UKKO
Both he and Hephaestus were staring at the dark veil while they were on the rooftop of the building where Lucifer had been held captive. The same building where they were planning their escape. He tried to remember every part of the plan. THIS IS CRAZY. THIS IS CRAZY.
He looked at Hephaestus who was making a few explosives with a shell of steel and copper. There was a fresh sandwich from Mara next to them, cut in half. He took one part and fed the other to them while their hands were full.
His eyes fell on their prosthetic leg.
‘'You can ask,’’ they said, knowing very well that he was staring, even as their eyes were on the machines.
He laughed, hoping that Hephaestus wouldn't notice his embarrassment.
‘’Sorry,’’ He said with a broad, nervous grin. ‘’How…’’ He tried to find the right way to ask but there wasn’t any. ‘’...It happened?’’
They tapped their fingertips on the metal and smiled. As their eyes shifted back to him, they grabbed the rest of the sandwich from him.
'‘Fire accident'' They replied calmly. Ukko noticed their hesitation before they spoke.
‘’But it was.'' They clicked their tongue and fixed their bangs. ‘’a long time ago so it is fine’’ Their fingers found their back, right at their spine. ‘’Well, hurts if I stand too much but it’s alright’’ There was a tone in their voice, painful enough for Ukko to not notice it.
They chuckled and stretched their wrists before they started eating.
Ukko could think about it before they first met them. The log. They were terrified when they saw the fire.
‘’Thank you for’’ He said and scratched his nose. ‘’Defending me against Mordred’’
''No problem,'' they replied with a big smile.
‘’But you did not have to..’’
He tried to speak but Hephaestus stood up and lifted their arm up and brushed against the dark veil. They laughed loudly and gestured for Ukko to touch as well. He chuckled and stood up only to touch a little bit of it. He felt strange energy moving around his plump fingertips.
He had heard a lot of legends about the veil from his father. About the lady of the deep. A young woman who betrayed her father by falling in love with a monster. But he did not know that his daughter was also one. So, after her lover died because of him, she lost her mind, placing a curse upon the place she grew up in. At first, he found this story hilarious. He could not believe that a warlock like that lived and others like her were still hunted by soldiers and hunters.
‘’Down’’ Hephaestus whispered, pulling Ukko down to the ground again.
His hazel eyes spotted military cars approaching the building. Mara and the priest got out of the building and looked at each other.
‘’Are you sure we can trust her?’’ He asked Hephaestus.
‘’She helped you escape, right?'' They responded with a question. Ukko shook his head and kept looking at the cars. He hated his job from the first day he wore the uniform. He gave up shaving his hair, and his face, no matter how many times they commanded him or forced him to do it. Being a guard gave him a sort of freedom except for special attendings. Everyone compared him to his father, telling him that he was the only reason that he was there and was getting all the promotions. But the most frustrating part of it was obeying the wrong orders, coming from the wrong people.
A car door opened and a woman with red crimson hair appeared and everyone kneeled down by her emerald presence.
Everyone got down on their knees. Everyone except Mara.
‘’I saw her only once in Aztlan, '’ Hephaestus whispered. ‘’She really knows how to make an entrance doesn't she?’’
Ukko scoffed and nodded in agreement. Then the priest walked into the building again. Mara stayed there while the Great ruler kept glaring at her.
‘’One minute’’ Ukko announced to Hephaestus and started counting inside his head while Hephaestus fixed the last details of their machine.
‘’Please work’’ They said, placing it on their forehead and then pushing their lips to the metal, kissing it.
‘’Now’’ Ukko said and Hephaestus threw it to the ground, watching Mara covering her ears with her hands.
A few seconds later they could see smoke all around the area, rising higher and higher. Hephaestus laughed shakily. Then the sound of an explosion echoed from inside the building. As Mara had placed explosives inside the room, only opening the door would have activated their purpose.
Outside the building. There was Mara, wearing her helm and her left hand reaching for the veil. A crowd was beginning to march from each alley, corner, and even behind the army.
‘’Dungt’’ Mara’s voice yelled out loud, making other people come closer, screaming the same word over and over again.
‘’She started a riot’’ Hephaestus explained and covered their mouth with a half helm. They gave one to Ukko too and kept throwing the inventions, causing more smoke.
She wasn’t lying about making chaos. Ukko’s mind wandered.
He could hear gunshots, yelling cries, and swords from down below working like crazy, shaking him to his core. Under the helm, he wasn't even aware he was smiling from fear and satisfaction.
''Look,'' Hephaestus said while pointing at several cars that were approaching and retreating from the gate, letting it slowly open. Both of them started laughing and cheering.
‘’Go find the others’’ They yelled at him. He stood up and looked at them, pulling the carbine from their bag, and began shooting completely blind as smoke filled the area. Ukko shook his head and walked away.
‘’We will meet after’’ He yelled and got inside the building.
‘’Hope that’s a promise’’ Hephaestus’ voice echoed.
He ran from floor to floor from hall to hall until he reached the floor where the explosion happened. The smoke was thicker than outside, so thick that Ukko almost passed out. And then he heard a gunshot right behind him.
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He groaned out of pain and turned back only to see the priest walking slowly with his right leg broken from the explosion and his face ruined.
‘’She betrayed me’’ He growled and pulled the trigger again. This time he missed.
‘’And she turned people I know, I trusted against me’’ He kept shooting again and again till he managed to hit Ukko’s stomach.
‘’Stop’’ Mara’s voice shouted. Right behind the priest. Ukko finally saw her eyes darting from fear with her hands shaking. The man’s lips curled into a devious grin as his hand found a dark control device out of his coat pocket. As he pushed the small button, Mara’s voice screamed from pain as her body fell, right to her knees.
‘’How many times do I have to tell you?’’ He emerged to the flames and the girl. ‘’You can’t escape this’’
Ukko took one step closer to her but the girl pushed him away with her voice.
‘’Run’’ She yelled at him, kicking her feet from the pain. ‘’The emergency stairs.GO’’ She yelled again. Ukko agreed with her and ran away from the scene, getting to the emergency stairs that were close to him. He smashed the window and started to take deep breaths, taking the helm out of his mouth.
He looked back waiting for the girl to follow him. But she did not.
Ukko had seen the collar’s work once more. He was on a train returning to his house in Aztlan. It was nightfall and only a few people were in the wagon, mostly inventors or a few soldiers.
There was a thief among them. Ukko noticed the little boy whose hands were inside his pockets. The soldier ignored it completely and looked away, his eyes facing the window.
When he got out, he gave the boy two Eke’els. His smile was bright like the sun and his face turned red from joy. His neck had a collar wrapped around it, tight enough.
Ukko let out a heavy breath as he watched the boy sneak into a dark alley. He decided to follow him in secret only to find a man attacking him. The soldier hid behind the wall, with his eyes watching the man taking control from his pocket and the boy screaming with pain.
He could have attacked too. Fight. Right at that moment. Although Ukko knew that the collars, and their punishment, were not illegal, he knew he would have to pay if he chose to do something.
A day later, Ukko found the boy’s body close to the sewers with blood falling from his nose and eyes.
The girl appeared wearing the priest's long turncoat. It left a deep mark around her neck that was slowly healing and disappearing.
Her eyes remained pitch black, unlike the crimson blood that stained her sleeves. The coat was too big for her but she did not seem to care. But Ukko could see. He could see that something had happened based on the blood spots around her face. And the fact that she did not react or show any kind of emotion… terrified him.
When he was working in Naraka, he found two children and two warlocks inside the cell. They were both staring at him and smiling like it was a normal day for them. A few hours later they wouldn’t be burned at the stakes. How can people like this exist? That is what he was always thinking
‘’What?’’ The girl asked, confused. He shook his head and pointed to the floor.
‘’You will get out’’ Ukko promised her naively.
She pulled her helm, exposing her soft relieved grin, exposing any sort of kindness. Even with the scars, it was clear that her expressions and her emotions were true. ‘’That was the deal, right?’’
They found soldiers on their way out as they were close to the water. Mara pushed one of them into the water as he kept hearing his screams. Ukko attacked a few of them with his gun but more of them were coming.
His eyes turned to the great leader who, with the help of the soldiers, had escaped alive from the smoke. Her furious gaze found Ukko and it suddenly became softer. He could even see her smiling in relief.
‘’Get him’’ She ordered the soldiers.
‘’I will buy you time,’’ Mara announced to him.
‘’Ditchche’’ She yelled and took out of her bag a flashlight which Hephaestus gave to her. She lit it up, creating another signal.
A group of young children appeared out of nowhere with long sticks and daggers wavering around the soldiers. This made it easier for Ukko to walk away. That was the plan. But he was never adept at following plans so he hid behind a wall to see what the girl was doing.
She was fighting with her right fist and a silver dagger around her left hand while the others attacked the soldiers with pistols and small knives.
Then. Someone SHOT A KID. Right to his chest.
None moved. None spoke. They were just looking at the kid. He was around the age of ten, or even younger with a pistol considerably larger than his hands close to him.
The heart of Ukko stopped beating for just one second. Blood fell in two directions. One was close to him while the other was closer to Mara.
''Scatter'' Mara screamed desperately to the gathered crowd. They all heard her orders and everyone left until she was the only one who was standing against the soldiers.
But she did not fight. After walking casually to the boy, she got on her knees and clenched her hands around his. His fingers moved to her forehead as she let her lips whisper mourning.
‘’I did not know Hybrids can feel sorrow’’ Someone said with amusement. The voice was stoic and cold but also smooth and kind. Ukko had no idea who he was, but when he saw his tall slim figure….He wanted to shout until he couldn't recognize his voice.
The man looked like a noble. Dark coat and pants, a tall hat to cover his head as a helm of the plague was covering his face, and an elegant cane in his left hand. Around the ribbon of his hat and on the sleeves of his coat there were small details of white flowers. And then, a pistol was exposed to his hand. There was still smoke getting out of it.
A wave of energy attacked the young soldier making his body weak from the pain. He could not feel his legs. He did not have the strength to stand still. His stomach got twisted.
Who is this? Ukko asked only himself.
Mara let go of the boy, and with her fist clenched around the dagger, she jumped toward the man and the soldiers.
Even before she touched anyone's skin, she stopped. She could not move as her body was shaking from terror. The man hummed, letting three more bullets strike the boy's body. Just to make sure he is dead.
‘’Alright,’’ Mara sighed, lifting her hands, cocking her head. ‘’I won’t fight’’
The man hit the ground with his cane.
‘’Search her’’ The man ordered hurriedly to the soldiers.
The soldiers forced the girl to kneel and kiss the ground as they searched for something.
The man took a step forward, kicking the boy’s body away with his cane as if it were a piece of garbage.
A soldier took out her hair and her hairpin and handed it to the man while another one found in her bag a bottle of red liquid.
‘’How can someone like you have this?’’ He showed her the pin, sounding confused. ''I remember the Great Ruler's niece had it first and you..''He lowered his head, sounding disappointed.
''Your mother gave it to me last night'' The girl smiled with her chin up. She made a mistake as one of the soldiers kicked her in the stomach with his carbine.
Gasping for air, the girl lifted her head once more.
''How nice to order your dogs to do your work, coward?'' She snarled in the dialect.
The man hit the ground with the end of his cane and one other soldier attacked the girl in the stomach, making her spit heavy thick blood thanks to the iron gloves.
The man's head lay back on the bottle. Ukko could see his cold posture. A body frozen in time. There was not a single drop of humanity left in him.
‘’Where is it actually?’’ He asked. This time he sounded calm and gentle.
''You've got it,'' Mara breathed, lifting her chin while a soldier forced her to not move her head. Still, she was trying to fight or move her hands, trying to touch someone’s skin.
‘’Do you think I am a fool?’’ He asked. Mara did not answer.
‘’Do you think they are fools to trust someone like me?’’ She replied, finally with a question.
The man clenched his hand around the tip of the cane.
''You know what I am so you know the answer'' Her lips frowned, fading her arrogance as her crimson eyes were looking away from the man.
As he stepped closer, all the soldiers around Mara retreated as he asked, "If my Ruler gave you freedom, and wealth, would you tell me"
‘’Where is it?'' He asked sharply as if it were an insult. Or an order.
‘’Tempting but I am not making deals today’’ She grinned once more.
Right at this moment, Ukko wanted to get out of his hiding spot with any bit of strength he had left to help her out.
But as she stood up, she lifted her hands towards the man and smiled at him while her lips whispered a word, which only Ukko could see.
‘’Run’’
Ukko jumped two times before he started running away, with his eyes looking back at the girl.
Mara tried to attack the man again, this time touching his skin to freeze it. But Ukko could not see what was happening as soldiers attempted to hunt him down with pistols and nets.
He caught a glimpse of Mara, getting dragged, all chained up inside the wagon while a kid was trying to get her out.
She once had the upper hand. She could have bought enough time for her and the others to escape while no child would have died. Probably she could have frozen two of the soldiers. Then, everything changed when the man appeared. She could have killed him too and she didn't. Was it because of all the iron he was wearing?
There is a scientist. Lucifer warned them before the plan began. But something about him is …wrong. Like when you step too close to him. Bad things can happen without even realizing it. And I do not know why but..If he is here with my…The Great Ruler… we won’t get out.