Mekaias and Norian - 4. Reignited

Mekaias

I yelp and swat Norian away.

“Stop biting my butt!” I frown.

He giggles and pulls me into lap. “But it’s so biteable!”

I huff and cross my arms.

“I’ll be fine Mekaias,” Norian smiles and leans down to kiss my cheek. All of a sudden he isn’t trying to distract me…

“But what if you don’t?” I frown. “I seriously think you should stay.”

Norian chuckles and pulls me into a hug. It only calms down a little bit. Not a lot, but just a little bit. Definitely not enough to feel like he’ll be safe.

He hums as he thinks of something in his head. “Well if you are right, shouldn’t I be over there to protect everyone else in the pet store?”

I grumble something under my breath but that only makes Norian laugh.

“What was that?” He chuckles and scratches beneath my ear. “Hey, I will be fine. I promise.”

Narrowing my eyes, I shake my head. “That is not something you can promise. I already told you this. Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

He sighs but smiles nonetheless. “Alright. I don’t promise, but I will be back before you know it!”

I groan and flop backwards on the couch, giving up on this little argument. Clearly I won’t be changing his mind. I really should be trusting him, but I just feel like something is about to happen.

I can’t lose him again.

Norian chuckles before sitting next to me. “Can I get a goodbye kiss at least?”

Raising an eyebrow, I look up at him.

“I could do more than that,” I say.

His face starts to pink but he laughs. I do like that I can still make him turn pink.

“Sadly, I don’t have the time for that,” He says. “Maybe when I get back?”

I shrug and smile. “I don’t know...you are working rather late today.”

“Hey! I already said that it is a small get together after work,” He frowns. “If you want, I can just skip it and come home immediately.”

Smirking at that, I shake my head. “I am not going to keep you from hanging out with your friends. Just don’t bring any animals home with you.”

Norian grins before placing a sloppy kiss on my cheek.

“You know I love you right?” He asks after resting his forehead against me.

I lean up and kiss his cheek. “Of course, I do. You know I love you too.”

He hums with a smile on his face. He idly scratches at one of my ears and I can’t help with purring at his touch.

Again, I hate that I still do that so easily.

“I better get going,” He says while pulling me closer to his chest. “Are you sure we can’t just get a bunny or dog? I don’t like how you are alone when I am gone.”

Chuckling, I sigh and lean against him, feeling rather sleep even though it is almost lunchtime.

“Absolutely not,” I say, a bit bitterly.

He laughs before moving to stand. I frown at the absence of his warmth.

He leans down and pecks me on the lips before he grabs his coat, says goodbye, and then says one more then before leaving.

“What is our rule?” He asks with a smirk.

I sigh and roll my eyes.

“Never let anyone in unless it is you, Remy, or Remelia,” I say in a monotone voice.

He chuckles before waving goodbye.

Then he’s gone.

Now it is just quiet in here. Frustratingly quiet.

Norian is a loud person. Not necessarily with his voice, though he is a bit loud in that department as well, but I can hear him walking all over the house. He’s a big man so I can’t blame him. It comforts me when I hear it anyways.

My day runs by like every other day.

I wear my pajamas all day, which is only a white tank top and black yoga shorts. I will dance in the gym for about one to two hours, then I would watch tv, get bored of that, go out back to look at our garden.

The garden is very much dead. I just stare in defeat at it.

Why did Norian say I should try this? I do not know Earth flora at all!

About ten minutes of that, I go back to dancing, then I shower away all the pheromones since they stick to my body and clothes.

Some days I get too lazy to shower and then Norian will walk in and practically pounce on me. Not that I mind…

After I shower, I change into...you guessed it, more tank tops and yoga shorts!

I seriously need to get out of this house.

When I put on clean clothes and I towel off my hair, I move to the living room to watch the nightly news.

Usually at this point, Norian and I would be watching a movie, eating dinner, or up in bed. Not sleeping.

I was originally going to put on a movie to watch. There was this old movie about a princess with really long yellow hair.

The green lizard thing in the previews for it were what drove me to buy it.

I thought otherwise, however. If I want to watch a movie like that, I want Norian here with me. I like watching movies with him because he will scratch my ears…

The news station comes up with an alert to a city wide panic. Something about a gang has invaded a part of the city.

My heart drops when I see a circle highlighting most of the northern part of the city.

Norian’s pet shop is up there. Based of what that is saying, he is near the middle of that mess.

The program cuts to footage from various phones who decided to capture everything that is going on.

People wearing red and black are armed and are shooting at random things for sport.

It makes my gut clench up to see them walking through the streets as if they owned them.

A shiver runs down my spine. Not sure why, but those guns are making me think of...things. Old memories.

Biting my lip, I quickly stand and look for my phone. I need to call Norian. Need to make sure he is safe and ok.

I told him that something felt off today! I just knew it. Why did I have to be right? Maybe if I didn’t say anything, today would have been perfectly fine.

When I find my phone, I look for his picture in my contacts and then press the green button. Soon it is calling him.

I rock on my toes as I wait for him to answer. Each time it buzzes, I get more and more nervous.

Come on, Norian. Pick up your phone!

He does not answer the first time. Nor the second, nor the third.

I press the green button once more and I take a deep breath.

Maybe he is away from his phone. No. He makes sure it is always on him for emergencies. He is paranoid that something will happen to me.

The phone buzzes Once. Twice. Five times.

As soon as it stops, I drop the phone and barrel out the front door. I don’t bother changing into better clothes or anything.

I run down the road and straight for Sector 4.

~~~

I reach the southern edge in about ten minutes. When I get there, I find a helicopter surrounded by a bunch of people.

To my surprise, one of them happens to be Alicia. One of the only friends I made on Ember.

She spots me immediately and her eyes go wide.

“Mekaias?” She says in surprise before running over to give me a hug.

I hug her back but not as enthusiastically.

“Oh my god, it's been forever!” She grins. “How have you been?”

I look past her at the people she is working with. They are staring at me in shock and maybe fear?

“Mekaias,” she scolds. “You are not exactly presentable at the moment. Don’t you know what’s going on here?”

I nod before looking back at Alicia.

“I’m looking for Norian,” I say. “He is somewhere in the middle of that war zone. I need to get to him and bring him home.”

She frowns and squeezes my shoulder. “I am sure he will be fine. He’s a big boy. Are you sure you want to go out there, though? It might...trigger things.”

Oh god. How does she know about that? Does everyone know? Why does it feel like everyone knows.

“I’m fine,” I glare. “I’m going after him.”

I walk past her and her squad, ready to keep moving.

Should I teleport? It has become a bit of a rule by me and Norian to never teleport more than ten feet. It leaves me winded and it makes me nosebleed.

It is annoying and I hate it.

“Wait!” Alicia calls behind me. I look over and see she is in the helicopter and has her hand held out to me.

“At least allow us to bring you in closer,” She says with a smile.

I nod and quickly climb in to sit next to her.

She hooks an arm into mine and idly runs her fingers along my hand. It is a good distraction from the stares of her squad mates.

One thing about staying home everyday, I never have to see them. They are everywhere. I could be out for a small trip to a interview with Norian, and the camera man will stare me down. It makes even worse to know that people across the universe are staring at the same time.

Staying happens to keep me from getting used to the stares.

Now I realize that I do look a little insane right now. I am running into battle in my pajamas. I could care less if I got a little bumped up. I just want to get to Norian.

Alicia is texting typing something out on her tablet. When I read it, I see it is about my presence here.

She is letting her superiors know that I am trying to find Norian.

“He works at a pet shop called Nibbles and Snuggles,” I say, having to yell it for Alicia to hear.

She raises an eyebrow at me and then bursts out laughing.

I frown at her reaction and then tap her tablet so she knows to tell her people. She does do it, but she still has a grin on her face.

“I see you both are trying to live that normal life,” She smiles. “That’s pretty cute.”

Right...the normal life.

I sigh at that and look out the window to my left.

The city is sparkling with life. The buildings are gigantic and tall like pretty glass cups. They have colorful pictures that move and dance, advertising the latest things that humans like.

Living here must be nice. Not at all lonely or boring.

Obviously not boring. They have a gang running loose in their city.

When I look through the other window, I see a part of the city that is dark and almost completely without light. It is depressing to look at.

Strange. Why is it like that there?

Shrugging to myself, I look back out my window.

We are flying over an empty park. Well, empty of regular people.

U.U.P.P. soldiers are running back and forth, yelling orders, sending people out and down a road. Armored vehicles travel with them.

It really does look like a war zone. The city looked more peaceful in the sky.

We land on concrete and I hope out of the helicopter. Alicia follows me.

“Alright, this is the closest we can get you without taking fire,” She says. “Everyone knows you are here now. They know not to shoot you. You are pretty much free to do as you wish, so long as you don’t interfere with U.U.P.P.’s plans.”

I nod along, not really caring.

Soldiers walk by us. They stare at me as they walk. I stare back. So weird how everyone always, always stares.

“Thank you, Alicia,” I say, turning back to her.

She smiles and nods. “You be careful out there!”

With a pat on my shoulder, Alicia climbs back into the helicopter, moving the pilot out of her seat and then she flies off.

Alright then, time to find Norian.

~~~

After asking for directions, I am told that Norian is on the same road that all the action is taking place. Hearing that really did not help.

I was offered a bulletproof vest, but it felt like it was choking the life out of me so I declined it. I was also offered a gun but I do not need them. I can make do without them.

The one of charge could tell I really needed to go, so she let me follow along with some soldiers. They were the reinforcements.

The soldiers of course stared. It was shorter than most people usually did so I am thankful for that.

“I-It is an honor to fight alongside you,” A man says. He looked rather young for a human. Why is he out here?

Not entirely sure what to say to that comment, I just smile and nod. Now I am not particularly comfortable.

Finally we started running down the road. I could tell that all of them were on edge. My guess was that they may all be new.

We reach an open area that seems a bit too quiet.

My ears flick back and forth, following every sound.

Rocks clatter together to our left and I quickly summon a shield around us.

Three robots step out from behind their cover. Their arms were long and shaped into blades. They look like red and black skeletons. It was incredibly creepy.

Not wanting the squad to waste any of their ammo, I send a line of violet energy that slices through the robots at once.

For a moment they just stand there, then they collapse backwards, their stomachs cut in half.

“Holy shit!” The man from before gasps.

Smirking at him, I jut my chin forward to where we are supposed to go.

We all keep moving, a few robots sprout out every now and then, but I just cut them in half easily.

Usually I like to summon weapons during battle, but I need my Norian. Right now.

We finally catch up to a group that was ahead of us. Soldiers break into buildings in order to bring back any civilians, others scout around for anyone dressed in red and black.

Everyone seems alright. That is usually when things go wrong however.

Me and my group continue on, ready to catch up to the main fight. Well, at least I think they are ready. They are still rather nervous.

We had just left the main search party when we hear shouting coming up ahead.

Frowning, I see a group of people wearing black and red.

I guess now is the time to let my squad do their thing. I can’t just do it all for them.

Stepping into cover behind the young one, I keep an eye on the others to make sure they aren’t in any immediate danger.

They are all in cover and every now and then, peek to shoot at the gang.

I peek as well, and see that there are a few who are already dead.

Well these people are pretty good shots! That’s good to know.

Narrowing my eyes, I see one of the bad guys holding a giant barrel of a gun. He hoists it on his shoulder and aims right for us.

That seems more dangerous than regular guns.

The man fires his weapon and a bomb jets right for us.

My team cries out in fear and I quickly step out of cover to get more ground. My hands glow violet and a shield materializes in front of us.

Orange fire and smoke is all I see on the other side of the shield.

Surprisingly, this is not hurting. The last time I have used a shield against damage was in Ember.

Maybe I really am getting better!

The smoke clears and then I remove the shield.

There are shouts of confusion and when the enemy sees me, they start running back up the road.

Well...that’s new.

After checking that everyone is alright, we continue on.

In about ten minutes, we finally reach the main fight.

A giant metal building is sitting in the middle of the road. There is a machine gun shooting down at the soldiers hiding. Almost as soon as I see it, someone takes out the shooter.

In front of the building, there are about twenty gangsters shooting at the soldiers. Though, their numbers are falling quickly.

Frowning, when I squint my eyes, I see a man standing on the very top of the building. He has his back to us and a gun aiming down.

Strange. What is happening in there? Do I teleport for him? Surely he is the man we are after, yes?

When I look around me, I see my squad has moved on without me. That is fine. Did not come here for this anyway.

Looking to my sides, I see men with sniper rifles running into buildings.

Well, that man will be dying soon.

Scanning all the sign for the buildings around me, I bite my lip when I can’t find Nibbles and Snuggles.

Is it further down the street?

Moving forward, I ready myself to fight any of these people on ground level.

Not really wanting to kill any of them, I summon my longstaff.

I haven’t held this in awhile.

Smiling at the glowing purple weapon, I get myself into a run and go straight for the middle of the enemies.

They shout in fear and open fire. A small shield is placed in front of me and it revolves around me in a circular motion, stopping any bullets from touching me.

Swinging my staff, I strike a woman in the head and she gets knocked out immediately.

Other bodies fall down around me, there isn’t any blood. They fidget around on the floor so they appear to be getting stunned.

So the man up top won’t be dying. That’s good to know I guess.

Whenever I get close to most of the gang members, they either drop their weapon and surrender immediately, or they end up with my staff, foot, or fist to their head.

Two try and attack me at once, and I strike one end of my staff into the ground, pulling myself into the air. I balance on my hands for a moment before flipping myself forward, landing on one of the guy’s shoulders. I pull backwards, and release my grip on him, flipping enough to bring me to my feet again.

The other man aim his gun at me, but I kick it away, spin around, and swing my other foot into his face.

He gets knocked down immediately.

The other goes to stand again but he realizes his defeat and stays down.

Moving to stand on a car, I see that all of them have surrendered. Other soldiers run up and gather them around.

Looking up at the building, I see someone in a black suit flipping over the man up top. They manage to hook some kind of rope around the man’s neck and they almost pull him over the edge.

Instead, the one in the suit, is using the rope to strangle the other man to death.

Narrowing my eyes, it is then I realize I have seen this face before. I definitely have never seen them wear this outfit though. I am somewhat jealous of it actually.

It’s the thief who stole from us. From what U.U.P.P. told us. His name is Zafiro. This thief is apparently famous about the U.U.P.P. Officers in this sector.

The fact that he stole from me is rather annoying.

At first I was angry about it and myself, but then I realized he maybe steals to get by in life. Sure, there is the possibility he does it for sport, but I like to imagine it is the first case.

I watch as the thief struggles to make sure this man dies. His face is angry and determined to make sure this happens.

Something must have happened to him. Something that pushed him enough to kill the man. In that moment, I do not see the thief, I see myself.

It actually brings a tear to my eye. It is almost like I am watching myself kill King Talemo. Right now, it is both heartbreaking and satisfying.

I could care less that he stole from us. At the moment, I am proud of him. I truly hope he gets that satisfaction like I did.

Soon, the man stops struggling. He’s done it. He’s won.

I almost smile as I watch him. Almost.

A look of confusion comes on my face when I see red dots hovering over his chest. What is that?

I look around for their sources and then I see it. The two snipers. They are aiming right for him. Zafiro has noticed and he closes his eyes.

Without even thinking twice, I summon a shield around him at the same time that they open fire.

There is a moment of confusion, even the thief looks confused.

He looks down and then he sees me. His eyes widen in shock, yet no fear. That is not very common to see.

Taking his chance, he fires a grapple hook from his gloves and he swings out and away to safety.

Well. That was interesting.

Looking around me, I see stares in every direction. Even from the enemies.

I have a feeling this might get me in trouble.

Running off, I look around the street, trying to find the pet shop.

There are a few more of those red and black gang people running around. Some fight, most run away.

Sector 4 has so many buildings with colorful lights, they are just starting to blend together. Why is this getting so hard?

Biting my lip, I walk along the sidewalk, keeping an ear out for danger, or possibly Norian.

After what feels like ages, I finally find it.

It has green and yellow lights. In the picture, of all animals...there is a cat.

The entrance is blocked off with great metal doors. My guess is they activated when all of this started.

Hesitantly, I knock on the doors.

“Norian?” I call, not too loudly, in fear of possibly getting the attention of something I don’t want.

No answer.

I knock again. “Norian, are you in there?” I call louder, panic setting in.

For a moment, no answer, then I hear the muffled voice on the other side.

“Hello? I can’t quite hear you. Who is this?” I hear Norian say.

Without thinking, I step back and holds my hands out to the door. Violet light surrounds the outline of the doors. I put even more magic inside clench my hands into fists. The doors crumble up like crushing a soda can. I then pull my fists backwards and the doors fly out behind me.

Norian is standing with a bunch of women hiding in the different aisles of the store.

He looks as if he is battle ready, but when he sees it is me, he looks at me in confusion.

“Mekaia-,” he does not even get to finish saying my name as I pounce on top of him.

He grunts from the impact but then he ends up laughing and hugging me tight.

“What are you doing here?” he asks. “You should be at home where it is safe.”

I feel tears spilling down my cheeks but I pull back to glare at him. I don’t care how ridiculous I look.

“Why didn’t you answer my calls?” I sob. “I thought...I thought-”

He pulls me to his chest and rubs my back in circles.

“Oh, baby,” he whispers. “I’m so sorry! I forgot my phone in the car! I swear it. I couldn’t get out until U.U.P.P. removed the security watch. Nothing would have budged those doors. Besides you of course.”

I bury my face into his shirt and cry tears of joy. He is perfectly fine! Alicia was right. He was safe.

“Did you really run all the way here dressed like this?” He chuckles and pulls at the bottom of my tank top.

I simply nod and keep my chest in his chest.

“Oh, Starshine,” he sighs and kisses my head. “You really are something.”

Just wait till he learns about who I saw on my way here.