Episode One, Part 2:
The Invaders 

I don't want to know the other side of a world without you. 
Don't want to know what it's like to live without you. 

"Hey," Sol murmured, beaming brightly as Atlantis walked into the living room. "Have you been in the office the entire day!?" She exclaimed.

"Yeah," Atlantis nodded, chuckling a little at herself. She crashed down on the couch, falling next to Sol who pulled herself away from Wynn's arms to lean against her sister. Both girls earned a dissatisfied frown from him, laughing it off to his dismay.

"I think there might be some movement on the ground," Atlantis revealed, careful with how much she gave away, not wanting the others to be filled with false hope.

"What kind of movement?" Wynn asked. "Water? Wildlife? People?"

"I can't quite figure that part out," Atlantis sighed. "It's moments like this where I wish Bas was here, the most. He was always good at finding the answers to these kinds of things..."

There was a silence that lingered in the room for a while, everyone seeming to pause and remember their lost friends which occurred more times than the could count with constant references and eyes always searching around for the two people they would never see again.

"Anyway, I was going to say that we should probably start to prepare ourselves for leaving the Bunker," she continued.

"You really think we could be getting out of here?" Liam asked, sitting up from beside Fenn, staring at her from across the room.

"I think we have to try something soon; if we don't, food supplies in the second bunker will only decrease, and as Fenn pointed out the other day, that will make everyone more susceptible to becoming sick or who knows what else."

"I have a question," Quill interrupted, folding the book he was reading over his stomach so he didn't lose the page. "If there is still a lot of water out there, and we open the Bunker door, all of that is going to pour straight in," he said. "What are we going to do about that?"

"Well," Atlantis summoned a deep breath, trying to recall the answer she had prepared for the very same question that had been clouding her mind for months. "The door that leads to the stairwell from Azha's office has a specially-designed seal to it, so as long as we make sure that door is closed when we open the one to the ground, everything in here should remain safe and not damaged by any potential water, other than all the things behind the office that had been put in storage over the years."

"Most of that stuff is junk," Wynn assured his brother, remembering when he and Sol had explored those hidden sections of the Bunker after they settled in. "It's just old furniture and clothes from when we were kids. We took what we needed for Harlow, Izzy, and the others and left what wasn't of use to anyone. And I took all of Ares' and Bas' things from there, so it's fine."

Quill nodded in relief, grateful that Wynn was able to read through the lines and figure out was had been posing as a bigger question on his mind.

"Elara, even though I have no clue when we'll even begin the process of making it back to the ground, I think you should talk with the kids about it; let them know how different things will be for a while until we can get everything back to normal. I was even thinking that maybe it might be best for them if they stay down here with some of us whilst everyone else works on rebuilding Basilisk. That way, they'll still feel safe down here and won't have to worry about shelter. We can alternate who stays down here with you and all of them."

"That sounds like a really good idea," Sol emphasised to her sister, looking over for Elara for her approval.

"Yeah, I agree," Elara smiled their way. "I'll go talk to them now."

"You can do it in the morning," Sol hurried out. "There's no rush. Everything's done for the day so we can all relax-"

"It's okay," Elara cut her off. "I need another early night, anyway. I'll go put the idea in their heads and then I'll see you guys tomorrow."

She turned on her heel and sped down the hallway before any of them could get another word in, not having the strength to face their questions or the discussions about life on the ground that she knew was bound to follow... Returning to the ground meant facing the reality of the rest of her life without Kodiak; it one was thing to have spent the past 6 months in the bunker - which felt like some kind of purgatory in between life and death - but it was another to return to life in all the places she had spent with Kodiak and know that the only thing she had left of him was his absence... As selfish as it was, she never wanted to go back outside. She didn't want to live the rest of her life as a life without him.

Before the thoughts could break her down any further, Elara knocked on the door to the children's room, announcing her presence as she stepped inside.

The children seemed to be invested in some sort of pillow fight with Harlow appearing to be the instigator of the scene, walking everyone with his own pillow the moment they pulled themselves up from what was surely his last attack.

Elara laughed along, feeling the act of forcing her happiness out of her to be draining all her energy away in mere seconds. As she went to call out for their attention, someone grabbed onto her from behind, using her as a human shield as Harlow jumped down from one of the beds, yelling frantically as he chased after who Elara realised was Izzy.

She managed to latch onto the young boy, swiping his pillow from him and giving him a fair whack over the head, earning an eruption of high-pitched laughter from all that were in the room.

"Okay, you guys," Elara caught her breath, sewing the pace down as she took a seat on the edge of the nearest bed, encouraging them all to make themselves comfortable as they listened in.

Each of them were cross-legged on the floor: Joshua, Katherine, Mabel, Dex, Harlow and Izzy, all waiting for what they assumed was a story.

"Are you going to tell us about Sovereign Kodiak again?" Joshua asked, his hopeful voice suddenly dimming down as Izzy forced her elbow into his side as an act of warning.

"I told you, we can't say his name around her!" Izzy scolded him, trying to keep her voice to a whisper so Elara wouldn't hear, but the damage had already been done.

"No, this isn't a story," Elara informed them, softening at the guilty look she saw from Joshua. "I was talking with the other grown-ups," she said, "about heading back to the ground..."

"It's time?" Dex asked from the other side of Izzy, a mixed expression of uncertainty and excitement consuming his features. It was then that Elara seemed to remember that each of them were more than likely resembling the same fear as her: facing the same emptiness at returning to a life that wasn't the same as when they left it.

"Almost," Elara said. "Atlantis thinks the ground is habitable again which means we can leave the Bunker and try to rebuild Basilisk; get everyone out of the second bunker... But they think it might be best if we stay down here until everything is ready. That means we get the place to ourselves-"

"We can make as much noise as we like!" Harlow exclaimed.

Elara laughed, feeling the forgotten flame of joy as it returned to her chest in echoes and fractures. "You already do!" She said.

"When will it happen?" Katherine asked.

"We don't know yet," Elara answered. "But we'll tell you when the plans are final. Until then, that means that noise you guys were making before still has a curfew," she joked. "And you guys still have a bedtime-"

A collection of groans cut her off and Elara chuckled, dodging the final throws of the pillows as she stood up, watching as they all climbed into their beds, no doubt to stay up talking even hours after she had left the room.

Eventually, she made it down the hall to her own room, not even having the energy to change out of her day-clothes before she collapsed on the bed, lying above the covers.

She rolled over to her side, her tired eyes flickering over to the framed picture on her nightstand that her and Sol had been talking about the previous day, and her mind recalled their conversation.

She wished she had something of Kodiak's to remember him by: a picture; one of his shirts; one of the notebooks he used to write Sovereign work down in... The only thing she had left of him was a small, silver ring that sat on a chain around her neck.

It was just as Sol had put it: she loved him, she missed him, and she wished she could have saved him.

////////

Elara woke up to her bedroom door being burst open and the harsh, yellow light from her ceiling shining down on her.

"What's going on?" She mumbled, struggling to see who was in her room and what was happening to her.

"I don't know, but you need to get up."

She immediately recognised her brother's voice, sitting up and forcing her eyes to adjust to the light as she saw Wynn in her doorway, hurrying a terrified looking Izzy into her room. At first, she panicked at the thought that Izzy might have been hurt, but she glanced her over and realised that other than what seemed like an irrational fear at the time, she was fine.

"Wynn' what's happening!?" Elara repeated her question, trying to follow her brother out of her room as Izzy clung desperately onto Elara.

"There's something outside," he told her. "Atlantis can detect movement out there. Whatever it is- whoever it is," he was quick to correct himself, "are trying to get in..."

"Is it-"

"I don't think it's Dreea," Wynn shook his head, already knowing what she was about to ask.

As Elara continued following him down the hall, she noticed everyone else in a similar state of panic - all hurrying in and out of rooms; covering themselves with thick jackets; supplying themselves with weapons - even the children.

"They would have told us if they thought they could get out of their bunker," Wynn continued, stopping at the doorway to his and Sol's room to check on her progress and how ready she was for whatever they were about to face. "Besides, we tried to radio them and there's been no response... This isn't them."

"Ell, what's happening? Are we going to be okay? Are we going to the ground like you said?"

Elara bit down on her lip, turning to face Izzy who was still adamant to not let go of her. "I-I'm not sure," she confessed, not wanting to lie to her. "I don't know what's going on, but I need you to change into warm clothes for me. Can you do that? I'll be waiting right here."

Izzy nodded, clearly only complying because she could see her own fear on Elara's face and didn't want to make the situation even more difficult for her.

"Where's Quill? Harlow? Where are-"

"Everyone's waiting over there," Wynn cut her off, holding onto Elara's shoulder for a moment as if to give her a moment of stillness in the face of everything else that was going on. She followed her eyes down the hall, relieved to see their brother standing with Fenn, Liam, Atlantis and the rest of the children.

"Whatever's about to happen, leave it to me and Sol, okay?" He said to her. "We're the Sovereigns; this is our responsibility to face. And make sure you and Izzy stay with Quill at all times, okay?"

Elara nodded, feeling a small hand lace with hers as Izzy returned out of the room, dressed in warm, winter clothes, a stitched up raincoat and shoes that she had been in too much of a hurry to tie up.

Elara bent down, lacing her shoes up for her, hoping that something as mundane having her shoes tied up would give her the same sense of stillness that Wynn had managed to give her moments ago.

"Don't worry, Izzy," Elara whispered. "No matter what happens, we're going to stay together-"

There was a loud, clanging of metals that roared from somewhere above where they were standing and the entire Bunker shook as a result. As Elara could feel Izzy's hand tighten around hers, she pulled her close behind, hurrying over to where everyone else was huddled together, all staring with their eyes locked on the office door, knowing that it was where the invaders would first appear from...

Everyone waited in silence, not knowing whether they would hear the gushing of water or the familiar sounds of their friends on the other side...

But eventually, there was noise; a shudder of footsteps as they jumped down the metal staircase, the swishing of water as it circled around someone's feet, the kicking of the firm door behind the desk in Azha's office...

Elara held her breath, pulling Izzy behind her as someone stepped through into the Bunker, their entire face covered by a mask.

Sol and Wynn stood at the front of the group, several metres ahead of everyone else, ready to face whatever danger or threat was headed their way.

"The Ouranos is waiting for you," the masked intruder announced, their musky voice disguised by their helmet.

"What the hell is an Ouranos!?" Sol spat, probably not meaning to have let that question slip.

"Airship," the person clarified. "Exit the shelter and follow my people when you reach the ground. They will lead you on board."

Both Sovereigns shared a nervous look with each other, knowing they didn't have time to weigh out their options. This was their chance at leaving the Bunker and potentially reaching Dreea and everyone else inside the second one, but they knew that if they tried an attack on the guard, then the rest of his people above ground - however many there were - wouldn't be too thrilled when they figured out what they had done.

Without much of a choice, Wynn nodded, agreeing to let Sol lead the way outside as he waited behind, joining his people at the back of the line, following their departure from the Bunker... 

One // Part Two
The only thing she had left of Kodiak was his absence.

Who are the invaders!?

I'm so excited for what's to come! This is going to be a season like no other!

23/10/20.