An Apocalyptic Invasion

finding diamond ore (pt. 1)

"I think it's time for me to leave this hut."
I stared at Marissa when she said this. "You're six months pregnant."
"Yeah."
"And you want to leave your only place of safety."
"Yes."
I exhaled through my mouth. "Oh, boy."
"What?"
"Your stomach is the size of a basketball. How do we know that it's not going to explode randomly?"
She smiled. "You're cute when you're worried."
"It's just..." I sighed. "I don't want to lose you and the baby."
She sat up on the bed. "Carlos, how careful do you think I am?"
"Very."
"So you think I can travel safely to the States without injuring myself?"
"Yes."
She took my hands. "I'm not asking you to not worry about me. I really appreciate it, but-"
"You want me to believe that you can do things by yourself," I finished for her. "Got it."
"Besides, it'll be nice to see everyone again."
"So you ready to go?"
She nodded.
"Alright, let's get you out of bed."
Once we were outside, I spread my wings and picked her up.
"Okay. Here we go."
The amount of trust and love in her eyes made me feel nervous, but nevertheless I shot into the sky.
I soared through the clouds with the help of wind currents that guided me to the HQ.
I landed, careful to not shake Marissa's belly.
I was hit with a sudden realization.
"Fuck," I hissed.
"What is it?"
"I just remembered that the key is in my back pocket."
"I can get it for you."
"Thanks."
She reached around, grabbed the key, and gave it to me.
I went up to the doors, unlocked them, then silently walked up the stairs and into my room.
Marissa stepped down and sat down on the edge of the bed.
I looked around until I found spare pillows that I used to kind of create a DIY backrest pillow- the ones you use to 'relax' your back but in reality find comfortable.
"Okay, here's your... whatever the hell this is," I said to her.
She walked over and nestled herself into them. "Oh, that's nice. Better than the bed."
I grabbed a blanket and placed it over her legs. "There we go. Feel comfortable?"
She nodded. "Thank you."
"Anything for a really beautiful girl."
She looked away like she does when I compliment her. "Stop it."
"I literally made you a little cove and you tell me to stop complimenting you."
"I'm not saying that."
"I see how it is." I pretended to be upset.
"Carlos! I react like that because you're so ridiculously sweet I don't know what to say."
"Are you sure you didn't fall in love with me because of my height?"
"Because of the kindness you showed me when I first arrived on the island," she replied.
"I'm just joking, Emy. I love you a lot."
"I love you too. When's breakfast?"
I looked at the clock above my door. "In... wow, in two hours. It's later than I thought it was."
"Should we just, I don't know, talk?"
"What about?"
"Anything. We both just delve into the most weird things."
"True."
As it turned out, by the time it was nine-thirty we were approaching the subject of favorite sock smells. (Not turtles, global warming, or the decline of the economy. Freaking. SOCK. smells.)
One of the reasons why I love Marissa so much is that we share a lot of weird interests. We both like gaming, freak out over a massive diamond vein in Minecraft, and are dirty-minded.
You would think I was kidding, but Marissa is probably the most dirty-minded girl I have ever met, up there with Riley and Sam.
As we were finishing up, the breakfast bell started clanging.
"The usual?"
She nodded.
"Okay, I'll get it for you and we can eat together."
I told Mike two days earlier that I may bring my girlfriend, and he said, "Nice, man. I'll prepare what she wants, and since she's pregnant I might have to make some more food. But whatever, it's fine."
"Hey, Mike."
He nodded at me. "What does she want?"
"Waffles with syrup, whipped cream on the side, and powdered sugar on the waffles."
"Excellent choice. And for you?"
"Crepes with Nutella and chocolate chips, powdered sugar and extra syrup."
"Coming right up."
"Thanks, Mike."
He came back a few minutes later, just as the group was entering the dining room.
"You're up early," Riley remarked.
"Good morning to you too."
Jeremy stared at the plates I was carrying. "Damn, man. What's with all the food?"
I motioned a pregnant belly, and he nodded with understanding.
Riley and Sam didn't see it because they were ordering food, and I was already gone by the time they turned around.
I closed the door behind me. "Here you go, milady."
"Thank you, kind sir."
We started eating our breakfasts together.
"Who did you pass on the way here?"
I listed them. "Wait, Jeremy and Dakoda are here?"
"Yeah."
"I haven't seen them for a long time. How are they doing?"
"Well, Dakoda is... Dakoda, and Jeremy's dating Delilah."
"That must be tough."
"I gave him permission to date her."
She stopped spooning whipped cream onto her waffles. "What?"
"He came up to my door one day and was like: 'Can I date your sister?'"
"And you said yes."
"My mom was at work."
"Carlos, that still doesn't mean you can say yes. You could have waited for your mom to arrive."
"She got home at twelve- in the night time."
"What time was it then?"
"Ten in the morning."
"Jeremy could've hung out with you during that time."
"He isn't a patient person, and his mom would've been worried if he didn't come home in the afternoon."
"I'm starting to understand your situation."
"Yeah, it was pretty tough."
"So did it go well?"
I nodded, standing up. "Let me just put this plate away, and I'll be back."
Careful to not be noticed, I slid my plate into the dishwasher, then went back to my room.
She was about to be finished with her waffles.
"I was thinking where we should move after JJ is born," Marissa said.
"Yeah? What did you have in mind?"
"Chicago."
I stared at her. "One of the most dangerous cities in America... and you want to LIVE there?"
"We'll be fine. You're a gang leader, so we will be protected."
"That's not how that works."
She set her plate down. "Explain it to me then."
"You'll still get attacked by other gangs. But, since I'm a leader, there is a chance the attacks will be less frequent."
She folded her arms. "At that point, it's possible that people all around the world will know you."
"Probably."
"Did you know that you saved me from killing myself?"
I stared at her.
"Teenage depression kicked in a couple weeks after turning thirteen. I would hide it from everyone, but only Tommy knew how sad I was.
"Eventually, it got to the point where I had to take meds- and I hated taking pills; I still do now. They didn't really help, though.
"When the Catwings took us, I felt... almost at peace because I knew they were going to kill me.
"But when I met you, all of that disappeared. You were so kind and loving; I've never had anyone be that nice to me besides my brother.
"So every time I see you, it reminds me of everything I went through all those years ago."
I shook my head. "Jesus. You had quite the story to tell."
She laughed. "I just wanted to, I guess, expose myself to you."
"It definitely worked, because now I love you even more."
"I love you too."
We spent the afternoon talking, and when it was nighttime she settled herself into her pillows and fell asleep.
Quietly getting up, I closed the door behind me and went to the warehouse.
I needed a pickaxe, so I looked through the tools until I found one that looked like it was recently sharpened. I swung it to test the weight.
I was satisfied with it, so I went outside and to the ore I found the day before.
I started mining away, careful to not destroy the diamonds.
"What are you doing?"
I jumped and turned to see Sam behind me.
"Uh... just mining rocks."
"Why?"
"Bored."
She relaxed. "Let me see what we're working with here."
My hand caught on fire for no reason, so I decided to use it like a torch.
She nodded with satisfaction. "Wow. That's a lot of diamonds."
"We need one of those carts to put all of this in."
"Where are they?"
"In the warehouse. They're like right outside the sheds."
She went to get them. I continued to hack away at the rocks, and as I piled up the mounds of diamonds Sam came back with three carts.
With her help, I placed the mounds into them, then dusted my hands.
"Done?"
I nodded. "That's enough mining for today. It's getting late, and I want to explore the forest."
"I'll come with you."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. It'll give me something to do."
I spread my wings. "Let's go."
As we glided over the forest, I became aware of an unfamiliar Catwing walking through the trees.
Sam pointed at them. "Who is that?"
"I don't know."
She looked at me. "Should we go check it out?"
I turned around and saw the moon rising, then looked at the Catwing again. "I don't see why not."
We landed and hid behind a massive log that allowed us to watch the Catwing even if they didn't see us.
Now that we were closer, I was able to see them even better.
Due to my incredible knowledge on Catwings, I guessed that this particular one was a female.
She was almost an exact copy of Clauchice, except she had silver and black fur with white dots on her plumy tail. She had ear tufts like Jhaufyther and was large like Lhrioun.
It was like the three of them came together to form this beautiful female who was currently in the dark for no apparent reason.
She turned in our direction with glowing white eyes. Her nose was black, and she had a normal-sized muzzle.
She had to be around Clauchice's height. She had ebony claws that dug through the dirt and tossed clods of it aside.
Flapping from above caught her attention. She tilted her head upwards as a familiar Catwing landed gracefully in front of her.
"Hello."
"How's it going?"
She flicked her tail at the hole she made. "I don't know."
Plasma Trail frowned. "What do you mean you don't know?"
She shrugged. "Exactly what I mean. I'm just digging through dirt."
"Have you found anything interesting?"
She held up a claw-shaped piece of keratin. "This."
Plasma Trail peered closer to inspect it. "Looks like he's shedding his claws."
Sam mouthed Who? I shrugged.
"It is that time," the female mused. "Isn't he leaving soon?"
"Yes, to visit our old friends."
"You don't sound very happy about that."
Plasma Trail lashed his tail. "I'm not. It's hard to see him churn with what he did."
"It was his choice," she said softly. "You can't change what he did."
He growled. "If I could, it would have been me who stopped our brother's nonsense."
She snorted. "What would you have done? Fought him until he admitted defeat? Only one who was equal to him could've caused the explosion."
"I know." He heaved a frustrated sigh. "But I still don't like it."
"I understand. But to be fair, Star Tail needed someone to straighten him out."
"True."
She swung her head left and right. "Where is he, by the way?"
"We've been here the whole time."
Two other familiar Catwings stepped into their circle.
Star Tail gave his brother a brooding look. "I cannot believe you agreed with what she said."
"Doesn't she have a point?"
"Yes, but it still hurts."
Jhaufyther looked up at the moon. "Are the others coming?"
The female shook her beautiful head. "It's just us today."
"You're supposed to be the peaceful one," Star Tail remarked.
She looked at him scornfully. "It takes violence to make peace. That's why I fought in the Catwing war."
"Still can't believe that happened due to our selfishness," Star Tail said.
Plasma Trail nodded in agreement. "We had just left the Abyss; we were also young and arrogant. But we've changed now."
It almost seemed like he was trying to convince himself that the ancient war wasn't his fault.
Jhaufyther looked down at the female with his piercing blue eyes. "So what now?"
She looked toward her brothers. "I believe we raise them."
Raise who? I thought.
"Quasar Flurry, there are already millions across the world because of Cyszil."
I felt a shiver of pride slide down my spine. The Catwing of violence secretly respected me because of what I've done: my sacrifice, turning into a king, destroying cities- and of course, killing and pillaging. (That kinda rhymed.)
"Cyszil is in charge of everything," she agreed. "But we're also helping him."
"I'm pretty sure we asked him for permission for the plague," Jhaufyther reminded her.
Star Tail cast a nervous gaze in my direction. "What if he was here right now?"
"Go back to HQ," I whispered to Sam.
"Are you crazy?" she harshly whispered back.
"I have a feeling I'm needed."
She sighed. "Be careful."
"I will."
She squeezed my hand before sneaking away. I heard her fly away a few moments later.
I grew until I was around forty-feet tall-short compared to them, but large enough to be comfortable.
"It's strange how you always know where I am," I said.
Jhaufyther smiled at me- he knew exactly where I was, and was waiting to tell them.
"So you heard everything," Quasar Flurry said slowly.
"Pretty much, yes."
"And you know what the plan is?" Plasma Trail tilted his head curiously.
"You already gave me a glimpse of it when you needed Charlotte's blood," I told him. "So to answer your question: I have a pretty good idea."
"We're going to make the plague worse than before," Quasar Flurry clarified.
I snapped my fingers. Howls of Ifnos rang throughout the trees. "I already began."
"Oh, I can do better than that." Jhaufyther raised his wings, and I saw the glow of Contaminite- the first Khrillin I saw when I arrived on the island.
The rattling of bones surrounding us was a sign that Star Tail raised his own dead.
I held my head high. "I may be a human, but I have my own army to command."
Plasma Trail lowered his head in respect. "I see now. I didn't realize how powerful you have become."
Quasar Flurry stood there, a smile on her face. "You have grown quite a bit."
"I've been told that many times."
"What about the Synaeos?" Jhaufyther asked.
"I'm sorry, what?"
Plasma Trail turned to me. "They are the darkest Khrillin of them all- the shadows of shadows, if you will. They belong to Tommy, who I believe is free of his disease."
The happiness that washed over me was almost enough to make myself catch on fire. Almost.
Star Tail raised his head. "It isn't fair for a boy to die early when he has a sister, a girlfriend, and a best friend. Besides, he might become a father in the future."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I demanded.
He smiled mysteriously. "Let's just say something will happen after you leave. But for now, let's focus on the task at hand."
"What is there to focus on?" Jhaufyther asked. "We already raised the dead."
"Your khits and the dragons are vital for Cyszil's children," Quasar Flurry stated.
"In what way?"
"They will be the main reason for your children's belief in us."
I didn't say anything. There was so much stuff they were throwing at me that I didn't know what to think anymore.
Instead, I said: "What about the three gangs?"
Jhaufyther hissed. "The one who hurt my khits? They will pay."
Corny words, but he meant it. And he could be incredibly scary when he was angry.
"Easy there," Quasar Flurry said. "I understand your pain- I am a mother myself. But we need to wait until ALL of the gangs are together. With the exception of Cyszil's two friends, it is important to see them together."
Star Tail frowned. "Why? What's going to happen?"
"A gang war," I said. Suddenly, it all made sense: my gang would be the top one, while the three others would fight each other for generations. The Catwings knew I was dangerous, so everything was falling in my favor.
"Precisely," Plasma Trail said. "A turf war, to be exact. Fought by the three gangs- Shadows, Demons, and Hellspawn."
"Which explains the Khrillin," I realized. "Clever."
"Since your gang is the most powerful one," he continued, "it will maximize damage and make even more undead appear."
"So, is that it?"
"One more thing," Star Tail said.
"What?"
"Do not be afraid of instigating the fighting. Draw them towards your territory, whatever needs to be done for them to clash."
"I already have two of them."
He nodded. "Yes, I know. But the other gang- the Shadows- are more elusive, hence their name. You will have to track them down and bring them to your base."
"Got it."
"If that's it, then we shall depart. Remember your parts."
The three siblings flew away. Jhaufyther gave me a tired smile. "That was... eventful."
"Indeed," I agreed. "What are you going to do now?"
"Probably go back home and nap."
It hit me, at that moment, how much Jhaufyther had aged. He couldn't die, but he was much larger than when I met him, and he seemed more tired than usual.
"Get some rest," I told him.
"I suppose so."
He opened his wings. "Happy late birthday, by the way."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome." He hopped into the air, and I watched him fly away.
I went back home, quietly closed the door behind me, and laid down in my bed. I almost immediately fell asleep.