After Days - Chapter 18

Due to the delay in arranging accommodation, the only way that Zayn could fulfil Leon’s request was to section off a public bathhouse, so that is exactly what he did. Rumours of the new arrivals and their importance travelled fast, so naturally, none of the civilians had any reason to huff over the temporary closure of one of the smaller bathhouses.

Tessa had assured Leon that until living quarters had been arranged, she would take Vicky in and keep a close watch over her. She had also been sure to place a couple of guards at the entrance to the bathhouse so that Leon wouldn’t be disturbed. With everything that had happened, Leon had a lot to think over, and the fussing of the public would no doubt make the change harder for him.

For all intents and purposes, the spa like chamber was a delightful new experience. The lights had been dimmed to a gently, colour shifting glow, and the ever rising steam brushed Leon’s brow with soothing trickles of condensation.

He lay back with his head in a bevelled cushion, arms stretching across the rim of the pool and trying to stay as still as possible. Zayn had made it clear that water was not an easily replaceable resource, and that if Leon were to move too much and open his wounds into the bath, the whole pool would have to be drained for processing.

The only thing that Leon couldn’t quite adjust to were the sweet scents that wheezed from nearby vents, burning at his nostrils. The bitter stench of decay had been what he’d known for most of his life, so although this was a much more preferable aroma, it was still new and overwhelming.

The bath was easily big enough for nine other people, and yet here he was, with the whole room to himself. From what he had seen of the station, it was like a crisp canvas compared to Earth, but it was by no means luxurious. The spreading corridors and boxed rooms were suitable but minimal. Perhaps Zayn and Tessa had hoped that such an extreme example of what Warden had to offer would convince Leon to stay, with that in mind, no one had addressed the fact that suffocating emptiness outside was keeping Leon trapped regardless.

The truth of the situation hadn’t quite settled on Leon’s frantic mind. In reality, he was off the Earth, away from Celestia, away from the Tainted, away from anything that could accidently remind him of his past. Leon thought back to when he was on the ward, looking out that window and what it had made him feel. As a matter of fact, he hadn’t felt anything. Black skies had covered him for years, so looking out into just another black sheet made him feel oddly familiar.

Despite all of this, this new opportunity of a real life, his mind played over his failings, which had in fact brought him into the bathhouse, alone. The images of Ueda, his guardian, being killed before him replayed in fine detail, underline by his own vivid imagination as to what could have happened to Elliott. Then something intruded his memory, something old, something which barely contributed to the position he was in.

Grace, the only one that had brought any sense of joy into Leon’s otherwise terrible life, danced around his head. Her face was traced in perfect lines and features and he plunged into his memory, knowing it was the closest he would ever be to her again. She was beautiful, radiant, always wearing a happy smile even though the world around her crumbled. What made it worse was that she had loved Leon as much as he still loved her, and he had known it.

That same icy blade ran Leon through as his tears mixed with the gathering steam. The undeniable thought of a world without his beautiful Grace signed, sealed and delivered him to his darkest decisions.

Without taking a breath, Leon let himself slump into the hot water, sinking himself into the humming weight of the bath. With a knock, he felt his shoulders land against the tiled base, letting his eyes open to see the flickering ripples of light above the surface. His sight was bordered with the shadows of his waving hair.

Security and control filled him, casting his mind to the time that Russell had failed to kill him. A smile eased as he hoped that his dagger would bring Laza the same protection, wrongly placing the death of Elliott on himself.

Bubbles rose to the popping surface as he let his remaining breath trickle free, then he paused, prepared. The only person he had left was Vicky, and he knew she didn’t need him. That was evident enough from how much she had changed in the few short days since they left London.

Then, decided, calm, at peace, he took a deep breath, letting the water cascade down and into his chest. Immediately, his lungs felt hot, heavy, and a tingling chokehold rushed across his body. He coughed, gagged, but only water met water as he was exhausted of air.

Leon had drowned a Whisper once, he knew this wouldn’t take long. And so he waited happily, welcoming his end. The fizzing of his body began to dim and the weight of his lungs didn’t bother him as much. He must be dying.

He still lay, aware. How could he still be conscious? The water should have killed him long ago. Had Warden somehow filled the bath with liquid oxygen to stop him from doing exactly this? No surely not, they simply didn’t have the supplies to waste.

With wild shock, Leon’s eyes snapped open as he burst up from the depths, sloshing the water over the edge of the bath and down onto the floor. Water funnelled out from his lungs as his head bowed, hot liquid gushing from his nose and lips. Totally empty, he took a hard gasp to fill the hollow.

What the hell was this, and what the hell was happening to him?

“We can’t die that easily, I’m afraid.” Carbon said from the far corner of the bath as he let his toned muscles soak in the water, the tips of his silver hair getting wet.

Leon jolted, not knowing that he hadn’t been alone the whole time. He turned to the frosted glass door to find that the silhouettes of the guards were still pressed close.

“You were down there for a good few minutes. I have to say, you must have been pretty determined to kill yourself.”

“What’s it to you.” Leon discarded as he stood to leave the bath, but suddenly the water rushed from his feet, knocking him back under.

Carbon waited until he resurfaced, blowing the water from his nose. “What a ridiculous question. The nurses tell me that you’re totally free of illness and infection, you just breathed water and didn’t die. Surely you can’t be that dense that you haven’t realised what you are.” His insult was returned with a questioned look from Leon as he clung to the pool wall, stopping himself from falling under again. “You’re a hybrid, probably the only one of your kind. You’re Kel’Dar but…not. It’s like you are on the fence, standing with the door open but never walking through.”

Amazement painted Leon, from his expression to his body language. “I never knew that Kel’Dar was such a common thing.”

“It isn’t. I’m guessing that Celestia called you a Titan, a Kel’Dar? The only reason that those despicable men even know of it is because I am, and always have been a Kel’Darian.”

Leon let himself relax back into the pool as he became transfixed on the stranger. Finally, a new chance at some answers. “You said I’m a hybrid?”

“Don’t think too much into it. I’m not saying that you’ve been some combination of man and Kel’dar all your life, but I can feel your power and it seems hazy. Did you try and transform?”

Leon nodded with grief in his eyes as a flashback of torture teased him.

“What happened?”

“There was a soldier, called himself Franklyn or something like that.”

“Master General Franklyn Steel.” Carbon added sarcastically before sighing. “Oh wipe that look off your face. You want to kill him? Trust me, with Berlin at the bottom of the sea I’d be surprised if someone else hasn’t killed him already.”

“I hope not. I promised I’d kill him and I intend to.”

“That’s when you transformed?”

“Tried to. I felt something…snapping, inside me. But before anything else could happen he turned that machine back on and I just…couldn’t.” Leon shrugged, trying to get his story out of the way and get back to the answers.

“Icarus.” Carbon nodded knowingly. “It must have interrupted the change. I want to be impressed by you. That machine was built to harness me and you’ve managed to come out of it alive. But I cannot respect a man who tries to take the coward’s way out.”

Leon bowed his head in disgust. Perhaps after a second failed suicide attempt, it was a sign that he’d have to wait for his turn to come.

“I’ll be straight with you. I am a fully-fledged Kel’Darian warrior, your brother is a new born and will quickly get stronger, more so than he is already. Then there’s you, you’re like a chick that can’t get out of its egg. So here’s my offer. I will train you, push you and transform you into the peak of what you can be. In return, you’ll help me take your brother down. Every moment he is alive he threatens the safety of this colony and I cannot allow that.”

“Take him down? You make it sound like I could easily kill someone who’s had my back for years.”

“He found it easy enough to kill the younger one.” Carbon reminded with a nasty tone.

“That wasn’t his fault! It w-”

“No it was yours!” Carbon boomed, the water fleeing away from him in jagged, rounded waves as they flushed over Leon. “Is that what you’d like to hear? That you weren’t strong enough to save him? That you’re too weak to protect the people around you? I’ll spell it out for you, kid, you should not have survived this long, and neither should your brothers and sister. There’s something inside of you, something immense and I know it’s in there. I’ll make my offer simpler for you, pull your head out of your ass, or you will never be able to protect so much as a house plant!”

With one final belt a wave smacked Leon on the chest, pressing on his wound. It sloshed over the edge, leaving the bath only half full now. “How do you expect me to train when I can barely move? I’m no good to anyone if I can’t keep myself save.”

“Bullshit. Have you been listening to what I’ve been saying? I have been on the edge of death more times than I care to admit, keeping safe isn’t part of what I do and yet everyone here owe me their lives.” A pause filled the room as Carbon took a deep breath, once against to calm himself as he whipped a strand of silver from his face. “If you do exactly as I say, your wounds will be healed within a day. Within a week, you’ll be strong enough to return to Earth and in a month’s time, I may trust you with the safety of this place.”

“Who are you?” Leon asked finally.

“Call me Carbon. It isn’t my name but it is all you’ll ever know me by.”

“What kind of name is that? Are you one of those guys who abandoned his name when everything went to shit?” Leon had known people like that. Men called Steven and John who’d change their names to Ripper and the like, just to seem more dangerous.

“My name is my own.” He barked. “Celestia call me the Tin-man, I prefer Carbon. A fitting title. Unless I allow it, nothing breaks my skin.”

“And I take it you allowed something to give you that scar?” Leon snapped, pointing to the long thin strip of scar tissue, stretching along Carbon’s arm and shoulder. It was evident that the question was not welcome as Carbon tensed his brow.

“No.” He sighed regrettably. “I never allowed this.”