Star Rebellion (43 page)

              I slammed a fist against the armrest, not caring about the strange look I got from Moscow's guards. Life wasn't that simple. Just saying I would change meant nothing, not unless there were actions to prove the words. I may be able to see the future, but there was nothing I could do to change the past. No one had that privilege. But the demons... outside of the ones we had encountered on Calsh, I have not seen what they have done. But I could see what happened. Visions had taken my mind at times, showing me innocent families sitting down to eat from plates of food, and demons crashing through front windows, tearing them apart. I could see the blood that was left in their wake, the flaming cities and crying, orphaned children. I could see what the chaos made people do, neighbor turning on neighbor all in the name of survival.

              In some neighborhoods, guns killed more than demons. People stole food from the houses of the family they just murdered. Others raided banks and stores, stealing money. Why, when if the apocalypse was near, money would be irrelevant. Others took food and supplies from stores, only slightly more moral than those who killed then stole. Everywhere, though, everywhere there was blood and fear. Fear invaded the smallest of hearts, the kindest of people. People who didn't deserve the chilling dismemberment from the demons had to suffer. The demons had no conscious. They killed and feasted, burned and infected. The only thing I can give them credit for is that there was no rape. Not from them at least. Others I cannot say are as decent. I saw visions of people who were worse than the demons. They forced others to do as they wished, saying they would be protected if they did. As soon as their use was up, the master would throw them into the streets. Laughing at their gullibility.

              Moms tried to protect children, using their own bodies as shields. Lovers held each other until death's embrace. Humanities darkest traits were shown as the demons invaded. The demons were the tripline. What this has taught me is that no one can resist the urge to live.

              No matter how much I apologized or tried to right my wrongs, those deaths would haunt me through my life. I would be remembered as the one who helped set the demons loose, whether on purpose or not. And not just the deaths caused by demons. Sunstar. Oh Sunstar, she I would never forget, her dying screams echoing in my dreams. She may have been the one who walked off the path, but I was to blame. I convinced her and the others to make the journey with me into the Underworld. If I had never done that, she would be alive. Icestar would not have been injured. Demons wouldn't be here. Waterstar and Darkstar probably would not have continued past Vladimir's chamber if I hadn't shown up. How would they have expected to beat Cerberus and Lucifer with just the two of them? It was my fault that we continued, it was my fault the demons were here, it was all my fault, and I would have to live with it.              

              From now on I swear I would not just consider myself, nor my team, nor Star Rebellion. Anything big, anything with consequence, I would consider all who are involved. I would view the morality of what happens, and I vow to do what is best for all of those involved. A momentous feat, one that would be hard. I will carry the burden of the past, and try to make the future better. I had to. It was the only way I would be able to live with myself from now on. I would not be like the Russian terrorists, or like the selfish members of the NOPCW. I wouldn't be the greedy businessmen, or like the arrogant soldiers in Star Rebellion. I would be hope.

Chapter 25: When in Rome, Do as the Romans Do

WATERSTAR

              I was shaken awake by Icestar as the plane lost altitude to land. I groggily opened my eyes and yawned, all the while not realizing that I was leaning against Icestar. I sat back up and muttered an apology while threading my fingers through my hair. Icestar barely smiled and shook his head before pointing out the window.

              I followed his gaze and peered into the dark landscape. As we lost altitude, lights started popping up everywhere, until we were in the midst of all of them.

              My first impression of Rome was that it was huge. I hadn’t seen much of Beijing when we had flown out of it, but here… here it was incredible, and beautiful. It looked like everything was made out of stone.

              I looked at my watch and almost had a panic attack before I remembered the time difference. After doing the calculation, I realized that we had actually made it here early. Barely, but still early.

              I was definitely cheerful as we got off of the plane until Mr. Beijing asked us where we were supposed to go. I paused for a second, grasping for any memory. I knew Arctic had told us, but I just couldn’t remember where.

              Icestar’s hand touched my wrist briefly before he answered. “Within Vatican City, near the Pope’s lodging.”

              Mr. Beijing nodded his head and smiled at both of us before commanding one of his men to grab a taxi. I wondered if Chinese and Italian were somewhat similar or if we were all at a language loss now.

              In the end, we needed three taxis, and it took quite a lot of arguing on my part to convince Beijing’s guard that Ice and I would be the ones in his taxi. They certainly were not happy about it, but I didn’t trust any of them as fighters. Beijing was more important than their happiness.

              I wondered if Arctic was already at the rendezvous spot and if someone from the Divine team was with him. I kind of hoped that Vladimir would be there, but the most logical person to send would probably have been Foreststar. He was human after all.

              The cars were slow, and I was able to puzzle together that we were only taking a quarantined path. What gave this away the most was when one of the wooden barricades had been broken down and three demons swarmed out. The Italian guards were automatically on them and our cars were speeding away before I had a chance to join in the tussle. The Italians really seemed good at this sort of thing.

              Icestar smiled once again at my sullen expression since I hadn’t been allowed to participate in the fight.

              When we finally got to Vatican City, it was pushing ten o’clock, and when I voiced this aloud, Beijing said, “Patience, my dear.”

              I remembered how last time he had called me a child and decided that this was at least a bit of an improvement. I didn’t really have time to be angry with him because I could already see the silver of Arctic’s hair.

              Icestar and I exited the car first, and Beijing took a place between us. I was in the lead, and I could hear the angry shouts of the Chinese guards that I had already started approaching Arctic without waiting for them.

              There was no greeting. “Fire and Dark?” I asked hesitantly.              

              “Here,” Arctic chuckled as I sighed a dramatic sigh of relief. “They are already in the Apostolic Palace, resting from their journey. They have refused to tell me what exactly happened in Russian until you were here to hear the story, but just so you know, Darkstar brought back a Direwolf.”

              I swear my eyes were gleaming by the time Arctic finished this. I had always wanted to see an actual Direwolf. I sprinted off toward the palace and heard the heavy footsteps as Icestar followed. I wasn’t even going to wait for directions; I’m sure someone inside could point me to where the boys were. It was kind of hard to forget about a giant wolf and fiery-haired guy.

              As I ran at the double door entrance, I really hoped it wasn’t locked. I wasn’t slowly down, and I hit the knob on the right and sent a thankful thought to whomever it concerned before running into the palace.

              It was even more beautiful than Rome.

              I can’t even explain how beautiful it was, from the ornate glass to the lighting fixtures, even the decorations of the walls were astounding. Or maybe it was because I had lived my entire life in Calsh where luxurious things were too impractical for the savage land.

              Either way, one in about five brain cells were wasted on admiring the décor before I dashed down a hallway, looking for someone. Finally, I came across a man dressed in a red robe with white accents.

              “Excuse me, sir!” I shouted as he was about to disappear down a hall.             

              “Can I help you?” he asked in surprisingly fluent English, except his vowels sounded deeper.

              “You speak English?” Oh brilliant, Waterstar, truly brilliant.

              “Your surprise is understood, young one.” The man smiled at me and I didn’t even bother getting upset about his term for me. I guess it was an Earth thing. “I am the British Cardinal, so yes, I speak English.”

              I faintly remembered something in my history class about how the British were one of the first to colonize Calsh. Maybe we were related.

              “Cool, but have you seen a giant wolf along with two guys, one has fire red hair, and the other has pitch black hair?”

              “Yes, you could hardly miss them. I take it you two are from Calsh?” I nodded my head for the only answer. “I will take you and your friend to them.”

              I glanced behind me to see Icestar, standing silent as usual.

              We followed the cardinal through multiple halls and I wondered how he could memorize such a route. It was a tad disturbing. Finally, we ended up in a large room that seemed dwarfed by the wolf curled up in the center. It had rustled black fur with hints of burgundy, and when it opened an eye to see who had entered the room, the same burgundy color stared out at me.

              “Be sure not to frighten it, I have been told that the beast is peaceful, but you can never-” the cardinal didn’t have time to finish as I rushed toward the wolf, sliding on my knees the last three feet to its head.

              The wolf raised its snout at me and sniffed. He didn’t seem to be angry or anything and I slowly held up a hand and stroked his fur. As I scratched behind an ear, the wolf start panting and I swear if he could smile, he would.

              I laughed and gave him a kiss on the end of his snout before standing. “I will be back for more love! I must check on my friends.” I walked a few paces to where two beds were sitting before turning back to the wolf. “And thank you for keeping them safe.”

              The wolf seemed to nod his head before laying it back on the floor, eyes closed. Icestar edged around it, seemingly unafraid, but definitely not taking any chances by foolishly being off guard.

              I finished making my way to the beds and stood in between them. Both of my friends were asleep, Firestar snoring a bit through his open mouth while it appeared the slightest touch could wake Darkstar.

              “They’re alive,” I whispered to Ice. Out of the peripheral of my eye, I could see him nod. His silver spikes were back to perfection.

              I pushed some hair out of Firestar’s eyes before sighing. They were alive, and asleep. No time to swap stories yet.

              I wondered where Mr. Moscow was. The fact that they were here meant he was. We were Calshians, and wouldn’t have returned from a mission to sleep if it hadn’t been successful.

              I felt something nudge my back and turned around. The wolf was staring at me and it lightly took the sleeve of my hoodie between its teeth and pulled a bit before letting go and walking away, looking over its shoulder to see if I would follow.

              I caught up in no time and felt Icestar at my shoulder. We followed the wolf back outside where Arctic was still standing in wait for a messenger from the Divine. I wondered what was taking them so long, and if it was a good or bad omen that they weren’t here yet. The wolf left back into the building, probably going to stand watch over the guys some more.

              “How was China?” Arctic asked.

              “I’ll wait until they’re awake.”

              “Should’ve guessed.”

              “Anything happen here while Ice and I were inside?”

              Arctic looked down at me and smirked. “I really want to know what you did in China. Mr. Beijing was very excitable and happy with you. I had a conference with him and Moscow, and both seemed very agreeing to halting all possible attack on each other.”

              I nodded, not really paying much attention now. “That’s good.”

              Arctic looked away. “Maybe. Something might have happened to them, a threat if they didn’t comply. It concerns me more than alleviates my fears. We need every world power in control of themselves and their country.”

              I shrugged, not sure what to say. I wasn’t one for politics. I turned away from my commander and sat down on the fountain that was in the courtyard, tempted to see what would happened if I entered the warm waters. It really was surprising how warm it was for nighttime.

              Icestar eventually took a seat next to me. He pulled his knees up to his chin and sat like a tombstone standing vigil over a grave. I swear it had been like five minutes before he blinked.

              I looked up to the sky where everyone else was looking, though I wasn’t sure why. I didn’t think it would be the most brilliant idea if they fell out of the sky. I mean, yea, angels could fly and all, but I didn’t think Vladimir could, and I knew Forest definitely could not.