Holy Wood, 2026 AC/DC, Day.
As she rode into the city and made her way through the streets the people called to her. They threw flowers at her as she passed and she held her head high and smiled, thanking them as she went. They loved her here and in return she cared for them. While not everyone lived in a mansion and held high respectable titles as her noble allies did, there was no one begging for food in the streets. When she held the tournament of immortality, everyone was invited to partake and only the strong won the games.
The first time she let the line go on out the door. After that it was a tournament with the winners being the drinkers. No one was barred and anyone who had complaint was heard and anyone who could not find happiness in Holy Wood retreated to Dawn’s Underground. Her daughter, born and raised here, her grandchildren, born here, one raised here. Now she knew the secret of her other daughters, and she knew that there was a Martian among them.
All this time there had been a spy, they had spirited her children away to another planet, most likely through the magic she witnessed that night. It was all making sense now and as she rode through her city that she had shed blood to protect, she knew that if her true nature was ever revealed they could all turn on her in an instant. The stories of the Earth-Mars war was greater than any other love or fear they could know. The stories from the 200 years since then instilled fear into their hearts.
Kilmister knew of her from the very start, she also knew he was connected to Ziggy. This made her know that he was not the spy, the day she captured him, it was a raid gone bad on his part. Too sloppy for a man of his caliber, he Allowed her to capture him. No the traitor was not him it was someone else and the only way they could know is if they themselves were also from Mars. Which would make them either very very old, a practitioner of dark magic, someone who knew of the fountain of youth, or a descendent. The Spiders spoke strangely when she approached their so called “King”, in the battle those years ago. They spoke of being the true martians, not merely descendants. That left magic to be involved somehow.
Inwardly she sighed, Magic. Just what had she unleashed?
A lot of it was clear; the last true Morrison - human- king takes a wife, bears three children and vanishes, leaving not only an Offworlder, but a Starrider in power- the Spy’s worst nightmare no doubt. They who started the rebellion is much too clever to leave a trail, they most likely whipped up talk in the BOC and convinced other members- the ones she executed- to start a war. Which could only mean that they tried to ruin Her line -not Jim’s- by kidnapping her other girls beforehand. Remove the extra heirs, potential problems, and then strike at the weakened mother, but take the last one to carry on the crown. Control, easy control.
Yet, one thing about her past was clear beyond any doubt, that whoever she had been in the eons past, was a survivor. She had survived great wars fought in space, survived the rise and fall of countless civilizations on other planets, she had survived the final battle that crippled the Starriders, and eventually survived the purge of the Barons.
Which could only mean she was also alive through the events that destroyed Earth over 2,000 years ago. All this time living on Mars, building their civilization and then being there as it crumbled. Fools they must have all been, except her and the Last King. So many eyes in power and still no one paid any attention. She felt shame and now understood who her mental projection was, Zardos was her past. Such a being so powerful refused to be laid to rest and so she made herself real to remind Star who she was.
It made her head spin, all the history of the planet she had been alive for. She suspected that she was actually aware of the events that banished Spyders from Earth, which led to the outlaw of Starriders and Spyders, a race she was also possibly responsible for the creation of.
Oh it all made too much sense and she now held the darkest secret she had ever known. Once, she had no doubt, she been the most powerful being in the cosmos- one of them- and now she was alone and for all her power she was in peril.
She had to tell Dawn as soon as she could. Only Dawn and Richi could be trusted, her own daughter and the man who freed her from exile. She chuckled, no wonder she won the Rebellion, she had fought thousands. A conqueror to the very end, but one that had found her home. This war ravaged planet, this surviving city of some long lost era in time. She would never return to Mars, save for one more time to save Ziggy. If he lived. . . .
It didn’t matter where she went or what she had done in her current life, on Mars the oppression of the Starriders was rivaled by the Barons and on Earth her kind were feared and her Martian kind were seen as ancient enemies. But for now the people thanked her and threw flowers at her procession. She wondered if other peoples had done the same.
Making her way through the city it became obvious that many were occupied elsewhere. Many of the crowds who normally walked the streets were absent, but closer toward the center of town there were ribbons on the housing, flower petals on the streets, cheering up ahead. She leaned over and gave orders for her new young ward and her procession to take to the castle, she and Richi went on ahead.
She dismounted her horse, he followed her and they quietly left them in the stables as the two wandered into the grand courtyard where it appeared a wedding was in place. When she entered onto the scene it was an explosion of color, everywhere, some dressed in black to emulate their leader but many of the common folk were dressed in their finest colors. It was a wedding, her daughter’s wedding and for the first time she didn’t fear Dawn’s power.
She felt a tear roll from her eye as she witnessed the middle of the ceremony, Rosie was in a beautiful floor length gown covered in what appeared to be silk roses. The Wizard was dressed in a shimmering silver ensemble and his bride was dressed in a gold gown that, from afar, resembled a suit of amor.
Her hair, normally braided, was let loose and in the glory that mirrored the hair of her father, it fell down her back in waves. She could not see more detail but she knew Dawn was an absolutely beautiful woman when she wanted to be. She was nearly as tall as her betrothed, without any sort of heeled shoe on. Rosie seemed worried but smiled anyways and Star stood in the back until the , not-so-priestly, priest -perhapes a man from the Underground- announced them wed, they sealed it with a kiss and then turned to the crowd, raising their ring clad hands in union. The people cheered loud and long and the after party began.
When Dawn stepped down from the alter she looked up and in that moment saw a dark figure lurking in the back. Dawn could not make out the details of the figure but she had a feeling, one she trusted, that it was Star. They smiled at each other form across the distance and then lost sight of each other and in that, the exhausted alien turned and made her weary way back to her castle, back to the home she knew.
Aware now that the home she always thought she pined for, was never a home at all. She had no home except for Ao’o, her birthplace died long, long ago, and Mars had never been the home of her heart. Word would spread that Star had returned and for now she wanted peace and solace. She wanted a bath again even though she had only had one days before at at the Gillan castle. She gave the order to a nearby servant that when Dawn’s wedding parties were over to send word that her mother needed to see her.
She entered her room, sans Richi, who went straight to the records room for research. She let each piece of clothing fall in a meticulous manner, laying her travel bundle gently on the marble table, and then lastly came to stand before her vanity mirror as she unwrapped the bandage around her skull. The clump of hair the Martian ripped from her scalp was scabbed over with her dark blood. Her fingers brushed the area lightly, about the size of a large coin, not a lot but it hurt as if it were half her hair. She winced and gently tied her hair back with a ribbon. Three servants came in to adjust a bath for her and she lit two joints, smoking them to the end before the tub was ready. The servants left and she entered the hot water, happy for the burn.
She sighed and all her thoughts crashed around in her head like the ending of a song. Reclaiming Mars was out of the question….for herself. But there was another she knew who was fated to rule that planet. The ways of the Starriders were dead, but not all of them were gone. She had to find out who the ultimate Traitor was, who was this Spy and how had the Spyders -if they were true- lived to be over two hundred years old? Who was that face? Had she shook their hand? Let them live? Did she know them personally? . . . . .Her thoughts turned darker in rage. Had she allowed this person into her life and home?
She went through a list of BOC member she wondered in her mind. The first to be crossed OFF the list was Dee, he had never ever, not once, shown her anything except neutral loyalty between crown and religion. In confidence, he had secretly delivered the list of names of traitors who instigated the rebellion she had won. He was the first to come to her aid when Rosie showed signs of being cursed. He was the one who Blessed the child. No, he was too scared of her power to ever betray her, and he often told her the names of those who whispered about her in the BOC courts.
She went down the list behind closed eyes and felt time closing in on her. Just how much time did she have before everyone knew what she was? Everything she knew, the life she lived, was about to change and she knew it. It was only a matter of time. . . .
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It was days while Star rested and Dawn celebrated. Rosie had reunited with her grandmother and was now in her room, also tired. Dawn had not gone through with the coronation now that Star had returned and was content with her wedding party. When she finally was able to leave her husband and parties she went straight to her mother’s room and went in, she wanted to hug and slap her at the same time but did neither, happy enough to see her alive and whole. Star's clothing was laid out on a table, covered in red dust, and other small affects, a sword and some coins Dawn had never seen before. She picked up a small silver one and came over to the veranda where Star sat in a velvet clad chair, looking out over the city and smoking a joint.
She smiled as she spoke, “So you didn’t rot!”
Her mother shared in the grin. “Not this time my child.”
Dawn sat in a chair across from her, despite perfectly good reasons for being mad at her mother, she was calm inside and out. “Where did you go?”
Star laughed once and took another drag before speaking. “Things have changed my dearest child. Everything has changed.”
Dawn was silently waiting for more.
“I went there, I went to Mars.”
It was the other’s turn to laugh. “Funny, mother.”
“The ancient tales of Starriders and Spyders, its true. Its all true.”
“You’re serious?” Not even Dawn could understand the truth of it.
One nod of the head. “Aye.” She lifted a part of her hair away to show her the patch of healing skin, if one looked close enough they would find stubble clawing up out of the scab. “I left a part of me there.” Her hair was golden again after several intense scrubbings. “I broke every law I’ve ever known. I found an old way of space travel, I left and I lived on Mars for all this time.”
“What was it like?”
A smile. “A lot to say.”
“I have time.”
“I might not.”
“Not what?”
“Have time.”
“Oh come now! You have time to tell me what I need to know.”
In a hushed voice and with as few words as possible, Star told Dawn her journey. The things she saw, the people, the trees, sand, passage of time. She told her of her time with Ziggy and all that she battled and seen. Dawn had her repeat things until she was satisfied.
At the end she came to be truthful. “And while I was there. . . . learned that I am not of earth. I was born long ago on a planet that no longer exists.”
“Mother….are you a….” Not even Dawn would whisper the words. That she was a Starrider.
“I am.” The words didn’t need to be said out loud.
They both know the implications of everything Star was.
“Who else knows?”
“Richi….and a spy.”
“A Spy?!” Who?”
“I don’t know. But what I am sure of is that this individual stole away your sisters and put them on Mars. They meant to separate the royal family in order to control the crown. They know what I am but cannot say without revealing themselves, they have been trying all this time to imprison me or destroy me. Its always been this one person, they started the rebellion without starting it. Everything that has befallen us is because of this one person.”
“A member of the BOC?”
“Can only be.”
“In league with the Spyders?”
“I am sure.”
The princess felt the coin between her fingers. She held it up to their sight. “These are the men who rebelled against the Starriders?”
“One of them.”
“And he is one of those responsible for sending you here?”
“Yes.”
“Everything that has happened to our family is because of this earth bound Martian Spy?”
“Yes.”
A bout of silence and thought.
Then Dawn asked, “What do we do?”
“Nothing. Nothing at all. We carry on with life as usual, as if nothing is amiss. One small deviation and its all over. Nothing has changed, but everything and anything has. Anyone who asks I tell them I journeyed into the forests beyond the high mountains, into the sick lands*. But I will find this person, they must die.”
(*Sick lands are places with Radiation from nuclear wars)
(*Sick lands are places with Radiation from nuclear wars)
The simplicity of her mother’s murderous intentions surprised Dawn. “And what of Mars?”
“I can never return. The people there remember only the constant cycle of Starrider tyrants, they will never trust me again. Here on earth is another matter, they never knew the Riders, they preferred to keep to the smaller population of Mars until it was their own. But here, they fear any offworlder, Starrider or Martian. I am sure the news will become open eventually but for now I will do all I can to uproot this snake before they end me.”
They fell into silence as both contemplated the series of events as they were at that moment. Never had things been so complicated in their twisted lives. She herself, being the last child of the last true born monarch, born and raised on earth, ignorant as her father of their relations to this alien that was her mother. This meant that Dawn was half Starrider and half Earthling, an Earth born Spyder. Something that had never been. She was safe and exempt from the anti-Martian laws, as well as a stick in the loophole of the anti-martian ruler laws. She was also, as far as they knew, exempt from the hatred of Starriders on Mars as she herself was technically a Spyder.
It left them in a stupor of thoughts. All Dawn could see, were red sands. She now understood her mother’s obsession better than anything she understood in her entire life. The dust on her mother’s travel clothes, was red. A land of red sands she would rule one day, never to rule on Earth. But maybe on a planet in desolation like Mars, she would become a liberator and perhaps more. Her sisters were there and her mother could rally no support on Earth to save them.
“Show me the way you got there,” Dawn said suddenly.
Star looked at her fully then, “No.”
“I demand it mother,” her voice was calm.
“If you wish to go I refuse to tell you. I know you have your spies. You find your way there as I did.”
Dawn knew immediately without saying that the Silver eyed Man was the one who would get her there. But instead of getting up and leaving as she often did, she sat there in the company of her deranged mother. An alien to her now, an Alien to herself, she wondered.
“Chaos,” she said. “Utter and complete chaos.”
“But only for you and me.” Star smiled.
Dawn stared at her with a new found respect and understanding, not only of her but of herself. It was in Dawn’s blood to want to conqueror and rule, no wonder it came for second nature. Her mother was an ancient alien warrior race, a people ancient to even Earthlings. The stories of Starriders came second hand from Spyders who once came to earth, wary tales even then that now seem like fairy tales to the commoners. But was very real.
Suddenly everything Dawn ever wanted on Earth, besides her new husband, no longer mattered. Holy Wood was small compared to the entire planet her own mother had once ruled. The crown and throne of a single village, a single city, when really she was meant for so much more than that small piece of rulership. Being the child of a Galactic Empress she was- technically speaking by Earthen Standards- the Heir to Mars.
