Xander vol.1 Transmutation (6 page)

Xander chuckled, giving a
nod as he looked around the living room of the house, his eyes
catching each and every picture and every piece of décor. He was
consumed by the indulgence of his curiosity as he ventured future,
his excitement getting the best of him.

He was finally on another
planet. He was finally seeing more of the galaxy as his father had
told him he would. And even though he was merely in Fran’s living
room, it was almost too overwhelming for him to take. He found
himself wanting to touch and feel everything. Wanting to go out and
explore the area around him. See the humans in their natural
habitat.

“
I know. Just
look
at it,” Xander
mused, not bothered by the appearance in the slightest. Loni
scoffed.

“
To think the
princess
was living in
such a place,” Loni said in disapproval.

Xander gave the room
another once over before heading towards the kitchen.

“
It’s small,” he agreed.
“But I’m almost positive that the woman that raised her was not
royalty, Loni.”

“
Regardless,” Loni argued.
“You couldn’t possibly raise an Athenian, let alone an Ekechi in a
home such as this.”

Xander rolled his
eyes.

“
She wasn’t an Ekechi
while she was here. Heck, she wasn’t even an Athenian. She was a
human with extraordinary gifts.”

Just then, there was a
rattling coming from a corner of the kitchen. Both their heads
snapped in its direction. Xander’s brows were raised in wonder,
while Loni’s were furrowed in what almost looked like
fear.

“
What was that?” she
asked, scuffling over to huddle against Xander, peaking from behind
his arm in the direction that the noise had come from.

Xander gave a light shrug
as he took a step forward. But was stopped from taking another by
Loni’s death grip on his shoulder.

“
Don’t,” she insisted,
pulling him back by his shoulder and stepping in front of him. She
reached into the pouch that was attached to her hip and pulled out
a small, but powerful gun. “I’ll go,” she reluctantly offered, not
wanting to let her fear and disgust get in the way of her
protective nature as a Guardian. Seeing the weapon, Xander
hurriedly reached forward and pressed his hand on top of hers,
preventing her from firing.

“
Loni, wait,” he urged
more than ordered, not wanting to destroy the house with less than
five minutes of being in it.

As Xander lowered Loni’s
gun, a small white cat crept out from the shadows of the kitchen’s
corner. With a brown spot in the middle of its forehead, the cat
peered up at them with its large blue eyes, its tail slowly
flickering about.

Xander’s body eased its
tension, seeing the size of the creature. While Loni’s noticeably
grew more wary. Her hand snatched the gun from Xander’s re-aiming
at the cat’s head.

“
Out of the way,” she
hissed, taking a step towards it and making it crouch low
defensively. Xander rushed to push down her gun again, frowning at
her lack of compassion for the creature.

“
Loni,” he asserted.
“Honestly. What could it possibly do to hurt you?”

“
You don’t know what it’s
capable of. What if it’s a Guardian? It could morph in the blink of
an eye,” Loni argued.

“
Into what? An infant?
Look at its size.”

The cat mewled, its
posture beginning to relax as it crept forward towards them. Loni’s
eyes widened as she stumbled backwards, abandoning her gun in
Xander’s hands and heading back for the living room. Xander rolled
his eyes, his hands, one holding the weapon, falling to his waist
as he turned to see her flee.

“
Loni,” he chuckled.
“Powerless planet. Remember?” Xander looked over at the cat that
had waltzed over to sniff at his boot. “Look at it,” he insisted,
reaching down and scooping up its small body in his large hand and
holding it up in front of his chest. “It’s downright
adorable.”

Loni watched from what she
considered to be a safe distance inside the living room. Her
features held a permanent scowl as she glanced over the cat’s
features. The cat wriggled in Xander’s grip, its claws latching
onto the fabric of his shirt. Loni’s eyes widened as she hesitated
to move forward.

“
It’s got you,” she
warned, glaring at the cat as it mewled.

“
Honestly,” Xander sighed,
as he titled his head to look into its eyes as it mewled. “I think
it kind of looks like you, actually,” he suggested, looking more
closely at its feline features. “It may even been a relative of
your species.”

“
Don’t insult me so
blatantly,” Loni disputed. The cat turned to look back at Loni,
making her stiffen and take another step back. “Hurry up and
dispose of it,” she pressured, waving her hand at it
dismissively.

“
What? No way,” Xander
protested. “That’d be like killing a tinier you. And I made it
clear – or rather, Saphora made it clear that we’re not to harm
anyone or anything unless it is of self-defense.”

“
How would she know its
dead?”

“
Are
you
going to lie to the future
queen?” Xander pressed with an arched brow.

Loni frowned, rolling her
eyes and turning away from them both, making her way back towards
the front door, which they had carelessly left open.

“
I don’t care what you do
with it. I’m going to go secure the ship and calculate the
locations they’ve been. You’d be wise to start your research as
well,” Loni advised, not giving Xander a chance to respond before
she left the house, closing the door behind her.

Xander sighed, prying the
cat from his shirt and setting it back down on the floor. It mewled
again before darting off back towards the shadowed corner of the
kitchen.

“
You go on to live another
day.”

Xander spent the next
several hours searching the house. Not for anything in particular,
but instead, exploring. He took his time walking through every
room, every hallway, looking at all the décor and furnishings. Most
of which were very new to him, while others seemed almost familiar.
He took in as much as he could, feeding his curiosity with
everything the house had to offer.

He collected a few
pictures that had been framed of Fran and Saphora, thinking that it
would be a nice gesture of thanks to bring back something of value
to Saphora.

After having explored
Saphora’s room, he walked into Fran’s, which was only slightly
bigger, but much more formal-feeling. Everything was in its place,
unlike Saphora’s room, which had been left in the state following
Saphora’s levitation practices.

He stepped up to the
wardrobe that was against the right wall of the room. Opening it,
he was greeted by the clothing that was inhabited by the average
woman, as well as the average man. Fran had kept sparse clothing
from her late husband. Most of which were now out of
date.

Xander took out a couple
of things that looked as though they would fit him and held them to
his chest. He used the full-sized mirror that was attached to the
inside of the wardrobe’s left door to view himself. First viewing
himself with the clothing, and then without, in his own
attire.

He grumbled at the
significant difference. But the thought of being able to go out
into the local community to fix the problem excited him. He smiled,
setting the clothing back inside the wardrobe, closing the door
soon after.

“
Time to start my
research.”

Heads turned, photos were
taken, and mothers held their children a little closer as Xander
roamed the wide, populated hallways of the local mall. Xander’s
chin was high, ignoring most of the stares, as his eyes were on
other things.

Everything, to be exact.
His eyes passed the people, yes. But they were also on the floors,
the high ceilings, the stores – of all types, and the décor. He
took in the various scents of food. Spicy, sweet, organic, all
fusing together, and yet all distinct. He was watching their
fashion, as well. Some things catching his eye almost immediately,
while others darn near startled him.

Chapter 7

Nora panted, her lungs
struggling to catch up with her as she ran through the woods on the
outside of Clemming. Constantly, she’d look back behind her, seeing
how close Richard had gotten to catching up to her. And to her
dismay, she now saw a glimpse of him running behind her, his eyes
locked on her swiftly moving figure.

Nora whimpered as she
pushed her body to go faster, fearing capture. She pivoted and
looped around the trees she ran past, hoping the dense forest would
be enough to slow Richard down, or even discourage him from
continuing his pursuit. But to her dismay, Richard was anything but
ready to give up. He’d volunteered to go after her himself. And
he’d be damned if he was going to give up because of a little
nature.

Nora looked back again in
the mists of her running, and when she did, her foot caught beneath
an uprooted root, causing her to fall forward into the ground. She
landed with a thud and a loud grunt, her hands digging into the
ground to try and stop her skidding.

When she finally did stop,
she did everything she could to hurry to her feet and keep moving.
But when she looked up to run, her honey eyes met the crisp steel
ones of Richard, who was now standing in front of her – a smug grin
smearing his features.

Her body tensed as they
stared each other down, each expressing silent words. Of pleading.
Of power. Richard’s grin cracked into one of his infamous smiles as
he raised his hand slightly, as if to gesture.

“
You shouldn’t have left,
Nora,” he said condescendingly, with a slow shake of his head. Nora
frowned, her eyes darting around him before returning to his cold
eyes.

“
Richard, please,” she
begged.

“
You know I don’t make the
rules,” Richard reasoned, crossing his arms.

“
But you don’t have to
follow them,” Nora insisted. Richard scoffed.

“
And then I’d be in your
situation. Which doesn’t look too good, might I add.” Nora grimaced
as he took a step forward. “Why don’t you just come back with me?
Maybe the doc can arrange a desk job for you. You wouldn’t have to
be in the field,” Richard seemingly sincerely offered. But Nora
took a step back, making him frown.

“
And watch him make more
monsters? Kill more people? I’m not going back, Richard,” Nora
protested. Richard’s eyes narrowed as he took two more steps
towards Nora.

“
Is that what you think
you are? What we are? A monster? Monsters?” Richard scowled, taking
another few steps, and making Nora take another wary one
backwards.

Richard shook his head, a
grin appearing once again as he raised his arms. And as he did,
metal tentacles, along with some wires protruded from his back,
swaying and curling like serpents.

“
We are superior. We are
the future,” he insisted.

“
A future I no longer want
any stake in.”

Richard glowered, stopping
his advance towards her. There was a moment of tense silence as
they stared one another down, each realizing the other’s decision
in their motives. And finally, Richard broke the
silence.

“
What a waste. Suit
yourself. Allow me to remove you from it,” he cruelly offered. And
as he did, two tentacles went whipping towards Nora with the
intention to strike.

Nora swayed and bent to
the side, avoiding the first slash of the tentacle, then swayed to
the other side, narrowly avoiding the second. She grunted as she
bent back, her back arching dramatically as her hands flattened
against the forest floor. Her legs flipped back, dodging the grasp
of another tentacle as her feet met the ground, allowing her to
stand back up. Richard chuckled as she exhaled, her body in a ready
stance, preparing for more evasive action.

“
I see you took the
training courses seriously,” Richard commented. “I wonder if it was
to escape.” Nora secured her footing, her eyes saying that she was
prepared to put up a fight. Richard shook his head. “You were never
much of a fighter. Last chance.”

“
I’m not going
back.”

Suddenly, almost cutting
her off, two more tentacles came charging at Nora. Reacting two
late to physically dodge, she stomped her foot into the ground,
summoning a wall of compact dirt to spring up, colliding with the
metal and stopping them from reaching their target.

Nora grit her teeth as she
gave a rough push against the dirt wall, charging it at Richard
while summoning another compact wall behind him. Richard glared
between the walls, his tentacles shooting out in both directions to
keep them from crushing him while Nora made a run for
it.

The town was in her sights
now, and she had a spark of hope that she might actually succeed in
reaching the people. The police. But that hope shattered, almost
audibly when she heard her dirt walls crumble, followed by the
enraged groan of Richard, who was now racing to catch up with
her.