The Book of Gemma VOL. 2

47: NEW HOME

I didn't see blinding lights this time.

I didn't see blinding white walls.

I saw a dark sky lit with a faint orange hue of a shield over the planet.

I saw blurred trees around me and the sound of crunching dry leaves. My body being dragged by my ankle and a rock slicing the back of my head. I feel like I'm suffocating and take a deep breath in, my lungs filling up and shrinking. I no longer felt the grace of my powers, my brittle hair breaking off at the ends as it drags through the mud. My chest where the army of souls lies makes my body feel sick with the lack of power over it. It felt like someone had carved a hole through my ribs, the icy wind flowing through it like a tunnel.

I shake my head to jog out the fogginess as I come to. My foot drops to the ground and I stop getting pulled along the dirt trail.

"Finally.. You're awake." I looked up in the darkness to see Leo panting, leaning over his knees and looking like he was about to hurl.

I grab my bearings and lift myself up, my legs wobbling like a fresh fawn. I couldn't make out a thing in this pitch black setting.

"Where are we?" I ask him and he takes a couple seconds to answer after gagging.

"I-I.. I don't know. I woke up with my powers gone and you passed out beside me. I can't find the others.. I can't even hear them. I don't want to shout into the dark unknown... I'm trying to find us shelter for the night."

Both of our stomachs growl and we sigh, forgetting how tedious eating three times a day was. I looked past it when I could enjoy rich foods and would sometimes eat six to seven times a day but out in these woods? We would be lucky to find berries.

Both of us stayed silent for the walk to a nearby cave, Leo had the same thing on his mind as me.

Our home was gone. Vyx had taken Darus, either she would massacre the humans and set the planet ablaze.. Or she would take them to Paradise where they won't make it a few years under her torment. She would probably choose the second option, dangling them in front of me. Vyx would never want me to die quickly, she wanted me to suffer.

Leo clicks rocks together and starts a fire for us, the cold breeze freezing the tip of my nose. I start to feel on my chest for a pendant but Leo grumbles at me and points upwards, "The shield over this planet is causing our poor performance in powers. Zero trace of pendants on us."

I sharply exhale, kicking the dirt with my foot.

"Well... Vyx finally retired us." I joke but Leo stayed silent. I sometimes forget that not everyone finds humor in situations to cope.

I reexamine my approach, "What.. happened?"

Leo leans back on the wall and shuts his eyes.

"You really want a scary story before bed?" He sarcastically snaps at me but I still want to know, how did Vyx plan this?

He begins, "Your mother came to the edge of the shield.. Said she wanted to talk to Kyto about joining our war. We umm-... Took the shield down so they could talk privately.-" He pauses to suck in a sharp breath as he tries to calm down. "-As soon as they disappeared to your place.. That's when we saw Vyx's entire fleet come out of hyperspeed, we didn't think she would reach that for another couple years.. We.. We thought we had more time.. It was an ambush. We fought as much as we could but.. Those hybrids are so strong. We watched you the whole time you were in that illusion of hers.. Just begging for you to see we were right there.. That-.. That you should run, flee, fly away but..-" Tears start to fall from his eyes and I'm stunned. Leo never lets people see him cry. He always held his head high as if nothing could break his glass house.

"Gemini.. We lost."

Sleeping on the harsh ground had my back cramping and neck aching. Leo had found little food for us to eat and get us the strength to find the others.

I pop my head out of the cave and see the forest in the daylight. It was chilling.. A gray fog casted over it with broken and sharp cracked branches on every tree. There wasn't even green grass trying to poke through the mud. It must be Fall here, wherever here was.

I cross my arms tightly around my chest and shiver. "Haven't felt physically cold in awhile." I chatter my teeth to Leo as he leads the way.

We walked for a good couple hours before we saw a creek. I scooped some with my hand and gulped it down, feeling the freezing liquid pour into my stomach. It was clear land across the creek so we looked around for a better place to cross and heard a "Psst!" from a boulder on the perimeter of the clear land. Lib's face appears on the side as she ducks behind it. It looked like she was hiding from something?

"Lib!" Leo exclaims, starting to run towards the side of the creek and she quickly ducks, "Shh!"

Leo stops.

"Hide!" I hear another voice and see the rest of the Zodiacs hiding along with her. No sign of Edna or Deecon yet.

"What's wrong?" Leo harshly whispers to them but we both feel it. A large vibration coming from under our feet. I turn my head to see a monster the size of the buildings Sky Valley used to have, dragging its arms along the ground, tree's ripped from their roots as it bulldozes through.

My stomach turns, all fear and terror taking over my body.

....We were on the Planet of the Beasts.

Its foot could kill a hundred people with one step and we were in the way..

It looks down to us, black holes for eyes and throwing its arms in the air to beat down on the ground below it.

Tori screams, "RUN!"

Each one trying to steer clear of its path and hide within the trees. I scramble to make it to them, my legs almost giving out as I push them to go faster. My throat chapped from the panting in the cold air. Leo jumps into the creek, swimming to get to the others. Capri pulls him from the water and trips over a root that loops over the ground at the edge of the creek. I sprint to their position and get ready to jump into the creek to get to Capri. She pushes back on her hands as she stares up at the beast before her. Leo finally sees she is not following and swings his body back.

"Capri!"

If I had my powers I would be able to get her in time, all of us could have...

The beast throws his fist down to the ground.. Right over Capri.

I fall back from the edge and witness the horror of it slamming its fist over.. And over.. And over. Her body deepening into the ground, silver pouring from her nose, her ears.. Her hallowed eyes.

Lib claws at the ground as Cane tries to drag her away.

"Capppprrriiiii!" Lib heartbreakingly cries out. Sage pulls Aqua from the boulders as she punches his arms, "Let me go! ...Capri!"

I sit on the ground on the opposite side of the creek from them and I just.. Stare. My name is being called for and I just-... I just stare. It was like I was frozen, witnessing the first strike replay over and over. I see the fist coming in my direction and my instincts don't react. I look up to the shield over the planet and it sinks in... The stars cannot pull us into space to remake our body, to remake our soul... We can't rebirth on this planet. Vyx was right, we would never touch the stars again.

I feel a hand scoop under my armpit and I'm thrown over Aries shoulder. My ribs crack on his shoulder as he sprints into the forest. "Move your ass, Gemini!" He sets me down, grabbing my hand and pulling me through the branches that cut my cheeks on the way by. He yanks me again, throwing us under a pile of tree trunks that were ripped from the ground. We hear footsteps going in the direction of the Zodiacs and far from us.

I push my head into Aries shoulder and sob, "Capri is.. Dead."

Aries pats the top of my head and nuzzles in, "We... are dead."