CATCH & RELEASE by
Ethan Brunke
ONCE THERE LIVED A QUEEN OF DIAMONDS, A SPACE ROGUE, AN ASTRONOMER
“You there,” a sharp and authoritative voice shot through the enormous crystallic throne room Huge quartz pillars rose up the walls, amethyst and sapphire fixtures jutting from random angles. “Imperfects.”
“What did you just call me?” Orion gritted their teeth, fists clenched.
“Tsk. I don’t have time for your opinion,” said a beautiful, entirely see through woman Composed of solid yet fluid diamond, her ornate features were geometric and sparkling. Her irises were silver, pupils white; her hair was in a static updo, and she wore an onyx crown it was the only thing about her not even slightly translucent. “As queen of this planet, I command you to capture and bring me my daughter.”
“Who is she?” Asked Orion’s purple haired boyfriend, Caelum With plum colored eyes, and oaken hued skin, he contrasted Orion’s spiked brunette hair, emerald eyes, olive skin, and galaxy of freckles.
“Andromeda. A cloudy diamond who just chose to damn her people,” the queen hissed out, fuming “What’s in it for us?” Orion asked curiously.
“You meddlesome nebulae, always so wanting. ” She pondered for a moment. “I’ll… allow you one of my royal gems.”
“Deal!” Orion blurted impulsively “Perfect. Now, begone!” She waved a polished hand away towards the door. Caelum smirked at Orion as they walked out of the chamber. “Let’s go catch a princess.”
A DIAMOND HEIR RUNNING FROM HER DOOM
Andromeda stood still behind a pillar. It had been a challenge to evade the guards pursuing her, but she was too far in to give up now Plus, it didn’t help that she was the only non semi translucent Dracon
Seeing that nobody was down the hall, she broke into a run, hoping to reach one of the castle's spaceships Andromeda passed three corridors before she felt arms roughly wrapping around her chest.
Yelping, she tried to wriggle herself free to no avail.
“Let go of me!”
“Is this girl the princess?” The rounder of her two captors asked His purple hair stuck out to her at that moment.
The muscular one holding her made a noise to suggest uncertainty. “She does look a lot like the queen just with space buns and oddly solid black and white hair,” the nebulan with the gruffier voice surveyed
“It is called hair heterochromia. And I have a name. It’s Andromeda,” she informed them as she continued flailing.
“Wow,” exclaimed the first captor. “She is just as temperamental as her mother.”
She scoffed “You’d be ‘tempermental’, too, if your own mom decided to sacrifice you to a group of fungal mutants!”
The grip around her slackened. She managed to take a step away, peeved.
“Thank you,” she said sarcastically, wiping herself off.
“Don’t thank us yet,” pointedly remarked the scruffy one “I want my pay, so you have to come with us back to the rude queen lady.”
“Did you not hear that I would be sacrificed?!”
The calmer captor placed a tender hand on the other’s shoulder. “She does have a point, Ori,” he said He soon looked at Andromeda, a mischievous look on his face “Wanna be our hostage? You can escape with us on our ship!”
She placed her hands on her hips. “As long as it involves me getting out of this place.”
The man nodded However, the other interjected “But the royal gems?”
“Queen Cassiopeia of Cepheus doesn’t keep her word,” the princess haughtily explained. “Not since King Sirius was murdered, anyway. She’ll change her mind last minute and jilt you of the stones ”
“Wait. So this attempted kidnapping was for nothing?!” Grunted the muscular rogue.
“Ori, let’s calm down.”
“I AM CALM!” They yelled back
“Can we just get the crux out of here?” Andromeda quipped through the chaos. “Right. The escape plan,” said the feisty one.
“I’m Caelum Pavos, by the way,” clarified the calmer. “And they’re Orion Corvus ” Caelum gestured with his hand
“Andromeda of Cepheus. Although you discovered that already,” she said, awkwardly curtseying. “Um, though, I prefer Andi. ”
“Okay, Andi,” Orion began, rubbing their hands together in excitement. “How do we get out of here? I’m lost ”
“Good question,” said Caelum. He looked around the glittering hallway. “This place is a maze ”
“At least it’s a jeweled one. I wonder how much it costs!” Orion pulled a small dagger from their coat, chipping a cluster of minerals off the walls.
“What is your obsession with our precious resources?” Andromeda asked them hurriedly She then shook her head, sighing “Nevermind that I know a way out to where your ship would be.” She quickly peeked down the hall. “Follow me, but be cautious of the guards.”
“Oh yeah, ” Orion chuckled to themself. “You're a wanted woman in your own kingdom That’s quite curious!”
“Ori, perhaps we should be following Andi instead of gabbing about the situation,” said Caelum gently as he watched Andromeda walk down the corridor.
“Whatever. I just hope we’ll get paid. My famigarchy will want an update on our business soon And you know how my mom and dad and mother and father hate waiting.”
“True. The leaders of the black market are an impulsive lot like you.” Caelum smirked, punching their arm. “You’re lucky I adore that about you.”
“Good Because I don’t plan on changing anytime soon,” Orion cooed to him as they caught up to the princess, who had stopped at the threshold of a different wing. Orion accidentally smacked right into her as she was still standing in place.
Andromeda stumbled forward, producing a shrill noise akin to a yelp. The rogue looked at her with raised eyebrows, confused by the look of terror on her face They placed a hand on her shoulder, concerned at her sudden change.
“Andi, what is it ” Orion was cut off as Caelum whimpered, finally seeing what Andromeda was looking at.
“Uh O Ori?” He stuttered out Caelum looked as white as a ghost, though still not as see through as the Dracon.
Suddenly, a guttural gurgle echoed through the hallway, ringing off of the crystal like a siren. An odor reminiscent of rotting flesh soon wafted through the space, a foreboding feeling rising in Orion’s gut
They finally turned to see what all the fuss was about, locking eyes with something straight out of their nightmares. …
AND A VICIOUS MUTANT HELLBENT ON DESTROYING THEM ALL!
A tall mass of what appeared to be black industrial sludge stood twenty paces down the corridor. It was composed of numerous types of mushrooms and other actively decomposing organisms Upon seeing the trio, it groaned and began shifting towards them through the use of pseudopod like tendrils, moving at a shockingly fast pace. Behind it trailed a light brown line of slime, the whole thing revolting to look at.
"What the crux is that?!" Orion took a nervous step backwards.
“E Emperor Ara ” Andromeda shouted incredulously to the beast
“That thing’s an emperor?!” Orion asked her, Caelum clutching onto them for dear life He couldn’t speak due to fear
“He’s the fungal mutant I was talking about,” Andromeda hissed, her anger overtaking her rationale. “My mom wanted to sacrifice me to him to ‘save our people’ as she said. She’d rather save herself than her cloudy daughter.” A glossy tear trailed down her cheek
Immediately, the alien hurdled itself down the hallway. But to their shock, instead of killing the trio right there, Emperor Ara stopped when he reached them.
“Andromeda…” He gurgled in an unnatural voice. “It is time for your consumption.” A tentacle began forming from the decaying mass, inching its way towards her “ You cannot run anymore This is your fate ”
The tendril reached Andromeda, wrapping around her ankle with a firm grip. Instantly, she was wiped off her feet, falling to the floor. Scrambling to regain her footing, she called for help, Caelum still too fearful to take action.
Orion, however, bolted into action, taking their dagger back out and stabbing Ara’s slimy appendage. They grabbed Andromeda’s wrist and helped her to stand, them also taking Caelum’s hand, dashing away. In both reaction and anger, the Emperor released a blood curdling shriek, the rest of his ‘arm’ shrinking back into his body
Alerted by the ear piercing sound, a few royal Draconic guards entered the hallway, reacting to the horror in front of them as the trio had. Holding selenite spears and swords, the soldiers prepared themselves for a fight. They circled the beast, ready to strike at any instant if he were to act
“Foolish Dracon Your race is powerless against mine,” He snarled at the guards, his decaying stench compounding in the corridor. “The Fornax species will be the majesty of this galaxy. Nothing will end our reign!”
“Hold it, you horrid mass,” a pristine voice called through the din. Queen Cassiopeia stepped out of a nearby archway, seemingly unphased by Ara’s errieness Compared to him , she looked many times over his superior “We had a deal Andromeda for our safety!”
“And where is the child now?”
Cassiopeia seemed to realize that her new hires hadn’t done their job. She gritted her teeth “Not where she should be,” she said bitterly “If you just let me ”
“My patience runs far too thin!” He cut her off. “I require sustenance NOW,” Ara bellowed. Before the queen could make any more excuses, the emperor swiped at one of the guards, sucking them into his amorphous body. Within moments, their thrashing and screams stopped A cold chill ran down Cassiopiea’s spine, a metaphorical crack in her superiority to him. She stepped away.
“
I need MORE!” Ara grumbled, reaching for more of the guards. A black tendril twisted around yet another ankle in a deathgrip.
Another Dracon swallowed whole by the Fornaxian
Still unsatisfied, Ara’s body created more slimy tentacles which began slithering along the floor like looming shadows The white hallway was an opaque mess of grime and pulsating slime. Soon enough, the ooze began to reach for the queen.
“What is the meaning of this?!” She shouted in outrage. The tendril clamped over her mouth, beginning to strangle her neck.
“You Dracon have worn my patience Time for you to join the late king ” Ara laughed with a sadistic glee as he heard her choke out a scream.
“NO!” Andromeda shrieked. She stood down the hall, pursued by both Orion and Caelum, who had regained some bravado. “Unhand the queen!”
Amused, Ara set Cassiopeia down. “And what might you do, little stone?”
“We’ll rip you apart,” Orion said for her, clutching their blade furiously “A and end you,” Caelum added hopefully, taking Orion’s hand with a fearful smirk. Orion squeezed it back.
“I’m afraid that you shall be the ones torn apart, Nebulans!” With one flick of his appendages, Ara knocked the two of them off their feet In seconds he had Orion, Caelum, and Cassiopeia ensnared.
Andromeda froze. Her urge to rescue her mother hadn’t gone as planned. Now she could lose all of them in a matter of moments. Her self doubt surfaced, panic rising within her Afterall, she was a powerless, cloudy Dracon
Then Ara began to crush his captives, a primal rush of adrenaline rushing through her veins as they all cried out.
Something clicked within her, a spark of energy culminating with a fractal of crystal on the floor forming into a stalagmite of diamond It grew so fast that Ara hadn’t a chance of escaping it as it stabbed into his core, killing him instantly. Other clusters of crystal grew then, too, the corridor lined.
“Andromeda! Y you have magic, ” Cassiopiea exclaimed, rushing to hug her daughter “P please forgive my cruelty!”
“We’ll work on it. You were very wicked, and yet, you’re still my mom.”
Caelum poked Andromeda. “Are… we still kidnapping you?”
“Of course.” She beamed.
“Later, queenie,” teased Orion as the trio skittered away, leaving Cassiopeia to question all she had witnessed. Her ‘defunct’ daughter took down a feared emperor with an abrupt rush of power!
“What the crux, ” she muttered.