, section 12, pushing a storage container into one of the rooms, but they don't know which one. Iral didn't see them," I tell Wen. She springs into action, yelling over her comms to the Wraiths and wasting no time in hurling us down the last set of levels. "They're in section 12! Gal's counting on us, people, get your asses over there now!"
We're almost there, Gal. Hang on just a little longer, I plead.
Gal
I'm wrenched from the darkness by the smell of burning flesh and the pain of a white-hot iron being pressed into my stomach. I've already screamed myself raw but I manage to find a voice for the pain once again. I end up gagging on the smell, the smoke drifting into my nose and coating it. Iral is sneering at me from the end of the brand with a crazed mania I've never seen before. He rips the metal from my skin and it tears sickeningly. I dry heave, acrid bile burning my throat and sending tears to my eyes.
I gasp for breath and start to hyperventilate. My chest tightens, every movement sending pain piercing to my leg, my stomach, my head -everywhere. It's inescapable.
I can feel myself breaking.
I won't beg. I won't beg, I tell myself.
But seven hells do I want to.
Everything is pain and fear within me, with no relief in sight.
I realize I'm not getting enough oxygen. I don't know how long I've been here and I try pointlessly to remember the last time I could feel my arms. The way I'm hanging makes it extremely difficult to get air from my lungs, and my poorly timed panic attack is making it a thousand times worse.
My head starts to pound as my heartbeat reverberates in my skull. There's a strange noise that I begin to realize is me wheezing pathetically.
"Witness your heir's final moments," Iral says and I wonder briefly who he's talking about. I struggle vainly to remember why I'm here. Who is Iral talking to?
The room is tilting sideways.
"I only wish I could see the look on your face, Iva," Iral continues, spitting with rage. "Ask yourself if it was worth it. Ask yourself if killing thousands of people, if killing my brother, is worth your son's pathetic life."
My vision is swimming, black dots scattering, and I blink hard. I don't know if I'm breathing. I see someone who could be Iral standing at the center console once again. A far too distant memory tugs at me and I realize something bad is about to happen.
"Please," I whisper, barely able to form the word.
But no one hears me.
Ettian
"WEN!" I scream against her. I know she's heard it too. Gal is about to die.
She flies us around another corner, leaving scorch marks in the floor. The Wraiths have split up, searching each room with a frantic determination but they haven't found him yet. There are still at least two dozen storage rooms down here.
Wordlessly, Wen fires a shot from her hand cannon, obliterating a stack of storage crates against the far wall. The sound of it echoes within my earpiece.
"We're close," she calls, sprinting for the furthest door and kicking it off it's hinges. I drop from her back and stagger forward but the room is empty. Wen's already at the next door, all but obliterating it. We hear that through the bug.
"Corridor 3!" she yells to Hanji as she moves to the next door. It crumbles effortlessly and Wen's sword is already drawn by the time she enters. I hear bolt fire a moment later and kick on my armor plating, charging in after her.
The first thing I see is Gal.
Convulsions wrack his body and foam has formed at the corners of his mouth. His head is tilted back and I only see the whites of his eyes. Wen's armor deflects multiple shots as she propels herself towards a console in the middle of the room, slicing through anyone who gets within reach. She brings her sword up and jams it into the controls, causing sparks to fly out of the machine and the lights to flicker. Gal's head slumps forward as the electricity is powered off, and his eyes close but his body is still twitching visibly.
I hear the Wraiths enter behind me and they immediately begin shooting into the guards.
"Move, Ettian!" Rin yells to me and I realize I've been frozen where I stand. The lights flicker again and I see Iral through the chaos, close to Gal. Too close.
Then I see the blade.
I move then, tearing across the room to tackle Iral bodily into the floor. The knife clatters from his hand and I straddle his chest, plunging my fists into his face. I don't get too many hits in before he throws me off, his size and weight far exceeding mine. My head hits the floor with a dull crack and he's leaning over me, wild-eyed and ferocious. Before either of us can act, Wen has him by his neck and throws him hard across the room. Iral crumples to the floor, his eyes closed.
"Hanji, Ollins," she yells. "Help me get Gal down from there. Rin, call a medical team, now! Rhodes, get Iral out of here and secured somewhere far away from Gal." The Wraiths move into action, their faces grim and pale. Wen slices through the camera presumably still broadcasting to Umber and moves towards Gal.
I stagger to my feet and plant myself in front of him, trying to hold myself together as I take hold of his thighs. Hanji and Ollins are bracing him under his blood soaked arms as Wen slices cleanly through the chains holding Gal up. He falls into our arms, and I support him from below as we all gently lower him to the ground. Ollins looks like he's going to be sick.
I scramble to Gal's head and frantically unclasp the collar on his neck, flinging it aside to check for a pulse. I wait, not breathing, for far too long.
Then I feel a faint rhythm under my fingers and I let out a choking sob of relief. Tears pour from my eyes as I cradle Gal's head in my lap, stroking his blood and sweat soaked hair away from his face. I hear others crying but I don't lift my eyes from Gal's broken face to see who it is. He's too pale and I can barely tell he's breathing. He's lost a lot of blood. I glance down at his stomach and I'm hit with a wave of nausea.
The familiar fire brand is one we use for storage crates to denote Archon supplies. The same brand is now permanently seared into Gal's skin.
Property of The Archon Empire.
For a moment I wish Iral was still in here so I could kill him myself.
Gal moves ever so slightly under my touch. My attention is brought back to his face immediately, my heart surging. I blink through my tears and study him. His eyes are fluttering rapidly and the faintest moan escapes his lips.
"Gal," I breathe. "Gal, can you hear me?"
I see his eyes move under his lids and I wait until I can see his pupils peeking through his eye lashes. They're searching, but not seeing.
"Gal, you're going to be ok," I assure him, my voice thick with emotion. "I'm here. You're going to be ok."
His eyes roll back again and his breath starts to stutter.
"Where is that ruttin' medical team?" Wen suddenly yells at Rin.
"It's only been a few minutes, they're still at least 5 minutes out," Rin answers shakily.
"Tell them we don't have time," Wen snaps.
I look at her abruptly, my carefully held panic coursing back through me at her words. Wen looks at me helplessly with a deep sadness mixed with...
pity.
She won't look at Gal.
"No, no, no, no, no," I whisper and my body starts to shake. "Gal please. Gal, stay with me." My voice is high and pleading. His breathing is becoming more and more strained, the inhales and exhales not deep enough. I feel his body sink even heavier into me.
"Gal! Stay with me, please! I need you." I cup his face in my hands, stroking his cheeks and trying desperately not to shake him awake. My tears hit his face, mixing with his blood. "Please, Gal," my voice is a whisper now. "Please."
An overwhelming, unbearable heaviness settles over the room. It feels like we're trapped in this moment for eternity, everyone watching helplessly as Gal slips further and further away from us.
Voices finally cut through our silence, faint and coming from the hall. Rin scrambles to the door and barrels into the hallway. "Here!" she yells, beckoning the medical team to our location.
"Holy hells," Someone says in shocked disbelief. Three medical staff kneel around us but I barely register their presence.
Gal has gone very still in my arms.
"Your highness, we need to get him to the medical ward," one of the team says to me firmly, but with a practiced gentleness. Her hand is on my shoulder.
"Ettian," Wen says softly. The cool metal of her power suit glove wrap around my bicep, ready to lead me away from Gal. One of the medical crew takes support of Gal's head as I allow myself to be led back by Wen. She helps me get unsteadily to my feet but I find I can't stand without her support. My whole body feels numb.
We all watch in heavy silence as the medical team lifts Gal into their mobile unit, securing him quickly.
They're all avoiding my gaze.
And then they're leaving, Gal floating between them in his sterile medical cocoon.
And the emptiness I feel inside from his absence is enough to send me to my knees.