Star Beings: Dawn

Three crows sitting on a windowsill

I stare up at a vaulted ceiling. Wasn't I just asleep? In my own bed? Where am I?
"Leigh?" I call out.
No answer.
I stand, feeling the cool marble under my feet as I glance around. I'm in an empty ballroom. There's voices coming from the hall. I quickly hide behind a pillar, watching silently as three figures enter the room. The tallest turns to the shortest.
"What's wrong, little crow?"
"Should we be worried?"
The shortest one is... young. They sound like they're not even 18 yet. A bit concerning, not gonna lie.
"About what, Cassius?" the middle one asks darkly
"You know what, Cori."
"Don't call me that. And we'll be fine. Timor is out of commission. We don't have to worry about her."
"But she's been-"
"I'm aware she's been freed from prison, little brother. What I mean is that she's gone soft. She's on the good side now. If she's been infected by their morals, we have nothing to worry about. And even if she hasn't been... We could still get rid of her if needed."
I can feel my heart hammering in my chest. But my pride quickly takes hold and the fear is replaced by annoyance.
"Excuse me?! Soft? You're joking, right?"
Not one of the three even bats an eye at my sudden entrance.
That's when I realize: they can't see me, because I'm not really here. This is a dream... maybe. I'm not really sure.
I walk over to the little group, carefully studying each of their faces. The tallest has three long scars along his face, like an animal got to him. His eyes are... red. Bright red.
I look at the middle one, a girl around my age. She has faint freckles, an impish grin and... bright red eyes.
That's two sets.
I turn to the last one, a boy who looks to be at least 16 with scars all over his face. They aren't animalistic in nature, like the older boy's. No, these came from a blade. He has deep black hair and...
And red eyes.
Three sets of red eyes.
The youngest looks strangely familiar. His round, childlike face. His big eyes. His shaggy uncut hair.
He's familiar because I've seen him before.
Well, correction; I've seen his death. He's the boy that fell from the window in my vision.
But, I realize, I've seen all of them before.
They were the three that crashed the Lunar gala.
What did DJ call them?
My heart pounds in my throat as the memory comes back to me. It wasn't even that long ago, yet I had already forgotten.
The Shadow Lords.
Umbra Dominorum.
The pieces click into place. DJ said they were more of a threat than she'd anticipated but... they're worse than the Star Beings have even realized.
I need to warn them.
I need to-
The scene changes suddenly. I'm standing on a terrace, and somehow I know the girl is behind me.
"Guys, I'm sorry-"
I'm impaled before I ever get to finish my sentence.

When I open my eyes, Leigh is straddling my body, staring down at my face in terror.
"What-"
"Oh thank the gods above, you're ok. You started screaming and then all of the sudden you went dead silent and you weren't breathing and-"
She stops suddenly and, without another word, lays back down and turns away from me. She won't look at me, won't even make eye contact. Did I do something wrong?
"Are you ok? You've seemed off since we got to the base."
"I'm fine, Anaideia."
"Are you sure? You've been nervous, red, jittery, and it kinda felt like you had a fever earlier. I'm just worried about y-"
"Well then quit fucking worrying! Everything is fine!"
Her voice breaks, and I can both hear and feel her breathing heavily. She's having a panic attack? Shit, she's having a panic attack.
I quickly climb out of bed and walk over to Leigh's side, squatting down to her eye level. Her eyes are brimming with tears and the moment I catch her eye she tries to turn away, but I stop her.
"No, it's not."

Leigh sits on the bed next to me, leaning on my shoulder. We've been sitting like this for about fifteen minutes. She hasn't said anything yet. She doesn't have to, not if she doesn't want to.
"During... everything... I lost a lot of friends." My friend finally says, "Being a field medic is hard enough, but only having a single ability? Christ, being a healer was a death sentence for me. I had to lie when I first joined, said I had an ability like what Natalie has. It's rare but not unheard of, so they believed me. I could fake it fairly well, too. Healing is just speeding up, slowing down or reversing certain bodily functions. Scabbing and scarring, for instance. Many people just figure it's magic and move on. They ignore the science part of it. But I didn't. I realized that if I could control where blood moves, repair muscle and bone... who says I can't control the body as a whole? It's difficult if the person is living, but I convinced the folks that signed me on. That was all that mattered. Once I actually joined the rebellion, I trained hard. Became the best shot in my group. I learned how to use traditional medical techniques just in case. A lot of my fellow rebels figured out after a short time that I was a healer. But they kept quiet. It took my commanding officer quite a few months before they figured out I had lied. But, instead of discharging me, they moved me to the medical unit and handed me a pistol. Their commands were simple; Heal people and don't die. Being out and about during a battle, watching people you know die like cattle... It fucks you up. Then, one of my closest friends was killed. There was no saving her, she was impaled with a nova metal sword. But I still had to watch everything as it happened. The way she screamed... It haunted me for so damn long. Couldn't sleep for weeks. But, that day, I did something I hadn't shown anyone, something I had always avoided doing. I looked around at the dead before me, looked at the corpses that were still warm, and I reanimated them. I stood in the eye of the storm, surrounded by an army of undead. I controlled each and every one of those bodies, I could feel each time an enemy soldier shot one. We won the battle, and I went to the infirmary that day in worse shape than I had ever been in. But my friend... her death stuck to me. Sometimes I would be alone, reading or learning some medicinal remedy and then I would hear her screams again. And just now when you had that nightmare I..."
Leigh sighs and buries her head in her hands.
"I don't wanna lose anyone else. It almost killed me last time."
I'm too afraid to ask what that means, probably because I know the answer. I can only offer her my hand. Leigh begins to sob, leaning into me. I run my fingers through her curly hair, shushing her.
"It's ok. There's no war, there's no battle. It's just you and I in this apartment. All of that was a long time ago. Breathe, Leigh. Just breathe."
We sit there for hours and, eventually, Leigh begins to snore again. I don't bother to move her, that would risk waking her up. Instead I fall asleep with Leigh's head on my chest, the nightmare that caused all of this becoming a distant memory.

The next morning, I'm called to a meeting with the Star Beings. This time, it isn't a court set up. Instead it looks more like one of the most casual business meetings I've ever been to. Hade has their feet up on the table. Mateo is playing some sort of game on a portable console, with Karson sitting next to him and playing along as well. The only person who looks remotely serious is Natalie, who has an extremely large metal cup sitting in front of her. Coffee, and a whole lot of it too.
I take the only open seat which is, sadly, right next to Hade. They ignore my presence entirely.
Thank the gods.
"Ok we're missing Damien, but I think-"
As if on cue, the door slams open and the white haired Star Being rushes inside, looking extremely flustered.
"Oh, goddammit!"
He runs back outside, drags in a chair, and sits down next to his older brother.
"You're a bit late."
"Sorry. I... I got caught up."
"By who, your boyfriend?" Hade mumbles under their breath. I stifle a laugh. Maxine smacks them on the arm.
"Anyways... we need a plan of action now that we have Anai. Anybody have any ideas whatsoever?"
The room devolves into a discussion, one that I pay no attention to. Instead I reflect on that damned dream from last night. What was that about, anyways? And the girl... oh, that girl got under my fucking skin! Weak? Out of commission? Does she know who the hell she's talking about? I mean sure, I'm not nearly as cold blooded and ruthless as I once was. And the thought of killing someone does unnerve me. And...
Oh gods she's right.
I've been infected with morals.

"Anai? Anaideia!" "Huh?!" "I asked if you had an idea." "Uh..."
That girl expects me to stay on the "good" side. But if I were to join her side... she wouldn't expect it. I could get insider info. I can still lie, can't I?
"What if I joined the Shadow Lords?"
"Pardon?!" DJ yelps.
"I mean, what if I fake being on their side. That way I can spy on them. I could tell all of you what their plans are, what their next moves are going to be. I mean, I've done it once before and it worked fairly well."
Why the hell did I say that?????
DJ looks furious, her face growing red with anger.
"Ah... sorry, Delilah."
"Well, you do have a point." The young woman eventually says, forcing a laugh.
"That's one of the best plan's I've heard so far... anyone else have any better ideas?" Natalie asks, scanning the room. No one raises a hand, no one even speaks.
"Espionage it is then. Anai, you're gonna have to train a bit first. It's been... a while... since you've used more than just one ability."
She's not wrong. Ever since the bout of amnesia... I haven't used much else other than umbrakinesis.
After that, the meeting is dismissed and I retreat back to the apartment. Leigh is still asleep when I get back. She needs it, so I don't wake her. Instead I quietly make myself some tea and sit down on the couch. For the first time in days, I'm alone with my thoughts.
I should've woken up Leigh.

What am I doing? "Good?" please. It's only a matter of time before I screw that up. What if spying on the Shadow Lords isn't a good idea? What if I go back to how I used to be? Images resurface in my mind. Blood. Bruises. A single gold eye in my palm.
I don't want to be that person any more. But what if...
I freeze, slowly setting my tea down and turning towards the window.
There's three birds staring at me from outside. Crows, their shiny black feathers glimmering in the sunlight.
Something about them is unnerving, and as I open the window, that feeling of unease only grows as they all stay on the sill, still staring at me.
"Go away." I whisper.
The middle one cocks its head at me, and I get a good look at its blood red eyes.
I don't know exactly why I react the way I do. Maybe paranoia. Maybe I'm just losing my mind.
All I know is one second the bird has a head, and the next it doesn't. There's a flurry of feathers as the other two fly off, squawking and screeching in alarm. The dead crow simply falls off the windowsill and onto the rocky earth below.
I feel sick. Why did I do that? Because it scared me? It's a fucking crow!!!! What the hell is wrong with me??
I sink to the floor, pulling my knees up to my chin.
What's wrong with me?

Still no new art- school is almost out for me so everything has gotten really busy lately.