Juliet's Tryst

Chapter 39: New Beginnings, Old

Life continued.

The gargantuan alien structure could dismantle itself and fly away, leaving behind only the great hall and foundation. After this was revealed to her, Juliet affectionately called it the UFO. She could not escape her own curiosity about the aliens. The more she learned about how the Kyrion manipulated reality, the more confusing and mystical it became. They connected, disconnected, and rearranged the fabric of reality. Juliet was lectured many times by well meaning scholars in the archives about how her understanding of everything was wrong.

Thinking about the world atomically was only half the picture.

"It's like this." Eros, one of the Archivists, pulled a woven blanket off of her. He was the only Kyrion who did not treat her like a human, but an equal. He was always in the archive and sometimes Juliet was the distraction he needed from his intense studies, "You only see the knots of the universe. What you always miss are the threads."

"How was I supposed to know that?" Juliet snatched the blanket back. Fluid interconnected pseudo-matter her ass. She glared at the Kyrion. He smiled serenely back, where a moment ago he was almost at her throat for asking him what he felt was a basic question.

"You may never understand and that is okay. It's not your role."

"Then what is my role?"

"To create the next Ruler."

"Excuse me?"

"Procreate? Have sex? Create baby?" Eros mistook her reaction for confusion. Even though they had the sciences of the gods, embarrassment was one level above understanding. After all, what would the mighty Kyrion have to be embarrassed about? Nothing.

"That's a little reductive, don't you think? I am much more than my ability to reproduce."

"Every other female is more than their ability for reproduction, but this does not apply to the one who will wed the Ruler."

"It's not possible because we are both female. Should it not be her role to create the next ruler? Why would Kyrion kind even be interested in a half-human Ruler?"

"You are speaking from a tribal perspective. Kyrion's have been melding with the species we conquered since dinosaurs roamed this Earth.

"Oh, don't start now."

If Eros was to start talking about his dinosaurs then she would be here until morning light or until Dee came to find her. She loved hearing about the dinos, but she needed to be in the right headspace, a little high and ready to learn.

"Give me a moment." He rose from his adjacent beanbag. These things were comfortable as hell and she spent way too much time being entirely sedentary in them.

He summoned a little tablet from the wall. There was nothing but Kyrion writing yet she managed to recognize Dee's name. All due to the fact that it was always written a little higher than the surrounding words. This was their way of respecting their Ruler in writing.

"This is Dee's biological makeup." Eros said.

They probably didn't have any rules about patient confidentiality. He launched into pointing and explaining, but it was all lost on her. She dumbfoundedly stared at the alien writing.

"Wait, wait, wait,'' she interrupted him. "Give it to me plain. What does this mean?"

"What I mean-" He said excitedly, "is that her attraction to you is not all chemical. She is part male and able to give you the materials to create a baby!"

"Again, why are you so happy about this?"

"It will be a new era! Prosperity, peace, and happiness because of you!"

The blanket no longer felt warm and fuzzy, instead large and overbearing. This was the first time he ever mentioned that this would be part of the job, Dee's harem of one.

"Who else knows this?"

"Only I do because I am quite familiar with this file."

"If you tell anyone else I will be very angry." There was a deeper threat in her tone.

His eyes widened, finally understanding that he was being rude.

"No, no, no! This is information that I am giving you because you should be the owner of it. No one else will know, this much I promise. If you still don't believe me then I can wipe it from my brain. Is that fitting?"

"Not necessary." That made her feel much better, ''Never again tell me that my only reason for existence is to reproduce." Clearly taken aback by her tone, Eros excused himself and left.

Things were only getting stranger by the second.

She dearly missed her apartment, her friends, and her ordinary human life. The glimmery sheen of change was gone and in its place was the life she now led. Her reality being anything but pretty.

The tablet Eros summoned started to blink as it signaled its departure from existence. She picked it up gingerly with her hand and it switched straight to English. Even written in words she could read, she still did not understand.

She could have children of her own! A little Dee running around the palace seemed like a natural continuation to their story now. She always wanted a spouse, and children to settle down with. She never thought it would come so soon or that the little ones would be royalty. Until Dee retired from her duties as Ruler, that would be her life then the little ones would be condemned to that too.

It just wasn't fair.

She never had a problem with solitude, but it weighed down on her. It morphed and changed into loneliness. She needed to find a hobby other than annoying Eros. Maybe a job around the castles would do some good? Juliet knew there were humans working in the castle but since Sarah, they were seldom allowed in the same room. It was a subject she would have to broach someday, but her body still remembered the pain. She would wake up sweaty and prepared to run out of the room. The needles always came back in her dreams, coming ever closer. The dead soldiers came alive and asked her why they had to die. Why did they have to die for her?

"Do you know how to go outside?" Juliet found Eros again.

He looked up from another tablet he was reading. The flashing words before his eyes disappeared.

"I'm sure the castle will have a room just for what you need." He replied with a strained smile that showed his pointed teeth.

She was asking him to disobey a rule.

"No, what I need is outside...outside. I want fresh air, not air that smells like absolutely nothing. C'mon, you can come with me and be my chaperone."

"There are explicit rules about keeping you in here for your safety."

"Safety? You can protect me."

Eros shook his head vigorously. It was time to be more tactful.

"Is there not a quarry not too far from here? One in which fossils were found? Do you not want to try doing archeological things?"

He slammed the tablet against the wall forcefully. He understood what she was doing, but was helpless against it. They spent many hours together talking about the magical quarry and going over minute details of what could be found there.

"We must walk to the entrance first."

"No, it's the quarry! No one would understand. No one would let me out!"

"I was hoping for such an outcome," grumbled Eros and pulled out a transporting device. 

Edited by the gracious -MissElle

This chapter is the beginning of the final Act 3 of this book. Ch-ch-ch-changes! Turn and face the stranger....