Forlot - Books 10-12

Chapter Thirty-Four

TRIS' P.O.V.

There was a really, really, really - okay, really to the second power - tall and large person sitting on a black throne that was not even his size.

The mysterious person was a male and in the shape of a human being. He was bald, and his skin was black, red, yellow, blue, and green with white sparkles. His eyes were pure white, no pupils, and no clothes were on him.

I guess that you can say that his skin was his clothes.

His chin was on his hand, and he was leaning to the side of his throne. His head was tilted down, which meant that he was staring at something that was not part of his room. Someone. Two someones.

"So...you are back," Pompus spoke. His voice was deep and echoed throughout the room. "I am glad that you came willingly."

"Willingly, my a—" Wendow started before her sister wrapped her arms around her and pulled her close.

"Wendow, do not get angry with him," Triso warned. "He is already mad at us for leaving Xeglona."

"Mad, you say? Why on your mother's behalf would I be mad at either of you? I am too ecstatic to see the two of you again. Why, you would never believe how worried I was."

"Hey! Do not speak of our mother!" Wendow commanded, raising a fist. "I will punch your lights out!"

Mother?

"My, my. You sound so tough. So tell me. Just how exactly are you going to punch my lights out? You and your sister are the size of ants compared to me. I control not only Xeglona, but the whole universe!"

"Ooh. Now you have done it," Triso said.

"Just what have I done? Speaking the truth?"

"You are still comparing yourself to the Lord," Wendow remarked.

"There is no comparison there, my child. I am the Lord."

"Bull...I would say the other word, but it is inappropriate." She cleared her throat. "Crub! Crub on you! Crub, crub, crub!"

"Ah." Pompus stroked his chin with his fingers. "This word 'crub.' You must have gotten it from the real worlders."

"Actually, we got it from the folks who live in Forlot," Triso confessed. "Would you believe that it is illegal to use bad words?"

"Hmm, yes. I most certainly would." He waved two of his fingers, and a yellow hologram appeared in front of him. Writing was on the hologram, and he scrolled through. "I have been doing some research on that town. Forlot. What kind of name is that? It sounds like that was the first name that our writer came up with. I swear. Why do the real worlders read her books anyway?"

Triso held out her arms to her sides. "Why else? Her books are good!"

"They are not good. They are great!" Wendow added. "They talk about serious things that need to be addressed. How many franchises focus on suicide, rape, school shootings, and cancer?"

"Certain franchises focus on those things," Pompus pointed out.

Triso shook her head. "But not one franchise covers all those things. There are multiple. That is what makes Forlot so unique. Also, it does not encourage sin. Oh, and the Forlot people hate real worlders."

"I believe that. I hate them too. And I know that the word 'hate' is a strong word, but it is hard to care about people who hate God and get offended easily."

Wendow crossed her arms. "I am sure glad that my sister and I did not wind up with them."

"Then why run away to their planet?"

"Why else? To get away from you!"

"Yeah!" Triso proclaimed at the top of her lungs. "We are sick of you and the obsession that you have with us!"

Obsession? Pompus is obsessed with Wendow and Triso?

"I have told you this before. I am not obsessed with you," Pompus said creepily. "Your mother is who I want. She and I were supposed to get married last month, but she escaped from me and is now in hiding."

Wendow and Triso backed away as Pompus stood up from his throne.

"You are her beloved children. She would do anything for you. As a matter of fact, that is why she ran away from me. 'Cause I did not want kids, and she did. So she took some of her DNA and made you two. You are part of her. Maybe...you even look like her."

Wendy and I had to hold in our screams as Pompus scooped them up and tugged hard on their skins. Wendow and Triso screamed.

"We do not want to be aliens anymore!" Triso spat. "We want to be humans! Normal!"

Pompus stopped with the tugs and stared at them in silence. He stared. And stared. And stared.

Finally, he said, "Normal? Who wants to be normal? What did those humans tell you?" He tsk-tsked. "Keep this up, and you will be defective."

"Too late for that!" Wendow announced.

"We will see about that." He snapped his fingers, and two regular aliens came scurrying in.

"Yes, Lord Pompus?" one of the aliens said.

"Take my love's children to the tank."

That was when our friends freaked out.

"No! Please! Anything but the tank!"

Pompus lowered them to the alien guards and said, "Do not be scared. You will not be alone. Your pets are there and waiting for you. Speaking of which..."

He clenched his hand into a fist, and white light illuminated from it. When the light faded, he uncoiled his thumb and fingers. Wendy and I were stunned at what was now in his hand.

A puppy. A pink puppy!

"This will be...your personal pet." He set the puppy down. "His name will be Flippy."

As the guards were taking our friends away, Pompus had one more thing.

"And please get rid of the human girls that are spying on me."

"What should we do with them?"

"Eh. Throw them into space."