Project - Prometheus Ch. 10

As he faded away into nothingness, Korsa caught the descending dagger and whipped it at the recovering male. It caught him in the throat and he died instantly, burning away as the others had. Quickly, she circled around the dais, finding the leader of this group trying to drag himself away. He'd removed Korsa's sword from his wound, but Korsa held out her hands and the sword flew into them.

She approached the man and kicked him in the gut while using her blade to take his hood down. Korsa wasn't surprised to see the Master underneath the hood. He sneered at her and was rewarded with Korsa's foot stomping down on his chest. He screamed at the pain, but like the Xuul'khani she had just killed, Korsa was indifferent to his cries.

"You cannot stop us!" he coughed, while trying to laugh. "It is over! You've lost!"

"Where there is life, there is hope," Korsa told him. Without hesitation, she drove her blade into the creature's black heart, disintegrating him instantly. Korsa then turned back to Innocence and put her sword to work, cutting the bindings that held her to the altar. Quickly throwing the ropes off, Korsa pulled Innocence off, or at least tried to. Innocence was still trapped in the nightmare, fighting Korsa, thinking she was part of it.

"Shazza! SHAZZA! Wake up! It's over!" Korsa shouted at the little girl. Momentarily, she stopped flailing and stared at Korsa for several seconds. Recognition then dawned on her tiny face and she grabbed the big woman, hugging her as she cried. Korsa made soothing and shushing noises, while telling her, "It's OK, Shazza. It's over. He can't hurt you now."

Around them, the nightmare faded away, becoming the desert landscape once again. Innocence kept crying as she held onto Korsa, letting her emotions flow. Sheathing her blade on her back, Korsa wrapped all four of her arms around the little girl, letting her weep.

"He was right about something! It's over!" Innocence cried, breaking the hug.

"What do you mean?"

"When he was trying to crush my head, I saw into his mind for a moment. Even though it wasn't the Master, it was an extension of his will. He has Consciousness, and he has won! She is dying!" Innocence wailed.

"Wait! You saw where she is being kept?!?" Korsa asked.

"Yes... yes I did!" the little girl piped up, her eyes brightening. "If I can be reunited with Consciousness, then there may be a chance!" With that, an aura suddenly flared around Innocence, easily as bright as the one that Love possessed.

"We will need help though. You can't do this alone," Korsa told her. Just like that, the other aspects arrived, coming into being, right out of thin air. It was almost they were watching, hoping that it was safe to come out. That was likely the case as a couple of them were glancing around in fear.

"Did I hear you right?" Compassion asked, being the first to arrive. "You know where to find Consciousness?"

"We need to go now!" Love stated, her aura shining brighter.

"He can still stop us, like he did with me and Innocence," Korsa said, stating what had happened. Everyone deflated at this news, knowing that the Master's control over their mind was absolute.

"No, he can't," Love told her.

"How can he not?" Korsa wondered.

"Right after he sent you and Innocence to your nightmares, he found me, intending to do the same to me. He tried but failed, because of what you did!" she stated, displaying her radiant aura for everyone to see.

"He didn't try again?"

"He did, but he failed again. Once I caught on that he couldn't hurt me, I fought back. I got a few punches in before he tried to use his command over our mind to imprison me. But the mindscape rejected his command! I saw the look on his face when he fled. The Master was afraid," Love told her.

"Now that you've brought Innocence's aura out, she is protected like the rest of us. He can do nothing to any of us!" Love told them all. Awe replaced the fear and dejection that was plastered to their faces, which gave way to courage and the will to fight!

"That would explain why he's with Consciousness now! We have grown beyond his control and he doesn't want to risk losing! He's trying to destroy us before we can deal with him!" Innocence realized. With that declaration, the mindscape rumbled, as though it was collapsing.

"I wish I could help," Korsa mumbled in defeat.

"You can!" Innocence told her. "I not only saw where Consciousness is, I saw what he's doing to her! He's trying to make her believe that everything bad that happened is her fault! You need to distract him and keep him busy while we try to break through to Consciousness! If we can break through, then we can turn the tide and destroy him!"

"How will I do that?" Korsa asked, confused.

"Like you did with me. But you will require our help."

Before Korsa could ask what she meant, Innocence walked forward and hugged her. Each aspect caught on and enveloped Korsa in a massive group hug, each one of them touching her somehow. She felt odd and weird, like something was surging between them. After a minute, they all stepped away from her and Korsa looked down at her hands. She saw that she too, was glowing a bright silvery white, like the rest of them were.

"You protected and helped us in our hour of need. Now accept our help and protection, for the fight ahead," Innocence told her. Startled but thankful, Korsa drew her sword, hefting it and setting herself for the task at hand.

"Everyone gather close and I will take us there," Innocence told them all. Eager to finish this, they all crowded around the little girl, touching her so they didn't get lost in the myriad of memories. Almost instantly, the entire group shifted, going from the desert lands, on a long plunge through Shazza's memories. They bypassed thousands of hiding places but made a beeline for one specific memory.

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The whole group of them were on the Perseus, in an observation room, on one of the lower decks. The room itself was two stories tall, with a small balcony ringing the second story. Several of the aspects had arrived up there as there were so many of them. There were only two doors that led out, both of which were placed at the back of the circular room, one on top of the other. The walls were white and silver, with a massive viewport just below them.

The viewport encompassed half the wall space in the room, allowing for an unrestricted view of outer space. It was filled with the sight of two fleets engaging in battle; one was human, and the other was Xuul'khani. Many of the human ships were being annihilated, most either destroyed or listing so badly that they would soon be lost. Suddenly, a singular beam, brighter than one hundred suns shot out of the Perseus. It cut through the remaining Xuul'khani ships and smashed right into their command ship.

Just like that, the greater whole of the Xuul'khani fleet had been stopped in their tracks. Almost as one, the remaining ships turned tail, burning their thrusters on maximum, eager to get away from the monolithic dreadnought. At the very front of the viewport, stood two figures, both of them were Xuul'khan. One was the Master, by his shape and size and the other was Shazza's consciousness.

"You see what happened, because of your failure? You failed to take this ship! Your failure has cost us everything!" the Master shouted at Shazza. Her legs wobbled, and she collapsed to her knees, watching the carnage, crying her eyes out.

"Sia..." she cried out.

"Yes! Everyone is gone, and it's all your fault!" he raged, raising his hand to strike her.

"That is enough!" Korsa called out, striding out of the shadows of the door to stand in front of them. The Master turned to regard Korsa and was surprised to see every aspect of Shazza standing there with her. Barely constrained anger replaced his surprise and his voice was as deadly as a blade being bared.

"You should have all been destroyed. No matter, you will only prove to be a slight delay. You cannot stop the inevitable," he growled at them.

In a heartbeat, he located Innocence and made to rush her, only to find Korsa barring his way to the little girl. Again, he was shocked and surprised by Korsa's ability to intercept him, but focused on another aspect, thinking to rush her instead. Once again, Korsa beat him to her, standing in front of him, defending the aspect of Love.

He growled like a feral beast and raised his hands, to trap them with the floor, like he had earlier. The environment did not respond, and he was flabbergasted at this lack of obedience. He tried again, only to see nothing but the room's failure to obey his mental command. Even Korsa was immune to these effects, which shocked him to his core.

"The odds are now evened," Korsa told him as she advanced.

Not one to take chances, he ran for the door, seeking to escape. Korsa ground her blade and brought all four of her hands together and interlaced her fingers. In a millisecond, the doors of the observation deck shut and locked. Looking around, she saw that every aspect had done the same as she had, in complete synchronicity. The Master looked at the door in horror, realizing that he was locked in.

"You cannot do this!" he thundered.

"My mind, my rules!" every aspect of Shazza said at the same time, spooking him.

"Now, let's try this again, shall we?" Korsa taunted him, while giving him a predatory smile, pulling her blade up from the ground.

He summoned his sword to him as he found that was the only thing he could do. He brought it up just in time as Korsa attacked him, their blades ringing in the song of battle. The warlord parried desperately, trying to ward her off, but he found that it was nigh impossible! He had become too reliant on the power afforded to him by the mindscape and now found himself at a severe disadvantage.

While Korsa had the Master occupied, the aspects rushed down to Consciousness, staying close to her and out of Korsa's way.

"Shazza! We're here to help! Wake up!" Innocence cried out to her. Consciousness though, was not aware of them at all. Her focus was on the battle outside the ship which kept repeating on a loop. Love noticed this, and stepped in front of her field of vision, trying to direct her focus elsewhere.

"Shazza! This isn't real! You're in a recurring nightmare that will never end! You need to wake up!" Love shouted, while gesturing to the other aspects to join her. Seeing the frantic waving, they all hopped to their feet, getting in front of Consciousness, each one speaking their piece.

"He'd controlling you!"

"He wants to kill you!"

"We care about you! We can be free!"

"Wake up!"

Slowly, as though she was moving through molasses, Consciousness blinked and focused her sight on the aspects. They all looked at her, hope brightening their faces as she looked at each of them individually. She smiled at them, a light in her eyes igniting and stepped towards them. As she stepped towards them, she cracked and fell apart, like she was made of porcelain.

"Help me..." Consciousness begged as she crumbled.

"NO!" Compassion shouted as she rushed over to her. She placed her hands on the parts of Consciousness that were breaking apart, trying to help her stay together. Then, a miraculous thing happened. The cracks sealed themselves and become whole again. But, Compassion was disappearing and eventually vanished, being sucked into the very cracks she had touched.

The aspects were at first horrified at this until they noticed a subtle radiance that emanated from around Consciousness. She had absorbed Compassion back into herself, becoming one with the aspect! Her eyes then became clearer, like she could see better and focused on each of them again, wonder lighting up her face.

"We can be free!" she said, her voice clearer and stronger than before. They all realized that this was their chance, that they could reunify with Consciousness and regain control of Shazza! Wasting no time, each aspect went forward, touching Consciousness wherever they could.

"NO! STOP, YOU CANNOT!" the Master shouted at them as he disengaged from Korsa, trying to stop them. He was again halted by Korsa, who kept dancing in front his every step, more than capable of keeping him back.

"Yes, she can!" Korsa told him.

He made a swipe at her with his sword, trying to swat her away like one would swat an errant fly. But she sidestepped the clumsy attack, and stepped forward, driving her blade straight through his chest. He then gurgled, blood spilling though his lips as he looked down at the Thuun'tara blade piercing him. He fell to the ground, the strength of his body sapped by the sword and Korsa pushed it into the ground beneath him, holding him in place.

One by one, the aspects were slowly absorbed by Consciousness, her radiance growing with each aspect that was joined to her. Soon, there was only one left, Innocence. The little girl walked forward and gave her a big hug. Consciousness hugged her back as the little girl slowly disappeared into her. Several moments later, the girl was gone and all that remained was Shazza, reborn.

Her gaze fell on Korsa and she smiled, running over and embracing the woman in a hug. Korsa felt that odd sensation again, but in reverse. Shazza broke away from her and Korsa saw she was no longer glowing with the essence the aspects had loaned her. It had been taken back by Shazza, its rightful owner. A slight moaning sound grabbed their attention on and directed it to the wounded being pinned by Korsa's sword.

"You had no right... to take it all back," he coughed, defiant to the last. "It was supposed to... be mine. All of it... mine... by law..."

Shazza then pulled the Thuun'tara blade out of his chest, freeing the man and handing the blade back to Korsa. But she then hefted him up with her right hand, holding him by his throat, as though he weighed nothing at all. Tightening her grip on his neck, she spoke.

"The laws of our people are wrong!" she breathed, her voice dripping with anger. "Your control over me, is over!"

Raising her left hand, she placed it on his wound. He screamed at what she was doing and Korsa saw that Shazza was draining his power, everything he was, into her.

"You only exist because you were given power from me, to be here. You would have sent me to oblivion, just because I wanted to be free of you. Consider the favor returned," she told him.

Before Korsa's eyes, the once powerful Xuul'khani warlord shriveled up, the essence of life being drained from him. Shazza became fuller, plumper, like she was in the waking world. All that remained of the warlord was an emaciated husk, that barely clung to life. Korsa had no pity for this creature, who was so full of evil and hate.

"You are ended," Shazza told him and crushed his neck. Like the phantasms in the nightmares had done, he burned up into ash, leaving no trace of what he was behind. The only thing that remained was his memory, which would soon fade.

"Thank you, Doctor Korsa," Shazza said, turning to her savior. "But I must ask, why did you risk yourself for me, an enemy of your people?"

"It is my oath as a Doctor, to help all of those whom I can under my care. Be they friend, or foe," she told her simply. "Also, I saw a glimmer of good in you and couldn't just let you die. Not like this."

Shazza then tackled Korsa with a hug, trying to wrap her arms around the big woman. Taken by surprise at the gesture, Korsa hugged her back, glad she had accomplished what she set out to do.

"What do we do now?" Shazza asked as tears blurred her vision.

"Now, I say it's time to wake up."

"Should I wake? With everything I've done, to the various peoples that my race slaughtered? That I partook in? I've done horrific things, things I am ashamed of," Shazza sniffled.

"Just because your life began that way, doesn't mean that you can't change how it ends. Everyone is deserving of redemption, even those who have done such things," Korsa told her gently.

"How would I live with myself?"

"Day by day and I will be right there with you, ready to help, every step of the way," Korsa told her.

Shazza then broke away from Korsa, smiling up at the big woman with unshed tears in her eyes. Moments later, they were back at the doorway to the bridge, on the other side of which, Korsa's mind waited. The surrounding landscape had changed though, blue skies replacing the red cloud covered ones. At their feet, a single orange flower had sprouted from the sand, its beauty exquisite and ethereal in its own way.

Korsa cupped Shazza's face and stroked her cheek, the two of them knowing that ahead, lay many challenges, but that they'd get through them. Nodding, Korsa turned and walked through the door, heading back to her own mind. She waved as she walked through the gate and disappeared from view. Shazza waved back, happy to see her new friend off and safe.

She then sealed the gate to her own mind and took a breath. Although a part of her thought she shouldn't wake, Shazza knew that Korsa would help her. She had promised as much and though she was unsure of what the future held; she didn't fear it. For the first time, since she was a little girl, she looked to the future with a sense of hope. With that in mind, she took control of herself and began to wake.

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Korsa's eyes snapped open, and she coughed as she sat up. Almost immediately, she fell back onto the bed, mobbed by the weight of several bodies on her. It was the crew of the Darkstrider who attacked her, and she was just as happy to see them. Although she was strong enough to push everyone off, she let them hug her. That and she was still quite lethargic from her mental jaunt, but she wasn't going to tell them that.

"Ok kids, let me up now," she said as she sat up again. Several of them backed away, every one of them crying. The only one who didn't let go was Nats, who was still crying into Korsa, thankful that her adoptive mother had returned.

"Don't you ever do anything like that again!" Natalya cried into her. "Or I'll have to lock you up and then kick your ass!"

"Good luck," Korsa chuckled good-naturedly. "Let me up Nats. I need to check on my patient."

"Fine," Natalya said as she let go. She then went to where she was snoozing with Alex and grabbed some snack food he had brought for her. Nats then handed it to Korsa, who accepted it gratefully. Korsa checked the Spock's readouts for Shazza's vitals, which were strong and steady. A prompt then lit up the screen.

Primary patient waking. Bridge offline and link terminated.

Korsa scooted over to where Shazza lay and waited. The rest of the crew joined her and watched. Her eyes flickered fitfully, then, slowly opened. Taking a deep breath, Shazza then sat up, while raising her hands in front of her. A look of unadulterated joy lit up her face, as she turned her hands in front of her, in total disbelief of what she saw. She touched her face and laughed, crying as she did.

Her emerald eyes widened when she looked up at everyone but softened when she saw Korsa standing over her. She smiled joyously and hugged Korsa, saying only two words, in English.

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome," Korsa said as she hugged the woman back, stroking her head and back. "You are free now, ximal kihuo (little one)."

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Here is where chapter 10 ends! I wanted to end things on less of a cliffhanger note this time and more of a happy reunion! It is always a joy to write chapters like this, where people pull through a trying bit of adversity and hardship. With everything that's happened, I feel a slower pace for the next chapter or two is warranted.

With so much going on and the support and feedback that I've been receiving from my many fans and followers, count on more chapters to be coming soon! Especially since the end of the vote will arriving once Wings of Fire Chapter 4 drops!