Episode Six, Part 3:
Do This For Me

And I don't know, I don't know how it can change. 
It's all we know, all we know, the hurricane. 

Sol leaned up against the wall of Wynn and Quill's room. The older boy was sitting on the edge of his bed, pulling his shoes off and ready to collapse after the end of a very strenuous week, but Quill wasn't around. It was just the two of them there. 

"I think it might have worked out, Wynn," Sol spoke tenderly, unable to fight the smile that was creeping onto her face. 

He smiled in return, glancing down for a few moments as he let her words settle. "Yeah," he agreed, "and we might even be able to get Elara's visions under control." 

"Wynn," Sol pushed, wanting him to allow himself to have a little more faith, "she might even stop having them altogether." 

He looked up at her, nervous to believe what she was saying, but he knew that it was about time that he let a glimmer of hope back into his heart. He nodded, beaming as he gazed up at her, sitting up straight, now. 

"Have you had a chance to talk to Kodiak yet?" He asked, not wanting to ruin the moment, but he wanted to know that everything was okay with her. 

"Plenty," Sol laughed briefly, "but every time I try and approach him, he makes sure to avoid me. The only time he can manage to speak to me is when he, Dreea and I are covering Sovereign duties." 

Wynn frowned apologetically. "I can get Elara to have a word with him." 

"Thanks," Sol shook her head, "but I don't want her to have to be in the middle of this. He'll come around eventually...I hope." 

There was a comfortable silence between the two for a minute; Sol's eyes focused on the boy as he absentmindedly looked around. She could see he was exhausted, both physically and mentally, and what he needed was a decent night's sleep, knowing that everyone was finally safe at Basilisk with him. 

"I'll leave you alone now," she murmured, almost having to drag herself away. 

"Sol!" Wynn called out for her, suddenly standing to his feet. He was caught in hesitation to move closer towards her but decided against it, worried that if he did anything, she would see it as acting on an impulse; that it was just a way to distinguish the final flame of fear burning in his chest. 

She turned around expectingly, waiting to hear what he wanted to say. 

"Uh, thanks," he stammered. 

Sol waited for a second, wondering why it had been so important for him to tell her that. "You're welcome?" She replied, laughing faintly at him. He should have known that they were way past needing to speak to know what the other was thinking; she could see it just by the way he looked at her that he was grateful, and she hoped he knew she felt the same for him. 

Without staying to see his nerves get the better of him, Sol drifted out of the room, already waiting to see what the next day would bring for them. 

"You're an idiot," Wynn mumbled when he was alone, practically kicking himself for being so stupid. Every now and then, for reasons he was yet to admit, he became nervous around her. Like it was as if he knew that he might spill out hasty confessions if he had a minute longer in her company.  

There was a buzz rattling against the wooden desk at the foot of Wynn's bed. At first, he didn't know what was causing the sound, or where it was coming from, but as he investigated the noise, he soon found Sol's radio to be the source of the noise. 

He picked it up, hurrying to the doorway to see if Sol was still in sight, but she was gone. It was still reasonably early, so chances were that she wasn't even in the Quarters anymore. 

Assuming that it was just someone from Basilisk - perhaps Dreea or Joren, Wynn decided to answer it. He was Sol's Nominated, after all, so he didn't consider it to be too big of a deal to listen on her behalf, eventually planning to find her and communicate the message along. 

"Hello?" He said, trying to guess who was calling, but he never would have gotten it right. 

"Is this Basilisk?" The voice asked, then, "...Wynn? Is that you?" 

He felt his blood boil with rage, an unmistakable fury as he spoke. "Dad?" 

"Yeah, son-" Kane sounded relieved, completely contrasting to the last time he had seen his son. Wynn could still remember the sting he had left on his cheek. 

"What the hell are you doing calling!?" Wynn was furious, worried that he might say something he would regret. He took a moment to compose himself, walking over and locking his door so no one could enter. He didn't know why he did that, it was just a gut feeling. 

"It's over. Elara's gone," he reminded Kane, hoping that it wasn't a call to challenge his declaration at the dams. 

"Are you alone?" Kane ignored his question, his voice coming out hushed and urgent. 

Wynn rolled his eyes, not wanting to fall trap to one of his games again. "I can't do this anymore," he exhaled, knowing he would only feel relief if he knew he or his siblings never had to hear from him again. "I need you to leave Quill and I alone." He demanded, purposefully leaving their sister's name out of it. 

"Wynn, listen to me, it's not over!" There was a fear in his father's voice that kept Wynn from setting the radio down. He knew he was being naive and that it would have been exactly what Kane wanted, but he couldn't help himself. Maybe it was like Sol had said: you let someone in, and they're a part of you forever. Whether he liked it or not, there might always be a part of him attached to his father; never able to shake him completely from the deepest, most hidden longings of his heart. 

"What are you talking about?" He asked cautiously. 

"How many of you are left!?" 

"From? From the Bunker?" Wynn exclaimed, not able to gather up another logical answer. 

"Yes," Kane replied, not even a second passing between each other's words. 

"Me, Quill, Bas, Harlow and Azha..." He stated, immediately wondering if it was a mistake. What if Targo were coming after them next? What if Rhea wanted revenge for Elara  'dying', and the only resort she could come to was to kill the rest of her family? 

"Listen to me," Kane emphasized. Wynn could tell just from his voice that his father was gripping desperately onto the radio, speaking as close to it as he could so that no one could overhear him. "You need to get out of Basilisk. Tonight. You need to get as far away as you possibly can, do you hear me?" 

Wynn scoffed, once again rolling his eyes. "What are you suggesting? That we cross the DeadLands and head to your City? Or do you just want us there so you can do that part yourself?" 

"No! I'm dead serious, Wynn. I don't care where you go, just that you need to hide somewhere. You should go to the Bunker, or if you don't trust me, find someplace on your own!" 

"Of course I don't trust you," Wynn growled, not understanding the point of the conversation. "I'm not going to do anything you say until you tell me why you want us to leave so badly?" 

He waited for a response, preparing himself once again to laugh at the ridiculousness of his father's statement, but the line was silent. 

"Dad?" Wynn asked. "Dad?" He tried a second time, beginning to think that it was just Kane's way of trying to provoke fear into him. 

Just as he was ready to give up and switch the radio off, Kane called through. 

"Sorry. Someone was nearby. I had to make sure I'm alone." 

"Sure," Wynn replied sarcastically. "I bet Rhea's hovering over your shoulder right now-" 

"I swear on my life she's not. She'd kill me if she knew what I was doing." 

"Strangely enough, I can't bring myself to believe you..." Wynn taunted, growing more and more frustrated as the minutes passed. 

"Wynn, please, you have to trust me on this. I know I've given you every reason not to, but I... I'm telling you this for Elara." 

Wynn felt his heart drop. Did he know? 

"Because even though she tried to resist everything I did for her, she was my daughter and I loved her. I know she'd want you guys safe." 

There was a slight relief in the young boy's chest; it seemed Kane really did think Elara was dead, after all, but he was still furious. Ares was gone, too - for real, and it seemed that their father didn't even remember his name. 

"And Ares," Wynn refused to let him be forgotten, even for a moment. 

Kane sighed into the radio. "Exactly. I've lost two of my children; I don't want to see the same thing happen to my other two." 

"Quill told me you had a gun to his head-" 

"And I'm here now trying to repent for that mistake!" Kane exploded. "Look, I'll get to it," he said. "Because we're not returning to The City of Targo without an Heir, Rhea has plans to wipe out Basilisk. I'm talking about a mass scale, Wynn. Your people have made a fool of her too many times, and the least she plans to do is to return to our home knowing she killed every last one of them. Of Basilisk." 

"I don't get it. You've been with her every step of the way. Why now are you trying to help us? I know you've wanted to hurt me on several occasions. I saw the way you were looking at me: like I was just another face getting in the way." 

"I told you. I'm doing it for Elara. She was special." 

Damn right she is, Wynn thought. It was the sweetest feeling to know that Targo thought they had lost her, whilst he and his family had her safe and alive with them. But for how long? 

The question crept up in Wynn's mind. There was no doubt that what his father said about Rhea was true. Even if he didn't believe everything else, he could still count on the promise of an attack. Sol even confessed that they were expecting a final attack from Targo, but he knew that not even she would be able to fathom a complete massacre of her entire people. 

Wynn felt completely suffocated, almost as if the fate of everyone rested in his hands. He knew that if he didn't do something, if he didn't come to a compromise with his father, then everyone in Basilisk would be killed. Joren, Aeryn, Kodiak, Dreea... And Sol. 

He couldn't let that happen. He couldn't live in a world that she wasn't in, even if that meant something happened to him. 

These were the people that had accepted him and his family when his entire life had been ripped away from him; Sol had fought every battle alongside him, made sure they all came home every time. For every sacrifice, every moment of compassion, Wynn seemed to finally understand what his heart had been bleeding for so long: how he felt about her. 

Wynn was struck with an idea, something that would see to change everything. "Read out the Prophet." He ordered. 

"What are you-" 

"Read out the Prophet!" He repeated again, afraid that his voice had been loud enough for someone to hear. He moved far away from the door, sitting on his bed and leaning up against the wall. 

There was a moment of uncertainty, but Kane did as Wynn asked, reciting the words by memory. "Rising from the earth, stained with the fire, and pure of blood - the Heir will deliver The City of Targo from its suffering and into revival. They will be our liberation and the people of The City will multiply the land bringing the remains of the earth into metempsychosis." 

It was a lot to take in; concepts that the young boy was trying to wrap his head around, but he managed to piece it together, understanding how his sister fit the part. Rising from earth was surely leaving the Bunker, stained with fire was her red hair, and pure of blood was the first Phase that Elara passed: not being infected with the virus that Riders had sent to Basilisk. 

There were words tugging on Wynn's heart. An instinct that he knew he had to give into, despite the fact that they would change everything. But he couldn't let Basilisk be killed if there was something he could do to stop it. He couldn't bear to see Sol suffer through another war, or know that Quill and Elara were in danger. He made his decision. 

"You can take me. I'll be the Heir." 

Six // Part Three
I'll be the Heir.

When I said that everything was about to change, I meant it.

26/04/20