the lazarus job - tmnt (2)

twenty

CHAPTER 20

COME BACK

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"THAT PLANET is dead." 

Chief Titawa paced, the colorful beaded train running along the floor as she walked back and forth. Her long hair was intricately placed in a ponytail that started at the peak of her head and traveled all the way down to her knees. 

"Kuldor is very much alive Chief Titawa," reasoned Leonardo as he fumbled with the apple in his hand. "Their ruler is Queen Eden." 

"I know her well," huffed Titawa with a frown of disapproval on her bare orange face. She had no paint on her face and compared to when she first met the turtles and two girls, she did not seem so tense anymore. "Her husband and my father were allies before that woman destroyed every method of business between our planets. She killed my father as an act of defiance." 

"They have Florence," mumbled Donnie as he fiddled with a copper ring in between his fingers. "And Nadia."

Raphael, who was sitting cross legged at the table next to his brothers, flexed his jaw and clenched his fists. His lime eyes drift from his brothers and rested on the floor where he kept the intense gaze fixated. 

Leo noticed, but didn't dare touch the subject in front of Titawa who appeared stressed enough. 

"She will start war," mumbled Titawa as she paced. "The bringing of Altair will not give us peace, but war." 

"The bringing of who?" Donatello finally looked up. His fingers stopped playing with one another as he stared down Titawa. He vaguely recalled Eden saying something familiar when him and his brothers were being taken away, but it wasn't completely clear. 

Titawa stopped pacing, turning her orange face so that she looked at Donatello; her unwavering white eyes made him slightly anxious to be under someone's solid gaze for so long. Titawa, turning her black head, walked to her throne and sat down. 

She crossed her legs, moving her vibrant green dress around as she lift her hand up to her mouth; a frustrated gesture that reminded Raphael of Nadia. 

"Every planet has their gods," began Titawa with a business tone in her thick accent. "Earth has many, but most planets stick to a few. Ours, for example, is Buyorra, the goddess of life while the others are all of her siblings. Unlike your gods and goddess who hide in history books and words of others, ours are real and here. Yet they take refuge from those who hunt them." 

"So your gods get hunted?" Questioned Leo. Titawa nodded and looked away. 

"By many. Legend goes that killing a god gives you their power, which is why most seek refuge through plants and other forms of life while others are locked away out of fear of overpowering. Many grew to hate gods for they possessed powers that were too strong. Some forced them away deep in caves or even the planets core, but others snuck away to the heavens and remain there." 

Titawa frowned and gently scratched at her cheek. The turtles barely noticed that her nails were not like human nails, but black and curved like a cats. 

"My father told me of the Osiphs gods for he found them fascinating," she chuckled dryly before pausing, her face falling into a frown. "Their gods are those of intelligence and war. Kuldor was only prosperous because of their connection to their gods. Long before Eden, the King of Kuldor was a man by the name of Altair while the Queen was his sister, Khala. Altair was not married and Khala was infertile, so they agreed to control the throne with equal power, as brother and sister."