The Eradicator

This story is being reposted after it was accidentally merged with another. 

Snow crushed under his feet. The hollow crunch was the only sound in the still winter air. “The sound only travels so far before it is completely absorbed by the snow.” A deep voice elegantly explained. “If it weren’t for our footsteps, there would be no evidence we existed at all. In only a short amount of time, those footsteps will be covered by new snow.” The man stood well over nine feet tall. He wore all white. His long coat dragged in the snow behind his steps. It nearly erased his large footprints. His perfectly straight silver hair flowed down to his mid back. Dulled blue eyes were nearly hidden behind the mess of his silver bangs. “That is what the Agency has deemed should happen to you. Eradication. You are a danger to existence itself. Thus, you will cease to exist. In all its forms. There will be no memories, no evidence, that you were ever you. Do not fear, you will have ultimate peace. You have no memory from before your life, and that is where you will return.”

He talked to a bloodied mess of a person, slumped over in crimson and pink snow. The person coughed, “What will rise to take my place? What will fill the void? Don-” He coughed again, this time he spat blood out. His complexion was tanned, and he was dark haired. He didn’t bear the signs of a cold dweller. He wasn’t red faced as locals would have been. This man wasn’t from here. The same could be said for the tall pale man that taunted him. “Don’t you understand, by eradication, you create a void that must be filled. Energy and matter cannot be destroyed, only moved.”

“You are correct.” The tall man spoke. His voice was a deep warmth in the cold wind. “The energy must be transferred, and the matter converted into said energy.” He knelt down and held out a clean hand to the bloody man. He gently lifted the man’s head to look him in the eyes. “I bear that great burdon.” He opened his hand, clenched the man’s neck, then squeezed. “I, am that void.” The silver haired man smiled.

Everything seemed to vibrate violently for the bloodied man. He choked and tried to gasp, futilely, for breath. The vibration formed a deep hum, a heavy bass in the quiet of the winter around him. 

Then there was nothing of him. The tall man stood up and he sucked in a fresh cold breath. There was no blood in the snow. There were no footprints. There was only the silver haired man and the quiet of winter’s grasp around him. The blue in his eyes grew vibrant. He smiled a smile that showed his straight white teeth and he let out a breath of relief.

And, he was gone.

Vexar, Rozwell, and Rii had popped into existence along the path that lead up to his house. Rozwell was burdened with a large backpack and a satchel that overflowed with a wild variety of fruits. Rii hauled a small wagon behind her. It was a dark metal, and overflowed with scraps and electronics. She wore a much smaller backpack than Rozwell, but it was packed tight. Vexar had a wide smile and wore several satchels. They walked up the hill toward his house.

“Why don’t we just show up inside your house? Kind of annoying to lug this stuff around further.” Rii demanded. 

“Wouldn’t want to risk things getting stuck in the walls or left behind. I can easily account for something alive travelling with me. But things that aren’t alive take a little more guesswork. Too much of an opening, and too much can be allowed through, too little... You get the idea. Besides, there’s a lot more walking involved when trying to get into the house. Travelling outside it is far easier.” Vexar explained as he opened the door for the girls.

“More walking? We just walked through the portal thing you opened and boom, we’re here.”

“That’s what your brain is telling you. It’s what you can handle. Think harder on it and you’ll remember the trip in time, at least somewhat.”

Rozwell nodded in agreement.

“For non travellers, it’s almost like experiencing a dream that you forget as soon as you wake. For travellers it’s more like taking a long trip, but having forgotten the most of it once you’ve arrived at your destination. You don’t need to remember it, you only need to know how to get from place to place. Make the same trip a bunch of times, and it blurs by even more.”

They had set most of their stuff down in the living room. Rozwell had tuned out more than half of the explanation in favor of storing her fruits.

“So.” Rii thought for a moment. “We’re not teleporting then?”

“Not by a long shot Rii. We’re travelling between things. It’s a way to get from point A to point B without being restricted by time and distance. Something that fledgling technological civilizations faun for, can occur naturally within nearly any being. Though, there seem to be a strange and unagreed upon set of guidelines on how to activate this ability. It can be achieved through technology as well, though it’s very difficult and resource intensive. Much of the research in my library goes to this very problem. ‘How can I do this?’ Don’t know. Not sure I’ll find out, but I’ve learned a great deal more since Rozwell came into the picture.” He glanced back to the dragon-girl. She sat cross legged on the floor and was halfway through a red and yellow fruit when he’d mentioned her. She gave a, mouth full, smile and some of the red juice dripped out of the corner of her mouth. 

Vexar sulked. “She comes from a royal bloodline and is a creature of vast intelligence.” He shook his head as if he were reminding himself of this fact.

The three had sorted out their shopping loot some time later. The girls had four sets of clothing, each, some sparring leathers, and light alloy armor. Vexar had seen Rozwell fight before. He gifted her with a set of razor thin throwing knives and hard gem claws she could wear on her knuckles. For Rii, he gifted her a few vials of living metal and a small light metal flail.

A large orb of mana gave this plane warmth and light. It created a false cycle and did not change position in the sky. There were roughly twelve hours of daylight before it slowly shifted into a cool dim blue for nearly twelve hours of night. It was still early in the morning, and the mana star had just finished growing bright for the day. The three stood in the large clearing, a quarter mile from the house.

Vexar wore his typical black long coat, white shirt, blue jeans, and steel toed boots. Rii had on her light alloy armor, which protected vital spots, but she opted not to wear the full set. It was something she had wanted to get used to. She made the choice to wear a skirt and t-shirt so her tail would have room to move and she wouldn’t have unnecessary stuff covering her arms. Rozwell wore almost everything she chose the day prior. She wore a heavy tabard which gave her tail free movement, light leathers with the arm braces and shoulder pads, and the alloy gear as well. She had on knee high boots with socks that went a little higher. Last, but not least, she had a satchel half full with a dozen different fruits. It looked like she was ready to be ambushed while on a hike, and taken to a formal dance at the same time.

“It wouldn’t be right pitting the two of you against each other, someone might get hurt.” Vexar spoke from about ten steps away from the girls. “So you’ll go against me. We’ll go one at a time, then both of you against me. Just to see what you already know. Then we’ll break for the library, and figure things out from there.” He rubbed the back of his head. “I think.” He scratched. “Yeah, we’ll do that and then eat after...” He thought for another moment. “Let’s just wing it. Alright, Rozwell you fir-”

He was interrupted as she plopped down onto the ground where she stood. She pulled out a fruit and cracked it open with a soft, plock. It surprised her when a good bit of juice spilled out. She rushed to catch it with her mouth before she opened it to discover it had a sort of meat to it. A tart smell with hints of floral scent floated up to where Rii could smell it. Rii fought back a giggle. 

“Rozwell, you need to participate here. You can’t expect to survive on your own outside of -”

She held up a hand, mid bite, to stop him from wasting his time. She mimed out a few motions to suggest ‘I’m alive, aren’t I?’

Vexar walked over and snatched the fruit out of her hand. Rozwell shrugged and reached around in her satchel for another. She pulled out a fleshy orange and yellow fruit this time. She plunged her thumb into it and Vexar snatched it up. He stuck out his tongue to mock her.

She peeled back the skin of the fruit. Vexar did a double-take and realized all he got ahold of was an illusion. She stuck up her middle and ring finger in a rude gesture and continued to peel the fruit. Rii struggled back more laughter at all of this. Tears had visibly pooled in her eyes.

“Alright. Cut the shit. Do you want my help or not?”

Rozwell held up two fingers and chewed on a slice of the fruit. Rii lost it at this point. A loud belly full of laughter burst from her.

“So I save your life, give you a much nicer place to live, and offer to help you protect yourself; and this is the thanks I get?” 

Rozwell shrugged.

“Okay, cool.” Vexar glanced from Rozwell to Rii and shook his head. He began to walk to his house.

“Wait, wait! I’ll still practice.” Rii said between breaths as she brought her laughter under control.

“Oh, I’m sure you will. I’m just going to trash the rest of Rozwell’s fruits.” He stopped to look back. “Sorry. My fruits. I bought those.”

Rozwell looked up with a fierce glare.

“Oh no, no, you didn’t earn those. Everything you have right now is a gift from me. Correction. An investment. I saved you out of kindness. That was a gift. What you choose to do with your life is, in fact, still up to you. If you want to continue to have my help though... You’ll need to earn it.” He began his walk to the house again.

Rozwell crossed her arms and shrugged again. She wanted to call him on his bluff.

He kept his pace and was at his door shortly. “Last chance.” He shouted back. Rii looked down to Rozwell with a raised brow. Vexar’s hand touched his doorknob and then he jolted back. It looked as if the doorknob had given him a harsh shock. Instead, he felt something sharp in the back of his head. Something was trying to attack his mind. He smirked and turned around. Rozwell was still on the ground. She was hunched over where she sat and faced him. Her eyes glowed a brilliant blue. The pain grew to pin pricks all over his skull as she poked and prodded his thoughts for any sign of weakness. There was a larger prick than the others. Rozwell huffed and gave a disgusted look as she stood up on both feet. 

“Oh. Yep, I’m a pervert.” Vexar chuckled and taunted. “Go ahead, hit me with that.” The prickling returned to his mind as she sought out another way, but it came to a sudden stop. “Oh? Never felt that before? That’s what it feels like.”

The same sensation filled Rozwell’s head. It sent a chill up her spine and caused her to close her eyes in concentration.

“There you go, push them away. See? Training isn’t so bad!” Vexar said as he walked back down the path. “Don’t worry, I won’t peek at anything too private. I mean, all you care about is fruit anyways. Simple little creature.” He taunted. “Oooo! What’s this?” He found a memory of a doll she had found while stranded on the plane where he first found her. “Seems appropriate for your age. Little stuffed dolly.” He chuckled with a menacing tone. 

The memory lingered on as she found herself in front of a mirror. The doll dangled from her arms. She wasn’t much younger than she is now, in the memory. A tattered dress, dirty and ragged, was what she wore. She remembered a tear rolled down her cheek as she looked herself over.

“Aww, little Rozzy wants to be a pretty princess?” He pulled the memory forward.

A sound came from her throat, the beginning of a word that echoed in on itself. Then in Vexar’s mind, she shouted. There was no actual sound, but the pain was there and he struggled to hide a wince. He was cut off from her. She gave him a look of pure hatred. She picked up her satchel and stormed past him to his house. Moments later, the door slammed behind her.

He breathed in a deep breath. “That went poorly. Tell me Rii, you don’t plan on using telepathy, do you?”

She shook her head, astounded and confused as to what just happened. She heard Rozwell almost talk, then felt a sudden headache, and wave of nausea. It took her a moment to recover, and by then Rozwell had already stomped off.

“Good. I just want you to try and hit me.” He regained his composure and stood with his back straight. He was monstrously tall compared to Rii. “I’m not going to give you time to think, so be quick on my mark.” She nodded and relaxed her stance. “Go.” 

He made her choices a bit easier for her. Vexar lunged at her and threw a punch. It clanged against a metallic shield that suddenly formed on her left arm. She swiped at him with a flail that formed from metal she held in her right hand. He took it easy on her. Vexar gave her just enough time to think about her defense and counter attack.

It was a long fifteen minute spar that left her weak in muscles she wasn’t aware of, and her chest burned as if it set fire to every breath she took. She couldn’t help but feel a little malice when he stood across from her and smiled. She knew she tried everything she could to land a single blow, and he spent little to no effort in avoiding her. “I didn’t think I would like this.” She spoke up with a smile that formed on her face. “But, I look forward to the day I get to wail on you.”

“Me too.” He smirked.

The two took some time outside. Vexar waited for Rii to catch her breath. He showed her what sort of stretches may help her eventual muscle soreness, and he offered advice on better defenses and weapons for when the time came for their next session. After a while they walked up to his house together. Rozwell was still furious when they entered. She stormed over to Vexar and slammed a folder against his chest. “Watcher Case File: Lotus’Dra” it read in bold letters. Rozwell growled and glared at the folder then up to Vexar.

“A new case? Interesting. I figured they were pretty pissed off at me.” He held the folder and glanced over to a blinking machine next to the television. He looked back down to Rozwell and sighed. “What’s wrong, you know this ‘Lotus’Dra’?”

She made a face of anger and disgust, then nodded her head.