Episode Four, Part 6:
C h e c k m a t e

Chessca stood in the labs, her attention focused on testing the chemicals in front of her, determined not to miscalculate anything. 

The door behind her slammed open and she jumped, caught off guard by the sudden noise. Some of the chemicals in her hand spilled into the beaker, and without knowing how much had gone in their, Chess worried that it would damage the serum. 

She sighed heavily, placing both of the beakers back onto the counter in frustration, snapping at Rhea. 

"You shouldn't jump up on me like that. Now the serum is ruined and I'll have to begin again." 

Rhea rolled her eyes. "You can still use that. You're not wasting it. You should have been more careful." 

"Fine." Chessca snapped. She hadn't turned around to face Rhea yet even though she knew that was what she was waiting for. 

Growing impatient, Rhea moved close to her. She pushed aside the younger girl's books and equipment and perched herself on top of the counter, obnoxiously swinging her legs back and forth. 

"How long until the serum is ready? We're all waiting on you to be able to get Elara. I hope you know that." 

Chessca bit her tongue, refraining herself from saying everything she wanted to. 

"There's enough to get someone through Phase 5 of The Alteration, I just don't know about this girl." 

"Meaning?" Rhea inquired. 

"Whether or not she survives it is incomparable to anyone else. I mean, if the process had never been interrupted, it would be different, but considering your Heir's cognitive functions are almost certainly declining  by now, we need to accept that we're not just getting her through the final phase, we're trying to keep her alive." 

Rhea frowned, her nose twitching in response and her feet hitting hard against the floor as she jumped down. 

"Just make it clear what you're trying to say," Rhea growled, already knowing exactly what she meant. 

Chessca sighed, debating the consequences as she twisted around to face her square on, but the desire to challenge Rhea was an opportunity too good to pass. 

"If your Heir dies, that'll be on you, because you couldn't keep her safe." 

A rage took over Rhea - a hatred too strong to control. She raised her hand up, swinging it forward and slapping her palm hard across Chessca's cheek. 

"If the Heir doesn't survive, neither will you." 

Chessca refused to clutch onto her cheek or show an ounce of pain for Rhea to see. She gritted her teeth, moving her head to face Rhea, surprised to see a glimmer of tears coat her eyes. Before anything else could be said, she stormed out of the room, walking into Chess' shoulder on her way past. 

As the door shut behind her and Chessca knew that Rhea was well and truly gone, she picked the beaker up from the counter, screaming in frustration as she slammed it against the wall. The serum spilled all over the floor, sizzling as it came into contact with the ground. 

"Damn it," she muttered under her breath, taking a moment to compose herself. She glanced back at the counter, trying to figure out how long it would take her to start again, and how much of the serum she could make. 

"Is everything okay?" A voice startled her again, but it was warmer, and she wasn't afraid. 

Chessca looked over her shoulder to see Kane standing in the doorway. 

"Fine. Sorry for the noise." She apologized, thinking that someone had sent him in to inspect her screaming. 

Kane's eyes searched the room and he noticed the broken glass by the wall. Without saying anything else, he walked over to it, picking up a cloth from the counter to collect all the loose shards. 

Chessca didn't know what to do. She couldn't tell if Kane despised her as much as Rhea and everyone else seemed to, or if he hadn't reached that stage yet. She remained standing in her place, quiet as the man eventually moved over to her. 

"This is going to work, right?" 

Chessca tilted her head. "I-I just told Rhea everything-" she gestured behind her. 

"No, she didn't send me in here to ask questions. Forget her." Kane assured her, his eyes drawn to all the equipment he had out. 

A little more relaxed, Chessca felt able to give him the right answers. 

"It's hard to know without seeing what state she's in. No one's ever survived long after being pulled out of The Alteration; they die during it, not a while after. Did you see her yesterday when you went to where she is being held?" 

Kane shook his head. "Two of my sons were there, but I couldn't see Quill and Elara." 

"Big family," Chessca hummed. 

"Yeah," Kane smiled into his words, "there was a lot of us." 

 "In your family?" 

"Yeah," Kane repeated, unable to stop himself from reminiscing. "There were 18 in our Bunker. Four different families, but one, essentially." 

Chessca smiled momentarily as if the peace that Kane was clinging onto was contagious, but she was able to pull herself back into reality. 

"It's funny," she began, "it seems like you love them a lot-" 

"I do," Kane nodded, not picking up on the fact that she hadn't finished speaking. 

"Yet you're willing to put your daughter through this..." 

Kane looked up at her. For a second, he shared the same gut-wrenching fear as his sons had done for Elara's safety, but then he remembered the bigger picture. 

"I'm sorry that the role of Commander didn't work out well for you, but my child is the Heir, and I know that what's waiting for her in the City of Targo is greater than anything she'll leave behind." 

"Greater than family?" Chessca questioned. She knew she was overstepping her boundaries and was coming dangerously close to offending Kane, but she didn't want to see another young girl suffer the way she had done. 

"Nothing's greater than that," Chessca mumbled, looking away. 

Kane huffed. "I am her family. Thanks for the concern, but I just want you to tell me if you can do this or not." 

"I can do it," she told him. "But you're gonna need to get her the serum long before you manage to get her here." 

Kane was halfway across the room, having thought that the only thing that mattered was Chessca's faith in her abilities, but like some sort of revelation, everything changed. He stopped in his tracks, turning back to face her. 

"What are you saying?" 

"I'm assuming it will take a couple of days at least before you're able to bring here?" 

Kane shrugged, wavering in uncertainty. 

"Don't act all tough. I know you expected to march up to Basilisk today and bring her back, but we both can see that she's not here." Chessca rolled her eyes. "Look, we both have a lot to lose here," she told him. 

Kane raised an eyebrow indicating for Chessca to elaborate. 

"You face losing your daughter, I face losing my life. Despite what Rhea says, we have to work together." 

The man nodded eventually, proving that his determination to get his daughter back triumphed above every other loyalty or relationship he had. 

Chessca picked up a handful of needles, making sure they each had a cap on them before placing them into a drawstring bag. She nervously glanced around the room, afraid that somehow, someone was watching. She shoved the bag into Kane's hands, hoping he would realize that he needed to keep them hidden. 

"What are-" 

"I don't care how, just make sure that your daughter gets these. There's enough in there to last a week, maybe two - depending on how quickly she's declining. I'm doing this to keep her alive; that means I trust you're not going to tell Rhea what I've done." 

Kane gulped nervously, but he nodded his head, genuinely meaning it. He held the bag securely, hiding it in the side of his coat, trying to figure out how he was supposed to get it to Basilisk without Rhea knowing. 

//// 

Wynn and his family were waiting in one of the rooms in the Quarters, waiting for the Sovereigns to arrive. They didn't know why exactly, just that something had happened and they need to figure out the best plan at keeping Elara safe. Bas was there too, and Azha as his relationship with Kane existed long before any of his children were born. If there was someone who could be able to get through to Kane, it would be him. 

Kodiak and Dreea entered the room, immediately heading to the desk in the corner where Aeryn and Fenn were, presumably going over what facts they had. 

Kodiak glanced behind him, meeting eyes with Elara briefly - who was sitting up close to Wynn - and smiled over at her. Deep down, he was terrified of what things would be like when they left the room; what their plan would be, if they had any idea of how to make Elara's visions stop, and if they could rid of Targo. 

As Kodiak turned his attention back to Dreea, Elara leaned her head against Wynn's shoulder, calmly waiting for everything to begin. 

Then, someone appeared in the doorway, leaning against the frame with their arms folded. From beside Elara, Wynnlow looked up to see Sol next to him. 

He smiled, murmuring a delicate 'hey' up at her. 

Sol smiled, turning to repeat it back to him, but she frowned instead, chewing on her bottom lip. Wynnlow knew what was going through her mind. Quill had been the same when they woke up in their tent in the morning and was the first to witness how the bruises on his face had soaked up into a darker shade of purple whilst they slept. 

"How are you feeling?" She asked. 

Wynn looked down at his sister beside him, seeing that she was already looking at him expectedly, having heard Sol's question. 

"I'm fine," he laughed off their concern, moving so his arm was around Elara. He squeezed her tightly, trying to get her to laugh so they would see he was being truthful. As the young girl managed to pry her way out of her brother's arms, Wynn glanced back up at his friend who was gazing down, admiring the relationship he had with his family. 

"How did it go with Jonas?" Wynn asked, knowing that things would turn slightly more tense. 

Sol sighed heavily, exhaling out a deep breath. "He's okay now. I don't think he could quite believe that his days of fearing his father are behind him and that he can finally feel like his brother is at peace. He was just overwhelmed yesterday." 

Wynn nodded, glad that everything between her and Jonas was alright, and there was one less thing for her to worry about. 

"It's a lot to take in for a kid that young. Harlow's still trying to adapt to... To so many people being gone." Wynn had to bite his tongue for a moment, refusing to get caught up in old feelings as the memory of Lyra threatened to creep in. He buried it away, but before he could speak, someone called out Sol's name. 

"Riv?" Dreea spoke, stealing the Sovereign's attention away from Wynn. The Sovereign sucked in a breath of courage, forcing herself over towards the group as everyone drew quiet to listen in. 

"We've been trying to decide which of the two we should focus more on: getting Elara's visions to stop, or getting rid of Targo," Sol began. "We're worried that if we make our sole focus on the visions, then we make ourselves vulnerable to an attack, leaving the rest of our people in danger. However, if we plan our options at eliminating Targo, there's still no guarantee that Elara will go back to normal." 

"What did you decide?" Ares asked. 

"That's the thing," Dreea answered. "We want your input-" 

"Save Ell," Ares answered without a beat, without even letting the Sovereign speak. 

"Assuming you mean focusing on her visions, we'll still have the problem of Targo and your dad, being around, and given the fact that they're aware of what happens to people when they don't complete The Alteration, I don't think they'll be easy to take down. Our numbers were weakened when Riders sent the virus, and if it was just them we had to worry about, then maybe we would be fine. But this is two clans against one." 

"Hang on, I thought Riverly killing Rogue meant that Riders and Targo weren't working together anymore?" Bas sought clarification. 

"It means their alliance is weakened because they let me kill the king. Rhea's probably with them right now making up some pathetic reason of why she let that happen, but if we can shake Riders' confidence in her again, then maybe the alliance will break." Sol explained, informing them why they couldn't count on her kill. 

"Ell, do you have any input?" Fenn spoke up from behind the Sovereigns, wondering what was going through her mind, and what she wanted them to do. 

Elara hummed as she considered her answer; more than anything she wanted the visions to stop, but she couldn't be that selfish and allow them to put all their time into healing her instead of protecting Basilisk. 

"We should focus on getting rid of Targo," she declared. 

Out of everyone in the room, Sol seemed to be the first person to see right through her. 

"We'll stand by you whatever you choose," Sol promised her, hoping that Elara would pick up on what she was really trying to say: I know that's not what you want. Choose for yourself. Don't think about anyone else. 

"That is what I want," Elara replied. "Who knows, maybe the visions will stop eventually. They did for a couple of nights after you brought me back from the labs." 

"Elara," Wynn mumbled from beside her. He sat up so her head lifted off his shoulder, and kept his voice low as if she was the only one who could hear. He didn't want to rip away the small ounce of hope he thought she was holding onto that things would get better, but he didn't want her making all her choices based on that. 

She shook her head, smiling as if to prove to them all that she knew it was ridiculous, feeling everyone's eyes on her. 

"Relax, guys. I'm kidding." She spoke softly, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I can live with the visions," she lied. "I can bear it until you get rid of Targo and then we can all figure out how to get them to stop. I'm having so many that you guys are starting to figure out when I'm in one, so maybe just for now, let me have them, and keep me restrained," she said, afterwards looking up at Wynn. "So I don't hurt anyone else." 

Her brothers were reluctant to accept her choice; it was torture for them to see their little sister suffering, but they had to let her decide for herself. 

Ares sighed, looking away from his sister and back up to the Sovereigns. "So how do we get rid of them, then?" 

The three of them glanced around at each other, all not wanting to be the one to answer. 

"We still haven't worked that part out yet," Kodiak confessed, scratching the back of his neck. "Well, we've got ideas, but it's just figuring out which will be the most effective, and how to get Targo out of our lives the fastest. We can't seem to agree on one yet." 

"We'll discuss it all again when we've reached a conclusion," Dreea announced. "Most likely at the end of the day. We'll send someone to get you guys back here." 

With a room full of heavy sighs, one by one, everyone stood up at their own pace, parting from the room. 

It was just the three Sovereigns and Aeryn left behind Wynn as he allowed Elara to stand up and watched as she turned the corner, disappearing down the hall. As he moved to follow, there was echoing beep that sounded in the room, and he caught himself in the doorway, trying to figure out what the noise was. 

Sol, Kodiak and Dreea all reached for their radios, pulling them out to listen to who was calling. 

"It's not from a known channel," Kodiak muttered, fiddling around with the dial so they could hear the message clearly. Once he tuned into the right frequency, the message began, and all 5 of them listened in with worried hearts. 

"This is a plea to Basilisk. Kane speaking; my daughter will die if she doesn't get the serum soon. Let me meet you so I can give it to her. I promise you, this isn't a trick. I'm trying to save her life. Without the serum soon, she will continue to lapse and she will be dead in a few days time... This is a plea to Basilisk. Kane speaking-" 

Kodiak switched the radio off, his gut spinning in nausea as he tried to process what he heard. Dead in a few days. 

Meanwhile, everyone else glanced over at Wynn, waiting to see how he would respond to the words of his father. 

"We're getting that damn serum." 

Four // Part Six
Nothing's greater than family.

Enjoy this 3000 word chapter! I have a massive headache because of it!

Also, I feel like I've been very good with the consistency of the chapters in this series (episodes One to Six having six parts, and then episode Seven having seven parts), but there is no way in heck that season 4 will be finished by episode Seven. The story's just about reaching the half-way point (or 1/3), so I honestly have no clue what episode this one is gonna end on, but I can promise you that it will be the biggest finale chapter yet!

Also, I'm determined to get it finished before May 4th so that way I can have completed it faster than the previous book in this series! 

I love the gif of KJ up top! He's the most gorgeous man, ugh! I like it for this chapter because it's how he's like when he's talking to Sol. <3