Page 65 of Destinies of Diamond
A few months later, the Apsid Quasar
“I don’t know about this, Great Mother. It still seems dangerous.”
“More dangerous than rushing forward into a gravitational anomaly with only your chimera’s shields for protection?”
“That’s different.”
“It really isn’t.”
I stood in the throne room of the apsid leader, watching her and Brendan argue. It was a somewhat repetitive episode. The Great Mother seemed to revel in making things difficult for us. She’d agreed to help us when we’d come here, desperate for assistance, but that aid didn’t come without a price.
I clenched my recently reconstructed fist and wondered if that price had been too high. It wasn’t myself I was worried about. There were other, far more important people at risk here, people I cared about.
Selene sat down on the steps of the Great Mother’s throne, cradling her pregnant belly. Part of the reason why we’d come here was because we couldn’t risk going further with our plans while she was still in such a delicate condition. Her health and that of the baby took precedence. The delay wouldn’t matter that much anyway, since the Great Mother controlled time in the Apsid Quasar. We could, in theory, stay here for years and come back the exact moment we’d left.
Unfortunately, Selene had been feeling more and more off as of late and nothing, not even the care of the apsid sun spirits, had been able to snap her out of it. The condition didn’t seem physical at all. Sometime, she’d just randomly slump down on the ground, staring at nothing. Other times, she’d lose her temper and explode at people. I’d have liked to believe it was the natural behavior of a pregnant woman, but I suspected it was a little more complicated than that.
Her hair had yet to grow back, which was somewhat of a mystery, since her body had not stopped changing. Then again, maybe that was the whole problem. There were too many changes, and none of us knew how to handle them.
I didn’t dare to sit down next to her, but Knox did. Over the past weeks, he’d grown distant, his relationship with Brendan having suffered after the incident with the tablet. Selene’s presence helped, but nowhere near as much as it should have.
The damage I’d first noticed all those months back was still there, for all of them. For all of us.
It was a relief when the Great Mother finally decided to stop their useless argument. “Perhaps we should set this aside for now,” she said. “We’re not getting anywhere. And you’re all unwell.”
Brendan glared at her. So did the others. The tension in the room skyrocketed. My arm started to throb, reminding me of the times in my life when I’d been torn apart.
“We’re fine enough to get to the bottom of this and make a decision,” Knox snapped.
“I’m not the one being stubborn. I offered you a solution. You’re just refusing to take it and accept that I’m right.”
“I don’t think you can blame us for that, Great Mother,” Jared said, “considering what happened to me when I was captured. No one wants to see that episode happening again.”
Silence fell as we all remembered the horrifying state Jared had been in when we’d managed to bring him back to the Venom. He’d been vivisected, and the only reason why he’d survived was because of his apsid nature.
“I’m not afraid,” Selene said softly. “Once my baby is born, I’ll be ready to fight.”
That was what I was most afraid of. Selene had always been so fearless, so determined. As her teacher, I’d admired that in her and had thought she had great potential. As a man, it had made me want her even more. But I wasn’t just a teacher or a man now, and I didn’t need my cybernetic enhancements to know her potential and determination could be very dangerous for her.
Maybe the Great Mother realized this as well, because she didn’t pursue the issue further. “There’s plenty of time for you to do that, child. You should go get some rest. You look exhausted.”
I half-expected Selene to protest. She didn’t. Instead, she just got up and nodded.
“I suppose I am, a little. Thank you for everything, Great Mother.”
“Don’t mention it, child. Off with you now.”
We left the Spire in silence, with Jared and Selene walking ahead of us. I scanned everyone and considered the facts I knew and my possible courses of action.
The awkwardness between the group wouldn’t just disappear. They hadn’t told me the reason per se, but it had persisted even through our journey to the Apsid Quasar.
Selene was increasingly down and the others weren’t getting better either. They might have plans for taking over The Grand Judiciary, but at this rate, they wouldn’t survive this battle with their sanity intact.
Prince Archibald and Odette were no help. Health-wise, Archibald was barely hanging on and it was only apsid healthcare that kept him from drifting altogether. Odette had been quiet since finding out Philip was dead. I had my suspicions about why that was, but I hadn’t said anything, since it was none of my business.
That meant the dynamics between the Grand Chimera Unit were left to me, and I was perhaps the worst possible person to handle the problem. But even leaving aside my strange feelings for Selene, I was their teacher and had a responsibility. I had to help.
As soon as we got to the private quarters we’d been assigned, the others spread out, determined to avoid one another again. I stopped them before they could flee.
