Chapter 7: Red Ruins

Atari had no idea how long she and the unconscious Grimley were beneath the glowing roof the sword had provided. By the time it had dissolved away the storm had stopped.

She had fallen asleep over Grimley's back, the hilt of the sword clutched in her right hand. The light of the early morning sun illuminated the ruins of the mansion.

"Ruins?" Atari jolted upright as she remembered the events of the previous evening, the storm, the window, the gas. She looked to the window and the tree was still there. "But, that's all that happened last night. Last night the rest of the mansion was still here."

Surrounding them was nothing. The high black walls of the mansion were gone, completely decimated, as though they had never been there. Their absence left a great gloomy sky spreading out overhead, only interjected by a few remaining pillars of black stone desperately clinging to their former shape. There were no rich red banners, no tall roof, the floor was covered in crisped leaves and debris, the stairs were missing. If Atari had seen the second floor she was sure it had also been destroyed.

She stood on trembling legs and remained rooted to the spot as she surveyed the scene. All around her were the bodies of the guards, gone stiff in the cold of the night, frozen in the agony of their death. She focused on the tree in the remains of the southern window and saw no swamp behind it. The trees surrounding the mansion had been burnt to a crisp for a mile in diameter. Some still burned, others smoldered. The ground was ripe with ash, the warm wind of the beach carried up the land kept it swaying over the bodies. Atari looked closer at the ruins, everything seemed to be burnt. The remaining walls were no longer polished but slightly eroded and dulled. She looked at the floor around her and saw that in a circle surrounding where she and Grimley had sheltered, it was still shining.

Grimley began to stir. He groaned and rubbed his forehead. Taking a moment to reajust his headdress properly over his forehead. Atari was unable to move to help him get up.

"Dad? Mom?" He croaked. He only opened his eyes when he had stood to his full height. He too assumed the position Atari had, rooted to the spot. With time his movements became more frantic, he grasped at his horns and fidgeted his feet, spinning in circles, faster and faster. His breathing became louder and panicked, then he suddenly ducked down towards the floor. Atari caught him just before he made impact. She leant him over her back and half dragged, half supported him to what used to be a doorframe. There he sat, wide eyed and blank-faced, gazing out across the ruins of the mansion. "Mom...Mom...Mom..." He kept repeating.

Atari looked back at where they had been and saw with one gust of wind, the last piece of polished floor become overun with leaves and ash.

By the time early afternoon had arrived, neither of them had abandoned the ruins. Grimley remained on his seat, now looking down with his horns in his hands. Atari had offered him her shawl but he didn't respond. Nor did he protest when she draped it around him anyway.

Atari had taken to climbing deep into the ruins. She hadn't yet found the bodies of Xaviour and the preistess as she followed the path they possibly took through the Mansion. The door they had fled through only had one pannel still standing, the other had fallen to the floor. Both bore the pools of a melted surface. She wormed her way through the gap and found the remains of the hallway behind. At the end was another door, more fortified and unmelted, but still open a crack. Atari placed either of her hands between the crack and with a strenuous effort and a deep grinding sound, she pushed the door open herself. Behind this second door was a portal. Exactly like the one she'd come through on Mars and ended up in the swamp from.

The portal itself was destroyed, half of it had been crushed by a metal rafter. Atari scanned the floor and found no bodies. She stepped up the slight raise the portal was built on, it was empty.

On the floor beside the portal was a collection of rustling papers and rolling speres of metal. Some of them were split in half and others gave off a patterned show of lights. Curious, Atari picked up a shpere that was shining. It had two arrows on the front and one pressure point on the top, it was the pressure point that was glowing every two seconds. She pressed it and with a glitch, an aireal image of the surrounding area was projected into the air above the sphere.

When she emerged from the two doors, Grimley was still sitting on the remains of the doorframe. "Grimley?" Atari said, He didn't answer. "I've been around and I haven't found them. I found this in a room with a portal so.. maybe?" Atari held the sphere under Grimley's nose. He raised his head and took it from her in one swipe. He pressed the preassure pad and the projected map flickered into view. He looked at it for a moment then made an expanding motion with his fingers over the projection. The map expanded to show the wider area, he swept left and the map shifted to expose the sea and a thin bridge crossing it. He pressed the preaure plate again and the image flickered away. With no acknowledgment towards Atari, he stood and marched away into the smoldering swamp, Atari's shawl falling from his shoulders in the light breeze. She gathered it up and pursued him.

"Wait! Grimley, Wait!" She whisper-yelled, her accent ringing strong. She remembered the strange orange figure in the storm and tried to listen to the dead swamp for any indication he was still around. "I don't think they're dead, that portal had no-one inside. Maybe they got away before it was destoryed-"

"I know they're not dead." Grimley's tone was flat. He didn't stop walking. "But I could have been." He thought.

"There was nothing they could have done to save you even if they did come back." Atari sighed. "That gas was choking everyone. If they came back you all might have died-"

"What gas?"

"You won't remember, after you fell this orange gas came through the window and started choking everyone just like the Black Smoke."

Grimley stopped walking. His face had twisted up into a scowl. His shoulders tensed with fury.

"Then it's all your fault!" He spat through gritted teeth. Atari's antenna dropped beside her head and her mouth fell agape in shock at his accusation. "That was all in revenge for your Black Smoke! And I bet that blond freak is behind it!" Grimley pointed back towards the mansion and leaned down into Atari's face. She backed up a few steps as he continued his tirade. "This would never have happened if you hadn't showed up!"

The singing of the sword started up again. The gem in the hilt let out a sudden flash of light, temporarily blinding Grimley and forcing him to recoil away from the sudden flash and Atari.

"My fault?" She questioned, emboldened by the sword still glowing in her hand. "I came here in peace to trade with Lord Xaviour, it was you who sabotaged it! Yes, I brought the Black Smoke but it wasn't meant for you! If it's anyone's fault, it's yours!" She roared. Grimley stood back, the sight of her bared almond-shaped teeth, and the sudden flash of courage she'd displayed caught him off guard. Her words were true, and he knew it.

As quickly as the weight of anger in her chest had come, it faded away with the glow and song of the sword until they were both left standing in the swamp, staring at each other in silence.

Grimley sharply inhaled, covered his bright eyes, and fled to hide beneath the roots of a tree still standing. The feeling of anger was strange to Atari. It didn't feel good, no matter how useful it was for conveying her point. She lifted the sword, "What kind of thing are you?" She wondered.

She heard the sloshing of mud up ahead and looked up just in time to see Grimley's foot disappearing beneath a tree with tall roots. She exhaled and started sloshing her way towards him. With each step, the sound of strained breaths became clearer, as did the periodical choke on teary gasps. "Grimley, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that." She said softly.

"Go away." He muttered. "Just go back where you came from."

"I would love to, but I can't without that portal. Or without leaving my people with no hope, or even you like this."

"Why do you care?" He clasped his hands in front of him and stared at the mud.

"Because each other is all we have right now."

Grimley didn't turn his head to look at her, he only moved his eyes. He saw her leaning into the same gap he'd entered the root through. Her antenna were lowered but bent upwards at the ends, her eyes filled with kindness and sympathy he'd never seen in anyone aside from Beatrix. He dragged his hands across his face, pulling his lower eyelids down.

"There's another portal in the swamp." He crawled from the tree and flicked away some leaves clinging to his thigh. " And you're still my responsibility. I can't cause any more damage." He repeated Xaviour's words with both disdain and acceptance of them.

As Grimley once again headed away into the swamp, correcting his course according to the map to lead them towards the portal, Atari spoke forward.

"I can't go home yet, I still have something I need to do."

"Your mission was a failure."

"Not if you look at it another way." She jogged up to match Grimley's pace. "Although it didn't happen how I wanted it, a Xandrian did see the Black Smoke. And it's affects."

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Take me to the Emperor Xandre."

"What?" Grimley almost laughed. "You can't just open the door on the Emperor! And no Martian has ever been allowed in the palace."

"Then I'll be the first! And I promise you'll never see me again afterward." She extended her white arm and flexed her fingers, waiting for his confirmation. Begrudgingly, Grimley shook her hand, with far less enthusiasm than was needed.