SOL - Generation Six - Chapter Eleven
Hello all! I recently updated SOL and the Starrs so if you haven't read them, head's up.
Minor warning for very serious topics (plane crashes and Egypt's political problems) joked about.
Um, my game kept crashing for some reason. There seemed to be no pattern - sometimes when I was building sets, another time when I was in CAS, and another time just randomly in game. Nothing's changed since I last played it but it happened once in the Starr chapter if you'll remember... so Idk. Anyway, some of the pictures were edited to look dark because I wasn't going to wait until it was night and risk more crashes.
~ i would link to the last chap but my internet is super slow so it probably won't load sorry ~
“I think I’m going to die,” Nyc said calmly, gazing out at the large plane sitting outside the building. Emily didn’t look up from her magazine.
“Distinct possibility. We’re not flying over political hotspots, though, so we won’t get shot down. There are plenty of other ways that a plane can fail though.”
Nyc let out a sound that could only be described as a whimper. Emily grinned. “Sadistic,” he accused weakly. She gave an evil cackle and he groaned, hiding his head in his hands. “Wait, why would we get shot down?!”
“Jesus, do you even watch the news?” Emily muttered. “Then again, Egypt isn’t exactly safe right now either. Better than it was, though.”
“They have a president now, don’t they?” Nyc asked, rolling his shoulders. “I had hoped things had advanced more,” he said softly. “Everyone still fights. Children die. Women are raped. And yet sometimes they truly believe what they’re doing is right.” When Nyc looked up at Emily, his eyes were troubled. “But the ones who hunt me don’t even care about right or wrong. They’re amoral; they want power. That is all there is for them. Somehow that is worse.”
Emily studied him for a long time. He sat with his head bowed, clearly bothered, his frown unsettling to see. She stood up and sat beside him, nudging him with her elbow. “Hey,” she said. “Things get better because we make it get better. Slowly, but it does. Think of how much has changed since your times. As for the Old Ones...” Emily grinned at Nyc. “Well, they can suck it. I don’t plan on losing this little battle.”
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When they left Alexandria airport and checked in at a hotel, Nyc sank down in one of the armchairs and made a noise that could have been somewhere between a whimper and a mewl, if Emily was going to emasculate him further and tease him about it.
“Oh Gods, we have to go back on that thing on the way back!” he wailed, raising his hand and watching it shake. “I need food,” he decided.
“Think you can keep it down?” Emily asked with a grin. Nyc glared at her. Even that was weak. “Hey, if it’s that bad, you don’t have to fly Mr T.”
Nyc tilted his head to the side. “My last name is -“
“A Team reference,” Emily sighed. “Never mind. God, sometimes I wish Cassy and Owen knew just so they could teach you all the pop culture you’ve missed.” Nyc still looked blank. Emily rolled her eyes, walked to the menu and tossed it to him. “Choose something and we’ll call room service. Quinn will pay,” she added. Really, he shouldn’t have offered. It was his fault she was going to spend tons of money when she wasn’t hunting down a glass tube that held a substance that probably wasn’t physically impossible.
Her life, honestly.
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Cassy lounged back on the sofa while Owen and Lauren competed in the game they played; it surprised her that Lauren was so good, but the girl had some insane reflexes and made decisions on the spot. Still, Owen had years of nerdy experience...
“Oh shit, no no no!” Owen said, bouncing on the seat in his excitement, before flinging his hands up in the air and giving a disbelieving NO!
Lauren put the controller down and looked as smug as she could. Considering it was Lauren, that wasn’t much. “Emily makes me play, sometimes,” Lauren explained. “She insists it’s good for us.”
“Studies show that it is!” Owen countered.
Cassy sighed and lounged further back. “Seriously, Owen, why are you not head over heels for Emily? If she was any nerdier I think she would actually be your female clone.”
Owen snorted. “Please, Emily terrifies me. She could single-mindedly destroy the whole world if she wanted to.”
“Good thing she is vaguely moral,” Cassy agreed. “Do you think she’s more likely to save the world or end it?” she mused.
Lauren looked outraged. “Save it, of course!” she spluttered. “Stop being mean about her just because she’s not here to defend herself.”
“Ha!” Cassy laughed. “She would agree with me.” The girl got up and wandered through to the kitchen. “Do you guys want anything?” There was the sound of the fridge opening. When Owen and Lauren declined, she hummed. “I might pop down to the corner shop. I feel like some chocolate.”
“Look like it too,” Owen called.
“Dicknuts,” she shouted back. “Okay, definitely need a chocolate fix. Be back in a few!”
The door closed but they both barely heard it, already fixed on their next game. This time Owen managed to scrape a lead and cheered. Lauren rolled her eyes fondly and mock-punched him, far too lightly to be ever taken seriously. Still, Owen pretended to look wounded.
“How’s Nyc?” he asked casually.
“In America,” she smiled. “I hope he sends me some postcards! That would be sweet.”
Owen grinned. “I’m sure he’d do anything you’d ask him to, by the sounds of it. Even Emily admitted he wasn’t all bad. I gotta meet this guy. Know my competition,” he said, teasingly. His grin faltered when Lauren winced.
“I’m sorry, Owen, I don’t mean to make you feel awful... I know you like me,” she said.
Owen shook his head. “Don’t apologise, for crap’s sake. You’re happy with Nyc, so I’m happy. That’s it, that’s all there is to it. You don’t have any responsibility to like me back, okay? I’ll get over it when someone equally as amazing comes into my life,” he grinned at her. When she still looked upset he nudged her gently. “Lauren, please, don’t feel bad. There is nothing I want more than to see you happy and smiling.”
She blushed and gave him a small smile. “Thank you. One day I hope you’ll meet someone who loves you.”
Owen snorted. “I’m only seventeen. Plenty of time! Best out of three?” he asked, gesturing to the TV.
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“I know where it is,” Nyc said.
Emily jerked awake from her doze. “What?! Where is it?” She scrambled over to where he sat looking over the maps and the laptop data. He pointed to a cross on the map.
“I did some research and looked up what was around in my time. Whatever tombs or temples or wonders were near Alexandria, I marked off.” He pointed to a cross. “See this? The Lighthouse of Pharos. It was an ancient wonder of the world.”
“It’s there?” Emily asked, craning her neck to look.
Nyc swiped at her. “No, I was just trying to educate you. Gods.” He pointed elsewhere on the map. “There. The Alabaster tomb.
Apparently where Alexander was interred, but that is uncertain at best.”
Emily eyed the cross on the map. “How do you know?” she asked.
“It’s partially Macedonian Architecture made of, you guessed it, alabaster.” He turned the laptop to her and showed her a picture. “There’s not much left, or so you’d think. I know where to look, and I’m sure it hasn’t been found.” He went quiet. “Only my father and I would know where this is.” He said it quietly, almost to himself, and Emily found herself looking away to give him some pretence of privacy.
“Well then,” she said, eyeing the darkening skies. “Let’s go. I always wanted to be tomb raider.”
“...Right. First I need to do something.”
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Nyc saw the partially ruined temple and closed his eyes. From the distance, Alexandria had looked amazing - up close, it seemed everything he remembered about the city was wrong. He had thought coming back might make him a little less homesick, but no.
He walked into the temple. It wasn’t Athena’s - wasn’t even any indication of whose it was - but he entered and hoped this would be observed gratefully by his Goddess as he had no other option.
He knelt in the centre and bowed his head. The weight of sadness pressed down upon him. He prayed.
This was his home now. This was all he had.
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They took little over two hours to reach the tomb. It was dark and neither wanted to attract any attention that using a torch outside would surely bring, so she studied the building as best she could in the dark.
Nyc led her forward silently. He hadn’t said more than two words since picking her up from the hotel. They travelled quietly, guns hidden but there, because even though Emily hadn’t seen much on the news about Egypt she wasn’t taking any chances.
He found the door easily and they walked in. Just as silently, he began to look around while Emily held the torch. He got on his hands and knees and began to feel around the ruined tomb; finally he found something. “Stand here,” he said. She did as she was asked. He continued and then stood on another piece of the floor. There was a rumble and a hidden door opened. Emily’s jaw dropped.
“Wow,” she choked out.
“Right?” Nyc grinned, the light of the torch shining on his teeth. They headed down the stairs and Nyc found the chest. He took a deep breath, opened it, and let out a jubilant whoop. “This is it,” he said, holding it up. Emily gaped again as she saw a crystal-like vial of a blue, flowing, celestial like liquid.
“Wow,” she said again.
Nyc grinned and put it in his pocket. “Don’t worry, this won’t break. Let’s get out of here.”
Emily nodded and they scampered up the stairs. Nyc was first. They left the tomb and walked a little way down the street. They turned a corner and Nyc let out a sudden yell as he was flung back with the force of a vampire’s punch. Emily startled and grabbed her gun, flicking off the safety and getting her stance right. “Nyc?” she asked.
“Fine,” he coughed. “Ow.”
“Give us the vial,” the vampire said. Emily’s heart sank. Us? She heard whispers of footsteps around them. She chanced a glance and saw they were surrounded by two others; the way they were acting made her suspect there were many more waiting.
“Give me one good reason I should,” Emily challenged, trying to buy time. Her mind raced. What could they do? They couldn’t fight, they couldn’t run. Could they call the police? What was the number for them here? Shit.
The vampire laughed. She threw her head back and everything - Emily really wanted to empty her clip into that bitch. It would be a waste of ammo but it would feel damn good. “Hmm, let’s see. We will take all these items Nyc seems to need, and then we will take him. And when we take him, we will control those pesky powers of his, and time will be ours. The Elite will be dead before they are born. Quinn will be slaughtered as an infant. Your family will finish before your ancestor Faye meets Kane. The new Council will never have existed and the Old will continue to be our puppet to oppress and enslave the races. The world will be ours, as it was meant to be, and then we will use our power to reach out to others. That will be our legacy.”
Emily felt cold with horror. She had known, or thought she had known, how important it was to protect Nyc.
She’d had no idea.
The vampire stalked forward. “The Old Ones will be our masters for all of time, and time will be their slave. You cannot hope to oppose us.” She reached out in a blur and pain shot out across her face. Emily crumpled to the floor. Nyc screamed her name, struggling when two vampires held him down. The other sauntered towards him and pulled the vial out of his pocket. “Thank you for finding this for us, Nyc. We’ll see you again soon.” She smiled and nodded to her friends. They stepped back. As one they walked away, other silhouettes from the roof moving also.
Nyc didn’t try to run after them. There was no way that would go well. Instead he rushed for Emily, checking that the wound on her head wasn’t too bad. She woke when he jostled her and he sagged, glad.
“Let’s go home,” he said quietly.
Emily nodded.
Maybe this was a battle they would lose.
“We fucked up,” Emily said quietly.
“Yeah,” Nyc agreed.
“But we can’t stop. Did you hear what they plan to do?” she asked, horrified. “We - we have to -“
“Do what?” he said harshly. “Find the wine jug and pray they don’t follow us and steal it from us? Hide for the rest of our lives? Which, by the way, that would be forever for me, being bound to freaking time!” He was breathing fast, gaze intense. Emily looked around the airport and motioned him to quiet.
“I work best under pressure. Give me some time.”
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They arrived home to learn that, in the week they had been away (coming back almost as soon as they could), Ven had become bed bound as his old age caught up to him. They visited him, Nyc having met them some time before anyway, but it was Dova and Ares who sat with him at the final moment.
Ven was cheerful, though, and Dova wasn’t sad. He felt old, too, and didn’t expect to be much longer.
Ares took it hard. He had sat by his father constantly, even more than Netty and Elly. Cam had talked to Ven for a while, because Ven was his adoptive father and sometimes Cam needed to be reminded of that.
Dova held one hand; Ares the other. Ven’s breathing was laboured but he was not in pain.
“Sorry to leave you, Do.”
“Ah, it’s fine,” Dova smiled. He squeezed Ven’s hand. “I’ll follow soon. Make sure Briony hasn’t forgotten about me, her one true love.”
Ven snorted. It was the closest thing he could do to a laugh. “Ares, you’ll be fine without me, pup.”
At the old nickname, Ares crumpled. “Papa,” he cried. “I don’t want you to go. I’ll miss you too much!”
Ven took his hand away from Dova’s to place it on Ares’. “You have three wonderful pups and a pack to govern. If that’s not enough, you’ve got packs all over the country who are loyal to you and look to you for guidance. You’re the best damn Alpha people have seen for years, and I’m so proud. The time will go quickly. This isn’t the end. You’ll see me again.”
Ares nodded. The tears still fell. He squeezed his eyes shut and sobbed.
“Watch some Scooby Doo for me,” Ven croaked, and Dova laughed.
“Are you kidding? I’d rather watch Buffy.” He grinned. “But I’ll go round telling the pups that they’re meddling kids, promise.”
Despite himself, Ares grinned. Ven huffed. His eyes were closed, now, and his breathing slowed.
Finally, his chest stopped rising. Ares howled in grief but Dova smiled.
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Ven opened his eyes and looked around. His forest.
“Ven.”
He turned around, already smiling. Briony walked to him and pulled him into a hug. He cried silently while he held her.
“Welcome home,” she whispered.
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“Come on, Air-bear,” Eve said, nudging him gently.
Ares smiled at her - or he tried to. “I’ll be fine. Just - both of them in two months?” He sagged and Eve wrapped her arms around him. “The triplets only just had their thirteenth, too, I just -“
“Look, they’ll remember him. That’s the important thing,” Eve promised.
Ares nodded. Etched into his face was a deep sadness. He had known it was coming, of course. His parents had reached a good age, and as their cousins became older also, the losses began to take their toll. Ven had passed away only shortly after Tore, and then Dova hadn’t seemed to want to fight to continue without Ven. Ares bowed his head and cried. “I miss them,” he sobbed.
“Shh,” she whispered. “Make them proud, Ares. Become the legend like you wanted and then when we join them we can rightfully boast.”
Ares laughed quietly, his head pressed into her shoulder. She held him there for a long time.
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“Right, that’s it! Intervention!” Cassy exclaimed. Three pairs of eyes swung around to stare at her. “I,” she claimed, “want to meet Nyc. You’ve been keeping him from us too long, so this is what we’re going to do.”
She faced them all with a determined look in her eye - the one that meant they couldn’t sway her. “We’re going to go out and camp in the woods - dun dun DUUUN!” She flashed a grin. Owen looked unimpressed.
“Yeah sure,” Emily said dryly. “Owen and Nyc in one tent, us three in the other, you two drunk and us being embarrassed about toilet breaks.”
“Wait, who said anything about tents?” Cassy asked innocently.
Owen rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine, only because you’ll never shut up otherwise. But we are bringing tents. You can sleep outside if you want.”
“I’ll bring a barbeque,” Lauren chirped.
“Wait, what?” Emily spluttered. “We’re doing this? Seriously?”
Cassy gave her a shit eating grin. “Yup.”
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They chose the date a week later and it was set. Nyc put up minimal resistance because, surprise surprise, Lauren had asked him to come and he had no power to say no to her.
“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” Emily sighed. “Seriously.” She turned to Lauren and hissed under her breath. “And on the edge of our territory?”
“It’s not in our forest. The Bays won’t mind because we won’t cross the line,” Lauren shrugged. She smiled brightly. “Come on, loosen up!” She skipped ahead and linked arms with Cassy, who was enjoying a joke (probably crude) with her step-brother.
“Yeah, Emily,” Nyc grinned behind her. “Loosen up.”
She scowled heavier.
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The night went as she expected. A bit of booze (not that it did much for all but the two humans in the room) and some games (uno, various drinking games, and a Bop It made an appearance) and a good laugh - better than she expected. She knew Nyc’s sense of humour, of course, but with the opportunity to banter with Cassy and Owen it went to new levels of hilarity. Owen pulled out another game, Cards Against Humanity, and while they were explaining the rules to Nyc (who was precious enough not to know how to play), there was a loud burst of laughter and then in the seconds of near-silence there was a crack as a branch snapped. Emily stilled, very suddenly. Nyc caught her eyes narrowing and was immediately alert.
His gaze caught something above her shoulder and he was up in a second. Lauren, Cassy and Owen startled.
“Up, everyone up. We leave now.”
“What?” Lauren asked, confused. “Nyc, are you okay?”
Emily was half twisted around and warily scanning the forest behind her. She reached down and dragged Lauren up. Cassy and Owen followed, but took their time, and looked between Emily and Nyc.
“We’ll be fine,” Cassy said, determined.
“Yeah, right,” Emily said softly. “Let’s go. Leave the stuff!”
“What the hell, Emily?” Owen snapped. “This shit cost money, okay, and we’re not exactly rich like you guys -“
“Leave it!” Emily yelled. “For God’s sake, this is serious!”
Owen let Nyc pull him away from the forest. There was another crack - more and more, now they were listening for them.
Lauren stilled and narrowed her eyes. “I don’t hear any heartbeats, Emily.” She sounded annoyed, but mostly concerned and confused.
Emily shook her head. “Trust me?”
“Always,” Lauren nodded.
“Then run.” She pushed Lauren forward and without hesitation her twin took off. Cassy followed after, shrieking and trying to convince herself it was some stupid trick. Owen only ran after Nyc grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him forward. Emily kept pace with them as the ghosts of footsteps followed. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest and she remembered, vividly, what it was like to meet the agents of the Old Ones in Egypt.
She ran faster.
And still it felt like they were right behind. She saw Lauren and Cassy turn to see how far they were behind and at the same time they both screamed. Emily chanced a look behind her.
Three vampires chased them, all blurs in the night, only seen when the moonlight hit them.
She ran faster.
They caught up with Lauren and Cassy, both white and confused, but willing to run now. The humans began to slow, not having the stamina of the ‘wolves, and Emily wondered how long they had to go before the vampires stopped. If they were going to stop.
Owen was panting. Adrenaline had kept them sprinting for precious minutes, but even that had to fail at some point. Emily skidded to a stop and turned around, Nyc doing a double take when he realised she had stopped. She faced the three vampires, chest heaving, and waited for them to stop.
“What do you want?” she asked rudely.
The lead vampire - and now Emily realised it was the same woman as in Egypt - grinned. “Why, the great Emily and Nyc, the duo that seem to think they can avoid the Old Ones and flaunt that in our faces. So our master has ordered it, so it will be. We shall kill you and your companions, and Nyc and his powers shall be ours.”
Behind them, Owen made a small sound of surprise.
“No,” Emily growled. She ducked down and pulled a knife out of her boot. Lauren spluttered in shock, but it was even worse when Emily dived forward to take the initiative and slice the surprised vampire across her chest and stomach.
She laughed and back handed Emily hard enough to send her stumbling back. “Yes. You, the pure one, will be killed. Another piece of your prophecy will be gone.”
Emily didn’t dare correct them on who the pure one was. She retreated back, keeping a wary eye on the three vampires - for now not advancing. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Cassy, Owen and Lauren were inching back. She followed suit.
Neither her or Nyc knew what to do. Attacking them was not going to work. Running - well, how long could they run for? She wracked her mind to remember where the nearest point of safety would be. The centre wouldn’t be too far away - maybe Lauren could run to the Town hall, where someone of the Council would always be. They wouldn’t all reach it.
Nyc swore and caught Emily’s wrist. “Let’s just go!” he yelled. The vampire laughed at the thought of a chase.
So they ran again, through a brief patch of woodland, and all the while the vampires followed at their heels, laughing. And then the group skidded to a stop; Cassy screamed in terror.
Over her bounded a wolf and Emily almost sobbed in relief.
“Alpha!” Lauren shouted. Ares stood in front of them, eyes wild.
“What’s happening? You’re scared - the Council is on their way. They’ll be a minute, at most. What -“
Emily backed away. There were sounds of others advancing from their side - the Council would chase the three away. Ares growled and crouched low.
The vampire stepped out from the shadows of the trees. With a simple motion, she drove a blade into Ares. The wolf jolted. Lauren howled and even Emily felt the sudden whiplash through the pack bond.
The vampire drew her blade out and Ares staggered. In a moment he had crumpled to the ground. Lauren’s screams cut through everything as she launched herself forward. Nyc tried to catch her but grabbed nothing but air as she fell to her knees by her Alpha, ignoring the vampire standing above them with the dripping blade. The vampire watched in detached curiosity as Lauren turned her Alpha over and grabbed his shoulders and howled.
Emily had been standing stock still in shock until the moment the vampire raised the blade again. Her whole world narrowed to a point and she growled, diving forward and swinging her knife at the vampire, who retreated a step. Emily gripped Lauren’s shoulder and tossed her back, away from Ares.
The vampire grinned and advanced once more, but then the Council was upon them.
Quinn drove the vampire back, finally killing her, while the teenagers stood in a stunned silence.
When she had fallen, and the other two had been taken, Quinn turned around to see Ares. His face was grave. He had never looked older in his life.
He crouched and placed his hand over the old Alpha’s eyes, pressing them shut.
Lauren sobbed where she had collapsed beside Ares’ body.
A few miles away, Aalia sat frozen at her desk when she felt the surge of power that marked her as the new Alpha.
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