Chapter IV: Therese

 

A prophet’s life was not easy, especially that of a prophet in service of a man whom she despised.  Therese sighed as she gave up her computer search, exhausted.  She checked her clock, trying to calculate how many hours she had devoted to this fruitless search.

            “As of now,” she said, rubbing her reddened eyes, “I have devoted 1074 hours to this search, and haven’t come up with a single clue.  Perhaps I’d better talk to that girl.  She’d provide more answers than ancient legends anyway.”

            She stood suddenly, and fell just as suddenly.  Her legs quivered beneath her black robe; she was physically and mentally exhausted.  “It’s no use,” she finally yielded to her exhaustion.  “Even a prophet needs her rest.”

            She mentally flipped the switch to disable the computer monitor and it ascended back into the ceiling from whence it came.  Yawning once more, Therese propped herself up on her bed, and covered herself up, having just enough energy to take her hood down, allowing her long black hair to move freely.  It was not in its usual lustrous state, however; rather, it was mussed from her day’s work and unrelenting stream of sweat.  Therese worked diligently and got little reward for her toils.

            Utilizing her mental capabilities, she dimmed the lights around her and began to settle into her bed.  Less than a moment later, her eyes sprung open.  “The girl!” she gasped.  “That fool,” she cursed.  “He is going to kill her when she is the one last hope for that crystal.”

            She rose and sat down on her bedside, her legs dangling a bit.  “He said that he would give her twenty-four hours to give information before he killed her.” She gritted her teeth.  “That moron! He is destroying his one chance at his goal, and somehow, I will be the one to blame.”

            She got up and walked towards her door like a drunkard; she was exhausted physically, but she was mentally rejuvenated.  “Idiot!” she cried, nearing her goal.  “Moron! Bastard! Detestable fool!” She laid her hand on the door handle

            “I have had enough of this!” she groaned hoarsely.  “He doesn’t respect me at all.  I…I…” She was grasping the door handle so hard that she had drawn a steady stream of blood from a small piece of metal that had been sticking out.

            Therese fell to her knees and fought back tears.  “I…I…” she muttered.  “He took me from my home when I was but a child… he thinks I am his most trusted confidant, but he just uses me for my abilities and works me half to death.  What he does is terrible and unforgivable but…” she paused.  “I am powerless to stop it.  Once he has the crystal, he will undoubtedly use it to increase his power far beyond what I can match.  I may be strong now because of my training and my exposure to the crystal, but…” she paused.

            Slowly, she rose, and finally a few tears fell.  Tearing a strip of cloth from her cloak and tying it around the cut in her hand, she grasped the door handle once more, and smiled widely; it was not a sneaky smile of any sort, rather, it was one of pure happiness. 

            She dashed out into the hallway and threw her cloak to the ground, revealing her seemingly skimpy leather armor underneath.  A black buster covered some of her chest and tied around the back, while a short pair of leather shorts adorned her waist.  Other than that, she wore shoes and ported a quarter staff.  Her black hair flowed behind her in a stream as she pounded her muscular but thin legs across the floor. 

            Groping around for her quarter staff, she finally secured it and extended it into a full-size quarter staff and held it one hand.  “It’s so simple,” she thought.  “He may become amazingly powerful after he is exposed to the crystal, but until then, he is weaker than I.  I will murder him now and right all of his wrongs.”

            A group of guards approached her as she neared her master’s room.  “Halt at once, Mistress!” the leader cried.  “The Master has specifically requested no guests; not even you!”

            “Shut up!” she shouted.  In the blink of an eye, she spun around and threw her staff out in front of her.  Performing a flip in midair, she proceeded to successfully bash all of the guards at once right in the chest, making them bend down and gasp for air.

            She landed flawlessly behind them, right in front of the door to her master’s private quarters.  “I am determined to see him,” she said, without turning around.  “I suggest you let me through.”

            “Now,” she continued to no one in particular, “It’s time to end this.  The door is probably locked, so I’ll have to employ a little energy combat.  Double Helix Beam!”

            The Double Helix Beam was Therese’s own patented energy attack.  She had worked for many years to perfect it, and she believed it was about as peaked as it would get.  First, she would cross her arms and charge up.  Concentrating equal energy into both arms, she would then fire two orange ribbons of energy that would intersect and create ball-shaped energy particles between them, effectively making a sort of DNA strand energy blast.  The two energy ribbons would paralyze the target for a moment, and the balls would connect into one beam and fire directly into the target’s chest.  One of the nicer things about this attack was that she could decide the intensity of it.  If Therese had wanted to, she could have effectively destroyed the whole ship with one blast.  However, it only required a quick, weak blast to break down a door.

            The metal door fell easily to Therese’s blast.  She burst into the room, quarter staff in one hand and a look of anger on her face.  “It’s over, Alexander!”

            Alexander was the Master of the ship, and one of the most corrupt people in the galaxy.  His quarters were surprisingly small; he felt that there was no great need for something extravagant.  He was always more comfortable in small places.  Coward he was, he thought that large spaces may possess threats of people to hide, or some such nonsense.

            He smiled and rose from the armchair he sat at beside his bed.  Perhaps fifteen feet across there was a window out into space and a doorway into the bathroom at the other wall by his chests and mirror.  It was comfortably carpeted, but Therese had no time to notice the décor.  She was possessed by rage and held out her staff boldly before her.

            “It is your time to die,” she stated, tears of rage flowing down her face.  “Your terrible deeds are about to catch up with you, and your just reward is in order.”

            “Tsk, tsk,” he laughed and stood.  “Therese, Therese… why must you rebel? I favored you so over my other subordinates.  You were my right hand man… or woman, should I say?”

            “Plug it, Alexander,” she snarled.  “I was foolish to fear what you might become, but now I realize that I cannot sit idly by.  Over the years, I have become stronger than you could ever become.  I have become stronger than any normal human because of my exposure to the crystal.  Meanwhile, you have remained weak and fearful, supposing that the crystal would do all the work for you.”

            She gritted her teeth and continued.  “You don’t stand a chance, and I’m not afraid of you anymore! I challenge you, Alexander! Prepare to meet your maker!”

            “Hah!” Alexander let out a great bellow.  “Poor Therese…you just don’t know what you’re up against, do you?” He wore only a long white robe with a belt around the front, and his curly blond hair stood up a bit.  Indeed, this was probably as dressed for battle as he would ever get; did he anticipate Therese’s coming?

            Therese continued, undaunted.  “I know exactly what I’m up against,” she growled.  “I’m up against a weakling coward.  I bet you didn’t expect to face your death from me?”

            “Therese,” he smiled and moved past her, his robe brushing against her unclothed skin, “I may seem blind to you, but I’m not stupid.  I know you despise me, and with good reason.  I’ve been anything but kind to you.  However…” he paused, without turning to face her, “I don’t care.  You are nothing to me, and now you are nothing compared to me.  If you want a battle, let’s have one.”

            She crouched and held out her staff while Alexander turned around.  “Have at you!” he cried, and they leapt towards each other.

            Therese never let Alexander’s words get to her head.  She very easy dodged his puny blow and struck him in the back with her staff.  She was merely toying with him; she could have easily shattered his neck if she had so desired.

            Alexander struck the ground with full force and skidded across the carpet.  He laughed.  “You are stronger than I thought, Therese,” he commented.  “Another round, then?”

            “If you wish,” she said, facing him and smiling.  Alexander dashed towards her and this time ducked to try to swipe her feet from under her.  She easily flew up into the air and flew above him, easily striking him in the chest with her staff, causing him to slide into the door frame, almost right out the door.  Therese landed gracefully back on the spot where she had stood before.

            “Delusion-al fool,” she commented.  “I don’t know why you thought you could beat me.  Your overconfidence is apparently one of your downfalls.  I’m through playing with you, Alexander.  I think you’ve outlived your usefulness.”

            “Wait…” he muttered.

            “Why should I?” she asked, still with a death grip on her staff.  “Give me one good reason.”

            With no small amount of effort, Alexander pulled himself to his feet and took an object out of his pocket.  Dangling on a woman’s pendant was… no! It couldn’t be!

            “The… the…” Therese gasped.

            Alexander laughed.  “The girl had it all along.  Apparently, she’s some kind of royalty and she wanted to give her heirloom to me instead of have her planet destroyed.  Naïve fool; I was going to destroy the planet either way.”

            Therese’s eyes went wide at this statement.  “You can’t!” she shouted passionately.  “That planet is my home.  My family, my friends… you would kill them all in cold blood? You have what you want! Why spite the girl and destroy innocent lives?”

            “There’s simply no reason not to,” he laughed.  “The bloodshed… the horror… the look on the girl’s face… it’d all be so worth it.”

            “Stop!” Therese cried.  “I’ve heard enough!” She tensed her muscles and gripped her staff harder than she ever had before.  “You will die now before any more lives are lost!”

            She powered up as an orange aura surrounded her and caused her hair to stand on end.  After she had powered up as quickly as she could, she flew towards Alexander, but it was too late.  He held up the crystal and let a whitish aura surround him.  Therese was blown back and her staff landed far off and rolled under the bed.  It wasn’t worth the time to get it; she’d have to rely on her fists from here on in.

            Alexander beefed up his muscle mass and became a much broader and defined human.  This was his second form, although it was arguably not too different from his first.  Like Therese had thought, the crystal would allow him to undergo transformations.  Now standing at 7’ or perhaps more, he overshadowed Therese’s size by a good foot and a half.

            “I’m not intimidated by you,” she claimed boldly.  “You don’t know how to control your power.” She deftly flew up to him and landed a strong punch directly into his chest.  Somehow, Alexander had been stupid enough to figure this wouldn’t damage him, and as a result, was completely unprepared, going flying back and smashing against the door frame again.

            “What…” he asked, in a voice that was deeper than his usual voice, but not anything otherworldly just yet.  As he picked his head up, he saw Therese flying towards him once more.  She stuck her foot out and kicked him upside the head while doing a flip and nimbly flying backwards before Alexander had a chance to catch her.

            “I can’t let you hurt people!” she shouted.  “This ends now! Double Helix Beam!” She concentrated almost all of her energy into this attack, determined not to let Alexander become any more powerful. 

            Intelligently, she had never let Alexander see her use this attack, and he was surprised.  Just as he stood, he found himself paralyzed.  “No!” he cried.

            “Yes!” Therese responded.  “Now… die!” The balls of energy formed into a single beam and all headed right for Alexander’s chest.

            Much to Therese’s surprise, it blasted right back at her, and she put up her arms just in time.  She had nullified the blast, but much of her energy was used up.  “Darn it,” she remarked, as she saw that Alexander has strung the crystal around his neck.  “The crystal is not easily destroyed.”

            “Therese,” Alexander said, ready to transform again if necessary, “Please don’t make me have to kill you.  You are quite useful to me.  I wouldn’t want to see anything happen to such an irreplaceable brat.”

            Therese desperately wanted to keep fighting, but she knew it was useless.  The crystal was a holy object from her own planet of origin, meaning that Therese knew of its immense powers.  Could she have brought Alexander down? Maybe, but she would certainly not be able to if she was dead. 

            She lowered her power level and mentally summoned her staff back to her hand.  After retracting it and placing it back in the strap around her shorts, she sighed and lowered her shoulders.  “How did you know that I would fight you? I should have been able to catch you by surprise and destroy you easily.”

            “Simple,” Alexander said as he resumed his previous form, and obviously had to restrain from bursting out into laughter.  “You said so yourself.  It was in one of your prophecies.  You said I would be betrayed by a friend; well, the closest thing I have to a friend is you, so naturally, you would betray me.  I knew I had to be ready.”

            “Despicable creep…” she grumbled.  “You WILL meet your end.  I will see to it personally.”

            “Try; please do!” he challenged.  “It will be fun to see you fall, Therese the Unfaithful! Therese the Betrayer! Therese the Dog!”

            She gritted her teeth and almost powered up again, but realized she was helpless.  “You have what you want,” she eventually said.  “Don’t kill the girl.  After you destroy my planet, she’ll be all I have left.”

            “I wouldn’t dream of it,” he agreed.  “I want to see her suffer when I destroy her planet.  Then, she’ll be a useful servant to me, such as you have become.”

            “As long as she doesn’t die,” Therese acknowledged, feeling slightly relieved.  “I should like to see her now.”

            “Be gone,” Alexander commanded, waving his hand.  “I have no further use for you at this time.”

            Knowing that she had lost, Therese trudged down into the brig and used her keycard to open the girl’s cell.

            She was sitting on her bench/bed and reading a book that she had apparently smuggled on.  When she heard the door open, she curiously tilted her head upwards.  “I sensed that you weren’t the Master,” she explained, “So I should like to know who you are.”

            “My name is Therese,” the Mistress introduced herself.  “I’m the second-in-command here, and an attempted assassin of the Master, Alexander.”

“Ah, you don’t like him either?” she asked, and cracked a smile.  “Oh!” she exclaimed and seemed embarrassed.  “My name is Gemini.”

            “I know,” Therese said.  “I’m a little older than you and not nearly as famous, but I am of the same planet, my princess.” She bowed, and then noticed that she was still half-naked.  “Ah, if you will pardon my attire, that is,” she said, and cracked a half-smile.  “I just came back from my battle with Alexander.”

            Gemini seemed interested.  “Tell me about it,” she requested.  “Please.  I’d like to know what happened? Am I still condemned to die?”

            “No,” Therese said, “but it doesn’t matter.  You are condemned to Alexander’s service for as long as you live, such as I am.”

            This caused Gemini to smile.  “I don’t think so.  I’ve arranged a meeting with a bunch of warriors from Earth.”

            Therese nodded and smiled as well.  “I believe I know the fighters that you are talking about it.  No doubt they are strong but… but Alexander has the crystal now.”

            “I know,” Gemini said, and the smile quickly drained from her face.  “I had to surrender it to him.  I had to save my planet.”

            At the mention of this, Therese felt sick to her stomach.  “I…” she began.  “I don’t want to cause you to lose sleep, and I deserve some myself.  I’ll talk to you tomorrow…” she said, and her eyes welled with tears as she left and locked Gemini’s door again.

            “What will happen now?” she asked herself, as she wandered back to her quarters and tried in vain to sleep.  At last, she drifted into a restless and troubled slumber.