2 Zenozarax I (Warrior)

23.12.2023

Zenozarax sat at the head of the navigational node of the control centre to keep himself from pacing. A feat he only achieved partially. EZ-354, a soldier colloquially called Esa, who was usually the Twilight’s designated navigator unless Zenozarax saw it fit to take the station himself, stood motionless aside, maybe even slightly displeased that his station was unjustly occupied.

He heard steps on the metal plating on the floor coming from the corridor behind, but he didn’t take his eyes from the view screen. Not that there was much more to see than endless darkness dotted with distant stars, but … what else was there to do but wait.

Xaronzul stopped beside him. Maybe also glancing at the dark viewscreen and the two wizards at the front panels.

“We should go soon,” Sukatar said without turning around, focused on monitoring that probe data out of a different universe. “They’ll be out of that dark zone in 38 hours. We won’t get that chance again for months.”

“I know. We will” Zenozarax said. Speaking made him aware how tense his jaw had been clenched. He stood up, releasing the nav control node back into Esa’s care and went to the command chair facing the front panels. Xaronzul followed him naturally.

“With all these people?” Moakatar asked softly, glancing back at Zenozarax as he sat down.

Zenozarax clenched his teeth again. It wasn’t ideal, in fact it wasn’t good at all, but the options weren’t exactly limitless. Take them with them into danger or leave them here to a different kind of risk. Evacuating them to the Dark Citadel was out of the question, and just offloading them on a remote planet wasn’t safe either and currently he didn’t even feel it particularly safe to return to the colony fleet. Too many moving parts. A problem of his own making.

If push came to shove, he would blow the whole thing off. He would not go and risk the lives of all these people for a measly three parts. There would be other opportunities.

“What if he doesn’t show up?” Xaronzul asked when Zenozarax didn’t answer.

“He will,” Zenozarax said. There was no doubt in his mind. The Wizard confirmed as much.

The idea of having Ravalor back at his side wasn’t even making sense to him, the Warrior in particular, not really. And he first would believe it when it happened, but he was certain that it would. Even without any touch the likes they had shared so often in the past, the Wizard had sensed, almost felt, the desperate yearning as clear as he now felt his own. More so, he had seen the misery he had put upon his most trusted, most valuable and most important friend. He couldn’t ignore it. He needed to make this right. Somehow he had to fix this. Making sure that Ravalor was okay again was more important than anything else.

He knew that with an unshakable certainty. Even though this part of him had never met Ravalor. Or so his memories would make him want to believe. It wasn’t true, of course not, he felt it clearer than the Wizard ever could have. He knew how right Ravalor had been. And it made the anticipation so much worse.

“But what if he—“

“He will!” Zenozarax snapped and Xaronzul flinched visibly.

“I’m sorry—” Xaronzul said hastily but halted as Zenozarax let out a deep breath and raised his hand to stop him. He let himself fall back into the cushioning of the seat, with his left hand he massaged the bridge of his nose as if to defeat a looming headache.

“No, I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I know he will, he has to. He wants to.” Then he sighed, dropping his hand, shaking his head slightly as he looked first at the viewscreen again then finally to Xaronzul. Even he seemed noticeably tense. Though probably not for the same reason as anyone else. He really shouldn’t have snapped at him like this.

“He, Ravalor,” Xaronzul began carefully, as if really trying to find the right words. “He is important to you, yes?“

“Very much so. I won’t be able to deny that,” Zenozarax said, to his surprise he found the furrowed tension in his face loosened as he said it. “That’s why this is grinding my nerves into pulp right now. He’s not well and that’s my fault.”

“I see,” Xaronzul said strangely thoughtfully, Zenozarax’ gentle tone seemed to put him at ease again. Zenozarax carefully mustered the young wizard’s face.

“Will that be a problem?“

Xaronzul looked at him wide eyed and puzzled. “A problem?”

“For you.“

An enlightened “O” expression appeared on Xaronzul’s face. “Oh, a problem. No? No. No!” He nodded, for a moment his eyes drifted away as if listening to something that was said elsewhere in the room. “He’s important,” he finally concluded.

“Yes, he is.” Zenozarax nodded, still carefully watching Xaronzul. If there were to be any sign of jealousy, he needed to spot it now before it inevitably would become a problem.

Xaronzul was loyal to a fault, he idolised Zenozarax, and Zenozarax was aware of that. It was a fact that was of some benefit, but also came with drawbacks. So far, most of the time, Xaronzul had access to his undivided attention — but this would like change would Ravalor truly arrive and, lords forbid, stay.

Xaronzul’s eyes darted back to him, his whole body seemed jumpy as if someone had injected him with an overdose of OCM and all that energy suddenly needed release. There was a wide grin on his face. “If there is a chance, could I speak to him?”

“Hm.” Zenozarax considered for a moment. It was a strange question but one worth exploring. Once Ravalor was here, he had to be kept as much a secret as Aeven and Pelagius. At least, a secret from Quadirymir. He’d, evidently, trust the entire crew of the Twilight with his life so he saw no reason to keep Xaronzul from speaking to Ravalor unless he feared any danger from them to Ravalor. Studying Xaronzul’s face again he really couldn’t see any reason for that. Well, besides the near manic gleam in his eyes, but that was usually nothing to worry about.

“If he stays, you may,” he eventually said. “But give him some space first. There will be a lot of things, …people, here he needs to get to terms with. He’s a very orderly wizard.“

“Apparently not,” Xaronzul mused, bouncing on his heels, and despite harbouring no ill intention Zenozarax felt a pang of irritation.

“He is. He’s just caught in a system that doesn’t know how to appreciate it. Nor how to help him…”

At that Xaronzul made a sound that was somewhere caught between a chuckle and a grunt. He could relate to that intimately. By now Xaronzul was pacing through the CC as if pondering a thought. Or just to be in movement. While he was at it he glanced back to Zenozarax who followed his stride with his eyes.

“Let’s assume then that he will show up, okay, that’s a fact now,” Xaronzul said, still pacing. It reminded the Warrior of his Wizard and he still wondered if it was natural behaviour for Xaronzul or just something he had picked up from him.

Zenozarax nodded again, encouraging Xaronzul to go on, while leaning his chin on his hand.

“But he’s still four-parts bound to Mezchinhar right at this moment.“

“Disconnected“

“So he says. But that can change at any moment. So we may all die doing this. Yes?” Xaronzul concluded. He didn’t sound very troubled about this, merely exploring a factual curiosity. At the front he saw Suakatar glance at both of them. She would be, by nature, the most doubtful. Not out of mistrust, but carefulness. But she and Moakatar also understood his reason in a way Xaronzul simply couldn’t.

“He won’t betray me,” Zenozarax said. 

“He did try to kill you. At least three times so far, yes?”

“Yes, because that was what he had to do.”

“And it isn’t now?“

“No.“

“Hmhm.” Xaronzul nodded, as if the answer was perfectly sufficient and logical. For Xaronzul it probably was. Zenozarax had said it so he believed it.

And yet. Both the Dawnbreak and the Twilight were only teleport-docked to the Edge of the Universe, meaning they were in range, stationary relative to the station’s speed, but had no physical contact to the station. Ready at a moment’s notice to break off and teleport out if — against his firmest conviction — something else besides Ravalor would appear at the small, hidden station. Giving Ravalor direct access to it was by all logic extremely risky. Sukatar had been keen on making sure he understood that about five times by now. The smart thing to do would have been to set up a remote meeting place. Be safe in case of betrayal. Hindsight and all that.

But he didn’t believe that would happen, couldn’t nor wanted to imagine it could happen — but — he had lived this life already long enough to know that any moment of faith could get people killed. It was the fear that he’d let his own hope and emotion blind him. He wanted to trust Ravalor, he did trust Ravalor (with his life as it seemed) but Ravalor wasn’t well. No matter how much it pained him, for the sake of everyone else that had come to trust him, the Warrior could not dare to put his trust blindly into someone as broken as Ravalor seemed at this moment.

And he hated it from the bottom of his heart. It was the uncertainty where none should be.

Moakatar and Sukatar were both at their stations at the helm and tactical station respectively, ready to act if needed, but they had turned around lazily watching the discussion between their commander and XO. They lacked the unshakable faith Xaronzul had in him but they trusted him too. They were just a bit more sceptical about it, in a healthy way.

Then the alarm came.

A portal was created inside the station, springing open and piercing through time and space, triggering the hypersensitive sensors even before the connection had gone through the initiation setup.

Zenozarax had jumped up, apparently he had, because he stood, the view screen had immediately switched to the security overview, displaying the intrusion into the station.

A video feed sprung up, showing the portal and then — there he was.

Ravalor.

The alarm became less intense as soon as the portal closed. But the light still pulsed red.

The plan had been to wait. At least for a moment, to see if anyone would follow. Sacrificing the station but keeping both their capital ships safe by teleporting away.

It had been a sufficient compromise. But by an impulse too strong to ignore he decided that he was quite willing to also sacrifice this Part of him as well if that was how this would turn out.

“Zenozarax wait—“

But already he had vanished into a swirl of light and dark.

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