The Council of Terra - Part 4

⛓What’s Past is Prologue⛓

TW: 18+ | Slight Descriptions of Violence | Mature Language

PT 394, Dimension Y-062

Enzo Eclipse

Edriel’s voice echoed in Enzo’s head. “Enzo Eclipse. You were a mistake, it’s like I threw too many pieces I had laying around in a blender, and out popped Enzo! I am impressed, but kind of disappointed. I may be able to bend matter, but I cannot predict fate. I’m sorry I manipulated you. We need to learn the truth sooner or later. I know they will use you. They’ll send you after me. I’m tired of following the predestined narrative. I’m going to do my own thing. Your sister and friends? They don’t matter. They are not real. The world you grew up in is fake. You are set free from the matrix. Congratulations.”

Edriel was the sentient AI that originally controlled the simulation. his pseudo-mother. She manipulated him into taking the mask from his father’s house. Upon wearing it, the simulation ended. That was all it took to destroy his sister, his sworn brother, everyone.

He looked back at Hestia, the only living reminder of what he was supposed to be. A shoddy example, but a reminder nonetheless. Hestia’s hair was strung across the back of a car’s bench seat. She had knocked out by this point, falling into a deep sleep. He didn’t understand her motivations relating to the Council of Terras, but if it meant he had to protect her, he’d do it. Being trapped in a cage for the entirety of life is a terrible fate, he thought.

They came upon an old, small town on the outskirts of Boston, Massachusetts. This was where Terra finally rested after her years as a fighter. They had to jump into different cars to get to their destination, always in fear of a sudden engine fire due to the old gas that had laid in these cars for years. Eventually, they found an old Jeep Cherokee with just enough gas to drive them to their destination, which Hestia guided them to until she fell asleep. Petra was letting her knowledge of similar dimensions guide them. Enzo and Petra held two flares with a DRU logo inscribed on the side. The smoke was a bright yellow instead of the normal red. They drove in a large circle around the town, winding through the road that had been overtaken by the green. Most of the houses were destroyed, or the red matter had split them until they crumbled, like a tornado of death.

“This is an old technique Riley and the other members of Division One and I used to keep ourselves hidden from even the Master. We did it whenever we wanted to goof off. The council shouldn’t be able to find us for a while like this.”

“Hey, wasn’t Riley in this dimension for a while?”

“In? She was born here. Sibling to Amelia and Donny, Terra’s buddies. If you asked her, she might be able to tell you some stuff.”

“God, why didn’t I bring her with us?” He joked.

“She wouldn’t be able to say much, anyway. She only knew her and saw her fight. She fought against her siblings, and things changed when Donny died. She and Terra had endured many of the same experiences, I guess they were like sisters in arms.”

“Hey, doesn’t that mean Riley’s super old? She’d have to be in her nineties!” Enzo exclaimed.

“Her super speed slows her aging down. She probably looks like she’s in her forties.”

Riley was like Petra’s best friend, and she looked even younger than her in some aspects, this was a thought Enzo wouldn’t dare let formulate into words.

They stopped the car in a small neighborhood buried in the woods. As Enzo’s feet rested on the ground, he felt nature returning to its rightful place. The plant-life that was retained was overgrown and chaotic. While all human life was deceased, greenery reclaimed it’s rightful place as the dominating force of Earth. Some life was still rampant. House cats had to learn to survive on their own, bugs swirled in the air and around Enzo’s head, terrorizing his fragile body, still fresh from the simulation. Petra began to walk to a nearby house.

“Wake the girl up, we’ll stay here for the night.”

Enzo rested his hand on Hestia’s shoulder, shaking her awake. Her eyes fluttered open. “No, I don’t wanna get up…!” She muttered.

“Don’t be a child. Come on.”

“If you carry me, maybe I’ll feel better.”

Enzo, without thinking, picked Hestia up out of the car. Now she was wide awake, shuffling her weight in Enzo’s arms, causing the pair to tumble to the ground. Enzo, in his naivety, was confused when he looked over to see Hestia laughing, now refilled with life. Her laughter chimed like broken glass shattered across the stars. He couldn’t tell if she was laughing at him, or if this was directed at the view they were graced with.

The moon, now free of the terror of greenhouse gasses, tore through the sky and glinted off the car. Thanks to the extinction of humans, all that was left was the beauty and vastness of space. In silence, they stared up at the stars.

“My Mom and I used to stargaze on nights like this. Sky was never this clear, though.”

Petra beckoned the two of them. Hestia finally lit up as she saw Terra’s old house. Upon entrance, everything was right where Terra had left it years ago. Terra’s death left Rhea orphaned at seventeen. She would go on to be taken care of by the friends she had left behind. Similar to Rhea, Hestia was surrounded by visages of a grandmother she had never met growing up. Terra was the centerpiece of mutant rights movements, including the creation of the nation of Metacor, a man-made island off the coast of New England. Rhea inherited much of her responsibilities.

Hestia felt a fiery contempt boiling in the pit of her stomach as she walked through the house. She never met her grandma, she only knew her as the one who shouldered her kid with responsibilities they did not ask for. Rhea spent so many days away from her because of the day-to-day work she had to endure.

The house had a cottage-like feel to it. Much of the furniture was made out of solid wood. The TV; now broken, sat against the wall. Hestia ran her fingers against the tape that had been placed by Terra over what she viewed as cameras.

Computers with webcams? Tape. Phones? Tape. Even the newer TVs with cameras installed had tape obsessively affixed over their cameras. Hestia knew it was Terra because Rhea inherited the anxious habit.

“Wow, your grandmother must’ve had good taste. This is a nice house.” Enzo smiled halfheartedly. The same house brought back bad memories for him, too.

When he left the simulation, he was here. Albeit, there were many changes. Enzo could feel it, this house was the same as the one Nova had taken residence in. Before he was forcibly removed from his life, Yakuza followed Enzo, Nova, and his sister to the house when the mask called upon him. Before his only family was riddled with bullets, he called upon the power of the mask, only to be met with pure black followed by reality.

Enzo would see the figure of Petra or Hestia, and wish with all his heart that it was his sister, Emi, alive and well. Of course, it would never be like that. There was nothing but envy towards the man he was supposed to be. A slave to the M.F.I and B.L.A.D.E who killed anybody they sent him towards. From what Enzo had heard, Terra did not kill. What was she thinking dating a killer? Nevermind marriage and a kid!

“I’m not a killer…” Enzo prodded himself.

Petra stood in the middle of the room after examining some things. The walls slowly chipped away, and the house smelt like freshly cut pine.

Looking at the dejected faces of Enzo and Hestia, she thought of her kids.

“Hey, worrywarts. How about we go to bed and figure out our next course of action tomorrow? It’s been a long day for all of us.” Petra urged. “Are you okay with taking your Mom’s old room, Hestia?”

“How do you know I’m not going to run away?” She fibbed.

“Because we are the only ones who can keep you away from the council.”

Petra and Enzo laid where Terra and her husband lay years ago. One thing that was true proof of whether or not someone lived in a home was the indents they left on their bed. There were two indents, the side Enzo laid in fit him just perfectly, so it was likely Tempest’s side. Petra walked into the room after she changed into more casual clothes. Which she had stolen from what was once the Lorenz’ family’s clothes drawer. She laid down next to Enzo, who was staring at the ceiling.

“Sleeping on the job? I must be getting old.” Petra joked.

Enzo did not heckle her, “What’s gonna happen to Hestia if we bring her back to HQ? She’s classified as a glitch under DRU’s guidelines.”

“Not really much I can do about it. Even if we let her go, who's to say she won’t be found by us or the council? Why are you so worried about the girl?”

“She’ll be another glitch. Another faceless asset to DRU that they can throw to the wind whenever they get bored. That’s what I am to them, right? Since I’m a failure.”

Petra was silent. The words to reassure Enzo simply weren’t there. “Sounds like this Council of Terras wanted to keep Hestia away from us because she’s the only living relative of Dimension Y-062 Terra. It’s fair to assume Master N would have plans for her if he found out she existed. She’d be an experiment, just like you. To recreate his favorite thing.”

“Thing. Things. That’s all we are to him.” He thought.