Radon Nova

[Atom Smasher]

Hello from the other side
At least I can say that I tried
To tell you
I'm sorry for everything that I've done


An Acolyte pulled the massive gloves onto Aurelius' hands inside a Sith base on the world of Alazir. The remnants of a cigarette hung from his lips which he regretfully discarded to fasten a gas mask over his head. Alchemists of the Empire surrounded him in the small base just outside of a surrounding town. The industry needed territory for infrastructure and they wiped out the remaining settlements on backwater worlds to make way for the progress of the Imperial war machine. The Sith Lords targeted Alazir and ordered Aurelius to conduct a chemical assault. Disobeying such an order could cost him his life. The alchemist swallowed a heavy sigh beneath the mask and received a Sith Executor.

"You have ten minutes to report to your casting point. The assault will commence as planned." The Sith stood in the doorway and stared Aurelius down. Watching the other alchemists leave to take their posts, he did not bother to fasten a belt around his waist as the uniform demanded. They wore a single burgundy robe imbued with protective layers over an encasing protective suit in huge shining boots. Passing by the Imperial guards, Aurelius followed the executor outside of the base and ran through the equations in his head to distract the ever present guilt threatening to topple his conscience. The assault could only be conducted with the shared power of multiple alchemists. Thirty of them left the base to take up their casting points around the town.

They arrived at a waiting speeder which drove them up a steep hill. A platform overlooked the rooftops of the town and served as Aurelius' casting point. As the guard opened the door, the executor eyed him a second time as though he sensed the regret. The Sith combed his presence for any disloyalty and left him to report with a cold gaze. Moving one foot away from the man, Aurelius turned away and climbed up the short ladder leading to the platform. The hill was too steep to build stairs and a gust of wind blew through his robe as he reached the peak. He planted one foot on the platform and met the clear air. The rooftops of the little town sprawled over the quiet piece of land.

Aurelius walked to the center and spread his huge gloves against the gentle wind. The partner alchemists gave their signal in his ear piece and they encircled the town with their combined energy. The sky turned green. Oxygen throughout the premises sizzled in the heat and looked like water coming to the boil. Awaiting his signal, an alchemist cursed in Aurelius' ear piece as he hesitated to repeat the numbers. Sweat gathered thick beneath his mask as disgust piled high in his chest. Disgust for himself and for the assault he commanded. Obscenities slurred into their syllables in his ear and all he could do was breathe. Finding the will to speak, he skipped the countdown.

"Zero." Aurelius uttered and he felt the combined power of the alchemists reached his grasp. Unleashing the energy from his position, they transmuted the oxygen within the field and cooked the town in radiation. Heat exploded from the center of the energy field and green flames blanketed the houses, pouring into the roads and barely missing the casting point where Aurelius stood. Adrenaline filled his veins and piled every racing emotion until all he called feel was a blur. The imagery in his mind turned to static and the flames settled to bequeath the strong stench of burning flesh. He heard the screams from where he stood.

"Move into the town, terminate any survivors." The Sith executor called to him from below the hill without any semblance of hesitation. Receiving his instructions, Aurelius climbed down the ladder and moved forward into the chemical waste zone. Heat travelled through the thick protective layer of his garments as the dead grass crushed beneath his boots. Vision shifted and flashed in a mirage of static before his eyes as he struggled to breathe through the nauseating stress of what he had done. The town was small and he could see the other side. He doubted with remorse that any of the civilians could be left. All he could do was recover any survivors before the other alchemists eradicated the few remaining lives.

[member="Leira Rhys"]

 

[Leira Rhys]

It was a normal day.

With a game bag slung over her shoulder, Leira traveled home. Through the backends of the forest on the very edge of the town she'd always lived in. It wasn't a large town, and it had very few of the common commodities that the rest of the galaxy took for granted. But, it was home, nonetheless. It was the only place twelve year old Leira had ever known.

The day was clear and cold. Gusts of wind rolled over her bare flesh, goosebumps appearing all over her skin. As she inhaled, the chilled air stung her nose, her exhalations visible as white clouds in the air. The trees swayed back and forth, ebbing and flowing. It reminded Leira of the ocean. Or, how the ocean was described in books she'd read. Leira had never actually seen it; The descriptions did it justice, though, her imagination able to paint the picture. It was vast and restless, always stirring, it's waves waxing and waning. Just like the trees over her head, swaying peacefully.

Alazir's forests were beautiful. It was one of the only places the young girl felt truly still.

She arrived at her home, pushing open the door with a drawn out creak. Turning the faucet on, she washed the crimson from her hunt away from her hands, and then splashing her face with it a few times to wash away the dirt and sweat that was caked on the edges of her face.

Her hygiene ritual was cut short though, after a faint green glow from her window caught her eye. Slowly, she turned the water off and stared. Just a few moments ago, it was a clear blue.

And then it happened.

Her windows blew in, shrapnel scratching her face, a heavy force pushing her back. She had no time to register what had happened, the distant screams of the people in the town, or the green chemical flame that glowed in the horizon, before her head sharply hit the wall behind her, her world fading into inky unconsciousness.

------

Fading in and out from cognizance, Leira's skin screamed with pain. Chemical burns ate at her skin, the sheer pain causing tears to well up in her eyes, though she clenched her teeth and fought them back. She was grateful for the few seconds she could slip out of awareness and be free of the pain eating her alive. Yet, at the same time, she spared a few cluttered thoughts for those she knew. Leira had no friends, but she had people who she watched and developed a secret fondness for. The old woman at the trading hub who would always give her more credits for what she offered than what was truly deserved, the cat who occasionally followed her home, the small family who sold vegetables on the streets. They were probably all dead, wiped out by the chemical fire that consumed everything over the horizon.

Yet, Leira thought they earned a kinder fate than her. For all she knew, she would lie there waiting to die from infection, have the flame reach her house and cook her alive, or radiation poisoning. The thought would terrify her, had she not been barely conscious when she realized it.

She deserved this, though. From what she said to her mother before she died? Dying a horrible death was well deserved, maybe even.. Merciful. Leira's life was hard, and she was lonely. The things that were done to her haunted her, gave her nightmares that made her throw up. She only continued living because she was too stubborn to die, as a f*ck you to her father.

With that thought, her eyes fluttered shut and she sunk back into unconsciousness.

[member="Aurelius Morday"]

 

[Atom Smasher]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV9kg-M1RJw​

​

The dead land sprawled before the vision through Aurelius' gas mask. Slow strides moved through the debris, paired with the guttural sound of his breath through the respirator. A feint layer of green hovered above the smoking ground and the heat could be felt through his garments. The imposing and eerie figure loomed over the town, combing his senses for any sign of life while he stepped cautiously around bodies splayed across the road from where they stood. People and animals fell over in their stride, black burns and boils marring their skin and faces and the alchemist felt a rising nausea build within his throat. Many of them gargled and slowly twitched, the chemicals slowly cooking their insides, but they were beyond saving. Remnants of his actions lay unshielded before him and the men he called colleagues stalked the alleyways like vultures, peering through houses for any remaining survivors to bake.

One house remained more or less intact and the empathy in Aurelius' force sense heightened. An active sign of life called him to the house and quickened his pace. Gently peeling away the blown off door, he stepped over green flames smoldering away on the furniture until he found the crumpled body of a young girl. She breathed vigorously with all the strength left inside her, still very much alive and grasping for life. The alchemist knelt down slowly and hovered his shining black gloves over her small body. The breath through his respirator echoed through the ruined house and traveled across the waste zone.

"Hello darlin..." Aurelius uttered gently. He extended a hand forward to brush her hair over her face, which was safely unmarred, her arms and legs however, suffered heavily. Her eyelids began to flutter and she looked like she was waking up. Suddenly, a second presence approached from behind. Aurelius stood upright to see the lean frame of another alchemist standing in the door way. He moved his feet side ways into a protective stance.

"Move. I'm gonna bake this queen." The alchemist splayed his palms and prepared to ignite the room. Rage boiled beneath Aurelius' mask and he maintained his demeanor.

"She doesn't need to die." Aurelius stated with a fruitless regret. He knew his words would have no effect. A pause held between the two Sith before the other alchemist took a heavy step forward and shoved Aurelius backwards.

"F#ck your empathy, Morday!" The man cursed. Regaining his step, Aurelius did not think twice before lunging his hand forward and planting it over the gas mask of the other alchemist. The material sizzled and melted beneath his grasp as he transmuted the surface into a corrosive liquid. Gargled screams erupted from within and the fluid poured onto the man's face and scorched the skin off his face. As he stumbled backwards and gripped his face, Aurelius lunged his hand forward a second time. Luminescent green flames erupted from the oxygen above his glove and he incinerated the alchemist who ran into the street before succumbing to the same fate of the doomed civilians.

Leaning to his side, Aurelius grasped the door way and took a heavy breath. The young girl began to move and she raised her head and gazed at Aurelius through the eerie sockets of his mask. Bloodshot eyes fluttered and begged him not to harm her. Moving forward slowly, he splayed his fingers as a gesture of comfort and motioned slowly downwards to approach her.

"Sh, sh, it's alright." He reached forward and stroked her hair, trying his best not to terrify her. "I'm not gonna hurt you." The girl spluttered and look like she was about to erupt in tears. He cradled a hand behind her head and gently slid another beneath her legs. Securing her back, he picked her up like a baby and carried her out of the house. Her limp head fell over his arm as he trudged through the toxic waste zone, the harsh breath through his mask echoing on the dying wind.

Aurelius carried the child outside of the casting field and away from the dangerous zone. He arrived the speeder waiting to take him back to his personal shuttle. Chemical specialists donned protective suits to guard them from the chemicals Aurelius no doubt carried. They traveled to the waiting speeder and Aurelius carried the child on board and quickly handed her to a female healer. The female alchemist wore her hair in dread locks tied neatly beneath a nurses cap, the tiny image of a syringe tattooed beneath her eye. She did not look professional, but Morday only promoted the finest scientists and medics, he trusted she knew her task.

"She will need a full chemical bath and her clothes will have to be destroyed." He ordered while the woman took the child and nodded. He would need the same decontamination process before he met the girl again to treat her aboard the ship. The healer took her away and the alchemist swallowed all the sadness in the galaxy. She would most likely never know who destroyed her home. At the very least, he could assure she was treated as best as possible and given a second chance at life.

[member="Leira Rhys"]

 

[Leira Rhys]

Just as her life seemed as if it was coming to a close, something other than sheer pain alerted Leira's deadened senses. Vibrations went through the floor, the boards creaking as they always did, alerting her to another presence. His force signature was strong, tangible, overwhelming her senses. He was determined, obstinate... Guilty. The only person who she could sense carried the emotional burden she did, daily. Despite all this, fear was the only emotion Leira was quite capable of feeling. Defenseless, if this man had ill-intent for her, there was no reason he wouldn't be able to carry it out. Every inch of her flesh stung from the chemicals slowly baking her body, fighting back was nonviable. Leira was forced in to compliance by circumstance. She could only pray, to whatever omniscient force was watching her, that he'd be kind. She had yet to meet a man who was.

As he approached her, her body hitched with terrified breaths, shaking from fear and pain. She felt him gently brush scraggly blonde strands from her face. Ash dusted over ivory skin, two sage green eyes peering at him, though only half open. Tears rolled down her cheeks as he observed her, a plea without words to not harm her, to let her die in peace. Then, all of a sudden she sensed another signature. A much bolder, aggressive one.

"Move. I'm gonna bake this queen."

"She doesn't need to die." Was the man's reply, formed without hesitation.

At that, Leira finally found the courage to look up at her savior. His face was cloaked in a gas mask, preventing her from making out a face to connect with the voice. The uncertainty only made her cry more. Everything was hazy and out of her control, forcing her to trust someone who was nameless, faceless, with her existence. Submission was a fate she feared more than death. It'd been used against her in a depraved way, after all.

Easily irritated flesh lit up with pain as he cradled her in his arms, lifting her body up off the ground. Like a ragdoll, her head laid back, still, and her arms swayed with each movement. If Auri didn't say otherwise, some may assume she was naught but a lifeless body. Moving her head slightly, her eyes scanned what used to be a town. Ash and rubble lay everywhere, bodies scattered everywhere. Flame ate building tops and green embers marked the charred ground. For the first time in her life, she was grateful her mother was dead. At least her fate wasn't being cooked alive by chemical flame. The image of the dead town was the last thing to enter her retinas, before her eyes fluttered shut once again, and exhaustion pulled her back into unconsciousness.

[member="Aurelius Morday"]

 

[Atom Smasher]

The healer carried the limp body of the young girl onto the shuttle and Aurelius watched for the moment as she strode away. Breathing slowly through his mask, he found his feet and followed her, waiting until they were out of side to walk below the entrance. Doctors and healers took her away for decontamination treatment and Aurelius made sure they were female, he could only imagine the last thing the young girl wanted was to be handled by a male alchemist. Exiting into a different hall, he peeled away his own garments, quickly to be ushered into a chemical shower. He leaned against the tiles while avoiding his hideous reflection in the glossy surface of the room. A beast stared back at him, undeserving of praise or forgiveness. He felt his personality and all viable nuance sink deep within the back of his mind.

"Why do I do things?" Aurelius slurred to himself while running a hand through his soaked hair. He left to dry and the scientists departed, allowing him to retreat to his chambers. In effort to subdue the fear of his guest, he chose civilian garments, suit pants and a short jacket. Grabbing his large doctor's case, he exited and made for his laboratory aboard the ship. The child lay after the doctors worked to save her on top of a cushioned slab. They saved her life and cleaned her of chemicals, now Aurelius would work to treat her burns. She was relying on an intravenous drip and began to gradually stir on her pillow. He appeared unassuming as he entered, taking on the guise of a kind doctor. Extending a palm against the air, he moved in slowly and gave her a calming gesture.

"It's okay, sweetheart." He mentioned while cringing at the futility of his words. Her home destroyed, her family probably dead by his hand, Aurelius knew nothing was okay. His words and his treatment were all he could offer to assuage his guilt. Moving forward to her bedside, he set the case on a bench and opened it to survey the vials of chemicals. A framed poster of the periodic table decorated the wall above her. When he found serums to strengthen flesh, cool burns and heal the skin, he selected a multitude of vials and set them down in a test tube rack. He kept the cooling serum first, and poured it onto a clean towel in his hand. As the girl began to sit up, he walked around behind her and began to undo the hospital gown.

"You gotta let me look." Feeling her jolt beneath his touch, Aurelius backed away and allowed her some space. He spoke gently and tried to reassure her with his tone that he meant no harm. Diverting his blue gaze to her arm, he applied the towel soaked in serum and moved his hand around while softly rubbing the healing properties into her wounds. "So what's your name? You can call me Auri." He finished coating her arm in the serum and moved around the back of the table to start on the other one.

[member="Leira Rhys"]

 

[Leira Rhys]

Blurry white light shrouded Leira's vision, the first image to enter her waking mind. Laid neatly on a padded exam table, her body had undergone rigorous treatments in the previous hours since she'd arrived at this unknown place. She was salvaged from the brink of death, the toxins that had been slowly killing her flushed from her body. Her had tugged her neck upwards, every upper muscle straining as she lifted it. A thin hospital gown covered her body, drawn taut by a nothing but a set of strings in the back. An IV laid under her skin, transmitting fluid in to her veins. All this was quite unfamiliar to Leira. The bright light, the strange garment, the smell of sterilizing alcohol that stung at her nostrils, were all foreign to her. She had never even seen a doctor in her life.

Her eyes drifted towards the door, thoughts of escape filling her mind. She held barely any recollection of the events that lead to her being here, except being carried out of her house through the rubble that used to be her town. Something in the force told her, though, that she would never see it again. The thought twisted her stomach. Change was a petrifying concept for her. Almost everything, spare the untimely death of her parents, was predictable in her life. The years following her parents death were monotonous. Wake up, get food, scavenge for goods, trade the goods, eat, sleep, repeat. It was a depressing, slow life for Leira. The spare time she had was spent mulling over things she could've done differently. Said differently. Other ways she may have unintentionally harmed others. How she earned the overwhelming guilt that caused her to contemplate to take her life many times.

The more she thought of her Alazirian life, the more she wished she'd been left to roast alive.

With a click, the door opened, and an unfamiliar man entered. Leira's heart beat hastened, fear widening her sage eyes. She looked like a caged animal, terrified and defenseless.

"It's okay, sweetheart."

Bullshit, Leira thought. Nothing was okay, or had ever been okay. Of course, this wasn't his fault, to her knowledge. His words did nothing to soothe the terror that widened her eyes and hitched her breath.

As he sat the vials down on the work bench, she eyed them curiously. Modern medicine was a rare sight to her, in fact, she wasn't even sure what it was. The uncertainty of what he was about to do to her made her mind go wild, jumping from explanation to explanation, desperately wanting to run out of the room, but being shackled by her burns to the examination table. The pain, though dull compared to what she'd felt earlier, was excruciating. The skin was still noticeably hot and irritated.

Feeling the threads of her gown loosen, her mind went into a state of absolute panic. She flung her arms around her chest, and closed her legs, curling up into what seemed like a ball. God, please, no, not again. Please. She thought. Leira couldn't handle experiencing what she had before. Not again.

When he asked to let her look, she remained quiet. Words failed her. She hadn't exchanged conversation with anybody since her mother died. Words carried a power she did not want to have the chance to misuse.

Tense muscles relaxed when he redirected his attention to her arm. Reluctantly, she held it out for him to treat. Relief flooded through the blistering skin as the balm soothed it. When her name was requested, she shivered. Knowing her name meant he'd know something about her, she'd be familiar to him. Her widened eyes and tense demeanor made it obvious that her silence was not wrought out of malice or rudeness. It was trauma; Fear.

[member="Aurelius Morday"]

 

[Atom Smasher]

The girl jolted and trembled beneath his touch, causing Aurelius to retract the towel from her arm and back away steadily. He sensed her terror with heightened clarity and it sent a tremor down his spine. Setting the towel down into the side table, he brushed the moisture off his hands and rested against the bench. He could not bring himself to handle the girl when it only brought her distress. Looking ahead, he gazed painfully onto the remnants of his actions written in her charcoal skin.

"Okay, I have to treat you soon otherwise the burns will leave scars." He said with a glint of warning in his eye. Walking forward, he picked up the towel and tried to gently mop around the burned area of her back. She trembled and shook beneath his touch and he could not bare it. Sighing, he pulled his hand away and took a breath. "Shh..." He splayed his hand against the air and cooed before gulping to himself. He set the cooling serum down and found his transmutation needle and the flesh strengthening elixir. Moving around to the front of the girl, he held the device and the vial in front of her to let her watch what he was doing.

"Don't worry, this doesn't hurt." Aurelius opened the vial and dipped the blunt end of the long, thick needle into the substance. On the other end, the crystal orb shifted in iridescent colour as it picked up the molecules of the medicine. Smiling at the sight of the alchemy, he held the needle before the child's face for a while to let her look. He carried the needle and the vial around the back of the exam table and gently prodded the end of the needle against the burnt skin of her arms. The blunt needle did not pierce her skin, only lightly press into the surface. The black burns slowly began to dull in their colour until they faded to a pink, leaving the glossy effect of the serum. He moved around her back and arms, before starting with towel on her legs.

"That's okay, you don't need to tell me your name if you don't want to." As she tried to coil into a ball, Aurelius felt his heart wrench. He gently pushed the towel soaked in cooling serum over the burns on her legs while taking breaks to allow her some space. "What are you interested in? I like chemistry and art, sometimes I draw pictures." He admitted to the girl. A fondness for drawing was not something he would casually mention to a fellow Sith. "If you have a lot of emotions, it helps to release them like that." Pausing his work, he let the girl have some space to breath while he finished with the cooling serum on her legs. He reached for transmutation needle and the vial of flesh strengthening elixir again and began to repeat the process.

"I can play the pipe organ, you know?" He stated proudly, giving her a smile of a few gold teeth. "Have you ever heard the sound of a pipe organ ever? It is the most majestic f#cking sound you will hear in your life." Chatting away, Aurelius paused to silently scold himself for swearing in front of the young girl. He gently prodded the transmutation needle into the burns on her leg while collecting the medicine and repeating all over, until the black of the burns began to disappear.

[member="Leira Rhys"]

 

[Leira Rhys]

Slowly, but surely, Leira relaxed. She was not handled with the force or roughness that she was with her father. The feeling of having a male handle her in a gentle, helpful way sparked a certain curiosity within her. If not to harm her, what could he possibly want? He had to have another motive other than to simply help her. Her mind did not comprehend simple kindness. It perplexed her more than anything the galaxy and all of it's planets held. But, she was grateful. The serums and chemicals he rubbed and injected into her burnt skin brought relief to the limbs that had been rendered useless due to pain previously. Once the pain subsided, somewhat, she took a moment to take in the room's atmosphere.

A bright overhead light shone upon her leather bed, likely for examination purposes. A poster was spread across the wall just overhead, displaying the periodic table. Not that Leira knew what that was. Auri's tools gleamed under the white light, making Leira want to pick them up and start examining them. Curiosity had bestowed itself upon the child, making her want to poke and prod everything, find the use for every object. While her eyes travelled to and from multiple objects in the room, she listened to her benevolent "captor" ramble on about things he loved. It made her wonder what her passion truly was. On Alazir all she could think of was if she was going to eat that day or not, if she was going to get kidnapped, and other survival type things. She liked to pretend. She could create characters in her mind, each specially crafted with it's own unique personality. Leira assigned them to certain stuffed animals she owned, and substituted it for human contact. It was the only thing that kept her sanity in check throughout the years.

She would express this to him, had she the courage to speak. It seemed as if words would travel up her throat, but run in to a wall at her tongue, turning in to a lump in her throat. She clenched her tiny fists in frustration, her knuckles whitening. Tears would have pooled up in her eyes, had she not been to shy to cry. Her frustration would be painfully obvious to Auri though, as her force signature would be practically radiating with it at that point. She sharply inhaled, exhaled, letting out her anguish in a subtle way. She unclenched her fists, knowing it would draw blood. Her mother always instructed her to not do that. She said it would hurt her.

Auri's question about the pipe organ caught her attention though. She shook her head when he inquired if she had ever heard it. Tilting her head she looked at him curiously, as if she was asking for a description of what it sounded like. Leira had never seen or heard one. The only instrument she was familiar with was the guitar. It brought back memories of warm summer nights spent on her porch, her mother strumming the tune to lullabies as she softly sang along. It was a pleasant time. She was more naive back then.

Just as she finished her thought, she turned around and saw the window. The image outside of it did not present Alazir to her. It showed her the inky depths of the infinite galaxy, painted by hues of mauve and cerulean, adorned with alabaster jewels. It was truly beautiful, her pupils growing almost too big for her sage irises. Her fascination was written all over her face, illustrated without words.

Holy f#ck... Where am I?

[member="Aurelius Morday"]

 

[Atom Smasher]

Finishing the healing process, Aurelius polished his tools with a rag and set them back down on the velvet cloth. He whistle a tune while smoothing the material over the glistening surface. The girl seemed too afraid to speak and Aurelius stopped talking to give her some time to respond when she felt ready. He walked over to a closet on one side of the room and opened the door, revealing am abundance of towels and medical apparel, selecting a white fluffy robe which he handed to his patient to allow her to cover herself. The child gazed in awe through the thick glass and he noted her amazement upon seeing the depths of space for the first time.

"I bet you've never been on a starship before, hey?" Aurelius widened his glistening blue eyes and smiled while she slipped on the dressing gown. "I'm finished now, you did well." He reached underneath her legs and supported her back with his other hand, before lifting her off the table. He carried her to a lounge directly before the window, allowing her a close view of the stars outside. Setting her down against the pillows, Aurelius moved around the other side and sat down next to her. The door to the laboratory opened and a nurse entered, carrying a bunch of new close for the girl, whose name Aurelius did not even know yet.

"We're on our way to Imperial space to stop in the Bastion system." Aurelius spoke and silently worried about her response, assuming she had never been this far away from home. "You hungry?" He suddenly asked, feeling peckish himself as he did when distressed.

[member="Leira Rhys"]

 

[Leira Rhys]

The galaxy that loomed behind the glass was massive, endless. She'd never seen it, and it proved to be the most spectacular thing that presented itself to Leira in her short life. She was used to earthy woods, to her rickety wooden house, not a sleek, metal ship that coasted effortlessly through the cosmos. It, temporarily, distracted her from the pain and fear of losing her home, of being carried off to a faraway land. The idea of starting a new life was petrifying. She'd know the same routine, the same forest, the same house, the same planet for a lifetime. She'd likely never return to Alazir.

Maybe that was okay. She wasn't happy there, anyways.

A petite woman entered the room, a white, fluffy robe in her hands. It reminded Leira of a fluffy cloud. She was grateful some sort of cover was being provided to her. The child felt awkward, being barely covered. It was put on her, the soft material proving to be good for her sensitive skin, marred by burns. She then was carried to a couch, where she was gently laid down by the window, giving her a closer look at the universe that infatuated her young, curious mind.

He spoke to her, again. Guilt prickled her insides. She felt she owed him conversation, he saved her from being baked alive. Her eyes landed on a piece of paper, with a pen lying next to it. She knew how to read and write well enough. She reached her hands out to it, signaling she wanted it. When she was handed it, she wrote,

"My name is Leira. I don't speak well."

 

[Atom Smasher]

Aurelius made himself comfortable and he watched the child reach over to a side table. His eyes followed her hand to a leather bound notebook and pen, which he reached over to take and hand to her. Slipping a hand into his jacket pocket, he felt the shape of a cigar, which he decided to save until after dinner. His lips furrowed in discomfort the more hungry he felt. He widened his weary eyes and watched his guest write in the notebook, finally giving Aurelius a name by which to recognize her.

"Well that's okay, Leira, you don't have to talk if you don't want to." He nodded with a smile, delivering a glint of his his teeth, deciding not to pressure her into discussing her emotions. He knew full well how difficult that was. "If you ever feel like talking, just let me know." Ending with a slight encouragement, he suggested she open up to him when she felt ready. "How about you get changed and I'll organize us something to eat." He placed two hands on his thighs and stood upright, walking over to the desk beside the door and taking the pile of clothes, before returning to Leira and setting them down beside her.

Aurelius left Leira to change into the clothes provided to her. He exited the laboratory and closed the door behind him, running a hand through his blonde hair and sighing deeply, feeling a heavy pain weigh on his chest. Following the nurse down the corridor, he passed the kitchen door and knocked twice, signalling his order for a meal. The laboratory door soon opened behind him and Leira entered the corridor, he beckoned her over with a smile and encouraged her to follow.

"Come on, darlin." Aurelius lead Leira into a dining room of burgundy and gold where a table and two chairs awaited them. He headed for the liquor cabinet and procured a bottle of brandy, setting it on the top of the cabinet in anticipation for his meal. Two servers arrived baring plates of food which they set down at both places. The alchemist poured himself a round balloon of brandy which he set down next to his plate, before taking his seat at the head of the table and eagerly devouring the Bastion piglet.

[member="Leira Rhys"]