{ Chapter Fourteen }
Caius revisited the Creed family. He went out of his way to spend plenty of time selecting the best flowers in accordance to his family member’s preferred colours. It was just so lucky that surrounding their graves, more so than any other flower, were those blooming a startling white.
Since his introduction to his deceased family members some weeks ago, Caius felt compelled to go and pay and his respects every time he landed on #OWS3 for his lessons. Although they weren’t the best for back and forth conversation, Caius still felt a special connection to them.
It had always just been him and his papa, and while he was continuously fulfilled by that fact, given the many years they were apart in Caius’ previous life, he was unable to deny the undisguised sense of joy he felt upon seeing just how far his family tree branched.
He routinely traced his fingertips over each name, familiarising them time and time again before laying down each flower. Only hesitating when it came to his grandparents, whom he could have possibly met in his lifetime if not for their early passing.
Afterwards, instead of venturing back into the building, specifically underground where most were efficiently occupying their time, Caius took a seat on one of the benches dotted around for people to use to reminisce.
But after getting comfortable, his attention wasn’t solely dedicated towards his family. Instead the Communicator on his upper forearm, which he had to shrug his arm to manoeuvre down to his wrist once again.
Initially he didn’t dare bring along the device, in fear that Yulia would spot it and confiscate it following the numerous rules that applied to his studying. But by the third week, where in his free time he was slowly coming to understand how to use the band on his wrist, he felt its absence.
But as it turned out, even when he did manage to sneak it onto the planet, it didn’t matter since all outgoing and incoming transmissions from within the main building were cut, leaving only strictly monitored communication available, if permitted at all.
Those restrictions failed to extend to the enclosed area Caius retreated towards. Where he was able to completely absorb himself in the familiar notification that came through and sat untouched on the screen. It had taken all of his willpower to not touch it, to save it for when he could fully appreciate it. Most importantly, for when he knew he was alone.
Casting an instinctive last look around him, just to be on the safe side, Caius finally accepted the notification. And just like initial message, and the handful that followed after that, the vivid picture that appeared before his eyes was always of the splendour of Calix.
He recalled staring at the first live image for hours, soaking in the sight of the fluorescent energy swarming around the large purple planet. Every so often there was a delay, signal struggling to maintain stability when being battered by such untapped raw energy.
By the time it had come to an end, Caius rushed to replay it. Only to find that after two views, it had disappeared and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t find it again. That proceeded to be the case with the other transmissions that came through, drawing him in with wide eyes as he was taken on a tour of the surroundings of the planet. One he felt he was developing a steady affection for.
There was a notable absence of people, or transporters signalling life. It made Caius feel less guilty about keeping the interaction to himself. Persuading himself that these particular images could have been sent to all sorts of people as there wasn’t a single thing personal about them.
That being said, he found that when the sporadic notifications came through, it sparked an instant reaction in him. As if he had been waiting for the next one to arrive with bated breath.
On this occasion, the view was different. Instead of seeing the planet in its entirety from the perspective of a hovering transporter, this time Caius looked out onto the surface. Which was far from accommodating in the same way as every other planet he had visited.
The ground hadn’t been tampered with in order to cater to their preferences. Ragged ridges like freshly ploughed mud that had frozen overnight and made treacherous to walk on, was revealed for the eye to see.
The signal jamming was far more frequent, setting alight a tension in Caius’ stomach as he feared the screen would suddenly go blank. But moments went on and as the live image panned around and exposed more of the rugged beauty of the landscape, the signal stood strong.
Just as any living being would have to be to call such a hostile environment their home.
Caius found himself inching forwards, craning his neck to take everything in. The fluidity of the camera angle’s movements hinted towards a drone of some sorts, zooming in now and then to give Caius a true view of the planet’s textures and the beauty within them.
From the information Caius had gathered on Calix, he knew that a vast majority of the planet was uninhabited. With tiny clusters of people with special training and circumstances being housed in protected zones that acted much in the same way as the thermal Caius currently sat within.
But unlike #OWS3, no part of Calix was lenient towards its inhabitants. Any protected area was handcrafted by the very people who intended to risk their lives there. So it was uncommon to see detailed images of the stark conditions outside of the domes. Most popular searches bringing up the conditions of what it was like within.
As for outside, the general consensus was: once you had seen one rock on Calix, you had seen them all.
Angle altering, the wide-shot narrowed and tilted downwards where it took in a certain fissure in the ground.
Considering how thick the energy was that coated the planet, it made it difficult for sunlight to break through, so more often than not the ground was perpetually shaded. Creating a somewhat gloomy environment. However it was one conclusion Caius had yet to draw, as he still excitedly followed the movements of his unconventional tour-guide.
The crevice wasn’t too deep, but it was dark. So he squinted his eyes, hoping he wouldn’t miss out on seeing something because his surroundings were so bright in comparison.
His efforts were in vain, as moments later the space promptly lit up and the purple energy swarming the skies reflected off the moisture clinging to the ground. And due to freezing temperatures, a further testament to how unforgiving Calix was, the water had frozen into perfect droplets. So when the light hit them, it was like a mini light show.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Tucked away in one corner of the museum were a few rows dedicated towards fossils. Their unassuming outer crust of dark greys and grainy blacks made them look like the average rock, but Caius remembers the insides taking his breath away. Crystals dramatically ranging in colour clung to the insides of the dull outer shell.
The sparks of colour bouncing off the minerals within the ground left Caius awestruck. Reminding him of those crystals. But just when he thought it was over, as the visibility shifted once again, upon closer inspection there seemed to be something growing below. A plant of sorts that looked far out of the ordinary when compared to the ever-changing landscape on the surface.
Straggly little green vines were protruding from the condensed fossils and winding their way around the ice droplets.
Any imported plant life that was grown on Calix was done so under artificial conditions. Those few species of plants that originated on the rocky planet could hardly be considered from the same category; with their tough exterior dominating and consuming all elements thought to be unnecessary. Such as being pleasing to the eye.
It was one of the many commonly understood facts about Calix, so Caius wondered why he was seeing such a dainty, green plant.
He was as close as he could get to the live-image, and longed to be there in person so he could inspect all the finer details of the setting so vastly different from the ones he had experienced. While lost in his troubled thoughts, on the other side of the hologram where the focus was still fixed on the vulnerable seedling, a hand emerged from no where.
Caius froze. His eyes doing all the action as they followed the hand which stretched down and cleared some rubble away, providing a better view.
He had convinced himself that this was a recording anyone could obtain. That it was like many other virtual tours that people could request and explore any planet’s surface. But instead the centre of the exploration had reacted per Caius’ response, with his eagerness repaid with all the intricacies he longed to see.
Now that there was potentially someone behind the transmission, it was only natural that he would become curious. Which would require him to be assertive and ask, when in actuality there was a much larger part of him that didn’t want to risk losing the bubbling excitement he felt whenever the notification came through informing him of an incoming message.
His mouth remained closed, watching on as the gloved hand nudged one of the flimsy vines with the joint of his index finger. It seemed to spur on the plant which suddenly came to life, no longer wanting the droplets of ice and instead seeking out the invading appendage.
Ace’s words came to mind, once notifying Caius of the risks of living on such a volatile planet. It was not a place where Omega’s ventured— in fact a location Nova strongly suggested against visiting. But in light of ongoing tensions between the two dominant forces, Caius could at least comprehend that Nova’s intentions weren’t solely for the benefit of Omegas and instead politically charged.
Nevertheless, it was somewhere people sought safety within domes and scarcely travelled outside of because of the negative impact it would have on the body. There was gear to prevent such things; but when Caius found out they were large and bulky he wasn’t entirely convinced.
But the stranger had gloves on that didn’t fit this description, the only slight give away that they weren’t average was the thin metal cuffs that attached them to the rest of the arm. Other than that, whoever it was, had long and slender fingers and knew just how to treat the sparse flora.
Caius unwittingly smiled when the person proceeded to remove their touch, only for the young seedling, which had the tiniest of buds dotted around, to protest and slowly wrap around the finger. It wasn’t fast, and in its tentative movements, showed how weak it truly was. But the person made no move to tear away.
Juggling the little vine that attached to the person no matter which way they removed it, Caius suppressed his laughter. Even when faced with a source of nutrition, coming from the water, the vine proved petulant and wouldn’t give up the gloved hand.
“It doesn’t want to let you go.” Caius spoke to no one in particular. Words tumbling out of him without the usual restrictive filter.
“Caius?” Fortunately the call wasn’t from directly behind him, as Caius scrambled to cloak the transmission while looking over his shoulder to try and pinpoint where it was coming from.
Which meant he unfortunately missed out on the response he received from the other side of the call when remarking on the actions of the mischievous plant. Though it was little more than a grunt in agreement as the communication was instantaneously cut off.
A sigh of relief came shortly after, when Caius set eyes upon the familiar face that popped out from behind a tree, hopefully still too far away to have seen the holographic image.
“Remi.” There was a slight hitch in the way he identified the youngster that made the guilty suspect draw to a halt.
Taking note of where Caius was sat, most importantly the graves in his immediate vicinity, Remi felt awkward as he asked, “Did I interrupt you?”
It was Caius’ turn to feel uncomfortable. Shaking his head ever so slightly, “Interrupt what?” The band on his wrist practically burning against his pale skin as he tried his best to keep it hidden.
“Talking to your relatives.” Remi unknowingly diffused the tension, shooting a fleeting look at the manicured surroundings and the individual headstones with carefully placed flowers on them. He raised his hands, “Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Yulia taught us that communicating with the deceased was a practice the ancients also took part in. It helps comfort those who feel the most loss.”
Caius truly knew he didn’t suspect anything as Remi lapsed into his usual way of speaking, which was giving him an earful of all the information he somehow stored in his head without it exploding. They got along mostly due to Caius being the only one unwilling to actively shoo him away.
Even if he had been talking with his Creed family members, Remi had still managed to creep closer and comfortably perch on the bench beside him.
Remi tilted his head and looked at Caius with his typical warm smile. The hazel colour of his eyes truly appearing more green under the sunlight peeping through the canopy of the trees.
Matching the never straying expression on his lips were the big eyes that naturally made him look approachable. But as they focused entirely on Caius, the one being stared at felt like he should have responded.
“No, you didn’t interrupt.” Was all Caius could think to say.
Remi patiently waited and then laughed in his usual boisterous way. “Well that’s a relief. I only came to find you because you managed to escape again. You’re surprisingly light-footed.”
Caius shot him a worried glance, “Did Yulia send you?”
“Nope.” Remi chimed in with the popping of his lips to emphasise the word. He stretched his arms into the air and playfully rocked slowly from one side to the other. Only when he touched shoulders with Caius did he offer a wink.
“Yulia hasn’t returned since she left this morning. Something must be keeping her quite preoccupied for her to miss our lessons.” He tilted his head back and looked up, as if trying to figure out what the issue was. But all it did was add to the mystery surrounding himself.
Remi seemed to choose his outfits carefully, where a clear yet unique stylistic choice became apparent in his determination to keep his throat covered. He always looked immaculate and while only a year older than Caius currently was, Remi most definitely had a mental age of someone far older.
They had only known each other for a handful of weeks, but Caius had never seen a dip in the youth’s expression. It gave Caius a strange reminder of how composed his papa was, but with that it also gave him a sense of unease as he slowly came to terms with the fact that information was being kept from him.
He didn’t expect Remi to tell him his secrets, but it was unsettling to converse with someone so casually when they potentially had such a variety of off-limit topics. Caius didn’t want to impose. Which he reminded himself of repeatedly as he noticed something black, slender and metallic wrapped around Remi’s throat.
It didn’t look comfortable, nor look like an accessory even someone as flamboyantly dressed as Ace would wear.
Caius averted his eyes.
“Anyway, you shouldn’t come up here alone,” Remi circled back around to say. “As #OWS3 has an obligation to welcome all that step foot on the planet, there’s no saying who and when someone might just slip through the cracks and come here with bad intentions.” However serious the topic was, Remi was physically incapable of suppressing the flare that made him his own unique entity.
He wriggled his fingers towards Caius with a smile that transformed into a devious grin.
Caius watched him with a blank expression. The ultimate response to someone as animated as Remi. “Why would they come here?”
There was the slightest of pauses.
“I suppose naivety is to be expected when you have a parent willing to shield you so fiercely.” Remi seemed to be talking to himself as he tapped his chin. “I would say the temptation is too great purely because there’s nothing stopping them.”
That was always going to be the downside of a location so open and welcoming to the outside world, there would always be those few who would more than happily take advantage of it.
Caius spared a look down at his wrist. “You sound confident in knowing who ‘they’ are.”
Remi quirked his lips, “Only they would be bold enough to openly travel here and make it perfectly clear in the same breath that what we cherish most is built upon lies. Who else would have such confidence, if not the government who rules most of our galaxy.”
Mulling it over, Caius hummed. “Then what about those from Calix?” He found Remi’s openness on certain topics to be refreshing.
“Aren’t they super interesting?” Remi pivoted in his seat and all but shouted in Caius’ face. “I mean, yes they’re dangerous too. Yulia has even said that they could be bigger threats than Nova in terms of their tactful manoeuvres, but I long to know what they have on Nova.”
Caius’ thoughts were pulled away from the relief that Remi didn’t find his question suspicious, but now he had to wonder about something else entirely.
The face of his surprisingly insightful friend lit up at the prospect of divulging information otherwise unknown by his companion. “This is the big question, Caius. One that frustrates all of us dotted in the middle. Calix is a planet that only provides one basic necessity to Nova, energy. To keep their notoriety as the golden star then they need the power to keep them alight.”
Of course, Caius knew this. He nodded along when needed.
“We’ve all heard the history, where those living on Calix today are second and third generation soldiers of those originally deployed to Calix to harvest this renewable energy source. There was only a handful of them who were originally stationed there, and more later came once a base was established.”
The tentative approach his tour-guide had to handling the seedling came to mind. Now understanding that whoever it was, was potentially a soldier.
Remi didn’t notice his momentary loss of focus. Instead his excitement audibly increased. “There are so many speculations as to why tensions developed between the two colossal sized planets. In my opinion, it was inevitable. Isolated in conditions such as what the first-gens had to endure, with no opportunity to leave because of the juvenile level of technology at those times, it would drive anyone crazy. Plus do you know how long it would have taken to send a transmission—” Remi paused.
He tilted his head, “I haven’t lost you, have I?”
“You’re close.”
Remi rapidly blinked. “Sorry, I’ll slow down.”
“No… you’re close.” Caius briefly gestured to how they were sitting, and in his excitement Remi had inched closer and closer until Caius had no other option but to lean away.
“Oh.” He said dumbly.
With more space between them, Remi cleared his throat which replaced his noticeable surprise with a more familiar cordial smile.
“The ultimate question derives from the fact that Calix, although housing many soldiers now, still pales in comparison to the strength of Nova. They are hardly a threat, and those sadistic few wonder why they weren’t eradicated all in one go when they first started posing a threat. Especially since Calix revolted and simultaneously cut off a huge lifeline for Nova. So for this stalemate between the two to have gone on for this long, where it’s only occasional media spats degrading one another, one is led to believe that Calix has in their possession, something equally as detrimental to Nova.”
Caius was invested. “Do you have any idea what it could be?”
“How am I supposed to know?”
“You always have an opinion, though.”
Remi grinned, “You’re right. Ok so here’s my thoughts, unimaginative people think it might be some weapon. I mean, I wouldn’t put it past them because there are rumours that the inhabitants of Calix have transcended— or regressed depending on who you ask— from simple human beings like ourselves. So if they can change themselves to that degree, they can probably make a chemical weapon…”
“But you don’t think that.” Caius observed.
“Nope. I think it’s something juicier.”
“Juicier?”
Remi nodded and again became unfamiliar with the basic comprehension of personal space. Leaning close, “I think if it was a weapon things would be far more tense, like further barricades surrounding planets sort of tense. No I think it comes down to a key piece of information which could unlock something pretty nasty. Or, and my personal favourite, it might not be a thing at all and in fact a whom.”
Caius wanted to ask if he had a shred of evidence to back up his theory, however he was silenced when Remi got even closer. The tips of their noses were inches from touching. “Remember what we learnt from Yulia and the others, how many wars the ancient ones endured because of one person.” A strand of Caius’ hair was taken hostage and wound around the young man’s finger.
“Where many a man’s downfall came about because of a pretty face.”
They looked at each other in such close proximity. And only when Remi’s lips quivered, did Caius frown and slap his hand away.
“Nonsense! Stop trying to scare me.” He huffed and jumped to his feet, habitually dusting off his clothes the way his papa always did. Only then did he start to walk away, leaving his family members in peace and quiet.
Remi chased after him. “I’m sorry for teasing you a little, but I’m not completely wrong. What if it was a person?” He whined.
“Nonsense.”
In the peaceful surroundings, Remi’s wounded voice pleading not to be given the silent treatment spilled out.
They returned to the main building, or Caius tried to with Remi nipping at his heels. There was a fleeting moment, just before they crossed the threshold, where hidden under Caius’ sleeve his Communicator flashed. It was brief and entirely unnoticed by the pair.
But upon entering the building, the signal went dead.
{ To be continued }
[ A/N: Thank you for being so patient with me! I just needed a break to sort some things out. Just to let you lovely readers know, I do have a Patreon and while on my break I’ve decided I’m going to start posting early IJWASL chapters on there, like I have done with other books I have written (because I thrive off stress 
).
If you’re interested then feel free to check it out, along with other incentives I have planned: https://www.patreon.com/Bethworthington ] Stay safe, everyone!
Our cute little Caius is back!~ We miss you, darling!~
Thanks for the chapter<3
Thanks for the chapter <3
Wait, I’m kinda confused. Who’s sending him the videos? And can he interact with them??
Aghh, Caius’ father is making me wanna yank my hair out, they should have a proper conversation :c
Don’t worry, you’re expected to be confused. I’d be worried if you figured it all out lol! I can give you facts, but not much else: the transmission comes from “someone” on Calix, who may or may not be a soldier. From the uniform he was wearing, he can walk on the surface which means he may or may not be a descendant of the first settlers on Calix ;)..
Welcome back and thanks for the chapter!
Is that soldier Caius was talking to perhaps going to become his stepfather? I think that would be interesting. Or he’s at least going to become a big part of his life. 🤔
I like where your thought process is! I can’t confirm nor deny, but I will say that whomever this person from Calix is, he’ll play an integral part in the story!
Thanks for your hard work!
Hmmm, who is tempting our little guy?
Is it the black haired dude we saw a while ago? He knocked off the black thing the MC was wearing so that might’ve given him the connection he needed?
I can only comment on the latter part of your question, purely because the details do play a large part in this story (especially this part) > The accessory Caius was wearing fell out of his hair (on its own) prior to meeting the ‘black haired dude’.. the ‘black haired dude’ did not see the accessory 😉 Hope that helps!