All Hail the High Queen! (FoxWriter/Uminator)

[FoxWriter]

It was a bright afternoon and a warm one at that. It wasn't often you where able to enjoy such a glorious, wonderful day, especially since they lived in such a massive city. Good sunny days where rare in a smoggy city full of ugly people. There was only one park, well no, there where lots of parks, but there was only one green park. Full of trees and grass and flowers and such. It was a common hang out, and hideaway for one young man. His name was Aaron Roal. He wasn't having a very pleasant day in the park the way he normally did. See, normally, the football team had practice at this time of day, which normally made the park safe. Unfortunately the football coach had fallen ill and practice had been canceled. Which led to the situation he was now in. getting his ass kicked. This was not nearly as uncommon as it should have been, particularly in the extremely prestigious school that he attended. He was a borderline genius and was in all of the advanced classes and was one of the top five in every class. The only person who scored higher than him consistently was his best friend. Ironically, it was his best friend that was the reason he was currently getting his ass kicked.

Aaron wheezed as he was dropped into the dirt, curling up around his gut which had just had a fist lodged into it. His pride and joy, his art, was scattered around him, the pages from his sketchbook shredded and stamped into the dirt and mud. The football team left him laying there, nose bleeding, probably broken, ribs aching but thankfully, not broken this time. Aaron was well used to pain now. He had been getting his ass handed to him since he started school. At first because he was smarter, and different, and always younger than his peers and then because he was friends with Cleo. He had started second grade when he was six, having a bunch of seven, eight and nine year old's beating the shit out of you was never fun, though his parents never cared much about what their son did or what happened to him so long as he brought home perfect report cards and didn't 'bring shame on the family name'. The only person who actually cared about him was his best friend, she was the one who patched him up after getting his ass kicked and she was the one who held him when he had no choice but to cry and she was the one who did her best to protect him. They had tried to raise the issue with so many people. School officials, police, anyone but since his parents didn't care enough to go down and help no one was willing to do anything about it. After all, he was just some nerd on the fast track. He couldn't wait, could not wait to move away from this god forsaken hell hole. He managed to toll onto his back, wiping his face clean so that there wouldn't be blood all over and stared at the sky until his only friend in the world showed up. He'd promised to draw her today so she'd be around eventually. If he was lucky he could go to her house for some dinner.

~~**~~

high in space, further even than earths satellites could pick up signals sat a slowly rotating disk. Where it to land on earth it would have been as big as Times Square and three stories tall. It was made of some sort of strange slate Grey metal that looked more like a rock. There appeared to be no windows and no lights, it looked like it was simply a dead piece of oddly shaped rock, which was the entire purpose of the craft as it slowly edged closer to the satellite range. It was a P3X model. Designed for watching intelligent life without interacting with them. Humans had long been a source of study for the people who lived on the ship. However, there was a new purpose now. Within the ship where two people who held a very specific task of recovering a single person from the planet. A person who was not human, though she had lived her entire life thinking she was. They had to find her as swiftly as possible. Their entire species survival could easily rest in her hands. The leader of this event was a humanoid female named Neema. Every single creature on that ship answered to her, and only to her.

Neema was the Royal Dispatcher. She was literally the eyes, the ears, and the life of the Royal Family. She was like a butler, an assassin, a spy and a handmaiden all in one. When the Royal Family had been alive, it was she who assigned a servant to every husband and wife the High King had. It was her who had waited on the High King himself, washing him, dressing him, preparing his food and making sure there where no threats to the kingdom he needed to be worried about. She had entertained him when he was bored, kept his tasks and meetings in order, organized his paperwork, yes Kings had paperwork too. She had killed anyone he ordered killed, sometimes publicly, sometimes silently. She was the reason why the monarchy had yet to fall. The last war though, the last war had devastated their population. They where at anywhere of 2-4% left of their original numbers.

The High King was dead. The King and Queens where slaughtered and all of the Prince and Princess' had been murdered in an attempt to stamp out the last of the royal line. This had failed. For the High King's favorite Queen had removed from the war, her first, only, and last child and sent it away to earth here the baby would be safe until the end of the war. Neema was there to recover that lost infant, and name her High Queen, ruler of all the Galaxy. It might take a few days, or even fifty years to convince the daughter of the people that she belonged with them, but Neema was patient and wise... mostly. “DRIXEL!” her voice echoed through the halls. Summoning her assistant. He was supposed to be using all of the ships computers to hack into earths feeds so they could locate the girl's energy patterns and Neema still wasn't seeing anything on her screens. It was simple earth technology! They where practically heathens! What was taking him so long?!

 

[Uminator]

It was such a nice day, such a rare nice day, that Cleo had ended up taking her time on the walk to the park. She hadn't intended to dawdle, hadn't intended to make Aaron wait, but such glorious weather...it was like her body just wanted to spend as much time in it as possible in the sunshine, who knew when it might come again after all? Still, when Cleo finally realised the time she gasped, looking at her phone for a moment before tucking it away and quickly breaking into a brisk jog towards the park. It was practically effortless for her really, infact Cleo couldn't even remember a time when she had gotten out of breath no matter how much she had exerted herself in things such as gym class. Perhaps that was why the girls at school despised her so much. Well, part of the reason. Samantha knew they were jealous of her, in every way possible. Even the most humble person in the world would be able to admit that Cleo's looks put all of them to shame. Her body was utterly flawless in every way, she was athletic, beautiful, the most intelligent person in the entire school. She had the entire perfect package, and everyone knew it. The boys adored her for it, loved her for it, wanted her for it....and the girls knew it, they all knew that given the choice every boy, even the ones with a girlfriend, would take Cleo over them in a heartbeat. Maybe what annoyed the girls even more was that Cleo didn't use that. She could have any guy do anything she wanted, and yet she chose to spend all her time with Aaron, the dorky dweeb that the boys all hated. Of course, they hated him much for the same reason they adored Cleo....Aaron got to be close to their goddess. Why did he deserve that honour and not them? Well, they would make him pay for every second that Aaron spent with her.

When she finally got to the park, Cleo glanced around for a few moments, before turning to head for the spot she had arranged to meet Aaron. As she got close though, she gasped at the sight waiting for her. Crumpled papers scattered everywhere and Aaron laying in the middle of it, wiping himself clean, his clothes ruffled, his skin dirtied and still showing a few stains of blood. Cleo instantly knew what had happened...again. She immediately dashed to his side, quickly kneeling down, pulling out a handkerchief in order to help Aaron clean up his face. "Aaron...oh I'm sorry...if I wasn't late this might not have happened....I'm so so sorry" She shook her head, wiping away the dirt gently, applying only just enough pressure to his skin, careful not to hurt parts of him that were sure to be sore and tender. "Some day we'll get away from all of this, just like we always talked about hm?" She gave him a smile, that smile that said everything was going to be ok, the smile that wasn't to be argued with because there was no way anyone else could win.

****

Drixel was walking the corridors of the monolithic ship wearing a headset, a coloured band of something resembling glass across his eyes. It allowed him to see where he was going and what he was doing, yet at the same time see all kinds of images, videos, feeds of information from all across the galaxy. Of course right now all of that technological power was focused on just one place, the place that Neema had ordered him to direct it, and when Neema ordered something you damn well did it. Those who crossed her....well....their career prospects became somewhat limited in various ways. That wasn't to say they died, certainly not now anyway, not if they were members of their own species rather than a servant race anyway. There were far too few of them left after the war to risk killing even one to set an example.

When that familiar voice echoed through the halls Drixel blinked, then quickly changed direction. He was being summoned....of course it was him, he was the best of her assistants after all. He was assigned to only the most important of tasks, and this task was to be their most important yet. The survival of their race, their empire, depended upon it.
"My lady" Drixel bowed as he entered the observation room where Neema was waiting. "I've been sifting through the information of this....Earth. So primitive and yet....so much. They have created this....internet...it appears to be the repository of all of their knowledge, and yet so much of it is conflicting. In particular, they have extremely extensive information on their various mating practices here, I've watched several of their videos on the subject. Strangely though....hey do so little to protect all of this. On the contrary, they broadcast so much openly....their air is filled with waves of information. Ironically, this primitive broadcast makes pushing through to locate her highness rather difficult" He motioned an arm, several images from his headset suddenly hurtling outwards, becoming large holographic displays around the room, showing maps of the Earth, statistics such as population and different life forms, images of various humans and their biological data, along with comparisons to their own race.

"There is some good news however. Whilst I have not yet been able to pinpoint her highness, despite her infinitely superior genetics, I have managed to narrow her down to one settlement, I believe the human term to be 'city', how quaint" He motioned a hand again, a larger hologram than the others appearing, displaying the city in which Aaron and Cleo lived. "She is here, of that I am sure. But there are so many humans, so much of their primitive technology, so much of their filth and pollution that it obscures her"

 

[FoxWriter]

Aaron was a bit pathetic when it came to sports really. He had asthma, bad asthma, enough that he needed to carry an inhaler wherever he went, one of the reasons why his father never cared much for him. What use was a son who couldn't play sports after all? At least that was one thing the other boys never fucked with was his inhaler. They had done it once and Aaron had almost died, suffocating and clawing at his throat in a panic. It had frightened them so much that they never touched his inhaler again because that one time the police had appeared, the ambulance had taken Aaron away and they'd had to do CPR on him to keep him breathing long rnough to get him help. No one wanted to be the guys who killed the nerd after all, they just wanted him to back off so Cleo would focus on someone else for once. They never realized that them beating the shit out of him was the reason she wouldn't even look at them. He had to admit, she was perfect in every way, he was lucky to be such good friends with her. If it wasn't for her, and her mom, he'd likely have starved to death or something. There was never food in his house because his parents where tight wads. Why buy food for him if they weren't going to be home? Like right now, they where off in Japan and had been for a month, so he'd already eaten everything that was left and there was no one to buy food for him like a nanny or a maid because his parents refused to hire one. And they sure as hell weren't going to give him any money, he hadn't 'earned' it after all. Bastards. More often then not, he actually stayed in Cleo's spare bedroom because he didn't want to go to the cold, dark, empty manor he was supposed to live in.

he managed to smile at her and sat up, carefully, slowly. “hey.” he grimaced when she started fussing. “hey now, come on. It wasn't your fault and you know it.” he scoffed. “even if you hadn't been late they would have waited for me to be alone a different day and beaten me up twice as hard for it.” he pointed out, wincing when she dabbed at his bruised and battered face. “they didn't beat me up so hard I needed my inhaler this time and nothings broken, well my nose might be but your ma can fix that right up.” he promised with a smile, shaking his head. “course we are. Once i'm eighteen they can't legally keep me away from MY share of the money any more.” Aaron's biological Father was the one who had owned all the money that his mother and stepfather where controlling. Aaron's blood father had set aside about thirteen thousand dollars for Aaron that his mother couldn't touch. Pissed her right off. Granted, if SHE couldn't touch it, she had decided he couldn't either, so long as he was considered a 'child' he couldn't touch that money without her permission, though she couldn't touch it at all since he refused to pull money out and hand it to her. Once he was eighteen she couldn't deny him that money any more and he would be gone, him, Cleo and Cleo's mom would be off, who knew where, he would let Cleo make those plans. “help me up, we'll go to your house and get me cleaned up.” he promised.

~~**~~

Sometimes Neema did wish she could just start killing people again, the stupidity of some of the beings on board was enough to make her scales rattle. And when her scales rattled that's usually when beings started loosing body parts, or worse, their tongues. If they made her happy again, she usually let them grow their missing bits back. Usually. Drixel was about the only being on board that could actually be trusted to complete a task without messing it up or dallying about. He was smart, he was focused, he was due for a damn raise that's what he was! The reason why she'd called him was because she was more worried that someone else was interfering with his work than anything else. With the Intelligence of the idiots on-board it wouldn't surprise her one bit that they where bothering Drixel with some idiotic problem or another that could, would, and should be handled by someone else. Granted, she never told HIM any of this, even if he was the best he was still barely tolerated.

Neema was standing in front of a massive viewing window. From outside it was just blank gray nothing, but from the inside it was like there was nothing there at all. Just empty space as far as the eye could see, so thin and clear it couldn't be glass. She looked at him, rather annoyed at the moment before lifting an eyebrow at him. This was an unexpected explanation. She had expected him to come in with excuses about the food generator or the engine core, not... how much junk there was. “internet?” she asked, the word foreign but the explanation similar to what they where used to. They had a much more advanced form of internet known as the Collectives. The Collectives housed everything, literally. The Collectives where what was used to teach their children and was used to find someone suitable for a job. It was used to interview people, It was used to track criminals. The Collectives was literally every single piece of information they had on everything. It also did everything else. It turned on lights when people entered rooms and turned them off when they left. It kept the water for bathing at proper temperatures and coded the food replicators to make whatever a being wanted. The Collectives was the single most massive intelligent hive like mind in the universe. Only the Collectives chose who to actually communicate with however. Usually only the High King or a Queen or two.

“Collectives. Make sure to absorb all information from this, Internet.” Neema suggested. “feel free to strain out anything that seams unimportant. This Internet may help us later in handling our young High Queen and making her more comfortable in her realms.” Neema decided. Plus, it was very good information to have, particularly on their biology, sexuality and breeding habits. With as virile as humans where, and as genetically flexible as they where, they where the perfect option for rebuilding their species. “so this broadcasting is basically covering up her signatures.” Neema mused before focusing on the City. “yes. Very quaint.” she muttered, wrinkling her nose. “i bet it stinks down there.” she admitted. “see if you cannot narrow the search down a little more. I would hate to have to send someone down there to look. The bumbling morons on this ship would quickly make a huge mess of things.” she grumbled, reaching out and touching the picture of the City, her head tilted. “so. We are much closer anyway.” she admitted, a pleased smile curling her lips. “you have pleased me, Drixel.” she admitted. “remind me that you are due for a reward later.” she decided. Though with Neema one was never sure what kind of reward you where going to get. They where always nice, especially when she admitted she was pleased with you. “be prepared to go down if you cannot narrow down her location. We cannot trust the others not to make a mess of things. You and I will go down ourselves.”

 

[Uminator]

Cleo knew he was right, even if it hadn't been today the boys would've beaten him up some other time, probably even worse due to their building frustrations. Still, she couldn't help but feel it was ultimately her fault...they beat Aaron up to get to her. She knew that, she knew the boys were jealous of him spending time with her. "I'm sorry Aaron....I wish I could do more to stop them. I have tried talking to them but all they did was ogle at me" Cleo shook her head. "I swear they didn't hear a thing I said, just staring at my chest and drooling while I might as well have been speaking French" She sighed again and rolled her eyes. "Well at least nothing is broken" She leaned in close, examining his nose, though careful not to touch it. "Hm, doesn't look broken, but there might be a fracture....definitely something mom needs to take a look at, or you might grow up with a crooked nose. We can't go having that now can we?" She grinned and moved back, having finished wiping the dirt from his face. "Just a few more years and it'll be your Eighteenth birthday. Hopefully those idiots will get sick and tired of doing this before then so you can at least get some peace sooner rather than later"

She stood up, then offered a hand down to him in order to help Aaron to his feet. "Alright, time to go see mom. She should be off work and back home by now so she'll get you totally fixed up. Always does right?" Cleo took his hand, such a simple act, yet something that would have the other boys blood boiling if they were able to see it, the things they would have done to feel Cleo's touch like that. Some of them would quite literally kill if they thought it would get Cleo to touch them. But if they were to do that to Aaron...every single one of them knew that beyond the trouble with the police, they would face Cleo too. They knew she'd never look at them with anything but hatred.
As promised, Cleo's mother Natalia was already home, looking up as the pair entered. It didn't take more than an instant to figure out what had happened, Aaron had been beaten up once again. He looked hungry too....good thing she kept plenty of food in the house, she probably fed Aaron more than his own family did. No, not probably, she knew for a fact she did. Still, it made Cleo happy, that was what mattered. Of course Natalia wasn't Cleo's birth mother....though she'd never quite found a way to tell Cleo that...it would bring up questions that Cleo wasn't ready to know the answers to yet, questions that Natalia wasn't allowed to answer until the time came. "Alright you two, you know the drill. Aaron, you sit down and I'll go and get my kit" She gave him a sweet, motherly smile, before standing up and turning to head for the closet to get her 'other' medical bag, the one which never left the house.

****

He had pleased her, Drixel smiled at that. Even better she had promised a reward. This was sure to make the rest of the crew jealous, but they had only themselves to blame. They should work harder, they should simply be better. Of course you couldn't blame some of them....after all, many of them were from inferior species. That wasn't an excuse for some of their failures tough. Time was they could be executed for the simplest of mistakes, for simply displeasing Neema, but now wasn't the time for that. Members of their own species were too precious to kill now, they needed every last one of them to rebuild their society. They already had too few to have a viable gene pool amongst themselves, the last thing they needed was so few that their genetics would become too diluted by the humans. As for the others, with the rebellion still fresh in their minds it was prudent not to antagonise them too much, lest they get ideas. Of course Neema would cut them down should they try anything, but operating the entire ship with just the two of them would be a tremendous pain.

"I am glad you're pleased my lady" Drixel bowed his head. "Ah, an excellent idea, absorbing the information of this internet. It appears that significant amounts of new data are being added to it on a constant basis....perhaps eventually this planet will have the honour of being absorbed into the empire, their internet can become a part of the Collectives" He looked back up slowly at the image of the city once again. "Your assessment of the aroma is correct my lady, the humans have foolishly released many pollutants into their atmosphere. It appears they have made efforts to reduce it recently, fortunately the damage is repairable for the time being. I must say....to send the princess here, it was a stroke of pure brilliance by his majesty. None of the inferior rebels would ever think to look for the princess in a place like this, it's the perfect hiding place for her....perhaps too perfect if it seems even we cannot pinpoint her" He chuckled lightly, then reached up a hand towards the screen, his fingers moving slightly, almost twitching, as if manipulating something in his mind.
"These cities have the most concentration of all the interferences. Primitive communication devices, signal waves, pollution....so so much. It is a wonder how the humans can function in so much chaos....they would truly be blessed to be brought into her highnesses glorious empire. Hm....I am attempting to focus the ships sensors onto the city to cut through their interference, but to find simply one among so many inferior beings...." He frowned. "To think they are the salvation of our species...." He moved his fingers a little more.
"My lady, I have been able to narrow the area" The image zoomed in. "This appears to be a residential area of the city, the pollution is less here, though the communication signals are just as strong preventing us from getting a precise fix from this distance. However, were we to get much closer our presence may be noticed" He waved a hand to bring up another screen, showing the various satellites in orbit of the Earth. "Despite the primitive technology, the humans have wisely invested in methods to detect objects approaching their world. Unfortunately, we may have no choice but to go to the surface, beyond the interference"

 

[FoxWriter]

“the only thing that would make them all stop is if I stopped hanging out with you and i'm not about to do that! You'd be even more miserable. We both would.” he pointed out. “whats the point of pretending we don't like each other anymore when we'll be so unhappy we can't function?” he wondered. “they probobly didn't hear a thing you said. You know how males are.” he scoffed, shaking his head. The only reason why he didn't act like that around her was because he'd met her back before girls where icky and stayed her friend even though she was an icky girl. But she wasn't a 'real' girl back then to him so he'd never really focused on her breasts and her amazing looks once they started coming in. he was more focused on how she always made him smile and gave him food and a place to sleep. She had patched up his scraped legs and helped him use his inhaler at night when he woke up from an asthma attack and encouraged his art even when his parents told him he was a waste of space and time and that his art was terrible and he'd be better off working on things that actually mattered.

“next time, try actually speaking in french and see if they notice.” he teased with a smile. “no. nothings broken I don't think.” he admitted. “they where a little more gentle with me today, probably because they where worried you'd show up. They didn't like it much last time when you kicked their asses.” he admitted. He didn't bother trying to pick up any of his stuff, they where all completely ruined. “sure we can! Lot's of really handsome people have crooked noses!” he admitted with a grin before smiling at her. “just eighteen more months.” he muttered. “eighteen more months and we will be freaking free.” he agreed, accepting her hand and getting to his feet tenderly. Letting her lead him to her house. “do you suppose I could be emancipated if I went to the right police officer?” he wondered. “i've been taking care of myself since I was about four anyway.” he admitted.

He was more than happy to hold her hand, it was something the always did. Ever since they'd first met. “Thanks Nattie.” he said to her with a faint blush. He was always a bit embarrassed when he got his ass kicked. He'd always called her Nattie, since he hadn't been able to pronounce Natalia when he was younger, mostly because he never spoke. He went to school, not knowing really how to talk because his parents had always scorned him for speaking. It wasn't until he met Cleo when they where about ten or eleven that he'd started actually talking, it had been slurred and stuttering and it had taken him a long time to get used to speaking, but they had worked with him relentlessly in order to make sure he could talk like a normal person. Somehow, Natalia seamed to be the only damn adult in the entire word who realized how fucked up that really was. How much neglect he was constantly going through. Point blank, he was being abused and no one said anything because his mummy and daddy where rich, the fuckers. He was half tempted to spend all of his money suing them for their multi-million fortune! He wasn't sure the ladies would appreciate that though. “Can I stay for dinner?” he asked hopefully. She always said yes, but it only felt right to ask first.

~~**~~

Neema looked amused at him, she had a half an idea of what he was thinking. Her Majesty the High King had allowed her to do pretty much whatever she wanted. She had served the High King's Father. Who had also been the High King. She had changed the High King's diapers and had fed him. She had soothed him from his nightmares and taught him how to be a good king, since his mother had died during childbirth and his father had pretty much greived to death over the loss of his first and only Wife. The High King's father had been very young, and had only the time to get the one wife and only one son, so Neema had all but raised him and had loved him deerly and thus was beyond corruption. She would always serve the High King without fail. Now she would serve his daughter with the same passion and efficiency. “their internet is almost as vast as the Collectives is.” she agreed. “it seams to be filled mostly with cats.” unlike internet. The Collectives did not allow for communication. They had other smaller devices for that, which where not attached to the collectives. That this Internet was filled mostly with stupidity, bad puns, terrible jokes and opinions would baffle The People. She was a bit worried that the Collective might get ideas. Oh well, if the Collective wanted, the Collective would and nothing and no one would change the Collective's mind.

“ugh, a parasitic species.” she huffed, as disgusted by the idea as a human would at finding out they had a bot fly in their scalp. “it was not the High King, it was Freeya.” the favorite wife of the High King. “she named the child Cleo, her human handmaiden's idea.” she admitted with a small, faint smile. Freeya had been her favorite as well, and had even arranged for Freeya to go to earth, for she had wanted a unique handmaiden and had wanted to choose one for herself. Freeya had chosen very well, the human had been devoted from the very first second she'd laid eyes on her Majesty the Queen Freeya. “hmmm. Yes. It says here. Cell Phones.” she agreed, examining the information that the Collective had given to her. “these humans spend all their time on the things doing various functions, mostly communications and something called a Flappy Bird.” she admitted, her head tilted. “odd little creatures, humans.” she admitted.

Being as she was raised amidst these people, they might very well become a part of the People.” she shrugged before focusing intently on him and then moving closer to examine the area. “a very well done job Drixel.” she praised. “i am very pleased indeed.” she admitted. “i might even let you have a taste of one of my concubines for this.” she admitted. A Concubine to the people, was nothing like it was on earth. A Concubine, Neema's in particular, was a species. They where like a succubus. They devoured sexual energy and most of their life was spent looking for someone to please and doing just that, pleasing them. They where like the perfect sex slave, though if you dared mistreat one, they themselves would slaughter you. Slowly and painfully. They tolerated no disrespect and fucked only who THEY wanted to fuck. Neema 'owned' three of them, which basically meant they accosted her whenever they felt like and she fed, watered, housed and clothed them in return. Sometimes, when she was very pleased with someone, she would present them to the Concubines and they would decide of the being was worthy enough of their attentions or not. The three where even pickier than normal Concubines where, so that was fairly rare. “as for the surface, their pathetic satellites will not be able to see through our shields in the Solar Pods.” one Pod was enough to hold six humanoid beings, provided they weren't too big. They created an odd energy signature that blocked out other signals, rendering them invisible to most technology. Earth would not be able to see them, not even with their eyes. "go and prepare to visit the surface. once there, we will look for the human handmaiden. she was reportedly sent with the child." she admitted. "if we cannot find her, we must assume her dead and look for the child herself instead. will her signal get any stronger if we get closer?"

 

[Uminator]

"I'd be completely miserable if you stopped hanging out with me. I'd be left with a choice of boys who just want to ogle and grope me or girls who want completely hate me because they're so jealous" Cleo still managed a bright smile as Aaron got to his feet, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. Onlookers might confuse them for a couple, but their relationship was something different to that, something beyond that. They weren't a couple, they weren't siblings, they were something closer. They were a part of one another in a way that nobody else could possibly understand, or that they could even begin to explain. They supported one another, gave one another hope when everyone else tried to take it away, the strength of one was the strength of the other. Ironically this level of closeness was just another reason the boys hated Aaron, particularly because many of them assumed it also implied intimate relations between the two, though the truth was that the pair had never even kissed. Well, not beyond friendly pecks on the cheek anyway. "Hm...emancipated huh? Well I suppose it's possible, but that usually takes so long that by the time it was done you'd be 18 anyway" Cleo laughed softly as they walked. "Though I suppose you pretty much are for all intents and purposes anyway aren't you?"

Natalia couldn't help but grin when Aaron called her Nattie, noticing the blush on his face. She just gently placed a hand upon his head as she passed, almost like a mother attempting to comfort her own child. "You don't need to thank me Aaron" She did wish this wasn't necessary, that Aaron was her most frequent patient, but he suffered so much. It hurt that there was nothing she could do about it, Natalia knew how much it hurt Cleo to see Aaron like this, it made her feel helpless to be unable to help Cleo in such a way. Still, Aaron got one advantage at least, one that nobody but Cleo would ever receive, even if neither of them knew it.
As Natalia went to retrieve her kit, she carefully looked inside of the bag. The equipment inside of it somewhat resembled standard medical equipment, but it was far more advanced. This was equipment she had been entrusted with by her queen, her goddess, the one who had rescued her from her old life. It would allow her to take care of Cleo completely, make sure that clumsy human doctors would never endanger her health. The only one beside Cleo, and herself, that she had ever used this on was Aaron, making sure to heal his wounds in ways that human medicine never could. Without this equipment it was likely that Aaron would have scars, long lasting aches and pains, possibly even disfigurements from the various beatings he had received over the years. But that would have made Cleo unhappy, so in Natalia's mind that justified the use of this on the human boy. She was even capable of curing his Asthma with some of the things she had at her disposal....but that would be too far. Such a radical, and by human terms impossible, feat would raise suspicion, it would make Aaron start asking questions, draw the attention of others, and that would put Cleo at risk, something that was completely unacceptable.

"Alright then, let's get you patched up hm?" Natalia sat down infront of Aaron, pulling a cloth from her kit, applying a small amount of a clear gel to it, then carefully rubbing it onto the various cuts and emerging bruises on Aaron's face. The gel would stimulate the healing of his wounds to be far quicker and more perfect than them healing naturally. As it rubbed across his nose it would penetrate deep to the skin, right down to the bone, making sure it would pull back together, regenerate rapidly. "Hm, you're lucky here Aaron, your nose was almost fractured, but it looks like you're tougher than you look hm?" Of course, it actually had been fractured, borderline broken infact, but she couldn't tell him that, not when it would be good as new within minutes.
"Of course you can stay for dinner, you know you don't need to ask Aaron, you're always welcome here. I've even got the spare room all ready for you if you'd like to spend the night" The woman smiled brightly, then leaned back. "Ok then, shirt off young man"


****


Drixel's own loyalties were as unshakeable as Neema's. Like all in the empire his first loyalty was to the royal family, to the High King. Their word was law, their word was not to be questioned, their will was absolute. Were they to say tremble, the entire galaxy was to tremble without hesitation. At the same time though, his loyalties were also to Neema, though really the two were one and the same given Neema's unshakable loyalty to the royal family. Over the years Drixel had received offers to work for others within the empire, to put his talents to use elsewhere, even offered the opportunity to be a leader rather than take orders. The rebels had even tried to recruit him once....of course that hadn't ended well for the rebels, by exposing themselves they had signed their own death warrants. The very idea of rebellion disgusted the man. The empire was what kept the People together, it was what kept them safe, it was what kept order in the galaxy. It was only right that the other, inferior, races of the galaxy served their betters anyway.

"Ah the Lady Freeya...I had the honour of meeting her but once, before the Princess was born. I must admit, I was awestruck by her presence" Drixel smiled at the memory, the beauty of the queen had been like the shining light of a star. The High King had chosen well with her, not only her beauty but her personality had been a shining beacon. When the rebels killed her, in the hope it would demoralise the Imperial loyalist forces, it had only backfired, driven them into a hateful frenzy. Ironically, it was that act which probably drove the Empire to win the war.

"Ah, one of your concubines my lady? I am truly honoured" The man couldn't help but grin slightly. Concubines were well sought across the galaxy, though they were only owned by those the concubines themselves chose to be their owners. To attempt to force one into slavery was akin to committing suicide. Neema's own concubines in particular were well known across the empire as some of the most beautiful, the most magnificent. For Neema to make such an offer was a great honour. Of course it was no promise of anything happening, it was only an offer of introduction. The concubines themselves would have to decide of Drixel was worth of them. Still, to simply see them would be a privilege in and of itself.
"I was thinking the same thing my lady, a solar pod will be able to enter their atmosphere and land within the city without attracting undue attention. It appears that will be our only option, at this distance I am unable to focus the signal any further through all of this interference. If we get closer then the signal will become stronger, we will be able to pinpoint her highness' location and finally locate her" Drixel slowly pulled a pair of human glasses from his pocket. "In preparation I have created these. The humans call them glasses....they will allow me to continue scanning even on the human world...I believe they call it 'Earth'...a rather pleasant name if I say so myself"

 

[FoxWriter]

He nodded. “precisely, and i'd be even worse off. Just because I left your side, doesn't mean they'd stop after all.” he admitted, smiling at her and squeezing her hand back. He wondered sometimes, what it would be like to date Cleo, but he was always so content that he never bothered to ask, deciding that if she wanted to go further then she would. She was a very opinionated girl after all and wasn't one to be afraid that such a question would ruin their current relationship. Part of him didn't wonder though if she was just as content as he was? She was literally the only reason why he hadn't hung himself in his massive, empty mansion, or worse, starved to death. That would certainly get his fucking parents in trouble. Some days he almost thought it would be worth it, then Cleo would come along all smiles and chatters and he would forget his depression again. She was like an angel, leading him away from pain and sorrow. He wasn't even religious but that was sometimes all he could think about while laying in bed, was how Cleo was his guardian angel. “huh. That's true.” he huffed. “but only if my parents fight it. They probably couldn't be bothered so i'd be emancipated in a matter of a few months right?” he asked with a grin. “and then i'll sue my parents for every freaking penny they have.” he decided.

He could only smile when Nattie set her hand on his head. It was well more than enough to comfort him. Part of him wished he had the courage to call her mom. She had been far beyond anything a mother was supposed to do in his mind. To him, Natalia was more than his mother, she had been his salvation. She was everything he had ever dreamed of in a mother and more. Still, he wasn't very brave and feared what calling her 'mum' would do. He never realized that he had before, late in the nights sick with fever or struggling to breath through an asthma attack. He had called her mom when his defenses where low and he couldn't think straight. Had Natalia ever directly asked though, he would have admitted he thought the things she managed to do was weird. He knew, he always knew. He'd been beaten up often enough to know that broken arms where not fractures the way she said, the way they healed. He knew his nose was borderline broken, and yet it would be almost as good as new in a matter of a day. He knew he should have scars, should be small and sickly from malnutrition, knew he should be stunted. He knew that she put something in his food to supplement him when he couldn't get any. He knew, but he never said anything, because he loved her and Cleo. Even if they turned out to be vampires, he would never turn them away. They'd never tried to snack on him before after all.

“Okay Nattie.” he agreed with a smile, nt saying a thing about how he knew it was a bad fracture. Who was he to complain when she used that wonderful cooling gel on his face that took the burn out of his bruises and the sting out of his cuts and made the painful swelling in his nose and jaw go down. “i'd appreciate it. Staying the night I mean. I hate going off home when it's so empty.” he admitted before blushing bright red, as he always did when she told him to strip. He unbuttoned his shirt and set it over the chair and lifted his arms since they weren't hurt so she could get to his purple and blue ribs and stomach. They had focused there, so his chest was relatively free of bruises, he only had hand-printing on his arms where they had held him up and still. Two on each arm meaning it had been at least three against one, again.

~~**~~

Neema would never say it, but Drixel was one of the very few she trusted completely. She knew he would never turn against her or their royal line. She had seen him step out of line only twice, and both times where for the People, for the High King. He had been the one to first discover the mutterings of an uprising and had first realized there was a rebel force gearing up for an attack. War had been on them far too swiftly for her to praise him for his loyalty and courage during the war. Maybe someday she would let him know just how well he had done. For now, she needed to focus on the task at hand.

“...The Lady Freeya.” she whispered, closing her eyes. “she was... everything.” she admitted. “she was perfect in a way that I hope dearly that has been passed down to her daughter.” she admitted. “i still have no idea where he even found her.” she admitted with a chuckle. “he just came home with her one day, she was full of smiles and he looked more content than I had ever seen him.” she admitted. “she was such a special woman.” she smirked at him. “yes. You should be honored.” she admitted before watching him. “...glasses? What function do they serve?” bad eyesight had long ago been a problem able to be fixed with a few special eye-drops or a carefully done surgical procedure that lasted ten minutes and caused no pain depending on the severity of the problem. “they do look rather fetching.” she admitted, examining them. “we will leave once the sun strikes the dwellings.” she decided before sneering. “earth? Might as well call it Dirt.” she scoffed with a roll of her eyes and turned on her heal. “Come! Drixel! We will sleep now, and be fresh for the dawn on this planet!” being what they where, most only needed six or less hours of sleep. A hardened warrior like Neema only needed four. She would allow him the honor of the Concubines once the princess was found. After all, if they approved, he would need a few days off.

 

[Uminator]

Natalia's smile never left her face as she carefully tended to Aaron's various cuts and wounds on his face. She could see his mind was racing, full of thoughts, not all of them happy. It was plain to see how much he was hurting, especially when the subject of his parents came up, though she never pressed him further for details. She had a good idea of how it was, she had practically raised him as well after all. She knew how hungry he went, how lonely he became, but she also knew that Cleo was his shining light, his saviour. Knowing that was enough. Besides, Natalia knew she could do little to report his parents. At best, she wouldn't be believed. At worst, his parents would embark on a crusade against her. As much as Natalia might want to help Aaron, the risk of being pulled away from Cleo, of either of them being examined too closely, was just too great. Cleo came first, Cleo was more important than anyone or anything. So for now, this would have to do. Let Aaron think of her as a mother if he wanted, if it made him happy then it would make Cleo happy.

When Aaron removed his shirt, Natalia's smile didn't even waver. She'd seen worse, both on Aaron and people at the hospital she usually worked in. Cleo on the other hand did grimace slightly, shaking her head. The boys had really done a number on him, making sure to focus on areas out of sight so attention wouldn't be drawn to him. "Now, this might sting a little bit at first ok?" Natalia applied some more gel to a fresh cloth, then moved it carefully across his ribs and stomach. The stinging would come from the pressure against the sore parts of his body, but the gel would soon push through his skin, begin to heal his wounds, regenerate damaged bone and tissue, restore it to prime condition to remove the bruising and discolouration. "You're lucky it looks a lot worse than it actually is. A bit of rest and you'll be absolutely fine as usual"
"See Aaron, mom can fix up anything" Cleo grinned brightly, clearly proud of her mother. Even she had no idea how Natalia really did all of this, and Cleo was more than intelligent enough to realise that something wasn't quite 'normal' about how miraculous Natalia's medical treatments were, but so long as Aaron was alright then she wasn't going to question it.

"Alright, all done" Natalia nodded to herself and smiled, carefully putting things away in her bag before they could be examined too closely. "Now, why don't you two relax a little while I go and make dinner hm? Then while you're eating I'll make sure the spare room is ready and waiting"


****


"I recall the rumours and legends, of the Lady Freeya being a gift from the gods themselves to reward his highness. I'm not normally one to put faith in such things but...when I met her, I must admit, for just a moment I found myself believing that perhaps such rumours may be true" Drixel closed his eyes for a moment, smiling as he recalled her, though as Neema spoke he quickly snapped back to reality. He had seen people make the mistake of being distracted by daydreams when Neema was addressing them before....things had not ended well. "Yes, the humans use them to correct problems with their eye sight, they lack the technology to correct such issues permanently through other means. These ones however are simply to grant me the functionality of my headset, and a connection back to the ship" He removed the headset he was wearing, carefully placing it aside as he pulled on the glasses. "I felt they would make us less conspicuous, and perhaps less intimidating to her highness. I do believe she will be overwhelmed as it is"

He smiled, nodding as she mentioned sleep. "An excellent idea my lady. We have a potentially difficult search ahead, we should be well rested" It was something of a shame that his potential reward would have to wait, but her highness came first. Only once they had found her, only once she was safe, would there be time to indulge himself.

 

[FoxWriter]

Aaron wondered how Nattie could be so happy all the time when she always seamed to have it so rough. A single mother, an overworked nurse who didn't make enough, a willful daughter and being bullied by his parents from time to time. He wished he could help her, but he wasn't in any condition to help himself, let alone anyone else. If he could, he would give her and Cleo all the money in the world so they could have everything they wanted, even if they already had everything they needed, like more than enough food and comfortable beds. Still, they didn't have everything they could and that, more than anything annoyed him. If he had his money, he could give his saviors everything in the world and he couldn't now because his parents where assholes who didn't give a shit about anything but themselves. He would make them pay for that someday.

“I know Nattie.” he promised with a smile, he was well used to the cooling cream that worked so very well. He knew it was odd, he'd talked to Cleo about it before but he never bothered to push her about it when she had shrugged and said she didn't know. If they didn't want to tell him then he wouldn't ask them. Not that he thought Cleo was lying to him, he just thought she knew more than she wanted Natalia to know, or that Natalia wanted her to know. “it always is, I bruise easy.” that was a load of tosh, he actually had nice tough skin but he didn't like to upset Nattie so he let her think he was oblivious. He kind of was anyway. “yeah she can, she's the best nurse ever.” he agreed with a happy grin. He settled in to gorge herself on Nattie's amazing cooking and settled in to sleep. He always made sure that his inhaler was within hands reach but for once, he didn't need it in the night.he slept like the dead and woke at the 'asscrack' of dawn as he always did and settled in to sketch his dreams, again, as he always did.

When Natalia woke in the morning Aaron was oddly focused, more so than normal. Usually h looked up when she came in and smiled at her, usually he had coffee made for her when she got up. Normally he had eaten a bowl of cereal and had poured a bowl without the milk for when Cleo finally crawled out of bed. Normally he was sipping his own coffee while he worked on whatever dream he had dreamed. Today he was totally focused and Nattie would know that he had seen something intense. Something that, as had happened before, would turn out to be true. He had done it before. Sketched his dreams in such a focused state he drowned out the world, and shown them to her or to Cleo, only for them to come true. When Cleo had broken her arm when they where nine, Aaron had sketched it two days before. When the jock of the football team had been arrested for trying to assault Cleo he had sketched it that morning. When Nattie had nearly been shot dead because of a gang crime that spilled into the hospital he had sketched that as well, and Nattie had only escaped alive because Cleo had convinced her to call in sick. So Nattie would know well to pay attention to this sketch, not that Aaron would pay any attention at all to it. For him, they where just drawings. Unfortunately, his sketch had deep rooted consequences this time. He had drawn two faces Nattie would know very well. He had drawn Drixel wearing his glasses, and Neema standing in front of the door, the numbers on the side of the house and the little plaque declaring whose house it was that was an exact replica of the door that led into Nattie and Cleo's house. They would be there soon, anywhere from two hours, to two days was the average. At least she would, hopefully, have time to prepare.

~~**~~

Neema had to smile a little. “i do believe his Highness started those blasted rumors.” she admitted with a chuckle. “far too many people believed them too. Though it did make protecting her so much easier when everyone loved her so much.” she admitted before scowling a little. “we will have to be careful that the pathetic human medicine has not done harm to the young Queen.” she admitted. “Collectives. Please send a notice to the medical team to be on standby. If the Queen is injured we will bring her immediately here to apply medical assistance before allowing her to decide to go back or not. Ultimately only she can decide when to leave this planet. She has made it her home for all of her life, she will not give it up easily and forcing her will only make her resent us.” Neema admitted before nodding at Drixel. “your intelligence and cleverness are certainly a step above what the other fools seam to be capable of.” she admitted. “continue your good work Drixel.” she ordered. “a promotion might be in your future.” she admitted. A promotion in his case, meant he would stop being her assistant, and start being her equal. He would be the one giving orders then and would take them only from the royalty. Well, and Nema, if only to keep his head on his shoulders. It wouldn't change much really, it would just mean he'd have more free time to tinker with what he wanted instead of what others demanded. He'd be doing the demanding on that regard if he was promoted.

Neema watched the sun rising, she had gotten bored with sleeping and had settled herself in the viewing docks to watch the planet awaken. The Collectives had informed her that, as a Saturday, there would be no schooling, and as such her Highness would likely be doing what most teenagers did. Sleeping in. it would be best to go around the midday meal, something called 'noon'. Or 'lunch'. Because of this, she had not alerted anyone to awaken and had turned off the set alarms that anyone might had put on to be ready. The Collectives only woke those who had specific duties or rotations. It was a pleasant looking planet, if only they could snuff out all those ugly fake lights and clear the air up a little bit it would make a lovely place to live for the People. She would have to speak to the Collectives on whether or not it would be a good place to leave settlements. Well, she would need to speak with the High Queen as well, nothing could be done without her permission.

 

[Uminator]

Aaron would receive no arguments from either Cleo or Natalia about her being the best nurse ever, it was Cleo's opinion too after all, and Natalia was never one to argue with a compliment. Someone very special had taught her a long time ago to never do so, to take every compliment to heart, to cherish it for what it was meant to be. Once they were done and returned to bed, Natalia's mind couldn't help but swim with thoughts of her life before this, of Freeya. Her lady, her goddess, her friend, her lover, her everything. It had been so long now since she'd had to flee, flee with Freeya's first born child, the first born child of the High Royal family....but it had been to safeguard Cleo. Natalia had promised her, promised that Cleo would survive, that Natalia herself would die before Cleo could. Her dreams were pleasant that night, dreams of better times, of being with Freeya, of what life could have been like had they all stayed together.

When she awoke the morning, getting herself ready before coming downstairs, things were a little different. Normally there was the smell of coffee coming from the kitchen, occasionally the smell of bacon if Aaron had wanted some, but this morning there was no smells, just the sound of intense scribbling. "Hm, intent this morning" Natalia smiled as she entered the kitchen, looking over to see Aaron at the table. He was scribbling and drawing as he often did, though today something was different. As Natalia got closer she could take a better look at the drawing, then as she saw it taking shape, as she saw the features being sketched into the faces, her normally calm and immovable demeanour was shaken for a moment, and for perhaps the first time ever Aaron would hear Natalia audibly gasp, the woman unable to hold herself back. Her hands began to tremble, her eyes wide as she stared at the drawing. Those were faces she hadn't seen in a very long time, faces that Aaron couldn't possibly have ever seen...and yet he was now drawing them in such incredible detail....framed right outside the house. Could it be? Was it possible? Was this a sign of their return at long last...? Natalia quickly covered her mouth and turned away, standing silent for a few moments, before moving over towards the coffee pot, attempting to start making some, though it was difficult to keep her hands from still shaking.


****


"Perhaps he did, but none but he and her did ever know where she came from....it's certainly possible after all isn't it?" Drixel grinned softly. It was fun to speculate, especially for a scientist such as him. If they were referring to anyone else he would dismiss any notions of divinity of course, but for the Lady Freeya....she was just special enough for the tiniest possibility to be there. "She has spent her entire life here after all, it's doubtful she will give it up easily. Of course her highness always has the option of taking the planet, making it a part of her Empire. It would certainly make the task of breeding with the humans easier were they to become citizens after all" He looked out at the planet once more before they left, folding his arms. "Without all this pollution, I could like it here, so much to study..." He smiled, before turning to head for his sleep. The idea of a promotion...it gave him mixed feelings. Sure he would have more time, more freedom....but he enjoyed working for Neema all these years. Well, if she promoted him he couldn't argue too much, though he'd certainly like to stay around, to work directly for the Royal Family with her.

The following morning, Drixel had ended up sleeping in due to the deactivation of his alarm. Still, it was a rare luxury that he didn't resent. During the war there had barely been time for sleep, let along sleeping in, so to remember that feeling...it brought a smile to his face. The man took his time getting ready, being careful that he didn't forget anything. He selected his clothing carefully, something that would blend in, something that wouldn't draw attention on the Earth. Once prepared he headed out to meet Neema, bowing as he approached her in the viewing dock. "Good morning my lady. A beautiful morning is it not? A beautiful morning to find her, to make our empire whole again. Shall we move to the pod? I must say, I'm rather excited to set foot on a wild planet such as this, it's been so long since I stepped outside of the empire"

 

[FoxWriter]

Aaron paid no attention to her whatsoever when she came down, very very unusual indeed, and simply kept sketching. He was completely zoned out and took no notice of anything when he got like this. There could be a house fire right now and he'd sketch right through it. If he hadn't sketched it the day before anyway. He couldn't focus the visions at all, but they always seamed to center around Cleo somehow. Anything that might change her life or hurt her, big things. Like the guy that tried to rape her or the man who almost killed Natalia or the new faces on his sketchpad. Over the years of Nattie watching him, she had learned how to read his sketches. They where colored today for example, meaning that Cleo wouldn't be hurt too badly. She might have a few hurt feelings about being lied to but she would likely accept why. If it was black and white then that usually meant Cleo would hate it and it would make her angry, scared, upset or depressed. There where other signs too in the pictures of one looked close enough. A Clock would warn the time, a calendar would warn the date. In the picture today was the back of the garbage truck. Which only came on Saturdays at noon for this household. The time-line she needed.

Only once the drawing was completely finish did he seam to realize that Nattie was there. “...Nattie? Are you okay?” he asked. “oh man, I never made coffee!” he said, annoyed with himself. “here Nattie, you sit down, i'll get the coffee going.” he ordered, wondering what had left her so shaken she couldn't keep the coffee in the coffee scoop. He had heard hr gasp earlier but hadn't managed to pry himself free of the grip he'd been in. he never understood why he'd get like that, he figured the dreams must have scared him or something and getting them on paper was cathartic or something. “here. Sit.” he ordered, quickly bustling about and making what little he could for her. A bowl of cereal, coffee and toast. He could make bacon too of course and eggs but he didn't think she had the time to sit around for that. Especially since Cleo would be up soon and he wanted to have her breakfast done too. Well, for her it would be more like lunch, but that was besides the point.

~~**~~

she chuckled and shook her head. Drixel was the only person who had ever seen the softer side of Neema. Well, him, Freeya and the High King. “yes. I suppose it is possible.” she agreed. Even she had no idea where Freeya came from so it was likely. Not that she believed in gods or divine intervention. Still, it was possible. “yes she has. This really is the perfect planet for Freeya to have sent her to.” she admitted with a smile before nodding. “yes. Breeding with the humans will save the People, and strengthen our lines.” she admitted. “there is a great deal to study here, but I fear you might not get to stay even with a promotion, our duty will be to the High Queen after all.” she admitted before watching him leave, a smirk on his lips. He really had no idea. Humans where as brilliant as they where stupid, some of the things the Collectives had gathered was beyond even what the People had discovered. These people had never left their own planet, and yet had discovered exactly how their solar system worked. These people couldn't hold their breath for more than a minute and yet had explored their deepest sea caverns. She had no doubt, with the right guiding hand, these people could be the shining beacon of the People. Adding the humans intelligence tot he bloodlines would only be a good thing. With the youngest, and only daughter of the High King left living on earth, they had a toe in the door. She just had to convince Cleo it was a good idea. It wasn't like she wanted to enslave the humans. Slavery was disgusting and she intended to see it completely stamped out. A partnership however, would be more than perfect. They had to handle this delicately though, while Humans had a lot of promise, they where also very violent and did not take to interlopers trying to tell them what to do. The last thing they needed was a war with the humans.

Neema looked over at him when he walked in, lookig mildl amused. “yes. It is a nice morning. The atmosphere here allows for some remarkable colors.” she admitted, indicating a dark part of the planet that had green and blues dancing all over it. “the Collectives say it is the Aurora.” she admitted, standing up and stretching before wrinkling her nose at him, or rather, what he was wearing. “we have to blend in don't we?” she asked, pinching the bridge of her nose. She'd forgotten about that, dammit, she didn't want to wear those hideous clothes. She sighed and allowed the Collective to use a replicator to make her a new set of clothes, changing right there in front of Drixel. Nudity was a common within the Empire. Some Concubines and other species never, ever wore clothes so being naked was pretty widely accepted. “of course you are Drixel. Your half mad after all.” she scoffed, settling into the pod without another word, sulking about having to wear such crappy clothes. Honestly! Jeans?! What where these things even made of?! Apparently the Collective knew, otherwise it wouldn't have been able to replicate them. She sulked the entire way tot he planet, landing in a bright green park, the very park that Aaron had gotten his ass kicked yesterday. She had to stop with a scented cloth pressed over her mouth and nose, the stench of earth was bad enough she wanted to gag. It was going to take a bit to get used to the smell of pollution.

 

[Uminator]

Natalia almost jumped when Aaron finally spoke up, she had been so busy trying to make coffee, succeeding more in spilling the beans onto the counter than anything else, that she had almost forgotten about his presence. She turned suddenly to face him, doing her best to hide the expression of shock on her face, then just nodded gently, not putting up much of a fight as he sat her down. "I...thank you Aaron" She managed to give him a slight smile before he got to work and her attention returned to his drawing. She carefully reached out, pulling it slowly across the table so that it was infront of her, staring down at it. Looking at it so closely, so clearly, she could tell this wasn't merely her mind playing tricks on her, not just some coincidental resemblance. No. It was them, Neema and Drixel...at long last...could they really be returning? Natalia placed her fingers carefully on Neema's face...how long had it last been since she had seen the woman?

Natalia took a deep breath to try and calm herself, closing her eyes. It had to be true, they had to be coming...today even it seemed. That was going to mean questions...it was going to mean Cleo's entire world was about to change. The girl knew nothing of her true origins, Natalia had kept it all from her. She had wanted to give Cleo a normal, happy life. Besides, there had always been the possibility that nobody would ever come...if that happened, Natalia had wanted Cleo to just be a normal girl for as long as possible. It was what Lady Freeya had wanted as well, for her daughter to be happy. But now, now she would learn everything. The woman prayed that Cleo wouldn't hate her, hate her for lieing all this time, hiding things from her. The thought made her hands begin shaking once again, quickly clenching her fists to try and get some control over it.


****


"Yes, I'm afraid you'll have to wear some human clothing my lady" Drixel grinned as he watched Neema fidgeting, almost like a child, even requiring the help of a computer to get dressed. "Well at least now you can look forward to tearing them off and reducing them to shreds. Should be fun hm?" He smiled as he put on the glasses, tapping a hidden control to active the link back to the ship, ensuring that they would never be out of contact. On Earth they would use the pod as a relay to boost the signal through the pollution and interference, giving him all the functionality they would require to not only find the Princess but to help her come to terms with what they were saying, help her to convince them it was all true. "Only half mad? Clearly I'm not trying hard enough" The man just smiled before moving to get into the pod, making several hand motions across a smooth control panel in order to activate the pre-flight checks. They had to make sure everything was in perfect working order, the Princess may be boarding this pod after all. "Our destination is programmed, an open area near to the general location of her Highness' signal" He finally tapped at a part of the control panel, setting the pod into motion. "Please do cheer up my lady, we are about to meet the Princess after all, bring her empire back to its full glory. A worthy price for having to wear these hm?" He tugged at her shirt, giving her a teasing grin.

Once they had landed and disembarked, even Drixel had to wrinkle his nose. "How do they live like this? Ugh, how can they have allowed their atmosphere to become so polluted? It must cause so many health problems for them...likely to have stunted their genetic development by at least a century. Clearly upon joining the empire the first order of business should be to install atmospheric restoration equipment" He quickly shook his head and made a sweeping hand motion infront of him, several displays appearing within the glass of his glasses, but not projected out. "Ah yes, the signal is much clearer here. There is still some minor interference from the level of electronic signals in the air, but I do believe I have narrowed our search significantly, and as we get closer I should be able to pinpoint her exact location. Please my lady, this way" Drixel turned to head out of the park, following the display on his glasses.
"My...such a curious machine..." As they reached the road, Drixel watched as cars went past. "Hm, the humans primary means of transportation...and also one of their primary means of polluting their own atmosphere it seems. Internal Combustion technology...I recall seeing such devices in ancient history museums when I was a child"

 

[FoxWriter]

Aaron just looked more worried when she sat down and he was quick to make her coffee and tried to get her settled, wondering if she was really going to be okay? Was she ill maybe? He'd never seen her sick before but that didn't mean it couldn't happen. “Nattie? Seriously. Are you alright? Your trembling. Your not sick are you?” he asked, worried about her, he didn't even glance at the drawing. Once he dre them, it was like they stopped existing for him. They had tried to show him, once or twice, what he'd drawn but he always forgot immediately after and saw only blank paper. Trying to bring his attention to it only made him agitated ad upset and then he had asthma attacks. It was best to just let him think she had a fever or that something else was happening. Once he was sure she was mostly okay he raced back up the stairs and pounded on Cleo's door. “Cleo! Wake up! Somethings wrong with your Ma, I think she might be ill or got a bad email or something.” he explained through the door. He knew better than to just race in there, he didn't know if she still slept naked or not but he didn't doubt she'd beat his head in if he opened that door without her permission. She'd done it before.

~~**~~

Neema scowled at Drixel. She did not appreciate being made fun of and if he had been anyone else she might have cut out his tongue. Still, he had been with her for well over sixty years now and she was used to him. She wouldn't cut out his tongue when he had performed so well the last week. “i will enjoy tearing them apart.” she admitted, lifting her hands and curling them into claws like she was going to check her nails, two inch long talons slipping out over her normal looking fingernails. Those where what she used with such deadly precision when punishing someone. Removing their tongue or eyes, ears or fingers. Depending on the transaction. More often then not she just swiped whoever had annoyed her across the face. It was when she let her wings out that you knew you where probably going to die. She examined her Talons for a moment before letting them slip back under her skin and fidgeted in her clothes, quite unhappy with them. They where tight in awkward places and too loose in others and they itched! “clearly your more mad than you think if you are testing my patience Drixel.” she warned, her voice holding that sharp edge of warning. Only an idiot did not head warnings given by Neema. Most didn't even get a warning. They only knew they'd overstepped when they where bleeding.

“This is true.” she conceded. What was uncomfortable clothes compared to the amazing, perfect task of finding the lost daughter? “ugh...” she agreed when he complained about the pollution, tying the cloth around her face so she could continue to breath she pulled open something on her wrist. It looked not unlike cling wrap pulled very taught, but was much stiffer and sturdier, though still extremely flexible. On it was an array of images and words written in their language. “The Collective says that the humans growth rate has been reduced by almost sixty percent due to the pollution. Common health problems include breathing and lung malfunctions, brain deformities, tumors and cancers, and... this is a very long list.” she admitted. “i think first order of buisness should be scrubbing the atmosphere to be honest. Look at this list of pollutants. They have gone so far as to destroy pieces of their own Ozone. I don't think there's enough time for basic restoration, I think we have to get in there with the Scrubbers and take care of it manually.” Scrubbers where basically massive cylinders that sucked in huge chunks of atmosphere, sorted it out, killed the pollutants and then released the clean stuff back out on a continuous loop. It could damage the life on the planet if used too close to the surface however so it was only for upper atmospheric cleansing, while the restoration was used for closer to the ground. Normally, the restoratives would eventually take care of the upper atmosphere too, but if they waited that long who knew how bad the Ozone would get. As it was, it would take years to fix the gaping holes, even with advanced technology rebuilding Ozone was a laborious task.

“Collective's says that they are known as Automobiles. Or Cars.” she read from her odd little display. Well, odd for a human anyway. Most people had a Portable Collective's Display. Neema's was top of the line of course. “they emit extreme combinations of gasses. It says here that they have only just begun to explore powering their transportation using their main power course known as Electricity.” she admitted. “apparently it is the same power that creates the lightning.” she admitted, looking quite interested. “they also use wind, natural gas and water to power some things. Mostly, it is a noxious combination of oil and chemicals that power most of their world. Disgusting.” she admitted. “most disgustingly, is what they do with their refuse.” she admitted, looking a little sick. The idea of them digging massive pits and just tossing all of their trash into it, or simply hurling it into the ocean.... these people truly where a parasitic species. With a good, guiding hand though, she was sure these creatures could be... tamed, perhaps wasn't the word she wanted to use.

 

[Uminator]

"I...oh, Aaron I'm fine, really" Natalia managed a slight smile, though it was clear something was troubling her, playing on her mind. It seemed everything was going to change...for Cleo, Natalia, even Aaron. It was possible he was about to lose his friend, quite possibly his only reason to live. No...no Cleo wouldn't have that, she wouldn't allow herself to be taken from Aaron, she wouldn't allow him to be left alone and at risk like that. No...whatever happened, Natalia was sure that Aaron would be fine too, he would be able to stay with Cleo. Still, would this all be too overwhelming for him? Cleo would adapt eventually...she was from the greatest bloodline the galaxy had ever seen after all, so there was no doubt she would be fine. But Aaron...Aaron was only human, then again, so was Natalia and she had been ok.
Upstairs, Cleo opened the door after a few moments. "What? Something wrong with mom? But....but mom never gets sick" She frowned, moving to quickly rush downstairs with Aaron, though by the time they got down there Natalia seemed to have calmed down a little, taking a small sip on her coffee. "Ah, good morning....sorry if I worried you two. Just a little out of sorts this morning is all"


****


Drixel knew that teasing Neema was a dangerous game to play, but he also knew where the line was. Sure, he had toed that line more than once, but he knew better than to cross it. He had leeway with Neema and he knew how to use it. And besides, he was sure that deep down a tiny part of her enjoyed the playfulness of their working relationship. Even she couldn't be all business all the time after all.

"There'll be much work to do on this world if it becomes a part of the Empire...for the sake of these humans I hope it does, though from what I've seen of their history there may be some resistance from some of them, particularly their military. It seems humans have something of a problem with higher authorities than themselves, particularly those within their military. Still, perhaps when they see the new toys they will have to play with..." He chuckled slightly. "Though I do wonder how some of them may react to the revelation that they'll be doing quite a lot of breeding....particularly their males, it seems the concept of males bearing young is unknown on this world....it should be rather amusing to see their reactions" He looked around at some of the nearby humans and smirked lightly, his glasses performing up close biological scans. He'd never examined a human up close before like this. "Hm, their bodies truly are fascinating...so adaptable and yet so fragile...so much potential locked away....yes....with careful interbreeding we can evolve both our species into a single greater whole...." Drixel's voice wandered off, clearly his mind was now working through calculations and possibilities, already working out the best way of doing things given their own species limited numbers.

He was only finally snapped out of it when a display came up on his glasses, beeping into his ear. "Ah, a stronger reading...yes, this way" He nodded down the road, turning to move quickly, clearly rather excited. "I believe I've established a lock onto her highness. She's not far...no not far at all. All indications are she is in perfect health....yes, yes most strong just as we would expect from the royal family. We'll need a closer examination to be certain, but yes it would appear that the handmaiden has fulfilled her duty excellently"

 

[FoxWriter]

Neema did rather like how he wasn't terrified of her. After so many years working together he had learned when it was okay to tease her. She was in a good mood today, if a bit grumpy about having to wear such awful clothing. She had every intention of promoting him for the explicit purpose of having him as an equal rather than a subordinate. This would give him much greater leeway with his mouth if nothing else. She had an image to keep after all, as her assistant she could not be seen as favoring him over others, even if she did. It had taken a very long time to train him to proper standards after all. Still, there was that new assistant who showed great potential and promise. She was already training him herself to take Drixel's place once he was promoted. Young Xeem was perfect, he had been hand picked by the High King himself and despite being an inferior species he was loyal only to the Crown. It helped that Drixel was the little brats idol. Any chance to be just like him was jumped upon. Making his training so much easier.

“More than a little work.” she agreed, looking around with disgust. “every single thing that powers their world pollutes it. Might as well level everything to the ground one city at a time and rebuild it.” she admitted. “it's a good thing that we're not technically a higher authority.” she admitted. “technically speaking, when we take over this planet we will be nothing more than foreign dignitaries.” she admitted. “by the time they realize we are the Higher Authority it will be entirely too late.” she admitted. “they'll all be integrated with our species anyway.” she admitted with a chuckle before smirking at something the Collectives brought up on her pad. “apparently, Men on this planet look down on women as 'inferior'. Not all do but about 80% of the worlds population live in purely male dominated cultures where women are either property, or inferior.” she admitted. “they'll change their tune once they start giving birth. Actually, there is a cluster of people, a minority, who are classified as Gay, or Homosexual. These people only like their own gender, so the males of this 'Gay' minority would welcome the ability to give birth. We should start with them when introducing the abilities.” she admitted. “this will ease the way and let people know we are capable of it without freaking anyone out.” she decided. This was why she was the right hand woman to the High King. Inter species interactions was her specialty.

“hmm, their Genetic code seams to be very flexible as well. While our DNA will mostly override the human DNA, any offspring we have will have extreme bursts of strength in their genetic codes thanks to the input of human genomes. The potential in these humans is staggering. Introducing them into our bloodlines will create an even more powerful race.” she said, looking very pleased indeed. “our children will be much stronger, and we won't have to fear for inbreeding problems or bloodline dilution.” she admitted, looking up at him when he suddenly focused again and followed him, rolling her P.C.D. Back into it's case and followed him. “Good! I will see that the woman is well rewarded.” she admitted. “if the High Queen is as strong as you believe, then she will have outperformed in every way. Well worthy of a reward.” she admitted, wondering what to give the woman. Obviously she would stay with Cleo, there was no doubt about that. The High Queen would need the comfort of the woman who had raised her. Cleo would need her mother. After all, just because Natalia hadn't given birth to her, didn't mean she wasn't Cleo's mother. So, what else to give the handmaiden? She would have to think on it. She paused outside the door and at least this part she was familiar with. She had read up on human culture and knew most of the greetings and entrance protocols. For American humans, you knocked on the wooden door, or pressed a doorbell, which was a small button on the side of the wooden door. This domicile had a button. So she pushed it and waited. Ignoring the Garbage truck behind her.

~~**~~

“Your not fine.” Aaron scolded her. “just sit still for a bit and try to relax a bit, the last thing you need is to fret yourself right into a cold or something worse.” he warned, heading upstairs and completely unaware of the problems going on in her head. “i know Cleo, I don't think she's sick. She gasped this morning, I didn't even notice her come in, I was all zoned out.” he admitted, feeling very ashamed. “whatever happened has her really shaken.” how was he to know that Cleo would instantly know that Aaron had drawn something that had probably been brutal or traumatic. He couldn't even remember the drawings. “i'm glad your feeling better.” Aaron admitted with a sigh, relieved before looking out the window. “huh. Garbage man's early today.” he admitted, blinking when the doorbell rang. “oh... hold on, i'll get it.” he promised the girls, heading for the door and popping it open and had to pause, blinking at them. “uh, can I help you?” he asked, blinking at them. What an odd pair, he had a feeling he'd seen these people before, where would he ever have seen people like this before?

 

[Uminator]

When the knock came at the door, Natalia looked up suddenly. She had known it was coming, and yet at the same time it had come as a total shock. Was this it? Was this really it? Could this really be them? She heard Aaron answering the door, seemingly unfamiliar with who was there. Natalia took a large gulp of her coffee, then set the mug back down on the table and slowly stood up. "Mom?" Cleo blinked, looking at her mother for a moment as the woman stood up. She turned to the girl and smiled, giving Cleo a gentle hug, rubbing her cheek softly for a few moments, before turning to head out slowly, walking from the kitchen and into the hallway, taking a few steps towards the door before she even dared to look up.

When she did, she gasped once more, staring right at Neema and Drixel for a few moments, before dropping to her knees. "You...you're here....you came....after all this time you're..." Tears were streaming down Natalia's cheeks, tears of joy or tears of sadness, it was difficult to tell.
Drixel looked up at her and raised an eyebrow, the display in his glasses bringing up her information, confirming that she was indeed the handmaiden they were looking for. All of her files were there. She looked slightly different, older, but then humans did age so much faster than they did.

"Mom?" Cleo's voice came from the kitchen before she walked out, tilting her head as she saw Neema and Drixel in the doorway. Instantly every alert in Drixel's own scanners went insane, alerts and data flagging up. He stared at Cleo for a moment, slightly open mouthed, then dropped to his knees, bowing quickly. "Y-your highness" He couldn't help himself, to show such deep respect to the royal family was an instinct to him by now. Still, at least this was full confirmation that they had indeed found who they were looking for. "Uhhh....ok, what's with him?" Cleo stepped further forwards, going to help Natalia back to her feet. "Mom? What's going on here? This is all getting a little weird..." "Ah...Cleo I..." She looked to the girl, then back to Neema and Drixel. "Ah...p-please, come in...I think we all need to talk..." She motioned for the pair to enter, then turned to head for the living room, Cleo giving Aaron a rather strange look before turning to follow.

 

[FoxWriter]

Aaron stared at them for a long silent moment, his head tilted. They where very odd folks to say the least and he had a feeling that if they came in, nothing would ever be the same again. He couldn't decide if it was a good feeling or not. He looked over at Natalia, watching her react to these people only made him feel even more paranoid, all the hair on his neck and arms rising in goosbumps as he watched them. This was... no, it wasn't, but it was. It was... off center. Not wrong, not yet, but decidedly off center like the time Cleo had shifted every single thing in the house an inch to the left as a prank. It felt like the world had tilted just a little bit and he was walking just a little bit sideways. This was... off.

“Calm yourself.” Neema suggested, gently setting a hand on Natalia's shoulder, offering her just a little bit of comfort, the only comfort she really knew how to give. “Natalia, calm yourself, you are frightening the young ones.” she said, examining Aaron and Cleo. The High Queen and a human. A sick human apparently, since he had an odd pallor to his cheeks. Drixel making a fool of himself certainly wasn't helping and the human was staring at her assistant as if he'd lost his mind. He probably thought so. “get up Drixel, stop making a fool of yourself. The Young one has no idea who you are or why your bowing to her.” Neema scolded him. “you are drawing attention.” she warned before looking at Natalia. “will the Young Male be staying?” she asked, looking at Aaron who scowled. Of course he was staying! Who did this strange woman think she was?! Someone important by the looks of her really. He had to stay, to protect Cleo even if he wasn't going to be very much help other than to try his best to keep her calm. Aaron looked at Celo and gripped his inhaler in one hand and took her hand in the other and led the way into the living room where Natalia was fussing and fidgeting and just plain old acting weird.

“Natalia. You will of course be a part of the High Queens life still, stop fretting so much.” Neema finally ordered. “this is, after all her life and we would do nothing to compromise her happiness and well being.” she assured. “have you received any news at all?” she asked, wanting to make sure Natalia was caught up before explaining to the young High Queen who she was. After all, it would be Natalia who would be doing most of the real explaining. “who are you.” Aaron finally asked, staring at her, his eyes boring into Neema like fire. “...you want to take Cleo away.” he decided. H wasn't dreaming, but his weak, barely awakened gift was enough to let him know that much. His hand tightened on Cleo's. “Her destiny has come, hasn't it?” he asked, sounding resigned. “she's leaving.” “Destiny, child?” Neema asked him, her head tilted before her eyes flashed in understanding.

One in every thousand, or hundred thousand humans born had a mutation within their genetic code. An extra strand of DNA or an active chromosome that others did not that allowed them access to amazing abilities. The Collectives named them Advanced Humans. For they where closer tot he evolutionary trail then other humans where. The Collectives labeled them as primary breeding targets. For their advanced genetic 'code' would match much better with the almost extinct People and add special strengths to any offspring he might have with that species. To find an Advanced so quickly, this was good news indeed. Especially since he seamed so very close to Cleo. Might make it easier to convince him to pair up with one of the People. Even Cleo herself perhaps? Producing Heirs would be one of the highest priorities. They couldn't risk the Royal Line dying out after all.

 

[Uminator]

Drixel stood quickly when Neema told him to, dusting himself down lightly, seemingly slightly embarrassed by his momentary outburst. Natalia seemed to relax slightly at Neema's assurances, the thing she had been most afraid of was losing Cleo, of not being a part of her life anymore. Of course if that had been the case there would have been little she could do to prevent it. "Ah...I..." Natalia looked to Neema as she asked what she knew. She slowly shook her head. "I...haven't received any news, not since we...." She bit her lip, glancing after Cleo as she moved through to the living room with Aaron. "But...she's gone...isn't she? I...a while ago I felt....I felt a terrible pain..." She placed a hand over her heart. "I knew the moment she was killed...." Tears streamed from Natalia's eyes for a moment as she recalled Freeya, and the sensation of knowing she had died. The two had shared a very special bond, and the pain Natalia had felt when that bond was forcibly broken by Freeya's death still haunted her. She wiped the tears from her eyes quickly, then moved to shut the door behind the two once they were inside.

As the group moved to head through to the living room so they could talk, Drixel turned his attention to Aaron, beginning to run a scan on him, somewhat more focused and detailed than he had run on the humans outside. This one seemed odd. He had some medical ailments, breathing troubles primarily, no doubt worsened by the pollutants in the air, but his DNA was different to the others. It was....more. So this was an 'Advanced Human', one who had not been as stunted as the others, one who was further along the potential evolutionary path of humanity. He would need to keep a close eye on this one...and from the way he took the Princess' hand like that, it seemed they were already close. Excellent, that would make things easier all around. Not just in terms of breeding a new generation for both of their races, but on making things easier for the new Queen. The transition to her new life would be much easier with familiar people around her and anything that made this less traumatic for her was a very good thing in Drixel's eyes.

Natalia slowly took a seat in the living room, waiting for everyone else to do the same before she took a deep breath. Where did she begin? How could she explain this? There was so much to tell, yet now she had no idea how to do it. "Cleo..." Finally she spoke, piercing the silence at last, looking up slowly at Cleo and Aaron. "There's something I have to tell you, something that's difficult for me to say...something that will be difficult for you to hear, for both of you to hear.." She glanced to Aaron, trying to give him a reassuring smile. "But you must know...everything I'm about to tell you is...it's the truth" She closed her eyes, taking another deep breath.
"I....am not your biological mother..." "WHAT?!" Cleo's eyes widened, glancing to Aaron, then back to Natalia. She wasn't sure how to process this information....how could that be possible? "I...but...what? That can't be right. I...I mean you've....we've always...." "It's true Cleo...but...while I might not be your biological mother...you're still my daughter, I still love you just the same, as if you were my own flesh and blood" She smiled, tears flowing once again. As much as Cleo didn't want to believe it, deep down she knew that it was true.....and besides, why would Natalia lie about something like this? "So...why tell me now...? I......wait..." She slowly looked to Neema and Drixel. "....Are you going to tell me these two are my birth parents?" "Hm? Oh! No no" Natalia shook her head. "These are....friends of mine, this is Neema and Drixel. They both work...worked...for your birth mother" "Worked? So....she's..." Cleo slowly looked down as she realised what that meant, her birth mother was dead.

"This next part....you may not believe it Cleo..." Natalia closed her eyes. Telling someone that you weren't their biological parent, that was a perfectly normal thing in human society, it could be accepted as possible. Telling someone they were not only an alien, but heir to a galactic empire of many different alien races....that was something that happened a little less frequently. "Cleo, your birth mother was....she was married to the High King of a great Empire....a vast empire...spanning almost the entirety of this Galaxy" "Uhhh....did she just say King and Galaxy...?" Cleo glanced to Aaron for a moment, then back to Natalia as she resumed speaking. "Your mother, Freeya....a long time ago she visited the Earth. She was with child, you, and she desired a handmaiden. Someone to tend to her and the baby. I don't know how...I don't know why...but she found me...she saved me from......from a terrible life, took me away with her. I travelled the stars...saw incredible things, but best of all I got to be there with you and her. But shortly after you were born.....a war began....a terrible war...a rebellion against the empire. To keep you safe, your mother and the High King sent us away, sent us here to hide until the war was over and it was time for you to return. Now that Neema and Drixel are here....it means that time has come" She looked up at the pair slowly, then back to Cleo, who seemed to be sitting there trying to process all of this information.

"Ok....so.....either this is a really elaborate prank in revenge for some of the stuff I've pulled over the years...." But that didn't seem right, her mother was crying....that was too much for a mere prank. "....Ok....I hate to be 'that sceptic' but....I think I'm gonna need just a tiny bit of proof on the whole alien thing. You're trying to tell me that I'm not human, that I'm the Princess of some giant space empire, and these two guys here are aliens too?" She pointed to Neema and Drixel. "That's just a little too much to take at face value really"
"Perhaps I can assist with that matter your Highness" Drixel smiled slightly. "Please, permit me to show you" "Ok, go ahead?" Cleo wasn't used to being asked permission for things like that. Drixel just smiled once more, then waved his hand forwards, several holographic screens appearing around the room, being projected by his glasses. On the screens were various displays of biological data. "This display here is of a human, do you recognise it highness?" "Uhhh.....Cleo stared at the holographic screen now floating in mid air, reaching out to poke her finger right through it. "....Yeah....kinda looks like a biology textbook....." "Ah, you have studied, most excellent" Drixel seemed excited at the notion of the Princess being an academic, though it was also another sign that Natalia had done a wonderful job, ensuring that Cleo was raised to make use of the natural intelligence she possessed. "And now this highness, is data of our race, or at least the baseline" He motioned to another display, the data shown quite different to humans, though there were some recognisable elements. "You see, no two of our race are quite the same. Within days of birth our bodies will begin to adapt and change, a process which continues throughout our lives. Though our base DNA will remain the same, our bodies are capable of generating new, additional DNA strands, sometimes in a matter of seconds or minutes, or sometimes over months or years"

"It's true Cleo. I promise you, all of this is true" Natalia walked over, placing her hand gently onto the hand Cleo was using to grasp onto Aaron's, Cleo's grip a rather tighter than usual. "But what happens now is up to you. All we want is to make this easier for you, to make sure you're happy. You are the most important person in the Universe Cleo, quite literally. Just keep in mind, you can do what you want. You don't have to lose anyone or anything you don't want to. Even if you do decide to go, you can take whoever you want with you" She looked to Aaron and smiled once more, trying to reassure both of them that they wouldn't have to be separated.
"Your mother is perfectly correct highness" Drixel slowly sat down once again. "We are not here to snatch you away from your life and force you into another. Of that you have our word"

 

[FoxWriter]

Neema wanted to laugh at the image of her assistant, the silly fool looked ridiculous as he tried to regain his composure. Honestly, the man should have known better than that. “...i'm sorry.” Neema admitted, honestly sounding sorry. “she was slain three weeks ago.” she admitted softly. “her death rallied us, and allowed us to find the strength to end the strife. Her death was not in vain, and she lives on in her daughter.” Neema said gently, no one would ever be callous about Freeya's death. The pain was too much. She had been loved by all who set eyes on her. It wasn't even anything she did really, she was always herself. Smiling, happy, loving, gentle, calm, caring and kind. Perfect in every way. “she died well. Knowing that ou and her daughter where safe.” she admitted. “and of the twenty people who attacked her, only one still stood once she finally succumbed to her wounds.” Freeya admitted, hoping it would please the handmaiden to know that Freeya had gone down beating up the bastards who had killed her. Maybe not. Aaron at least, seamed to understand that someone Natalia had loved very much had died and he set a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her and Cleo at the same time.

Aaron tensed when he was pulled into the conversation like that. How would this information affect him? Oh crap. Cleo was adopted. it.. made some strange sense to be honest, Nattie was amazing, but Cleo was.... everything. She was perfect, he had always believed she was an angel, maybe he had been right? “Blood doesn't make family Cleo.” he whispered softly. Smiling at her. “Love does. And Nattie loves you more than anything else, you know that.” he admitted, offering what comfort he could. “she'd do anything for you, anything to make you happy and healthy.” he admitted. “i am afraid not.” Neema admitted with a smile. “i doubt Drixel would ever dare to rty and become a Breed mate with me. He would fear for his organs.” she admitted. One of the reasons why Neema had never had children of her own. People where too afraid of her. Not to mention she was too busy for silly things like breeding. Well, she'd need to breed now, their civilization, their people might depend on it. “i am sorry young one. Our Biological Mother died three weeks ago, fighting to keep you safe.” Neema admitted softly. She had not et forgiven herself for not getting there in time to save the precious Queen.

“...did you just say Empire?” Aaron asked, looking stunned, his eyes wide before he looked at Cleo. “oh.... well, Angel, Alien, they seam to be close enough.” of Drixel was still monitoring him, he'd know Aaron was in a state of emotional shock. Natalia probably already knew that just from her training as a nurse. There was no comment from Neema, who felt that this explanation would be better from Natalia. “Freeya was the most loved in the entire Galaxy.” Neema explained after a moment. “she was the most beautiful woman ever seen, inside and out. Perfect in nearly every way.” she admitted. “something I see, that was passed on to you young one.” she admitted with a smile at Cleo, but it was a sad smile. The smile of someone who had lost someone very precious.

“This is no Prank, Child.” Neema assured her, startled when Aaron spoke. “it's not a prank Cleo.” he whispered, staring at Neema. “it's not a prank.” Neema wondered if he was examining her soul or something. This boy, the potential he had... they would have to see what they could do to further unlock his evolutionary trail. If he could wield these powers of his openly, willingly, and be in control he would be a great asset tot he High Queen. It wouldn't be hard to open his mind a little bit more so he could access his gifts on purpose, instead of subconsciously. “i recognize it.” Aaron admitted, examining the human DNA strand before looking at the second DNA strand that was slightly altered. “...i'm sorry but this doesn't prove much. I've seen more impressive photo-shopping on Tumblr.” he admitted. “and while the Holograms are cool, our tech lab at School can do pretty much the same thing, so unless your trying to convince me that your Tony Stark, i'm not biting.” he said, narrowing his eyes at Drixel.

“Perhaps this then, will convince you?” Neema asked, there was a sound like wet fabric ripping and when he turned to look at the previously perfectly human Neema, only to leap back with a shriek. She had six greenish wings spread out of her back and a lump of scales forming into a horn above both eyes. Her arms where covered in scales ad her fingers where tipped with her deadly talons and a long red scaled tail swayed lazily behind her. she even had Talon's crowing out of her elbows! this was what she normally looked like when someone was about to die. While this certainly had the effect of proving to him she was, at the very least, not human it also had the effect of throwing him right into an asthma attack since he'd panicked so bad. He scrabbled for his inhaler, struggling to get it to his lips since his hands where shaking so much, in the end Cleo, Natalia or Drixel had to help him work the Inhaler. It took him almost ten minutes to calm down and regain his breathing. Neema looked confused. “what happened?” she asked, wondering why the human male had collapsed and stopped breathing. She knew that humans had weak lungs due to the pollution, she hadn't realized that they could stop breathing like that.

 

[Uminator]

Having Aaron here, hearing his words of support...it helped Cleo so much with all of this...all this news...all these changes. And yet this was merely the tip of the iceberg. If all of this was true then...then she was an alien, not only that but she was to become the queen of some vast Empire....ruling over planet after planet. And her mother....her birth mother...the way that they were all talking about her, as if she were some kind of saint or goddess. Had she really been that amazing? It was hard to believe otherwise with everything being said....assuming of course that it really was true.

Natalia did seem slightly comforted to hear that Freeya had gone down fighting, that her assassins had been all but wiped out. It was a testament to Freeya's strength, an aspect that the assassins had clearly underestimated. Someone so sweet and kind....who could have expected her to be such a warrior? Still, Natalia couldn't help but hope that the final surviving assassin had been made to suffer for his crime, that he regretted ever being involved in such a thing. "And....all of the others....killed too? The High King? His other wives? All his husbands? All of them..." Natalia shook her head, she knew the answer to that already. Cleo really was the last, the very last of the royal bloodline, the only hope it had of survival, the only hope the empire had. The war must have been terrible...to have dragged on for so long all these years. She got the feeling that Neema and Drixel had more to tell, though they were likely holding back from the worst of it for the sake of Cleo and Aaron. This was hard enough without going into the grizzly details of the outcome of a galaxy spanning war.

"Well...Aaron does have a point" Cleo spoke up as Aaron mentioned the data potentially being a fake. What if it was? Then again, Natalia seemed to believe them...but what if she was just being fooled? What if she had been lied to all that time ago as well? They needed more proof than this, something that couldn't be faked. It seemed Neema was only too happy to provide that proof though. Cleo gasped as she saw the womans clothes bulge for a second, then practically explode in every direction, showering the room with tiny pieces of fabric. Cleo stared, wide eyed and open mouthed. Yeah, that would do the trick alright. That was something rather more difficult to fake in real life like this. The womans body had changed completely, she looked like violent death incarnate. When she heard Aaron struggling though, her attention was immediately brought back to him. "A-Aaron!" She quickly moved to help him, though Natalia had moved in sooner, working quickly to start getting his breathing back under control. Fortunately, this would be the very last time he would have to deal with this....never again would she allow him to suffer like this.
Both women let out a sigh of relief when Aaron calmed down and got his breathing back under control, Cleo stroking his head gently, squeezing his hand. "That's it...just stay calm, you're ok Aaron...you're gonna be just fine ok?"

Natalia looked up as Neema spoke, then slowly stood. "Aaron has a medical condition known as Asthma...it's a fairly common breathing difficulty amongst humans, though Aaron has a particularly severe case. It seems the shock from seeing you triggered something of an attack from the condition. Though that's something I finally intend to correct..." Natalia turned to head for the closet, pulling out her medical kit, her alien medical kit that she reserved normally for Cleo or Aaron's external injuries. All this time she'd had the ability to cure his Asthma but had been unable to do so. No more. "Aaron, I want you to relax..." Natalia knelt down beside him, pulling a small device from the kit. "Now I know you've suffered with this for long enough....but what I have here....this can correct the problems in your lungs, make you healthy. I'm sorry for not using it before but....I'm sure you can understand why I didn't before...I had to keep the secret...but this is up to you" She held up the device and smiled gently, ready to use it, but only if he agreed.

 

[FoxWriter]

Aaron wasn't nearly as skeptical as he wanted to be. He had known for years that something was, odd, about Natalia. The tools at hand, the way she healed him after every ass kicking. Healing broken bones in weeks instead of months, fractures in days instead of weeks. Sometimes hours. No he wasn't all that surprised, he just didn't want these strange people taking advantage of Cleo. Yes, they might be telling the truth, they could also be trying to take advantage of her and he would be making sure that nothing and no one hurt his best and only friend. These people where not fooling him, dangling stories of her birth mother like a carrot to manipulate Cleo into doing what they wanted. His own parents had often done the same, they had been a lot more sly and subtle than these people where.

“I'm sorry Natalia. Everyone else is gone.” Neema whispered, examining Aaron, pleased with the way he was protecting Cleo. He had a warriors spirit. Maybe they could train him to be her personal bodyguard? He would be a very fitting person for the job, as well as First Husband or even Favorite. That would all be up to Cleo of course but it was something to suggest later. She had to admit, she hadn't realized humans could fake the information they put on their internet and made a mental note to inform the Collectives just in case it hadn't already figured that out. She never even thought to wonder how the human and the human raised would react to her 'natural' form. She was a little annoyed that her human clothes where ruined though. She'd forgotten she wasn't wearing her special suit, that had opening flaps for her extra extremities when she decided to let them out. She stayed well out of the way while the women fussed over Aaron and watched the odd breathing device working it's magic. Aaron was too freaked out to care what was happeing, all he knew was that woman was a monster and that he couldn't breath.

“Asthma?” Neema asked, looking curious, looking at Drixel. “mark that down. This is clearly a very serious ailment. We will need to keep this in mind when we start dealing with humans.” she admitted. “C-correct?” Aaron finally managed to wheeze, not sure if that was something he could trust. How he could trust any of this!? That woman was standing there, sharp and deadly as if it was the most natural thing in the world and he seamed to be the only person in the house who seamed to understand how... how Wrong that was! He couldn't bring himself to recoil away from Nattie though. Nattie who had taken him in and fed him and healed him and id everything for him. She had put funny stuff in his food so he wouldn't be short and malformed and she had healed all his hurts and pains and had held him when he cried and helped him use his Nebulizer when he had attacks in the night and had been the one to diagnose him with Asthma in the first place. Nattie who had praised his impressive grades, Nattie who was his mother in all ways but blood and living arrangements.

“...i understand.” Aaron whispered, finally looking at her, trusting her. “okay... will it hurt?” he sounded so young, frightened, terrified even. Everything was wrong, everything was backwards, everything was a disaster, but he trusted her to make everything okay the way she always did. He relaxed, laying on his back and closed his eyes, letting her do what she wanted while Neema tried to patch her destroyed shirt back together enough to hide her breasts. She understood from her research that nudity was not typically accepted by Human American Culture. She didn't bother to protest, healing this human boy would make Cleo happy, and the young High Queens happiness was the most important. “Drixel. Once the human male has had his lungs fixed, I want you to give him an exam. He appears to be emaciated.” she said, looking a little bothered by that. Children where precious, harming one was an immediate death sentence. Striking one, starving one, neglecting, harming or terrorizing a child in any way was enough to see your head rolling across the floor. Not even a High King or queen was exempt from this law, as had been proven before when a previous High King was put to death for slapping one of his daughters across the face hard enough to break her jaw when she 'dared' to ask for something to eat. The High King was put to death, as where all of his wives and husbands but three when it became evident they had known and done nothing. So Neema was clearly distressed at the idea of Aaron, a child, being starved.

 

[Uminator]

"It wont hurt, I promise" Natalia smiled to Aaron as he asked, doing her best to reassure him. She knew how overwhelming this all had to be for him, she remembered how it had been for her all those years ago. But soon he would come to realise the truth, that these people weren't here to cruelly snatch Cleo away, they were here to help her, here to give her a better life. They could do the same for him too, Natalia was certain that Cleo would give them no choice in that much. "Ok, here we go" Natalia carefully placed the device onto Aaron's chest, moving her fingers slowly, carefully manipulating the device. True to her word there was no pain, quite the opposite infact. A warm and pleasant tingling sensation would spread across Aaron's chest, filling his lungs. With every passing second his breathing would become easier and easier, until finally his lungs were healed, his Asthma completely gone. "There, all done" Natalia removed the device carefully, not even a mark left on Aaron's chest, the tingling sensation slowly fading away. "Now, our friend is going to make sure there's nothing else wrong with you ok? Don't worry, I'll be right here the whole time" "And so will I" Cleo folded her arms, standing right by Aaron, clearly not wanting to move away from him whilst these strange people were in her house.

"Of course" Drixel smiled and bowed his head. Cleo being there wouldn't interfere with him checking up on Aaron, and if her wish was to be by his side he was more than happy to comply. He moved closer, Natalia standing a little out of the way so that Drixel could kneel down by Aaron. For a moment he couldn't help but glance to Cleo, momentarily in awe of being so close to her, before turning his focus to Aaron. He didn't want Neema scolding him again after all. "Young male, I will be running a non invasive scan of you. There will be no pain or discomfort, you have my word." He bowed his head to Aaron this time, then looked up and reached a hand out over Aaron's body, directing and focusing his scan from his glasses, beginning to run a detailed and focus analysis on Aaron's body. He spent several minutes to make sure he had been thorough, then slowly stood up. "The scan is complete. Thank you" He smiled, then stepped back, looking to Neema. "Overall, he is in relatively good health. There are signs of occasional malnutrition, though it appears he has also gone through periods of eating well. Analysis shows the periods he has been eating well appear to have taken place in this dwelling" He folded his arms. "It would appear his medical condition has undergone consistent treatment through human medications, though it has now been fully healed" He looked to Natalia and nodded. "Excellent treatment, the Lady Freeya truly chose well" "Ah...th-thank you.." Natalia smiled, blushing slightly, Cleo just grinning. "Ah yeah, mom is definitely the best, right Aaron?"

Drixel couldn't help but smile as he watched the scene. Natalia had clearly become more than a mere caretaker, she was family to the Princess. The care that these three humans had for each other was obvious.
"So...what happens now?" Cleo looked over. "Let's assume that everything you've told us is true. What do we do now? You want me to leave here with you? Because I'm telling you right now, I'm not going anywhere without mom and Aaron. Nuh-uh, no way" She defiantly folded her arms, glaring at the two. It seemed that she wasn't intimidated by Neema's rather brutal appearance even slightly. Aaron would know well however, intimidating Cleo was something that had so far proven impossible during their time at school. "And even if we do all go, just where would we be going? And what's going to happen to us? I'm not agreeing to anything or going anywhere until I know exactly what's gonna happen"

 

[FoxWriter]

“okay...” he muttered, very nervous about what was happening. He winced at the feeling of warmth spreading through him before looking down, startled. He was well used to people saying 'don't worry this won't hurt' and then it hurting. This though... this was very nice. He let his head drop back down and stared at the ceiling, wrinkling his nose at the very strange feeling of his lungs tingling. He'd never felt like this before either. His lungs where bad enough that getting a deep breath was always a challenge, instead he tended to do faster, shallower breaths because that was all his lungs had allowed. When she was done he felt his lungs filling all the way, longer, deeper breaths that made him feel almost dizzy. He'd be able to run now. He'd be able to flee. Get away, escape his tormentors. He'd be able to do other things that he'd never been able to before. Jog, bike, swim, even play games with Cleo. He felt tears welling up in his eyes. He could be a normal... well, kind of normal kid now. He could do things Cleo liked to do now. “okay.” Aaron whispered. Too stunned to really protest anything. Still in a good state of shock. He was unlikely to be moving for a while unless he heard someone badmouthing, ordering or otherwise trying to do poor by Cleo. That was unlikely to be happening though.

He turned and blinked at Drixel, man that was a weird name, fit the really weird man to a T though. “okay...” Aaron said, staring at what Drixel was doing. No pain... right. Apparently that was going to be the new normal for the day. “yeah. Sure. Your welcome...” he mumbled. What lingering injuries there where, could be healed within an hour of being back on the ship, or even coming back down with the supplies needed. He had poorly healed fractures and breaks all over. Those would be healed in no time. He had arthritis in his fingers from being broken so many times. Only Natalia's amazing talents had saved him from never being able to use his hands again. He'd never said who kept breaking his fingers, but he knew Cleo and Natalia suspected his parents. They would be right. Better a crippled son than a useless artist in their minds. Other than that there had only been the Asthma and the malnutrition. He would be fit as a fiddle in no time at all.

Aaron nodded, smiling at Nattie. “yeah. The very best.” he agreed, feeling finally stable enough to sit up. Who cared if these people where Aliens? His main goal was to keep Cleo and Nattie safe and that's what he was going to do! “be at Peace.” Neema offered, handing her torn and tattered shirt to Drixel. “fix that.” she ordered, Aaron choking on his tongue when he realized the woman was naked from the waist up. “First of all, we do not order you, your Highness. You order us.” Neema assured her. “while I would like to have you on ship for a checkup against human maladies, I do not expect you to do a single thing you do not want to do.” she admitted. “your mother of course, will always be a part of your life and no one would be stupid enough to make you unhappy by trying to remove her.” she promised. “as for the young human Male, if he wishes to go with you, then he will.” she smiled. “we do have to take his desires into account as well after all. Though from the way he is looking at me, I will assume that he wishes to remain In your company.”

“i do.” Aaron said as firmly as he could. “i suspected as much. As for what is going to happen to you, nothing much. The young human male may wish to speak to Drixel further about harnessing his gift and enhancing his superior genetic capabilities.” Neema admitted. “but that again, is entirely up to him.” she paused, realizing she was still naked and was still in her full form and with a few twitches appeared to be completely human once more. “my apologies.” she said simply. “as for where we are going to go, that also depends on your own personal decision. We can go back to what was once the Capital of your empire, though I would suggest against doing so. There is... very little left. We ca just as easily stay here and work on incorporating Earth into your empire if you like. The human race is exceedingly adaptable. Having husbands and wives willing to breed with us from this species might very well save ours from extinction.” she admitted. “only willing partners however. Rape is abhorred by the people, Bloodlines are exceptionally important after all. to be completely honest, Cleo. whatever happens, is all up to you. we might offer suggestions, but ultimately your word is law. where we go, where we live, everything is ultimately up to you and we will follow your lead... so long as you don't ask us to go to Calicopats 6 or something."

 

[Uminator]

Cleo and Natalia both seemed to relax a little at Neema's assurances. Not only that what happened next was Cleo's decision, but also that the three of them wouldn't have to be split apart, that they could all stay together however they wanted. If anything, Cleo seemed to be starting to get a little excited. She always did have a liking for the stranger things, she'd always been fascinated much more by the unusual than the mundane, eager to share the latest weird thing she had found on the internet with Aaron. Of course even she had never quite imagined something quite this unusual happening to them, but now that it was, well, she wasn't going to turn it away, not when there was a real chance of this all being true.
"Well, alright then. I'm not sure why but I just get the feeling I should believe you" Cleo slowly sat beside Aaron, as if trying to reassure him that even though she believed what these people were saying, she was still sticking by him.

When Neema changed herself back to being human, Cleo flushed slightly, quickly looking away. The flush on her face only seemed to intensify as she started talking about people being willing to breed. "Uhhh....yeah...no rape, that's good....very good" She nodded, still glancing in every direction but at Neema.
"Ahem" Drixel coughed slightly to catch Neema's attention, holding out his jacket to her. "Ma'am, I do believe the Princess is not accustomed to the nudity of others. The majority of Humans are a rather modest species when it comes to the display of their own bodies, it may be prudent to remain covered whilst in her majesties presence for the time being" Natalia on the other hand couldn't help but giggle slightly, moving to put her arms gently around both Cleo and Aaron's shoulders. "I think there's a lot the two of you are going to need to get used to. But Cleo...I'm glad you're taking this so well. I always knew you would when this day came. And I'm glad you have someone to share it with" She nudged the pair together for a moment.

"Ah, heh, yeah" Cleo grinned and nodded slightly. "So....why not this Calicopats 6 or whatever it was? You don't like it there? Why not?" Cleo raised an eyebrow in curiosity. Ok, she wasn't just curious but outright nosey. When she got half an answer she was practically obsessed with getting the reasons behind it all, it was just in her nature. "And staying here on Earth, at least for a while, is definitely what I'd like, this is still all a lot to take in after all. Though....I wouldn't be opposed to maybe seeing your ship. Can you imagine it Aaron? Getting to set foot on a real spaceship? It'll be awesome!"

 

[FoxWriter]

Aaron was still too confused about what was happening to really understand, but he knew these people didn't want to separate him from Cleo and that was good enough for him. He was well aware that Cleo was getting excited. She had always loved freak shit like this. “...yeah. I believe them too.” Aaron admitted, even if he was still very wary of them, they had done a lot to help him too. He was pretty sure it was their technology that had healed him time and time and time again. And now had caused his asthma to go away. He was still breathing a little bit funny, not used to taking proper breaths, but he was already getting deeper, fuller breaths that made him feel as if some massive weight had been lifted off his chest.

He had to flush at the sight of the naked woman, he was even worse than Cleo was. He'd gone and closed his eyes, not sure he'd have the self control if he kept them open. Neema glanced at Drixel and accepted the shirt, jacket, whatever crap this human shit was and put it back on. “yes yes. They are prudes, I understand.” she huffed. “well, if they come back to the ship they'll have to get used to that, over a third of our crew doesn't wear any clothes at all.” she admitted, blinking when Aaron squeaked at that. No clothes?! Holy crap!... maybe he could see Cleo naked? No! Bad Aaron! “yeah. Get used to. I know better than that. Cleo will hit me if she sees me looking at boobs.” he pointed out, grinning a little to show he was only picking on Cleo, as he did when he was feeling well with life and very good. Usually that only happened when he hadn't gotten his ass kicked for a fw days and didn't hav to deal with his parents for a while.

“Calicopats 6 is a very dangerous planet.” Neema explained. “it's official name is Calicopats, named after the Dreevil that found the planet... and died there.” she admitted. “the 6 after the name is the danger level. It is one of the highest rated planets in the known, and mapped, universe.” she admitted. “all planets with a danger rating of four or above have the number tacked on after their name.” she admitted. “this is to prevent anyone from accidentally landing on them if they are not prepared. Calicopats 6 is filled with a species that would be close kin to something like a Gorilla or an Ape, a Crocodile, and a vulture. They eat, anything they can get their hands on, living or dead. They even eat themselves or each other if food starts running short. They are very few, but they are extremely territorial and intelligent. All attempts to study the planet on surface, or capture one of the Pid have resulted in death. Usually by being eaten alive.” she admitted. “it is a very dangerous place, especially since if the Pid don't get you, the poisonous everything else will., and then the Pid will eat you anyway.” Neema had no problem answering every question thrown at her. His Majesty the High King had been the same when he had been her age. Wanting to know everything.

“Yeah. A spaceship.” Aaron agreed, looking much more animated now before he paused and looked at them. “what did you mean, 'unlocking my gift and enhancing my superior genetic capabilities', what's that mean?” Aaron demanded, a little suspicious of what they wanted from him. “ah! That is a much simpler matter to explain.” Neema admitted. “you see, within the human race, there are a group of one in about ten thousand born, that has had a leap in their evolutionary potential. We call thse people Advanced Humans. They often have special gifts or powers that enhance who they are. Some can manipulate the elements, others have a type of precognition.” Neema studied him. “i believe you are capable of accessing the time streams, and hooking into the most likely future and taking a peek.” Aaron shook his head. “your batty!” he informed her. “me? Tell the future? Your nuts!” his human mind simply wasn't ready for that kind of knowledge. They would have to expand his mind a little before he was ready, but Neema had a feeling that, from the way they where watching him, Cleo and Natalia already knew of Aaron's special abilities. “because your mind isn't ready, you are unaware of your true capabilities. We can help with that, but only with your permission.” Neema admitted to him. “now, if you wish to make Earth your Home World, for now or for the rest of your life, Drixel and I will have to make preparations.” she admitted. “we will not be able to hide that we are not human for very long after all and eventually, someone is going t notice the ship.” she admitted. "we will have to present ourselves to Earth fully, so that they are aware that we exist and that we wish to be at peace with humanity." especially since humanity was one of the only ways they knew to save their species. if humanity thought them a 'godsend' as the slang went, then they would be much happier to work with them. well, Neema hoped so anyway.