Adult-FanFiction.org : Games

Turned On	By : blackwaltz0 Category: +M through R > Phantasy Star Views: 2172 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Phantasy Star, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 21
- 22
- 23
"We've really done it� we retrieved the eclipse torch�" Kyra said slowly out loud, trying to convince herself of
that almost impossible fact. She and the rest of her team were all standing
around in the darkest depths of Lassic's lair save
for Rune, who was lying unconscious and prone on the floor.
His staff was trapped underneath him and he was
lying perfectly still. Rune really had saved the day and their
collective backsides in one fell swoop. There was nothing left of the dark
magician Lassic apart from the finest ash scattered
around the area, enjoying the same fate as his three lowly servants. All was
quiet save for the bubbling of lava and the breathing of Rune's friends. Rika
was the one left holding the ancient torch and it flickered with a warm and
friendly glow, trying to dispel the dark.
As Kyra tried to judge whether this was a dream or
not Wren knelt and checked to see whether the fallen magician was still alive.
There may have been additional injuries Rune had sustained while away from his
friends and lost through the gate into the other world. Visually he seemed
older now, if only no more than a few years or so, causing Wren to wonder
exactly what it was that the Lutz had experienced in the minutes following his
disappearance. If they had been minutes and not longer, he corrected
himself. "He is alive and breathing, though I surmise he must be beyond
exhausted." He said.
Kyra started to giggle as Wren picked up Rune,
simply amazed. Honestly she hadn't expected them to actually do it, merely
try, hold out for a little while if possible, but inevitably fail and be
defeated. The thought of them walking off to their graves had made her feel
sick inside, but really what else could they have done? Wait for the black
energy wave to grow strong enough and claim them? Long story short Kyra could hardly believe their great success.
Even while unconscious Rune maintained something of a death-grip on his laconian stave. Chaz peered around his surroundings and
also realised the enormity of their accomplishment. Above all they had
survived. None of his friends had died. For now they were back on top again.
"Wahoo!" The young hunter shouted, leaping and pumping a fist
into the air, his shout echoing and bouncing off the cold stone walls.
He was answered by a low, earthy rumble. For a second Chaz thought that
maybe he had shouted too loudly and had set off some kind of chain reaction,
causing something of a stone avalanche. He looked at his friends and the
darkness surrounding them. Rika with the torch in her arms, Kyra
pale and shaky with happy disbelief, and Wren calmly carrying Rune. The
darkness and the rumbling were incredibly claustrophobic, but it was so much
better than having to listen to Lassic's hysterical
laughter anymore.
"Um�" He said softly, as if guilty for causing the sound.
"What is that? Please don't tell me there's more�"
"Give me a moment to analyse this." Wren requested as he shifted
Rune a little in his grasp. It didn't look like he was doing anything different
than before, but Chaz knew that behind those grey eyes hundreds of minute
calculations were being made in order to ascertain and explain the potentially
dangerous situation. Chaz wasn't sure how the he did it exactly, but he trusted
the wren-type's judgement.
He blinked and looked up, focussing on Chaz, and the boy knew that Wren had
gotten hold of something. "Without Rune's ready opinion I am only able to
speculate." He warned Chaz and the others as the rumbling kicked up a
notch. "Remember that the Air
Castle was partially consumed
by faint rips in the time-space continuum. These rips were called into being
through Lassic's willpower and magical abilities.
With Lassic removed I can only assume that those rips
have also ceased to exist, removing the contained matter they were projected
upon with them."
"What does that mean?" Chaz asked. Anything coming from the world
of quantum was completely lost on him, even if Wren seemed to be trying to
explain it in terms he should be able to understand. Judging from the
expressions on Rika and Kyra's faces it wasn't very
good news. Rika had been educated by Wren and Seed and Kyra's
magic focussed specifically on those very matters of time and space. Chaz felt
kind of stupid in comparison.
"You don't mean�" Kyra said in a low
tone, her good cheer replaced by dread.
"The foundation has been severely compromised. The Air Castle
is crumbling." Wren concluded to the detriment of all.
The information hit them all rather hard. They were all trapped in the very
bowels of the castle, even if they ran as quickly as they possibly could they
would never reach the Landale in time. A huge chunk
of the ceiling broke away and fell through the darkness into the lava pit,
sending up a flurry of superheated molten rock. Fortunately it had been nowhere
near Chaz and his company, yet it was still far too close for comfort.
Chaz nearly burst a blood vessel. In situations like these all the pressure
was thrust upon him, and he had a pretty consistent record of panicking while
under stress. Chaz practically fluffed up like a cornered animal and started to
shout. "Oh gods, we have to do something! We're trapped! We have to get out
of here! We've got to escape quickly!" This was followed by some
arm-flapping and desperate glances in the hopes of locating a sudden exit.
In the absence of Rune Kyra performed his duty for
him and kicked Chaz in the seat of his pants. It was the only way she knew of
to properly shut him up. "Calm down or you're gonna
make yourself faint! We don't need that right now! If Rune's out of the question
then we at least need to have you here and awake!" She yelled, now having
to shout over the din of the crumbling castle. Chaz just stared at her in
surprise, a hand on his backside where she had kicked him.
He still didn't seem to get it. Trust Chaz and his slow-working mind. If it
had been Rune they would have been safe by now. Though, they couldn't be too
callous to the boy; next to Rune this day had been harsher to him than anybody
else. "You can use your hinas technique to take
us back to the Landale." Rika piped up,
clarifying things for him.
Oh� right. Duh. In his panic he had completely
forgotten about that. Well, there was time to apologise for being an ass later.
Chaz held out his hands for the others to take. "Right.
Everybody join hands and whatever you do don't let go!" He instructed as
the floor cracked underneath him, darting like a lightning bolt through the
stone. The platform wasn't going to last for much longer.
Chaz took Rika's hand and touched Wren gently on his upper arm. Wren was already
holding Rune, and Kyra very firmly held onto Rika.
Together they were all connected and formed something of a chain. The hunter
closed his eyes and concentrated, telling himself that they needed to get out
of there, and fast. He visualized the Landale. That
was their safe haven and it was so close, so close�
Only Chaz and Rune could perform the hinas
technique, so this was entirely up to him. The four adventurers suffered a
feeling of intense displacement, the biological members of the team experiencing
something of a nauseating, woozy rush. Wren's universal positioning system
floundered for some moments as well, trying to re-establish where the hell it
was, then it found a general bearing and Wren was able to relax again.
The hunter smiled as the pressure on his mind was released. Ooh, using that
kind of technique never failed to make him a little tired. Chaz was about to
sigh and open his eyes in relief when he was yanked to the side firmly,
uttering a surprised squeak as Rika cinched her hand around his wrist and
hauled him up along the Landale's ramp. He had
forgotten that she was strong enough to do that; drag him around like a piece
of flapping cloth.
The exterior of the asteroid had drastically changed, huge great fissures
opening up in the already brittle stone. The bottom half of the Landale had already sunken down partly into one of those
fissures, making access to the ship treacherous and shaky. Kyra
had flown up to the entry hatch and had opened it for the others, letting in
Rika with Chaz and Wren with Rune. Judging by the state of things they only had
a few short minutes to get out of there.
The ship made a long creaky groan as it sank further and further into the
fissure. There was a definite slant to the floor now; Chaz felt that if he
wasn't holding onto Rika's hand he would have just slid away. Wren placed Rune
a little carelessly off to the side and ran past Chaz, somehow maintaining
perfect balance on his own. He went straight to the bridge and the pilot's
chair of the Landale, making hasty preparations for
immediate takeoff. The hunter wasn't sure what to do next except wait, but he
didn't want to be thrown onto the ground during the initial pressure of
takeoff.
Rune opened his eyes and groggily pushed himself up onto his knees. By checking
his surroundings he realised that he was no longer back where he thought he'd
be. The magician held his head as if he had a tremendous headache, but when he
asked what was going on it was Chaz he turned to first. He looked sort of sick,
so weak that it was hard to believe that this was the Rune which had bugged him
so often. "What� what happened to Lassic?"
Kneeling, Chaz put an arm around Rune's back to keep the esper
steady. Rika and Kyra had already run off into the
bridge area in order to see if Wren needed some help, leaving Chaz there alone
with Rune. "You fried him into ash," he reassured his friend,
"you did in a couple of seconds what the rest of us couldn't do at all.
Why do you always have to show off all the time? You gotta
be more careful."
"I could say the same of you." Rune replied, mostly referring to
Chaz's reckless behaviour in combat, but of other things also. He was beginning
to truly believe that Chaz was the one that Rune had been searching for his
whole life; the one who would follow in Rolf and Alis
Landale's footsteps. The one who would someday wield
the legendary sword, Elsydeon, but he was still not
sure. He would not act until he was absolutely, positively certain.
He was also slightly referring to Chaz with Wren in mind. Rune wasn't sure
that Chaz was aware of what had happened to him, but if he himself had found
out so easily then who else knew about it? Rune and the boy both lurched as the
Landale gave another full-bodied bump. They could
only begin to imagine what the asteroid outside looked like now. Chaz clung to
Rune and the esper let him, but only because he was
exhausted and far too tired to shove him away.
Maybe it was because he was so tired in the first place that he was able ask
this next question without much thought as to what Chaz's reaction might be.
Frankly he didn't care; he just wanted to see if he was right or not. "Hey
shorty, are you gay? Are you a nancy boy or
something?" He asked casually as the outside world collapsed all around
them.
It took a moment for the hunter to grasp the query, and when he did it was
like Kyra had crept up behind him and kicked him in
the pants all over again. Chaz gaped at the smarmy smirking Rune. "Wh-what?
Why the heck would you ask me that at a time like this? Did you leave your brain
out there somewhere in the other dimension, Rune?" He demanded,
flabbergasted.
"Nah, I just always figured that you were. I mean, you've got Rika
hanging around you practically at all hours of the day but I don't think you've
even touched her once. If you're not gay, Chaz, then you're the greatest
idiot I or any of the other Lutzes have seen in our
lifetimes." The esper explained in an a-matter-of-factly tone. Hell, he would have hit on Rika
himself long ago if he had not been grieving for Alys
at the time.
"So you decide to question my sexuality and call me names while the Landale is probably halfway to falling into a fissure and
certain doom?" Chaz accused in sheer disbelief and indignation.
"Given the circumstances that we might not live for much longer I just
thought I'd clear up a loose end and make sure I was right! There is no
better time!" Rune shouted over the clamour of the engines and the intense
rumbling outside, coming in as vibrations through the walls. The sound had been
growing steadily in volume ever since they had all leapt inside, and now it was
becoming unbearable.
"If you plan on dragging somebody into a closet and doing awful things
to them for one last fling before we die then go and grab Kyra
instead! If you even try to do anything to me then I'll stick one of my
daggers right where you'd least enjoy it!" Chaz yelled right back,
blushing in self-consciousness for what he had just said.
And then all of a sudden there was comparative quiet. Wren had managed to
get the Landale off the surface of the asteroid and
back into deep, safe space. Actually, half of Chaz's shouting had been made
when all was quiet. He cringed when he heard the way that his voice seemed to
carry in the hallway of the ship. "�or maybe you'd like something like
that, I dunno�" He finished in a soft, dreadfully embarrassed murmur.
Rune regarded him as if Chaz had gone, well, completely bonkers. The
expression on the esper's face painted a picture that
was worth far more than a thousand words. "You� you think that I'm�"
He spluttered, choking out the words. Unexpectedly he started to laugh,
slapping Chaz weakly on the back. It was a riot. "Oh gods stop it Chaz, I
can hardly breathe well enough as it is! Too� too tired�"
"Huh?" Was all Chaz could say.
"I'd rather screw a bladeright with halitosis
than even consider touching you! Your height might be contagious,
I'd never wanna take the� hahaha�
chance�"
Chaz was understandably insulted. "Hey, I'm
not that bad." He protested, frowning.
The doorway to the bridge slid open again and the two girl came back to
check on Rune. They were a little surprised to see the Lutz awake so soon, held
up by a slightly disgruntled Chaz. Kyra went to them
immediately and pushed the boy out of the way. Rika kept her arms at her front,
holding their treasured torch while also trying to hold her ruined clothes
together. "That was far too close for comfort, but Wren says we're not out
of the woods just yet. Are you gonna come to the
bridge?"
Chaz climbed grumpily to his feet while Kyra shook
Rune so hard that she may have expected candy to fall out of him if she tried.
He pushed away just to make her stop, holding Kyra by
the shoulders, but then she dove forward and grabbed him in a big bear hug,
throwing Rune flat on his back. Chaz nudged the both of them with a boot.
"Yeah, I might as well. I might get an eyeful of something gross if I stay
here any longer." He remarked cheekily.
"Oh, shut up!" Rune and Kyra shouted at
Chaz simultaneously. Chaz grinned, it was fun to find
new ammunition to bug Rune with. The hunter left with Rika by his side and
together they sort of powerwalked back to the bridge
where Wren was sitting in the pilot's seat and doing, well, all the things that
a pilot was supposed to do. The Lutz realised one thing moments after his other
two friends had gone. Chaz hadn't actually answered his question with a simple
yes or no, he had merely skirted around the issue. Huh, that was
something quite interesting to think about.
It was far more hectic on the bridge than back there in the sparse but
somehow safe corridor. Klaxons were blaring and the little lights that were
usually soft and mellow flashed angrily at Chaz as he passed by. The whole
cacophony made him want to walk faster, so he did. By the time the doorway to
the cockpit opened for him Chaz was almost running.
He and Rika burst onto the scene. "Alright, what's going on?" He
cried, worried that they might be about to slam into a planet again or
something equally unpleasant.
Wren turned his head to look behind him past the pilot's seat. He didn't
seem too pleased. "We have successfully escaped the asteroid's collapsing
field of gravity however the distance between us and thew Air Castle
is still not satisfactory. If we cannot get far away enough from the blast
zone�" He trailed off, going back to the controls of the ship.
"What? What will happen?" Chaz demanded, needing an excuse to
panic all over again. If Wren didn't like it and he was the captain of the ship
then it was bad for all involved.
"There will be a shockwave." Wren clarified, then something
changed on his cockpit monitor and the android's body suddenly tensed up. The
asteroid was exploding then and there, judging by their distance they only had
a few seconds to�
"Everybody! Prepare yourselves!"
There wasn't much time to listen to him. Mere seconds after Wren had spoken
a tremendous shockwave ripped through their spaceship as the Air Castle
compressed itself and exploded into a magnificent eye of light. The Landale was picked up and carried like a piece of debris
upon a wave, tossing the people within like toys. It felt like a nagra technique had been cast upon the ship, slamming
everybody into the floor.
The entire ship shuddered with the impact. Nobody knew how Kyra or Rune handled the shockwave back in the corridor,
and in the future that matter was never looked into. Upon the bridge Chaz
followed his instincts and grabbed into Rika to protect her, while Rika
protected herself as she was still carrying with her the eclipse torch. Wren
was hurled forward and smacked his chin quite hard against the edge of the ship
controls, something that would have been quite painful were he a palman..
Nobody moved until the wave carried itself out and then dispersed harmlessly
into space. The bridge seemed quiet and empty for some time, until somebody on
the floor groaned and the three adventurers climbed back up from the shock.
Wren used the control panel as leverage and got back into his seat, checking
the computer readings while Chaz and Rika disentangled themselves from each
other.
"Ugh, I bumped you. Is the torch okay?" Chaz asked anxiously as he
helped Rika up from the floor. No broken glass surrounded her and she still had
the small bowl cradled protectively in her arm.
"Yes, it's fine." Rika answered, feeling for any imperfections in
the bowl, like a crack or anything that could affect the torch's powers within.
It was pretty damn hardy for an ancient artifact, the
holy flame winking reassuringly at the both of them.
Wren made sort of a sighing sound in relief and then relaxed after checking
the Landale over for any imperfections of its own.
"Damages to the ship are also minimal. We have escaped the asteroid's pull
of gravity and blast radius. I am now setting a direct course back to Tyler spaceport; Dezoris. Current mission parameters have been
fulfilled."
They had done it. They won. In a sense they had achieved the nearly
impossible; beaten Lassic for good this time. A huge
weight simply dissolved, using the torch the path to the Garuberk
tower was now ready and waiting for them. Raja and all the other victims of the
black energy wave could be saved.
About an hour later after their miraculous escape from the Air Castle
the mood was light and victorious, if a little tired. Most of the party had
moved back into the lounge. Rika had changed out of her ruined clothes and
after a brief unfulfilling shower she had put on a space, if older pair of
flannel pyjamas. Kyra was busy pampering Rune with a
blanket and a cup of tea, and Rune was accepting the treatment because he felt
that he deserved it more than all the other bums in the room. Chaz was half
asleep in a chair, the eclipse torch carefully placed away in a ventilated
safety deposit box. Wren was still on the bridge, content to be on his own for
now.
Rune held the cup of tea halfway to his lips, the liquid in the cup warming
his hands and his spirits. Frankly he would have preferred something stronger
with alcohol in it, but beggars could not be choosers
way out in deep space. He yawned, trying not to feel his age in his mind, if
not in his body. "Lassic� if
you think about it, he was pretty pathetic. He was seduced by an awesome
power and the he became nothing more than somebody's puppet."
As Rune took another welcoming sip of his tea Chaz opened one eyes from
where he had been half-dozing, half-listening in. He wanted so badly to sleep
but he couldn't just yet, not until they were safely back
on Dezoris or until he couldn't take it anymore.
Anyway, something that both Rune and Lassic
had said bonded together in his mind. "Enormous power?
Who was the 'He' that Lassic mentioned?"
The niggling, unanswered question was born in Chaz and spread through to the
others like a silent, invisible fire. Nobody really knew, not even Rune, though
they all had the same guess lingering on their minds. "Was it� dark
force?" Rika guessed, the only one with the nerve to say it out loud.
The four friends all exchanged glances solemnly. They had completely
obliterated that evil presence on Kuran, it just couldn't be possible for it to pop up all over
again. Chaz dropped the hand he had been resting his chin against down into his
lap. "He hasn't been destroyed yet?" He sighed.
They just never got a break.
��
It was very deep into the night when the Landale
came to roost in the empty Tyler
spaceport. Outside the land was pitch and nearly unbearably cold, streaming
with constant snow. The snow was just about the only thing which separated the
night from space. They were back on the planet again but nobody left the
spaceport or the ship, really, the saner approach was to wait for the sun to
arise so the land would become habitable again.
Likewise the environment inside the Landale was
quiet, yet warm. People were asleep in various places; Rika curled up against a
newly discovered heat vent, Rune stretched out on the lounge. Kyra was somewhere else, but her audible snores could he
heard echoing down the hallway. Wren still dozed in his pilot�s seat, more than
halfway into standby mode. Only Chaz was awake, sitting up and watching Rika
contentedly while she slept.
Hours earlier he would have dropped into a slumber on command had anybody
told him to, but after the shock of winning that battle his mind had awoken
instead and wasn�t about to quiet down anytime soon. Chaz felt that there were
many things left to be addressed, and somehow the middle of the night seemed
the best place to think about them. At least none of his friends would bother
him while they slept.
Rika was so beautiful, Chaz thought. It was so soothing to watch her with
her eyes closed and her hands curled up against her face. The boy no longer
felt so guilty over watching her in such a way; he didn�t quite feel like a
sneaky pervert anymore. Chaz couldn�t accurately pinpoint the reason why, though
he guessed it was better this way. He could talk to Rika without becoming
anxious or tongue-tied, yet he sort of missed the giddy heart-pounding
fear/desire that had been with him scarcely a week ago.
It still existed in his heart and somebody would have to wipe his memory to
make it go away, but admittedly it was milder; less urgent. Chaz wasn�t going
to fall into a depressive lovesick spiral if Rika didn�t instantly recognise
his feelings for her. Not for a while, anyway.�
It would be nice if she did but that would be unlikely. Hard to believe that only hours ago her body had been lifeless and dead.
Chaz gave another silent thank you to Raja, whose miracle had been right up
there with Rune in saving the day.
Rika had wanted to talk to him about something after Lassic
had been defeated. Now that the obstacle was well behind them Chaz began to
wonder what it was. He couldn�t really think of anything that warranted
discussion, not from her to him at least. The other way around was a totally
different story, but the hunter was determined to keep that story quiet. Once
bitten, twice shy, after the way the fake Rika had rejected him Chaz wasn�t
going to wear his heart on his sleeve anytime soon.
Of course it wasn�t the real
Rika�s fault. Chaz wouldn�t want her to believe anything like that. He was just
weak in some personal respects and once he had been hurt he needed time to
recover. It was the same as with Wren. When the android had first kissed him
and frightened him out of his wits it had taken Chaz over a week to do anything
about it. Maybe he was a little too
slow.
Chaz thought back to the battle within the Air Castle.
There was a huge chunk of misplaced time that he just could not explain. Rika
had said something about him turning into a zombie and attacking her, and her
blood on his hands had been the final, undeniable proof. Chaz hoped she had
meant the mindless, brainless kind of zombie and not the other variety, like
the ones staggering about in undead torment in the village of Reshel. The
thought just made him shiver.
The hunter yawned and then pulled the zipper on the top part of his bodysuit
down another inch. The heat vent that Rika was enjoying with catlike delight
was sort of making Chaz feel a little too warm. He felt better as he reminded
himself that life outside of the Landale was thirty
Celsius below zero. His hand brushed across his neck but stopped when he felt
something unusual. A forgotten wound from the last battle, maybe? He didn�t
remember it being made.
It was painless cut, but that was mostly because there was a distinct lack
of nerve endings in that part of his neck. Chaz rubbed the wound lightly,
feeling its rough imperfection. He was making it sting and he probably
shouldn�t irritate it so much, but Chaz was fascinated. It was as if somebody
had tried to stab him in the throat, but had been stopped just in the nick of
time. He certainly did not remember anything like that.
And the people who probably did
remember were already off in deep sleep. The last thing Chaz wanted to do was disturb
Rika with a stupid question when she looked so cute just lying there on her
own. The hunter rose and stretched, reawakening all his dozing muscles. The
whole thing felt really good, even if he did ache in a few minor places. With a
smile at his secret love Chaz left the room.
The lighting in the Landale was turned down and dim, giving the correct impression that it was the middle of
the night. There was just enough light for Chaz to see competently and not trip
over his own feet. From where he was it sounded like Kyra
had fallen asleep in the ship�s infirmary. Keeping a hand to the side of the
wall as a safety precaution Chaz decided on his next destination and made his
way to the bridge.
He went to see what Wren was up to and was actually kind of surprised to see
that the android wasn�t busy with
some task or another, or checking something out with the ship�s computer. He
guessed that even Wren needed a break sometimes, too. It looked like he was
also sleeping, resting his head gently against the back of his seat. One arm
was on the armrest but the other had slid off and was left hanging limply by
his side.
Wow� when exactly had Wren slipped into the same grouping of adorableness as
Rika? It must have been some time when his back was turned. Well, if Wren was
off along with the others then he wasn�t going to bother him either. Maybe he
ought to go back and just clock off while the night still had length and size.
There really was nothing better to do.
But there was that weird question of the cut upon his neck. If he laid down
somewhere and tried to sleep he would wind up thinking about it for hours on
end. Nobody wielded a weapon capable of making such a mark save for him. Had he
fought somebody, been disarmed of a dagger and then�
All Chaz knew was that at some point during his lapse of memory he had
attacked Rika and there was the chance that she may have fought back. If this
wound was her doing then he guessed he deserved it, but he never wanted that
scenario to happen ever again.
Chaz was tired. He really did want to sleep. He leaned forward and gently
brushed his fingers through Wren�s short black hair. It was quite softer than
he would have expected it to be. Suddenly Chaz had a slight urge to kiss his
deactivated friend, but he thought it might have been a little creepy while
Wren wasn�t conscious to experience it. It was just as he would have felt if he
tried to kiss Rika in the same manner. It would be blasphemy.
Ironically, Chaz was not aware of what Rune had witnessed two days before.
Maybe then his opinion would have been substantially different. The hunter
withdrew his hand and for the first time in quite a while he subconsciously
passed his fingers across his lips, then he made for the door and the exit of
the cockpit. When he hit the button which made the door slide open something
happened and he did not step through. He heard the pilot�s chair creak.
�� Did you want something, Chaz?�
He had kind of startled Chaz, causing the boy to tense and receive a mind
adrenaline boost. Chaz turned a bit, his hand still depressing the key. He
smiled as he watched Wren climb out of his chair. �I thought you were out of
it. Sorry for bugging you.� He apologised. �You�re not� touch
activated, are you?�
�Perhaps I am.� Wren replied, making Chaz chuckle at his enigmatic words.
There had once been a time when all the android could provide were strictly
black and white responses. That time was long gone now and Chaz was the only
one left to blame. It made the boy�s smile slightly wider. �I was not
deactivated; I was merely on standby. You were not bugging me.� He clarified.
�It�s not important. I was just going to ask a question but it can really
wait until tomorrow.� He paused, a sudden thought occurring to him. �Um, we are on Dezoris
now, right? I didn�t catch the announcement and everybody else was already
asleep. I think we�ve stopped moving, at least.�
�Given the circumstances I thought it more considerate to suspend all
non-emergency announcements until after dawn. We are within the Tyler spaceport, yes. Is
that the question you wished to ask me?� Wren explained and then asked
politely. The hunter shook his head, taking his hand away from the door and
moving to the long bench at the back of the bridge. There were some
similarities in the design of the Landale�s bridge to
that of the ice digger. It was possible that Demi had been inspired by the
original spaceship design.
Anyway, the bench had the same amount of almost-comfortableness he knew
quite well from the digger. �No, it was something else.� Chaz said offhandedly,
and then figured that because he was already here he might as well ask. He
tugged down the collar of the dark undershirt. �Do you know how I got this? I
don�t remember anything about a knife.�
The mark was hard to discern in the dim light. Wren moved forward and sat
down beside Chaz in order to get a closer look. The android put his hand to his
mouth as he attempted to identify the origin of the mark. The battle within the
Air Castle had been confusing and chaotic;
certainly he could not have observed everything. Nevertheless he searched his
memory, looking for the answer.
Chaz waited patiently as Wren thought. Normally he would have felt a little
anxious being scrutinized in such a way, but with his friend he felt fine. �If
it was Rika who did this you can tell me. I wouldn�t be angry with her or
anything. She would have just been defending herself from me.� But if she had
succeeded, cut slightly deeper Chaz would have had a hole in his windpipe. He
knew enough about stuff like that to be aware that it could have killed him.
Wren remembered. He reached out and delicately touched the skin beside the
cut. It wasn�t serious and didn�t require stitches, but it was still a notable
mark. �It was not Rika who did this. After you wounded her you attempted to
injure yourself. This mark originated from that attempt.� He was completely
honest with Chaz. It seemed the most sensible thing to do.
�What?� Chaz exclaimed, surprised at the unexpected answer. Wren took his hand
away from Chaz�s throat but the hunter held in his breath, keeping it captive.
The thought totally hadn�t occurred to him and it felt like his mind couldn�t
accept it. He, Chaz, with a knife to his own throat? Impossible.
He laughed nervously. �You gotta be joking. Please
tell me about it. I tried to-�
�I suppose it would be more accurate to say that Lassic
tried to kill you. He merely used your hands to do it.� Wren clarified softly.
It didn�t seem like much of a difference for him but for Chaz it seemed to calm
the boy down. Perhaps he was horrified by the prospect of self-harm, but hadn�t
he done the very same thing the other day in the glacier? First the scar on his
arm and now the slash on his throat. It was just another of the risks that his
type of life forced him through.
�When he puppeteered me? After I
stabbed Rika. I knew what happened wasn�t my fault but I still feel
awfully bad about it. I should have been able to break free of his spell. I
should have been able to stop myself from doing that.� Chaz sighed. This was
what bugged him and was keeping him awake; a guilty conscience manifest as a
wound on his throat. Once again he was dictating all his troubles to Wren
instead of taking it to the proper person; his beloved Rika. Maybe his android friend
should start charging him a listening fee by the hour. He�d have more meseta than he�d ever know what to do with in no time.
�Using that same logic you could say that I should have been able to prevent
your stabbing of Rika, or that I should have been able to remove the knife from
your hands in time. She would not have fallen and you would not be marked in
such a way. Your logic is flawed, Chaz. One cannot be in control of everything
at all times; even I am aware of that. Would you blame me for negligence on my
part?� Wren asked his palman friend.
�No, of course not! It wasn�t your fault!� Chaz
exclaimed, then realised that he had exactly proved Wren�s point. He smiled
ironically and drooped, planting a hand on the bench between them to hold himself up. �Okay then, I�ll try to stop worrying about it. Lassic stabbed Rika and then tried to stab me. I was only
the medium.� Another realisation came to him, his mind seemingly working in
short bursts of thought. �Wait, you
took the knife away from me? You stopped me from stabbing myself?�
At the time Wren had been the only one with his wits properly about him. Who
else could it have been? Reassuringly Wren smiled back at the boy, who appeared
amazed for no proper reason he could discern. Regardless, it was quite
endearing. The android gently put his hand upon Chaz�s shoulder. �I could not
allow you to harm yourself. No-one else had the opportunity to intervene. It
was nothing special, though I am sorry for striking you in order to break Lassic�s spell.�
Being slapped by Wren was like being hit in the face by a frying pan. Not
often had Chaz experienced something like that to draw a comparison, but there
had been that one time in his childhood that he�d rather not remember. �It�s
alright. Better that than the alternative.� He joked, pulling the zipper of his
red overshirt up again and hiding the cut. It was
significantly cooler in this room compared to where the others slept, so he
didn�t quite feel so discomforted anymore.
The next words Wren spoke sounded like they had been withheld for some time,
for reasons unknown. Not even the android really knew the reason why. �I do
care about you, Chaz.� He admitted, subdued.
Perhaps the reason why the android had withheld those words was because
Chaz�s first impulse was to laugh. It wasn�t to make fun of him or anything; it
just sounded so sweet, especially joined by the fact that Wren couldn�t look
him in the eye when he said that. He was embarrassed. The android�s emotions
were continually becoming more complex. Chaz squashed the urge to laugh and
merely nodded his understanding instead.
�I know. I really care about you too. Gods I�m tired�� He yawned sleepily.
He had his answer now and his body had delivered to him an ultimatum; that if
nothing else interesting was going to happen soon it was off to bed for the
night. Without much thought Chaz stretched himself out on the slightly
comfortable bench. Like this he could almost fit, almost, if he made a little
alteration right there�
Wren watched in silence as Chaz leaned down and rested his head against his
leg, practically lying in the android�s lap. He could fit properly on the odd
lounge now but wouldn�t it have been easier to simply ask him to move? Wren
would have gladly moved if he had asked. His hand that had once been on the
youth�s shoulder was now against the back of Chaz�s neck. �That cannot be very
comfortable.� He commented from above.
�You�d be surprised.� Chaz replied sleepily as he closed his eyes. He knew
he couldn�t stay here for the night and sleep was definitely out of the
question, but a few short minutes here in the middle of the night weren�t
hurting anybody. Call it� an advance in the reward he�d get for bringing
himself and his friends through the battle with Lassic
in one piece. �Mm, I wish Rika would let me do this to her.�
�Have you asked?� Wren inquired casually.
�Heck no, she�d probably kill me.� The hunter chuckled. For a few nice,
peaceful moments he relaxed, enjoying the luxury but still keeping a firm grasp
upon the waking world. After a while Chaz realised with a quiet appreciative
sound that Wren had begun to softly stroke his hair. It was possibly for want
of something to do, because as long as Chaz was on top of him he wasn�t able to
move.
The truth was that this was more of an elective action than anything else.
Wren wasn�t sure why he was doing this, or why he wanted to do it, but he was
beginning to take a more casual approach when it came to letting things go. He
was learning palman reaction and enjoying it, so that
was enough. This action seemed to give Chaz a greater sense of relaxation.
�Would you like Rika to do this to you as well?� He questioned, keeping his
voice quiet and low.
�I�d really love that, but I like this now, too.� The boy breathed. If he
wasn�t careful he was going to drop off right to sleep. Chaz opened his eyes
again to prevent that, dreamily watching the pretty lights of the Landale�s main control panel. He searched his mind for
something to say, hitting upon a seam. He wanted to say something, needed to talk again before they were all swept
away into the unknown spire of the Garuberk tower. �Hey Wren?�
�Yes?�
�When the fake Rika rejected me today it really hurt. It hurt so much that I
thought that my heart would just give up and burst. I guess that�s to be
expected, but the weird thing was that when the fake version of you also
rejected me it felt even worse. The thought of losing you hurt more than the
thought of losing Rika.�
Wren thought about that for a bit, considering and formulating a reply while
continuing his ministrations of the young hunter lying in his lap. �It is
possible you were too overwhelmed by the first rejection to accept the second.
Perhaps if the order had been shuffled your emotion upon the subject would be
vastly different. I�m sorry, Chaz. I still have slight trouble understanding
you palmans at times.�
�But you�re still the most insightful person I know.� Chaz protested with
fondness. Even if Wren was an android he still counted as a person to him, to
everybody residing upon this ship. He wouldn�t have become so attached to
anything less. �I think it might have been because the fake you said that you
were falling in love with me.�
Wren stopped what he was doing. He didn�t respond right away. Eventually
Chaz rolled over onto his back so he could look up at his friend in the face.
The hunter was blushing while Wren just looked back at him with an unreadable
expression. Maybe he had said the wrong thing. �I didn�t mean you; I meant the fake version of you. I
just wanted to know what you thought about it.� He asked, backing up a bit.
�You want to know if I am falling in love with you?�
Wren translated, raising an eyebrow. �I am not sure if that�s possible.�
�Are you?�
�I don�t know.�
It wasn�t a yes but it wasn�t a no either. Wren was uncertain and even Chaz could see that the question had
affected him in some way. Chaz grinned. �That�s okay,
it was just a stupid question anyway. I should probably go back to the others
and catch some sleep before it�s all snatched up. Thanks for listening to me.�
�I will always have time for you, Chaz.� Wren promised kindly. There must
have been something wrong with him. When faced with Chaz�s question after the
initial shock he had actually wanted
to say yes. Androids were never known to fall in love before so he had told the
truth, but what was true and what he wanted to be true were two very separate
things. The truth did not satisfy his� his desires.
His desires. Aside from his duties they were not meant to exist. Instead of
getting up the normal way Chaz just rolled out of Wren�s lap and flopped onto
the floor. Chaz was on his feet a second later, grinning goofily. Wren didn�t
tell Chaz that he was acting like an idiot but the boy guessed that the thought
was probably there. �Would you like to walk me to my room? In case I trip over
myself in the dark?�
Wren wondered if he was referencing that time he almost tripped over a chair
that night in Meese. Well, it was dark and until dawn
he had nothing better to do. Wren nodded once in acquiescence and stood. �Very well. I will come with you.� He said.
So they left the bridge together, Chaz carefully watching his step with Wren
at his side. They didn�t talk and the whole trip was no longer than two
minutes, as the Landale�s interior wasn�t exactly as
large as the outside led to believe. Chaz listened to his footsteps and the
heavier clomp of Wren�s boots. It was waking him up a little and he hoped the
effects were only temporary.
They stopped outside of the doorway to the makeshift sleeping quarters. The hallway
remained totally silent. Chaz turned on his heel and looked up at his friend,
rubbing tiredly at the corner of his eye. �So I guess I�ll see you in a few
hours, then. What�ll we be doing today?� He asked, despite being the leader and
the one charged with formulating the plans in the first place.
�We will travel from Tyler back towards Meese and the Garuberk Tower.
The duration of the journey will take up most of the day.� That was if they
left at a comparable time. A boring day with no fighting, but that was exactly
what they needed right now. There was a prolonged silence. Chaz didn�t go back
into the room and Wren didn�t turn and head back to the bridge. It could have
become awkward but it didn�t, for some reason Chaz could just have stared at
him all night long. �Are you going?� Wren said at last.
�I suppose I should.� Chaz reached behind himself and hit the button to open
the door. He had to feel around for a bit because he didn�t want to take his
eyes off Wren. Finally he broke away and moved to leave. Maybe there would be
enough room on the lounge if he kicked Rune onto the floor first. Maybe-
Chaz was grabbed firmly but gently by the arm, pulled away from the door and
then spun around once so that he found himself with his back to the wall yet
again. His hand slid away from the button and the door locked itself shut. Chaz
looked up and was about to protest the sudden manhandling when he was further
pressed against the wall, Wren�s hands on his wrists and his tongue suddenly in
his mouth.
At first he was surprised, but that surprise only ended up turning into
extremely good, sinful feelings. Wren hardly gave him enough time to breathe
and each breath was a tiny break, just enough to keep him going. Chaz was
immediately wide awake, either from the shock or perhaps from the fact that he
had been rendered instantly powerless. He couldn�t push Wren off even if he
wanted to, if he ever wanted to.
Wren let go of Chaz�s mouth first and then his wrists a few moments later.
He stepped away and touched the side of his head in a very apologetic palman manner. �I am very sorry. I should have asked before
I did that. Did I hurt you?� That had been the most reactive thing he had done
since the machine centre. He just hadn�t wanted Chaz to leave before he could
kiss him. Rika could admit her feelings for him any day now, even tomorrow, so
this could be the last chance that he�d get to touch this incredibly appealing
hunter.
�Th-that was one hell of a goodnight kiss.� The
hunter smirked as he wiped at his mouth with the back of his sleeve. He could
still feel the ghostly pressure on his arms fading, bit by bit. Aw, Wren really
did look sorry, like he had done something horribly wrong. �It�s okay, couple don�t really have to ask about stuff like that.
You didn�t hurt me either. I know that you would never hurt me.�
�Couples?� Wren echoed back to him. �Your statement
is untrue. I do need to ask.�
It looked like he wanted to say something very badly. Chaz had talked all
night and he didn�t mind listening to Wren speak for once. He loved listening
to the android talk about himself, so long as it wasn�t anything that made him
upset. Chaz came forward and touched his friend reassuringly on the arm. Wren
took him by the hand and held it within his. �What is it?� The hunter asked.
Why had his behaviour changed so suddenly? He thought it was because of what
the fake version of himself had said. The chaos sorcerers in the Air Castle
had not written the scripts they had followed by themselves, the play designed
to hurt Chaz and his friends had been pulled straight out of their own hearts.
Wren did not have a heart but that was merely a figure of speech. It troubled
him but at the same time it didn�t feel so unfamiliar. If he did have a heart, even if it was just a
metaphysical one, perhaps it was capable of love.
But he doubted it. Strongly. Nonetheless�
�Kiss me, Chaz. Please. Let me touch you.� Wren pleaded.
His pleading sent a shiver straight down Chaz�s spine. That had never been
requested of him before, all other times the pleading had come straight from
him. Wren might have just been parroting his own behaviour but Chaz was pretty
certain that was unlikely, as he watched the wren-type looking at the floor so
he didn�t have to see Chaz�s face. It was as if he were embarrassed over saying
an incredibly dirty thing. Wren was stepping out of his comfort zone just to be
able to say that, which made Chaz feel flattered, almost honoured.
Chaz sighed, amused and now as awake as he�d ever been. He knew what Wren
could offer him and he�d have to be an idiot to turn him down. A thought
occurred to him that they shouldn�t be standing out here in the corridor for
anybody to see, but fortunately everybody was asleep. They�d be alright. Chaz
leaned back against the cool metal wall. �Damn it, now I�m never going to be
able to get to sleep.� He smirked.
�There is always time for that later upon the ice digger.� Wren informed him
helpfully. He wanted very badly to tell Chaz about the revelation Rika was
going to impart to him very soon, just to be able to get the uncertainty out of
this situation. However, that would definitely mean losing Chaz to her. The
young hunter already belonged to Rika even though he did not know it yet. He
felt it was needlessly selfish of him to want otherwise, but that was the rub;
he couldn�t stop himself from feeling that way.
Chaz�s voice shook him from his current stream of thought. �Well, are you
going to come down here or what? I can�t kiss you if you�re way up there.� He
joked fondly, making fun of Wren�s height or his own height at the same time.
It didn�t bother him so long as Rune was well out of the vicinity. Even
standing on the tips of his toes he still couldn�t quite reach.
But that problem was fixed quickly. Wren leaned over him and braced himself
against the wall, while Chaz stretched himself up and wrapped his arms around
his friend; initiating a kiss that was all tongue and blissful heat. Even the
minor violation was a huge turn-on for Chaz, the boy gasping into the kiss as
he felt Wren�s hand slowly slide up under his shirts, trailing across his skin.
It wasn�t cold but it felt somewhat alien, only half aware of what it was
doing.
Chaz had put on quite a bit of extra muscle ever since they had first
crash-landed on Dezoris, from the much tougher nature
of the local monsters. His abs were well defined and so was his chest,
periodically blemished by faint, distant scars. This information greatly
interested Wren though it had no discernable value, as if some program had been
written into his neural matrix without his knowing. His thumb rubbed against a
nipple and Chaz flinched, pulling away reflexively but not from the pain. It
felt good.
Yet there was pain afterward in the midst of the kiss as Wren softly swept
his hand lower down Chaz�s side. He pushed Wren away and broke the kiss, a tiny
grimace twisting his features. �Uhn� bruise� from
where I was thrown in that battle�� He breathed, removing his arms from his
friend. Wren glanced down and pulled Chaz�s shirt up further. There was a dark
patch the size of a tennis ball imprinted just beneath his ribcage. It seemed
rather tender. �Just like my neck I don�t have any idea how I got that��
�I will be careful.� The android reassured him, taking Chaz
by the chin and tilting his head up a little, exposing the cut that did not
have the potential to become a scar. The boy was curious but wasn�t sure about
what Wren was going to do, then he felt a hand at his belt; competently
unclasping the buckle. Wren kissed the corner of Chaz�s mouth, his lips, down
along the jaw line and then finally ending at the hollow of his throat.
It stung, the last kiss hurt a bit as the wound hadn�t begun to heal
properly but it felt so incredibly amazing having the bitter pain mixed with
sweet pleasure. He hadn�t known such a combination was possible. Chaz flattened his hands against the surface of the wall
supporting him and tried to hold his breath, attempting to contain all that he
was feeling as much as possible to maximise the sensation.
Chaz had a bit of an aversion to having things
pressed up against his neck. As a child he had seen enough people with slit throats
to last a lifetime, hell, in that gang he had caused a few himself. It was why Chaz had been so baffled when Wren had said he had tried to
slit his own throat. To have a mouth
and a pair of lips in such an intimate place, close to the jugular, close to
where it really could hurt him was both kind of scary and a relief. Chaz smiled as he thought
Wren was trying to kiss and make it all better.
He was distracted by this while Wren loosened the hunter�s belt, undid the button
and the fly and then slipped his hand inside. Chaz
was already hard at this point, his erection well defined by the considerable
bulge in his pants. It was easy to pop it free of his underwear and when Wren
pulled away from Chaz�s throat, a rather uncharacteristic brazen smile on his
lips, he gently squeezed.
The hunter groaned. He hadn�t noticed Wren was there until now. The problem
of their location flashed back to them and he tried to collect his scattered
thoughts, incredibly difficult as Wren began to fist his cock jutting straight
and stiff from his body. ��wait, Wren please� not here� somewhere else, safer��
Chaz cried between harsh breaths, clinging to the
android.
�It�s fine. We are alone.� Wren protested; listening to the soft exquisite gasps
and whimpers that Chaz couldn�t hold back. He was
quite certain that even if he did stop the first thing that Chaz
would do was protest. Wren let Chaz fuck his fist
with as much vigour as the youth wanted, caressed the boy�s slender frame with
his other hand, and swallowed half of Chaz�s moans and cries with deep
satisfying kisses. There was just no way that he could properly resist.
Chaz felt like his whole body was being plundered.
There wasn�t a single part of him that wasn�t alive and trembling with desire.
Every time Wren did this he just seemed to get better and better at it. It had
to be criminal or something. His fingertips were turning white from clinging on
so tightly to the android�s armour. Chaz�s hips made short, jerky thrusts and he
kissed with adamant fervour, thrilled that Wren was able to match him with just
as much energy.
Perhaps Wren should have listened to Chaz. Nobody had
noticed the one thing wrong with the scene, the tiny detail that had been
present when Chaz had left for the bridge and absent
when he and Wren had returned again. They were making quite a bit of noise out
there in the corridor, well, at least Chaz was. All the boy could hear was the blood pounding in his ears
and his heart. They hadn�t realised that they
could not hear Kyra snoring anymore.
Kyra had woken up absolutely freezing in the
middle of the night. The infirmary wasn�t heated as thoroughly as the nearby
lounge was and though the privacy was nice the esper
girl decided that crowding was much better than catching a cold. Her footsteps
did not echo on the floor; she was wearing only hushed socks. Wren did not
sense her in the hallway; she wound up standing just outside his field of
detection. Chaz certainly
didn�t see her there; he was preoccupied with other important things.
In short, Kyra saw a pretty big chunk of
everything. She had walked out in the hallway quietly but casually and heard
somebody moan as if they were in pain, or what she had initially guessed as
pain. When she turned to look down the corridor she almost froze, bewildered. Kyra stared for several seconds, but then had the common
sense to duck back behind the threshold of the infirmary and gawk from there. Chaz and Wren were- what the hell were they doing?
Dark blue eyes peered at them from her hiding place. They were� um� kissing
and Wren had his hand down� oh dear�
That was awesome! Kyra had no idea that something so scandalous was going on in their tiny,
closely-knit little group. Wren was either molesting him, which wasn�t so
awesome, or it was something mutual. By the expression on Chaz�s face it looked
like he was enjoying it quite a lot. Kyra smiled mischievously.
Did anybody else know about this? Did Rune? Did Rika?
Chaz bowed his head and cried out as he came. His
whole body shuddered from the orgasm so Wren put an arm around him to support
him in case he fell. The hunter said nothing as he tried to catch his breath,
but eventually a thought came to him and he clumsily searched through his
pockets until he found his crumpled-up handkerchief, offering it to Wren.
His hand was sticky with come when Wren pulled it from Chaz�s pants. He
accepted the handkerchief gratefully and neatly wiped the spunk away. There was
something almost studious about the way he did it, afterwards handing it back
to Chaz. Tiredly the boy cleaned up the residual mess
left in his clothes. Their parting kiss was the softest, most heartfelt. There
was something special within it that went beyond mere lust.
�This time I really am going.� Chaz sighed;
smiling after the kiss had ended. �Goodnight Forren.�
�Sleep well, Chaz.� Wren replied as he watched the
hunter refasten his clothes, then wave briefly and disappear into the lounge.
The wren-type didn�t know what drove him to do the odd things that he did, but
seeing Chaz smile afterward made all the confusion
worth it. He went back to the bridge on his own, in a much better mood.
Kyra was left all on her own in the empty
corridor. She couldn�t get what she had just seen out of her mind. She had had no idea that Chaz
had been up to dirty games like that, and with Wren of all people! Chaz was a little too
young for that. Maybe� maybe she should tell somebody about it, for Chaz�s own
sake of course. The esper girl�s smile became
devilish. What a secret, and it was all hers!
She walked back to the infirmary and lay down. It was still cold in there
but she reckoned she�d wait half an hour until Chaz
was asleep with the others and then sneak back in like
a shadow. As she huddled up into a little ball on the sick bay recliner Kyra thought that Rika should be the first one in on this
juicy piece of gossip. They were friends after all and maybe the numan girl could rationalise what those two were doing with
each other.
But it would have to wait until tomorrow. She could at least hold out that
long.
- 21
- 22
- 23
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Turned On