Episode Seven, Part 4:
G o o d b y e

If you love me, be grateful that I won't keep playing pretend. 
Don't ever say you will wait, don't show me your loving face. 
Just do this for me. 

Wynn closed the metal shaft over his head, scrambling down in the dark to reach the bag he had stashed there earlier. Fumbling around for a few moments, he managed to locate the whereabouts of the torch, pulling it out from the side of the bag and illuminating the narrow tunnel. 

He made sure he had everything he needed: Sol's radio, a flask of water, a portion of rations, and something of each of his siblings; he pulled Ares' jacket out of the bag. He'd had it in his possession since he passed, not wanting to lose his scent, but he knew it wouldn't last forever. He discarded his own jacket onto the ground beneath him, replacing it with his brother's which was slightly too big for him, but he didn't care. He already had one of Quill's shirts on him that he had made sure to wear when he last got changed, and it just left finding something of his sister's to take with him that he seemed to have struggled with. The only thing he had been able to come up with was taking one of her shoelaces and threading it through his boot. It was a worn-out light blue, contrasting the dark green on his other one, but at least it was a part of her that was with him, and maybe - once his memories had been stolen away, he would look down at his shoes, noticing the differences between them both - and although he wouldn't remember, it would be his sister that he was thinking about. 

Paranoid that someone would find him down there, Wynn slung the bag over his shoulder and made his way out of the tunnel, pushing through until he reached outside - now on the other side of Basilisk's gates. He hurried over to the edge of the forest, taking a look behind him at the place that had become his home, and forced himself to walk away... From everything. 

///// 

It had been almost 2 hours since when had left Basilisk and Aeryn followed everyone into the map room, already knowing what the conversation was going to be about. She was worried that she wouldn't be able to conceal the truth for much longer or hold off on everyone beginning to notice her suspicious behaviour. She could only hope that by the time they had figured it out, Wynn would already be with Targo, and he could be taken away safely without the risk of anyone getting hurt. 

Fenn, Joren and Bianca were in the room with her, all facing Dreea and Kodiak to see if they had any updates. As Dreea began to speak, Kodiak glanced around, noticing that someone was missing. 

"Hold on," he said to Dreea, then, asking no one in particular, "where's Wynn?" 

Fenn looked around, suddenly realising the boy's absence, indulging in the same sense of worry as the Sovereigns. 

"I'm gonna take a wild guess and say he's looking for Riv," Fenn sighed, folding his arms nervously. 

"Great," Kodiak did the same, looking up at Dreea as if to say that they should expect things to complicate. "Then our search has expanded for River and Wynn. If she's in danger, then best to believe Wynn will find himself in it, too." 

"Agreed," Dreea replied, turning back to everyone else. "She's definitely not at Basilisk, wherever she is, but none of the guards has seen her leave. I'll arrange for two to three groups to head out, starting at the Bunkers, the labs, and the dams-" 

Panic swarmed Aeryn; it was too much to handle, to keep inside, and she couldn't sit idly by whilst the Sovereigns risked the lives of their people to find Sol, knowing that she was safe in camp... She couldn't help but confess. 

"I know where River is!" The words exploded out of her, and she closed her eyes, not wanting to see the immediate reactions of everyone in the room. 

"Aeryn?" Kodiak searched with a bitter look on his face, wondering what the hell she was doing. "What do you mean? You know we've been looking for her for hours!?" 

"Do you have any idea how worried we've been?" Dreea chimed in, stepping closer to the doctor. 

"I-I'm sorry, I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't-" 

"What are you talking about?" Kodiak exclaimed. "You know what? You can explain after. Just show us where she is." 

Aeryn nodded timidly, walking back into the main section of the Quarters with everyone following. She could see Quill and Elara sitting down, their eyes full of concern as they saw everyone file out of the room, seeming even more alarmed than before - if that was even possible. 

Not wanting them to hear what had happened for a while, Aeryn quickly turned around, muttering over to Fenn. 

"I need you to stay with Quill and Elara for a while, just until I explain everything here. Keep them away for a bit." 

Fenn glanced over at Kodiak, sharing his concern at why it would affect them, but he nodded at Aeryn nonetheless, making his way over to the siblings. Before anyone else could interrupt with any questions, she began walking again, leading them down the stairs to the basement level, stopping outside the emergency medic room. 

Everyone seemed to realise where they were, and that Sol was obviously inside, and they were waiting for Aeryn to say that something terrible had happened: that Sol was hurt and that was why she was here and had been gone for hours. 

"Riv doesn't know what's happened either," Aeryn admitted. When she left the room, Sol was still unconscious, but she locked her inside in that hopes that when she finally came back, she would have managed to keep herself calm. 

"I thought it'd be better if I told you all together." 

She looked away, reaching into her pocket and retrieving the key for the door, hoping that Sol would hear her out before she told Dreea and Kodiak what they had done to her. 

But the door opened and Aeryn stepped inside, discovering that it was empty. She blinked profusely, not understanding how it was possible. It was such a small room and there was nowhere to hide, and the door had been locked... 

"Aeryn?" Dreea said. "Care to explain?" 

"I- I don't understand... She was here when I left..." The doctor mumbled, struggling to make sense of things. 

In her confusion, the others began to look around, taking note of everything in the room: the Alyx machine, the needles, the blood. 

"Well, I think I know how she got out," Kodiak said, pointing upwards at the window at the top of the ceiling. It had been forced open, and underneath it's opening on the wall, one of the beds had been pushed there - allowing Sol to jump up and pull herself out of the exit. 

"And I don't blame her," he continued, looking around in horror. "What the hell happened in here? Did you... Aeryn, did you do something to her?" 

She glanced around, trying to determine how long Sol had been gone for. Surely they would have seen her stumbling around, or she would have headed straight to the front of the Quarters in search for Dreea or Kodiak to explain what had happened, but she hadn't... The only possible alternative was that- 

No. No, she couldn't have figured out what Wynn had done... She couldn't have. 

"That's the part where you're supposed to say something!" Kodiak barked. "When you tell me that she's fine!" 

"I don't know where she is!" Aeryn brought her hands up to her head, covering her ears as she yelled back at Kodiak. After a few seconds, she pulled them away, looking over at him regretfully. "But I do know about Wynn..." 

"What, did something happen to him? Is that what's going on in here?"

"No, he's..." She didn't want to say it. The reality of what she had done was sinking in, tearing through her and stealing her breath away. 

"What, Aeryn?" Dreea pushed, seeing the younger girl's eyes well up with tears. 

"He's gone..." 

Dreea and Kodiak looked to one another, a combination of denial, dread, and terror on their faces. From beside them, Joren stepped over, seeking the clarification they were too afraid to ask. 

"He's dead?" 

"No-" Aeryn choked out, "but he's not coming back." 

Kodiak began to feel his pulse quicken, and he struggled to fight his way through all the anger he was feeling, still not understanding what had happened. At the route of everything, Elara was resting heavily on his heart, and he feared what consequences the conversation would bring for her. 

"Tell us what's happened to them both," Joren said, grabbing onto Aeryn's wrist and trying to steady her. He was able to keep his tone neutral, not threatening or belittling. 

"We-"

As Aeryn began to speak, there was a hum echoing in the room. Dreea pulled her radio from her waistband, unmuting it so everyone could hear. 

"Yes, we're open to your offer. As soon as we have our Heir, we'll leave your people alone." It was Rhea's voice, clearly a responding statement to someone, but they couldn't work out who. 

"What was that? What is she talking about?" Kodiak began to panic. 

"I don't know," Dreea answered, fiddling with her device. "It was sent to all signals... I'm trying to figure out if it was one of our radios that started communications with her. It sounded like she was answering someone." 

"I have to go find Elara-" Kodiak muttered, clasping his hands to stop them from shaking. He thought Rhea's message meant that they knew she was alive and he feared that they were coming for her. 

But Aeryn moved in his way, blocking the door so he couldn't leave. 

"Aeryn-" 

"It's not Elara that they're talking about!" She panicked, holding a hand up in surrender, desperate for him to listen, to believe her when she would tell him that Elara was safe. 

Before Kodiak could ask anything else, Dreea spoke up, a confession that would cause a shift in everything. 

"There's outgoing calls to Targo coming from..." Dreea looked up, everyone's eyes on her, waiting for to finish. "Aeryn's radio..." 

"Tell me what the hell is happening," Kodiak growled, unable to keep himself calm any longer. 

"River must have taken my radio when she got out..." She muttered to herself, suddenly glancing up, knowing that she had no other choice but to tell them about the plan. It was starting to seem as though Sol was jeopardising everything that she and Wynn had sacrificed to make sure the plan worked. 

"Elara isn't the Heir that Rhea's talking about," she said. "It's Wynn." 

"Wynn?" Dreea asked. "Wynn!? Wynn's the Heir, really? Come on, Aeryn..." She didn't believe what Aeryn was saying to them, thinking that she was making it up to buy herself some time. It wasn't logical in the slightest to her. 

"Yes," Aeryn answered. "Look, Targo were planning an attack, and this was the only way to stop them." 

"We knew about the attack, Aeryn. We were all there when we heard that girl's warning. I don't know what either of you were thinking, but it's our job to deal with this-" 

"No, you don't understand!" She exclaimed. "Wynn's dad called him on River's radio! That's why she could find it - because he had it. Kane tried to warn him and everyone from the Bunker to leave Basilisk because of an attack. This was before any of us found out about it, and it's why Wynn left the meeting in such a hurry; because he knew you guys wouldn't realise the extent of what Targo were planning." 

"Why didn't he just tell us? We would have listened." Dreea pointed out, unable to comprehend why Wynn hadn't done that. It would have been a simple solution to get the weight off of his chest. 

"They were going to massacre us," Aeryn dropped her head, fearing the words as they came out of her. "Kane told Wynn that if Rhea had to return to her city without an Heir, then she'd make sure she'd leave no survivors. He wanted Wynn to take Quill and the others to the Bunker so they wouldn't be killed, saying that Elara would have wanted that. They really believe she's dead, just so you know." 

"Okay, so where is Wynn now? And how does River come into this?" Kodiak pushed. 

"Because," she sighed, "there was only one thing that would stop Rhea from attacking, and that was leaving here with an Heir - someone to lead their people. By the time Wynn told me about everything, he'd already talked with his father and volunteered himself to take his sister's place. Do you understand? Wynn did that so every single person at Basilisk could live, even if it meant he'd lose everything. He sacrificed himself for us all... There was no other alternative other than all of Basilisk being killed." 

No one said anything for several moments, trying to swallow down the news. It was impossible to wrap their minds around how Wynn had saved them; how he seemed to have done it without any doubt that it was what he needed to do. 

"...And River?" Kodiak forced the words out through his tears, trying to hold himself together. He felt terribly nauseous. 

"Yeah," Aeryn mumbled to herself, knowing that she still needed to explain Sol's part in the plan. "If you remember when Riders sent the virus, Wynn was one of the first people to get sick. He wasn't a Pureblood. But that would be one of the first things Targo would check when he reached them, so we had to change that. I remembered when Atlantis had it; she was so close to dying from it that we tried a transfusion of River's blood into her's. It saved her life, and changed her blood. So we did it again; we used the knockout extract so Wynn could bring River down here, and by the time the transfusion was complete, he read as a Pureblood. He went to see everyone one last time, and then he got out through the tunnel. By now, he'll probably be meeting them at the dams. I left River here, but she must have figured out what was happening. She overheard a conversation between Wynn and me, and I think once she woke up, she followed after him, taking my radio so she could track him out there." 

"We need to get a team out immediately," Dreea turned to Kodiak, not wasting any time in trying to bring their friends home. 

"No!" Aeryn panicked. "Kane told Wynn that they'd kill anyone who followed him!" 

"So what about River?" Joren butted in, acknowledging that she was probably on her way after him. "If she doesn't know this, she'll walk right into it and be killed." 

"I'm hoping that she didn't leave long ago, and by the time she reaches the dams, Wynn will already be gone." 

"We have to do something," Kodiak said. "I don't care what happens to me, I'm going after them." 

"I'm going with you," Dreea replied, and the two Sovereigns hurried past Aeryn without letting her get another word out. They were determined to bring them both home. 

///// 

Wynn could see the people of Targo waiting up ahead. Rhea and Kane were standing in front of one of Rider's vehicles, surrounded by armed guards at either side, ready for his arrival. 

Once he knew he had been seen, Wynn held his hands up, slowing his pace as he continued forward. As if they already had their order, four guards approached him, threatening their guns at him to assert their dominance as two of them grabbed hold of his arms. He winced at the strain, afraid that if they tugged on him too hard, they would tear the stitches Aeryn had given him after Elara's attack in the Bunker, but he did his best to stay quiet. They searched him for weapons, patting down his legs, ripping his bag off of him and scavaging through it, but they couldn't find anything to cause concern. 

Briefly glancing over at Rhea to communicate the result of their search, she nodded towards them, giving them the 'go-ahead' for what was next. 

One of them pulled out a lancet device, grabbing onto Wynn's hand a pricking the end of his finger. As soon as he realised what they were doing, Wynn felt his chest tighten and the air became a little heavier to breathe in, but the guard eventually stepped away, not appearing to be alarmed by what his blood read. He had passed. 

As they began moving him forward, Wynn felt his knees grow weak, and he knew he wouldn't have been able to walk if he wasn't being pushed. He was so terrified of forgetting. Would they take away every memory he had of Quill and Elara? Would they make him forget that he had another brother - one that he had watched die in front of his eyes? A life before Basilisk? A life after the Bunker? 

Would he forget every single thing he had lived through with Sol? Because he didn't want to. If they took away that part of him, he hoped they would take away every other part, too, because what of him that remained wouldn't be worth living for. 

Before he could even halve the distance between himself and Rhea, she began to speak and if on cue, the guards pulling Wynn came to a halt. 

"You know Wynn, after everything that's happened between my people and yours, I have to admit that I was surprised at how appealing our invitation suddenly became." 

Wynn chewed on his bottom lip, rolling his head to look at his father impatiently. "Yeah, well you didn't exactly leave me with much choice." 

"Oh, I wasn't just talking about you," Rhea declared, beginning to twirl her hair around her finger, enjoying her opportunity to taunt him. 

"Don't flatter yourself. You know Elara never wanted to go with you." 

"Again, not who I was talking about, but I see your point," Rhea replied, quickly trying to disguise the hurt she felt at the girl's name. Wynn hated to see it, but he couldn't deny the look of grief that washed over her - as if in her own, wicked ways, she did truly care about Elara. It just wasn't enough to let her make her own decisions. 

"What are you talking about?" He asked tiredly, looking towards his dad for further explanation. 

"You didn't just give us a solution, Wynn," Rhea said. "You gave us a choice... Who do we take with us to The City of Targo? I'd love to take both of you - you definitely bring something interesting, that's for sure - but I think we both know that would be dangerous if we left you together." 

He couldn't understand what Rhea was talking about, and it was making him terrified - all lost of breath and desperately looking between her and his dad, begging for an explanation. 

"Who? Left who together!?" 

Rhea smiled, debating whether to answer him directly. She brought her radio up to her lips, speaking just loud enough for Wynn to hear. 

"Bring her out, boys." 

He panted against the guards' hold, scanning the area for movement, but it was hard to know where to look when the evening sky had turned everything so dark. But there was a sound up ahead, towards his left, and he focused his attention on several guards seeming to bring someone forward. 

As they stepped out of the trees, into the bleak glow of the moonlight, Sol was pulled into sight; the world came to a halt - not even the stars seeming to flicker for a moment, and their eyes met for a fleeting second. 

There was a desperation that surged through his body - one that hadn't even been present when he saw Ares in the water - trying to lunge him forward in her direction. It was so forceful that he managed to escape from the hold of the guards for a moment, but they quickly managed to resume their possession of him. 

"No! Take me!" Wynn screamed out to Rhea, his voice bleeding and breaking as it left him. "Leave her alone! I'm the one that you want!" 

"You're very entertaining to watch, but if you're serious about coming with us, then I'd cool off a bit. No one likes a try-hard, and you're only making me wary about choosing you." Rhea was standing opposite both of them, wondering how long she could drag this out for. 

"Rhea, Dad, please," Wynn begged, completely ignoring her remarks. "I'm the Heir! I'm Elara's brother. It just makes sense!" 

"That is a good point," Rhea spun around gracefully, directing her words to Kane. "The Prophet could be about him, but I don't know how easy the rest of The City of Targo would take to him being their-" 

"He's not a real Pureblood!" 

Wynn looked over at Sol, his mouth falling open in shock, in disbelief that she was working against him. The Sovereign looked over at him, almost apologetically and far from the look of betrayal that Wynn had been imagining. No. Her gaze was longing and miserable, and as she faced away from him, there seemed to be an agony tear through her the moment her eyes were elsewhere. 

"What did you say?" Rhea spat, marching over to Sol. 

"I said he's not a real Pureblood. He got sick when Riders sent the virus. He made our doctor transfuse my blood into him so he could align to your Prophet, but he doesn't. Check his arms if you don't believe me; they'll be bruises from where the lines were injected." 

"No!" His voice bellowed out, screaming more towards Sol than the guards who were now tearing his sleeve open, searching for the bruises that were anything but subtle. 

"She's lying! It's the other way around! Please, you can't listen to her!" 

Sol maintained her composure, refusing to acknowledge Wynn's pleading and staring straight ahead at Rhea faultlessly. 

"Are you telling the truth?" 

Sol took in a breath. "Yes." 

For a few moments, there was nothing else said - except the screaming from Wynn which seemed endless. Rhea knew that if she listened to the wrong person, then her entire mission would fall apart. At the end of the day, Sol and Wynn were both her enemies, but as she stared at the Sovereign - who seemed unmoving and stable in her confession, she knew she was telling the truth. 

"I'm the Nobel Sovereign of Basilisk and none of your attempts to defeat me have worked. Just think about how unstoppable I'll be when I pass The Alteration. I'm not the person written in your Prophet," Sol said, "I'm more powerful than that. So, take me. A Commander for a Commander." 

Rhea nodded a couple of times, backing away from her and moving over towards Kane. She patted him on the chest firmly as she spoke, immediately moving to the back of the vehicle and opening the doors. 

"I'm sorry, Kane. It seems you lose all your children, after all." 

"No!" Wynn wailed at her words, knowing that it was her decision. "NO! Sol! Sol!?" 

The Sovereign was shoved in Rhea's direction, almost falling to her feet, but she was yanked upwards and continued her fate towards the car. 

The boy struggled to break free, but it was apparent that they weren't going to let him get to Sol. One of the guards kneed him in the gut, a second blow came into his sides and a final hit as the grip of a gun was jarred into his back, forcing him to the ground. 

Wynn cried out in pain, barely registering the exterior injuries as he hollowed at would could only be the shattered remains of his heart collapsing inside of him. He managed to look ahead, the guards now having deserted him and running to climb onto the vehicle. 

Sol was standing at the edge of the car - with its back doors still open - swaying when the engine roared to life. Her gaze was tied to him - trying to say so much in just a look, but she couldn't get one clear emotion out. 

There were distant lights shining on the ground in front of Wynn seeming to be coming from behind him, but it wouldn't break his focus. He opened his mouth to speak, or at least cry, but he couldn't make a sound. One of his hands was clenching his stomach, but he raised his other one up as if to reach out for her, as if she could take it if she wanted to, but she couldn't. 

Without her touch to keep him steady, Wynn fell forward, crashing back down to the ground; his now off-centred vision of Sol was fading, and the car stole her away, and she was gone. 

Unwillingly, Wynn was rolled onto his back by a pair of hands. He didn't care to see who was there or to listen to any of the words that were only feeble hums against his ears. He laid still on the Ground, staring up at the now flickering stars, knowing that even though he was still alive, he was killed as he looked at Sol, knowing it was the last time. 

Seven // Part Four
He was killed as he looked at Sol, knowing it was the last time.

This hurt like a butt-cheek on a stick.

(That was a vine reference, please don't think I say things like that and mean them literally).

This chapter was 4.3K words and EVERY one of them hurt.

3 chapters left until Season 6.

30/04/20