“I’m really worried about him, Brinn.” Pryvani spoke to the image of the red haired veterinarian on the screen in front of her. “I wasn’t planning on telling him the truth until he’d recovered, but it just slipped out.”

“Pryvani…” Brinn began but was cut off.

“…And now he barely eats. He won’t talk to me, won’t look at me. I’m afraid he’s going to deteriorate, just when he was starting to get stronger…”

“Pryvani…” Brinn tried again.

“This is entirely my fault, Brinn. I shouldn’t have told him yet…”

“PRYVANI!”

Pryvani blinked, startled at the outburst. “I’m sorry dear; did you want to say something?”

Brinn smirked and shook her head wryly. “Listen. He’s just had his entire world flipped over, so it’s understandable he’s pulled back to reboot. As much as I know you want to fix this, you can’t.”

Pryvani sighed and nodded. Brinn’s words weren’t a surprise. “So what should I do?”

“I suggest you get him someone else to talk to. Somebody human, if that’s possible.” Brinn shrugged. “Sophia, maybe?”

Pryvani brightened. “That’s an excellent idea. Why didn’t I think of that?”

Brinn smirked. “Because you’re emotionally distraught.”

Pryvani sighed and rolled her eyes. “I know. It’s rather annoying really.”

*.*.*.*.*.*

Zara braced her shoulder against the wall while Taron sealed the crack in the masonry. The two of them, along with Sophia, Lysis and a number of Atlantean citizens were trying to fix the damage wrought by Trell and then later by her cultist followers.

It wasn’t easy; because of course the citizens were understandably mistrustful of Titans. But, little by little they were beginning to rebuild at least a little bit of trust, even as they rebuilt the city.

“You want to work a little faster Taron? These gravity dampeners may keep my body from collapsing in on itself but they sure don’t make me any stronger!” Zara grunted.

“Ah geez Zara, stop being such a wimp.” Sophia teased from her perch on her shoulder.

Zara glared at the human from the corner of her eye. “Any time you care to take over for me, feel free.”

“Hang on…” Taron muttered as he worked. “Just a little more… almost got it… There! Done.”

With a sigh Zara stepped away from the wall, pleased with how it was now able to stand straight without her assistance.

Suddenly there was a buzzing in her ear. “Zara?”

Zara cupped her hand to her ear. “Yes Pryvani?”

“I’m wondering if you could ask Sophia to do a favor for me. Zhan’s condition is worsening and Brinn suggested that maybe having a human talk to him might help.”

“That sounds like a good idea.” Zara nodded. “I’ll certainly ask her for you.”

“Thank you. Whenever she has a spare moment will be fine.” There was a click as Pryvani cut the signal.

“What’s up?” Sophia asked curiously.

“Pryvani was wondering if you’d have a word with Zhan.” Zara explained.

“Excuse me.” Came a voice down by Zara’s feet. “Did you say Zhan?”

Zara and Sophia both looked down. Lysis was standing at a respectful distance away from the Titaness.

“I did.” Zara answered a small frown on her face. “Do you know him?”

“Yes.” Lysis nodded. “He’s a member of my Watch. He’d been on leave when he disappeared into the mountains, but he was due back a few days ago and nobody has seen him.”

Zara carefully knelt down to bring herself as close as possible to the Captain of the Watch. “Maybe you’d better come with us then. Perhaps if he talks to you he can snap out of it.”

Lysis’ eyes widened and her normally tan face paled a bit. “Go with you? Into the mountains?”

“Of course.” Zara smiled and lowered her hand. “That’s where Zhan is, after all.”

“Well… yes…” Lysis backed away a step but Zara’s hand swooped down and scooped up the Captain, lifting her up and gently depositing her onto Zara’s shoulder next to Sophia.

“There we go. Let’s be off then, no time like the present.” Zara spoke cheerfully as she and Taron began carefully wending their way through the city streets.

Sophia glanced over at Lysis. The normally stoic guard Captain had her eyes screwed shut and her hands clasped tightly onto as much of the fabric of Zara’s shirt as they could grab onto. She was biting her lip hard enough to draw blood and was barely resisting the urge to hyperventilate.

“You okay Lysis?” Sophia asked, placing a hand on the other woman’s shoulder. “There’s no need to worry. You know that they’re no more gods than Pryvani is.”

“I know.” Lysis ground out through clenched jaws. “That’s not the problem.”

“Then what’s the matter?”

“I can’t stand heights.”

“Oh.” Sophia whispered, then her eyes widened. “OH! Um… hey Zara…?”

*.*.*.*.*.*

Zhan sat in the prison of glass Pryvani had placed him in. He was clad in soft white pants and shirt, with a thick blanket wrapped around his body. There was a small part of him that understood why she’d placed him in here, out of misplaced concern that he’d hurt himself. But for the most part he was angry at being held captive.

His rage had pretty much burned out; all that was left was a cold resentment. Everything he’d gone through for her, all that pain he’d endured… all of it was worthless.

He shivered and pulled the blanket tighter around his shoulders.

He heard movement from behind, and saw a shadow fall over him. He didn’t turn around though. He figured it was probably just Pryvani, and he really didn’t feel like talking to her at all.

“Zhan.”

His head shot up at the voice and he turned to look over his shoulder. Standing on the outside of his cell were two women. One woman he didn’t recognize, but the other…

“Captain!” Zhan immediately shot to his feet in attention, but then fell back against the glass wall as his head spun from the sudden movement.

“At ease. Sit back down, please.” Now that her feet were back on firm ground, Lysis was feeling much better.

“What are you doing here?” Zhan asked as he slumped back against the wall again.

“Pryvani brought us here to have a talk with you.” Lysis responded.

“She’s not a goddess, Cap.” Zhan spat vindictively. “She was lying the whole time.”

“I know.”

Zhan blinked and the tirade he was preparing to launch into fell short. “What? How?”

“Since you disappeared, Pryvani felt it best to reveal to us the truth of her origin.”

“Us? Us who?” Zhan leaned forward, interested.

“Everybody.”

Zhan was silent for a moment, as he digested this new information. “Why would she do that?”

“Because another Titan attacked the city. She couldn’t live with the lies anymore.” Sophia supplied.

“Another Titan…?” Zhan scrambled to his feet and rushed to the other wall, pressing himself against the glass. “Did this other titan have long blonde hair, pale skin, and brown eyes?”

Lysis’ eyes widened in shock. “Yes. How did you…?”

Zhan rubbed his face. “Trell…”

“You know her.” Sophia realized. “I’m so sorry.”

Zhan turned to look at the dark haired younger woman. There was a brief flash of pain in his eyes before the mask fell over his face again. “If I could kill any one of these ‘Titans’ it would be her.”

Lysis shook herself, alarmed by the pain she saw in his eyes. “Listen Zhan… I think it would be best if you stayed here until you’re fully recovered.”

Zhan’s head snapped up again. “What?! I can’t stay here! Not after everything that’s happened.”

Lysis’ arched an eyebrow. “This is the best place for you to recover. When you’re well again, you can resume your duties.”

“But, Cap…!”

“That’s an order.” Lysis snapped, her voice as hard as stone.

Zhan gaped at her for a moment before turning around resentfully. “Yes ma’am.”

The other woman stepped forward and put her hand on the glass. “Hello Zhan.” Her voice was soft and pleasant. “My name is Sophia. Do you mind if I talk to you?”

“Sure go ahead.” Zhan snapped sarcastically. “Apparently I’m not going anywhere.”

Sophia nodded. “I understand you’re angry, you have every right to be.”

Zhan didn’t reply.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?”

Zhan shook his head, but still didn’t utter a word.

Sophia shot a worried look at Lysis, who shook her head silently.

“It’s no use.” She whispered. “He’s not ready to hear it.”

Sophia nodded. “I understand. Zhan, we’ll leave you now, but if you ever need someone to talk to, someone you don’t have to crane your neck to look in the eye… I’m here. Just ask for me.”

Again, there was no reply. Shoulders sagging, Sophia turned to walk away.

“Wait!” Zhan yelled after them. “Can you at least get her to let me out of this box? I’m not going to hurt myself or anything. I promise.”

Lysis turned around and regarded her subordinate archly.

“I’m sure that can be arranged. We’ll see what we can do.”

Pryvani stepped forward, out of the shadows where she’d been standing back, watching.

“Zhan, I’m sorry I put you in there, I really am.” Pryvani sighed. “But it was the only way I could think to-”

“Just let me out ‘goddess’” He spat the word like an invective, a scowl on his face when he realized the titaness had been listening in on his conversation. “You have no right to keep me in here, and the only reason I’m staying is because I was ordered to.”

“I know.” Pryvani nodded. She lowered her hand into the terrarium and, after hesitating for only a second, Zhan climbed aboard.

A moment later he was set on the counter next to the two women.

“Zhan…” Sophia spoke gently, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Are you ready to talk now?”

*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Trell strolled across the middle of the prison compound, seemingly lost in thought. She was running out of time before the designated rendezvous. Fand’s ship was scheduled to arrive in system within a matter of days, and before that happened she needed to find a way to disable the security trackers and escape the compound. Not to mention make it to the pick-up site which, by necessity, was not going to be nearby.

She headed through the blazing hot sun towards the administration building. Trell was on duty for cleaning the office today. Normally, she loathed doing it, (except for being inside the air conditioned building) but today it seemed most fortuitous.

She reported to the security officer on duty who issued her a key pass that would allow her access to the rooms inside so she could clean.

“Looks like you pulled the easy duty today Trell.” The security officer remarked, grinning at her. Trell smiled and casually leaned over his desk, giving him a good view down the shirt of her prison uniform.

“Well, sometimes a girl just gets lucky I guess.” She responded breathily, and then let out a girlish titter.

“You be sure to do a good job today. I wouldn’t want to see a pretty girl like you working outside in the heat more than she has to.”

“Oh my, aren’t you sweet?” She let her hand brush his arm a little when she reached out to take her security badge. As she turned away she threw the chain of the badge over her neck and dropped the guard’s data pad into her pocket.

The idiot was none the wiser.

The security badge she’d been issued had a locator chip installed, so the colony’s staff could monitor where Trell was at all times while she was in the building. It also meant that at any given time she had a security camera following her every move.

This was why she’d had only had that one chance to steal the pad. It was still possible a camera had caught her doing it; she just had to hope she’d get lucky and no one looked at the footage.

Of course, she was also aware of just where all of the cameras were too.

She entered the supply cabinet and began gathering what she would need for cleaning, as well as a few things she wouldn’t need, and loaded them onto her cart. She waved cheerily to the security guard as he buzzed her through to the inside offices.

Once she was outside his field of vision, she slipped the stolen pad into the bag she used to gather trash.

She stopped at the first office, it was important she cleaned the rooms in the right order. Any deviation from the set route would throw up a red flag in the system and she’d have security personnel on her at a moment’s notice.

So she went about her task as she’d been ordered, but as she cleaned things would disappear into her trash bag. Nothing anybody would miss right away, (except for the data pad) but things that- when combined with other things, perhaps, would prove useful to her escape plan.

So, little by little, her trash bag filled. A pair of rubber gloves here, a bottle of cleaning solution there. Small bits of metal, a glass pane…

“Can I help you?”

Startled Trell rose up from behind the desk where she’d been disconnecting a few bits of wire from the computer terminal. In the doorway was a young woman wearing business attire. She was not part of the security staff, most likely an administrative supervisor or shift manager.

“I’m just cleaning.” Trell smiled, holding up the rag she would have been using to scrub if she’d actually been doing the job. “There’s a bit of a nasty stain back here, I was just trying to get it out.” Surreptitiously, she slipped the wire up her sleeve.

The woman narrowed her eyes at Trell and pursed her lips. “Can I see your security pass?”

Trell smiled and rose to her feet. “Of course.” She slowly crossed the room to where the woman was standing and held the badge, still hung around her neck, out for the woman to inspect.

The lady took a small device from her pocket and slid the badge through a crevice on the side. After a few seconds the small black box beeped and an indicator light lit green.

“Okay.” The woman nodded. “Looks like you’re where you need to be. Just hurry up and finish, okay?”

Trell smiled again. “Yes ma’am.”

After that, nobody looked twice at her. She was there for a reason, and they all knew it. Trell knew enough not to call attention to herself, she just went about her job in the way she’d been told to.

At the end of her chore, she tied off her trash bag and placed it in the large receptacle. After the sun set, she’d be able to retrieve her stolen goods with little to no difficulty.

She headed back inside the administration building. Outwardly, her face was blank and if anything she looked bored, but inside she couldn’t have been happier with how things had gone.

She stepped out into the main area of the building, taking off her security badge so she could hand it back to the officer at the entrance desk. The man took it with a nod and stowed it in his desk.

“Okay Trell, you know the drill.” Trell nodded as the man stood and walked towards her with a black electronic wand.

He waved it over her body as the device gave a low static hum. Had she still been carrying the data pad on her, it would have given off an alarm and she would have been in big trouble. As it was, nothing happened and the guard stepped away with a satisfied nod.

“Okay beautiful, you’re clear.” He shot her a playful grin as he put the wand away.

“Thanks. I’ll see you next week when it’s my turn again.” Trell smiled and threw him a little wave as she walked out, being sure to put a little extra sway in her hips as she did so.

Despite her confidence, she did let out a little sigh of relief as she stepped out of the air conditioned environment of the Administration building and into the blazing mid-afternoon sun. She’d been pretty casual about the whole affair but the reality was, that one minor misstep could have blown the whole scheme. All it would have taken was one over attentive guard looking at the right monitor at the wrong time and she would have found herself locked up in solitary confinement out in the badlands.

So Trell breathed a small sigh of relief.

All that was left now was to retrieve her stolen supplies before the trash got picked up and hauled off to the recycling center. She’d have to do it that night.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud shrieking yell from across the compound. Curiously, she trotted in the direction of the sound to see what was going on. As she rounded a corner around one of the prisoner barracks, she found herself looking at what the security drone would have no-doubt called an “altercation”

Greno had some skinny stain of a boy pressed up against the wall with one arm. The young man, despite being taller, was being held with his feet dangling above the ground. Greno’s face was twisted into a furious snarl, which ran counterpoint to the terrified grimace of his hapless victim.

“What did you just say to me, you little dung pile?” Greno growled in his abrasive voice.

Trell couldn’t make out the boy’s response. Not because she couldn’t hear him, but because he’d been reduced to a blabbering mess.

“I think I’m gonna mess up your face a bit more than it already is. Sound like a good idea to you, tupp-face?”

Trell rolled her eyes and stepped out from cover. “Geez Greno, you trying to make him look as ugly as you?”

The thug turned to face Trell and his momentary look of shock turned into one of predatory glee. “Trell… Was jus’ thinkin’ about you. About how I still owe you. An’ look… We jus’ happen to be in a security deadzone. That mean this time ain’t no trashcan gonna stop me.”

The blonde Titaness sneered. “Like I need some trumped-up data pad to keep you off of me.”

“Big words for such a little woman.” He spat into the dust at her feet. “don’ no slag like you talk to me that way though.”

Without warning, Greno lunged at Trell, knocking her back into the dirt. He moved to reach down and grab her by the hair, but she brought her legs up into his torso and kicked him back. He stumbled back a few paces but managed to keep his balance. Trell, meanwhile, used that time to climb back to her feet.

Grenno grinned and spat on the ground again.

Trell didn’t give him any more time though; she lashed out with her legs and caught the larger man across the side of his head. Greno stumbled back, slightly dazed. She kicked at his face and caught him right in the nose.

Greno howled in pain and rage, blood spurting from the wound. Trell leaped forward and drove her fist right into his blood splattered face.

“You slag!” He growled. “I’m not gonna forget this.”

“Get outta here Greno, go get your face cleaned up.” Trell snarled as the defeated thug backed away.

Trell’s chest heaved as she tried to return her heart rate to a more normal pace. When she managed to calm down, she looked over at Greno’s would be victim, who was laying in the dust with a shocked look on his face.

“Wow.” He muttered. “That was amazing.”

“Shut up idiot.” Trell spat. “I didn’t do it for you; I just wanted an excuse to pound his face in.”

“Still…” He rose to his feet, dusting himself off. “Wait… I know who you are. You’re Trell Pria.”

“Yeah.” Trell laughed. “And you’re Dorok. What’s your point?”

Dorok swallowed nervously. “They… They say you’re a traitor.”

“And they say you’re a rapist.” Trell shot back.

“I’m not a rapist!” Dorok tried to sound menacing, but it just came out whiny. “That was all a misunderstanding.”

Trell laughed mirthlessly. “Sure. That’s what they all say.”

“Yeah well… whatever.” Dorok pouted pathetically. “Thanks for the assist, I guess, but I’m out of here.”

“Hold on a sec there, Sticks.” Trell commanded, stopping the taller youth in his tracks. “I hear you’re good with electronics.”

“Yeah…” Dorok muttered. “I am. So what?”

“I need your help with something.”

Dorok’s demeanor perked up instantly. “You need my help with something?” He idly picked at the dirt under his fingernails, a sly grin on his face. “I suppose I could be persuaded to assist you… for a price.”

The lewd grin he threw at Trell informed her of exactly what that price would be.

Trell’s stomach roiled at the thought of what he was implying. Eyes burning with disgust she grabbed him by the shirt and threw him onto his back, swiftly placing her boot on his neck before he could even think of getting up.

“Listen you little pockmark,” Trell snarled. “I just saved you from a facial remodeling. So any ‘price’ you charge will be deducted out of your own scrawny hide, you got me?”

“Yeah. I got you.” Dorok blubbered, his voice turning into a high-pitched whine. Again. “No need for any misunderstandings, okay?”

“Good.” Trell grinned savagely. “Now here’s what I’m going to need you to do…” Swiftly, Trell outlined her plan to the sniveling coward at her feet, as well as his role in it. When she finished, she clarified that he understood instructions, and then sent him running off with a swift boot into his backside.

Trell watched him run off with a satisfied smirk on her face. She then became aware of a presence behind her and whirled around just in time for a large meaty hand to grab her by the shirt and lift her off of the ground.

Greno grinned at her, his ugliness magnified by proximity and the garish bandage across the bridge of his nose.

“Hello Trell.” He whispered, the stench of burnweed evident on his breath.

“Hi Greno.” Trell coughed. “Glad to see you got patched up okay, but I kinda wish you’d stopped to brush your teeth.”

Greno let out a deep throaty laugh and set Trell back on her feet. “That’s a good one. Did you get what you needed from the boy?”

Trell smirked. “Yeah. Thanks for the set up.”

Greno grinned savagely. “Anytime.” He rubbed his face gingerly. “Only maybe next time you don’t knock me around so much, yeah?”

“Aw, what’s the matter, Greno?” Trell sniggered. “I thought you liked it rough.”