Time Matrix Trilogy-Kara's Tale
Kara
My name
is Kara. A few years ago, that wouldn't mean much. It would
mean some evil being. I'm good now, at least that's what I keep telling
myself. I know I'm not going to live a lot longer. I have to
tell my tale, in hope that the new warrior won't make the same mistake
I did. This is my hirac dilest. May I be forgiven for everything
I have ever said that may offend anyone in this last testament of mine.
But, when you hear of all the
bad things I have done, I beg of you,
don't be to quick to judge me. The demon controls the mind, and I
was a demon. Allow me to start at the beginning.
Ever since there has been any signs of life, whether it be Ellimist or
Andalite, there has been Magus, or the great demon. He feeds off
restlessness. He is a danger to every warrior that ever walked the
universe. He isn't fightable. There is no way to kill him.
He sees your weaknesses a mile away, and feeds off them, slowly entering
your brain. When you become so afraid you forget about life, he takes
over. Like a yeerk, he controls your brain. However, unlike a yeerk,
he turns you to his side. He feels your heart with so much hate that
you are only happy to do his bidding.
When I was living on the andalite base, I was supposed to be honored.
That wasn't true. The generals reported to me only because I had
the power to remove them from station. The artishes always gave me
a hard time. I was a mere human, they thought I could never be a
true warrior.
To make a long story short, I left. I hijacked a ship, and flew to
Tetra, a human like city/planet. There were
millions other like me. Warriors,
forced into fighting, then growing so reckless they stopped caring about
what was most important, the safety of the universe. Tetra
was a horrible looking city. Picture LA on the foggiest day, and
add tons of rain, and dark clouds to it. Then, take away beautiful
buildings, and you have Tetra. It was a partying town. We killed.
That was the only thing we knew how to do. We picked fights over
silly little things, and found ways to make those people who we had problems
with, suffer.
There were two groups. Group one, the group I was on, called the
Makers, and group two, the Creators. We were constantly at each other's
throats. Every one of the two million people were either or.
Normally, on days when we weren't at the clubs, everyone got along
fine. But when the leaders of each group showed up, trouble began.
I was a leader of my group, along with my boyfriend Jason, and my friends
Jez, Matt, and Ash. That was when the trouble began.
If you are anyone who participates in a physical activity, you know what
I'm talking about when I say that everyone wants to be stronger.
The stronger team would win this civil war against humanity that I was
fighting.
I don't remember how I found out about Magus. He probably found me, and
lured me down there. I have no way of knowing. Anyway, when
my friends and me found out about Magus, we voluntarily became his patients.
Demonology is a very complicated practice. Magus made us touch this
energy crystal. It was lovely now that I think of it. Purple
jags spiked up from a blue surface, and had streaks of gold running down
it. By touching it, it
transferred the demon into us. Then,
I became something so evil it can hardly be explained by putting into words.
I was so evil I could make a yeerk seem like a harmless baby. I was
so evil, that I probably could take
an infant and rip off its head and not
have any remorse what so ever. I also had powers that no other warrior
had ever possessed, so that made me all the more dangerous. I know
this all seems confusing to you, but it will become clearer in time.
If I have any time left.
The important thing to know is that I did end up fighting it. I finally
won during a long, bloody battle in which
I had to fight my self. However,
Magus cannot be ridded of. It's like that saying, "once an alcoholic,
always an alcoholic." It means, even though you've conquered the
problem, the problem always poses as a threat to you. Magus still
rests inside me. I always knew it would be a matter of time before
he surfaces again. Then, when I met my brother, I forgot all
about it. Magus new this. He planned his attack.
I left my friends, when I controlled him. I knew they'd kill me.
I had to leave the love of my life as well. Jason,
I cry whenever I think of him.
He's probably dead now. He was always stronger then me.
Whoever's hearing this, I just want you to hear one last thing. The
last thing the real Jason without the Magus in him had ever said to me.
"Kar," he said, using my nickname. I was debating whether to go back
to
Magus, and be taken over. "People
are built of moments. Moments give you emotion. But only the
defining moments will give you strength. Defining moments make us
who we are, and destine us to be who we are supposed to be. Let the
moments find you, don't go looking for them." Remember the moments.
If I did, maybe so many people wouldn't be dead.
I clicked the tape recorder off. I sighed, and rubbed my eyes.
I knew what was coming. Lord, I was so scared.
Tobias
It was just everyone hanging out. Visser 3 was explaining to the
council of 13 why he didn't quite have the
andalite bandits, so there would be a
nice, peaceful rest. Everyone was there except for Cassie.
She had
been running late at the barn.
"I still can't believe you two! Getting caught as witches.
Let's just hope that Visser 3 doesn't get a hold of any history books!,"
Marco said, teasing Rachel, and Kara who seemed out of it. Suddenly,
we heard a knock on the door. I looked through the peephole.
It was Cassie. I unlatched the lock, and let her in.
"Hey!" she said.
"Hey," I said, letting her in.
"Hey, Kara," I found this on the doorstep. It's addressed to you,"
Cassie said, handing a small package to my sister. Kara looked a
little worried for a moment. She slowly took the package. I,
at this point, was concerned. No one is supposed to know our address.
She tore the paper off, and opened the box. Then she screamed, and
flung it across the room. It came right back to her.
It was a rock with a blue base and purple jags coming up from it, and was
streaked with gold. Then I saw the note.
"SOON IS PAST," It said in bright red letters. "IT IS NOW, KARA," Kara
suddenly collapsed.
"No!" she said, tears streaming down her face. "Not yet!! Please
no…" Then she started shaking violently. I reached down, to
help her, but was slammed violently against the wall. I noticed the
same thing was
happening to the others.
"What's going on?" Marco yelled. Only Ax knew.
"Magus!" He said, demorphing back to his old andalite self.
"Ah!" Kara screamed in a tone I had never heard before, dropping down on
the rug, and retracting her fingers so it looked like she was clawing it.
Suddenly, overhead, a black cloud of smoke arose from the wall.
< Ahh…Kara-Jaxara-Victoria. My favorite little child, >
It said, using her formal military name.
"What do you want," she said in a meek voice, tears streaming down her
face.
< You, > was all it said. It laughed an evil laugh.
Kara tried to stand.
"You'll never get me!" she said, trying glaring around her, into the smoke.
"I've fought you once before, and I
controlled you. You can't hurt me."
< Oh, but my darling child, I can, > It said, in a light male voice,
much like the voice Jake described of the yeerk in his head. <
What are you going to do? > He said in a mean voice. < Pummel
me? I'm not something you can fight, little girl, I'm immortal! I
can't be killed. You would know that wouldn't you? > Kara glared
at him.
< They don't know do they? > The smoke said, swirling together to create
the form of a man. < They don't know all the horrible things you
did. >
"The things that were done were the demon's fault, not mine," Kara said,
staring out in front of her.
The demon assumed his human form. "Oh, but my darling, you were the
one that chose to invoke the demon. You could have controlled me,
but you didn't want to." He turned to the rest of us, struggling to pull
away from the wall and not succeeding. "Why don't we tell them Kara?"
He asked, turning towards her. "Let's show them all the deeds you've
done. All the horrible, horrible deeds." Kara started sobbing
softly, and cowered onto the rug. I had never seen her cry.
Aximili
Ever since I had started fighting this battle, I have found myths of my
child hood to be reality. This was such an occasion. Magus
had been a tale for young warriors to keep them in tact. Then…so had an
Ellimist.
Magus spoke the truth. He couldn't be killed. He knew Kara's weakness,
which in this case, would be a soft
spot in her mind. That's why most
warriors are so emotionless. They know what happens if they allow
themselves to bleed.
Suddenly, images of Kara's past echoed on the walls of their apartment.
Rachel
I'm going to take over now. Ax doesn't understand the absolute horror
of it all.
The scene was of Kara. But not the Kara we knew. This Kara
was dressed in solid red and black leather. I mean, I can handle
a leather jacket, but we're talking everything from boots to hat. Oh, and
let's not even talk about the makeup!! Way to much mascara and eyeliner,
and waaaaay too much lipstick. All and all, she looked like a hooker.
She walked into this dreary building. People were dancing.
Some were eating. A really freakish version of heavy metal played
by some alien like thing. People automatically joined Kara,walking
behind her, obviously
afraid of her, but too cool to admit it.
Kara stopped and leaned against a bar. She snapped her fingers, and
a person automatically ran off to get her some sort of drink. Three
other people joined her, and her little gang ran off.
"Did you find them?" Kara asked in a tone that would have frozen the sun.
"Yes," replied one of the boys that was with her. "They'll be here,"
then he wrapped his arms around her, and started kissing her neck slightly.
"You'll get your revenge," he said into her ear. She just smiled an icy
smile.
Then the girl that was with her spoke. "I've heard Meww will be planning
another attack soon. What should we do?"
Kara turned her cold stare from the boy to the girl.
"Ash, Ash, Ash," she said, sighing. "Don't worry about it.
Whatever Meww is going to do, she's going to fail. What can she do?
Cut off another one of my arms? We all know how that worked out last
time. Right now, my priorities are getting revenge against the person
who killed Matt." Ash nodded.
"No one wants that more than I do," she said, giving an icy smile.
Suddenly, a person walked up to whisper in Ash's ear. She nodded,
then turned to Kara and the other boy.
"Jason, Kara? We've found him," Kara gave the most evil smile
I've ever seen, and started walking to a doorway hidden by an old sheet
in the back of the room, whipping out a gun from the back part of her leather
pants. She stepped into the room.
It was dimly lit. I could barely make out a few people smoking something
in the corner.
Kara stood directly in front of this one guy. Jason was slightly behind
her to her left, while Ash was slightly
behind her on her right. They all
were holding guns.
Kara slowly walked forward. With those tall heels, I still wonder
how she could walk in them. "Well, Well, Well," Kara said, inspecting
her gun, then loading it, and clicking off the safety. "What do we
have here?
Could it be," she mockingly looked up
like she was searching for the answer, then focused her glare onto the
boy again, who was pushing his girlfriend off his lap, and trying to stand
up. "Matt's killer….Jeremy?"
Jeremy looked slightly panicked, but hid his emotion behind a poker face.
He quickly reached behind him to pull out his gun, but Kara beat him to
it. She shot him three times in the head. He fell back with
a thump.
His girlfriend started wailing, and leaned
over the dead body, sobbing. Kara just turned, and walked out of
the room, Jason and Ash trailing her.
The Music blared. Kara just grabbed her jacket that was lying on
a chair, and gracefully glided out of the room.
She got about a hundred feet out the door, then said good bye to Ash and
Jason. She then continued walking down the street.
She got past a few alleys. Everyone seemed to either nod nervously,
or cut to the other side of the street. She just kept walking, in
her "I'm Bad, no one mess with me walk" in those stiletto like heels that
were a tacky
black color. Eww?
She walked past another alley, then suddenly stopped. She turned
around a couple of times, an annoyed look on her face. Then
she realized what was happening, and ducked.
Jeremy's girlfriend jumped over her, missing her mark. Kara just
stood up, and extended her leg to the side, like a panther, ready to pounce.
Jeremy's girlfriend crouched down, staring at her.
"Why?" she said. "Why are you so evil?" She said, trying not
to cry.
Kara just chuckled in this really evil manner. "Because I can," she said,
smiling, as if that explained everything-like the answer was so simple.
"You
killed Jeremy," she said again, her voice breaking.
"And he killed Matt," she said cooly. "It's a balance." Then
she stood upright, turned around, and fired a
sidekick with those nasty looking heels.
It hit it's mark, and gave her a nice gash on the side. Then Kara
pulled out a knife from her shoe, and
turned and jammed it into her heart.
"Sleep tight," she whispered cruelty as the girl's eyes glazed over and
she fell, with a sigh.
With that, Kara turned and continued on her way.
The lights faded in then out. A new picture took place in front of
us.
Kara was dressed in somewhat more conservative….Thank the Lord!!
This time she was dressed in sweat pants and a work out top, you know,
one of those spandex kinds? Still nasty looking, but this time she
had a "Buffy from hell" look going. The same boy who had been assisting
her in
the killing of the guy and the girl was
there.
"Kara," he said, cringing in pain. She just stared at him, coldly.
"You have got to get control of this thing. I
did it! I'm not half as strong as
you are," then he collapsed in pain.
Kara sunk down to his level, and lifted his chin until he was looking in
his eyes. "Jason?" she asked, her eyes carrying the same emotionless
expression they always had. "I don't want to fight it." Then
she stood up,
and pushed him away from her.
"I'm a bad girl," she said sardonically, stepping around the room, not
meeting his gaze. He kept wheezing in pain. "You're fighting this,
because he is letting you. You're too weak, Jason,
TOO WEAK!! He's leaving you."
Jason let out a scream of pain, and sunk down. "Kara," he said, clenching
his teeth to keep from screaming. "Kara, you love me remember. Don't
do this to m-" then let out a scream. Kara regarded him with laughter.
Then she casually walked over to him, and pulled out his gun from the holder.
She then held it up to him.
"I," she said defiantly. "Do NOT love," then with that, pulled the
trigger.
Then the images swirled around, then vanished.
Kara
I screamed in pain. He was in me now. He was slowly feeding
off my soul, spreading fire in every muscle of my body. He was laughing
at me.
WELL KARA… it said, in a harsh tone. LOOK AT THEM ALL. ALL
YOUR "FRIENDS," YOUR BROTHER IS SICK TO HIS STOMACH AT THE SIGHT OF WHO
YOU ARE.
"Who I was!" I screamed in my head, correcting him. "I'm not that
anymore! I'm good now!"
POOR, PATHETIC CHILD. YOU ACTUALLY BELIEVE THAT? YOU ARE MINE
CHILD. YOU HAVE A CHOICE. JOIN ME, AND BE POWERFUL….AGAIN….OR
YOU WILL RESIST ME, AND I KILL YOU. I GIVE YOU TWO HOURS.
Then he was gone.
I opened my eyes, and found everyone staring over me. "Ax," I whispered.
"The ritual,"
He nodded his andalite head. < Of course my princess> I
closed my eyes.
"I also need to finish my heric delest." I managed to croak out.
About five minutes later, Ax had managed to fix up a handy little thought
speak transmitter. I began finishing my final thoughts.
Aximili
I am no expert on traditions of War Royalty. I suppose, however,
that was no matter. It was obvious that I was best to perform the
rituals. None of the others could understand it.
Like I've said, I'm no expert, but the rituals are easy enough to understand.
The War Princess is passed on
according to two laws. One, the
princess reaches the age of twenty, and is then made a queen. Or
two, the
war princess dies. Either way, the
war princess must pass on her gifts to another girl. Then, a trainer
must be chosen. I didn't even have to ask her which ones would be
the chosen ones. I knew.
Kara's breathe suddenly grew quicker and sharper. I looked over at
Tobias. He was sitting in a corner of a room, his eyes brimming with
tears. He had been sitting like that ever since Magus had left.
Kara suddenly
panted out, "Aximili, I'm done recording.
It is time." I nodded my andalite head.
< Tobias, Rachel, > I summoned. Rachel joined me, but Tobias did
not move. Rachel walked over, and gently tapped him on the arm, and
whispered something in his ear. He nodded, and curtly stood up.
They joined me at my side. I slowly took both Rachel and Kara's
hand, and motioned for her to take Tobias's. Then Tobias grabbed
Kara's other hand.
<
In darkness and in light, > I began. < In war and in peace.
In truth and in dishonesty. In life and in eath…I
give the next daughter of war, her
birthright. > Suddenly, Kara's hand sparked mine. It
spread to Rachel's and to Tobias's. I let go of both there hands.
Kara suddenly started screaming.
She sat straight up, and started clawing the air.
"Kara!" Tobias screamed, and tried to help her.He was suddenly pushed against
the wall. Kara fell down again. Suddenly, her torso rose up, causing
her to sit up, as if she was being pushed. She was shaking with fear.
"Leave me Alone!!" she screamed. Suddenly, her head rocked back.
Three, deep gashes appeared on her face. She howled in pain.
Then I realized what was going on. Magus, was slowly tearing her
apart.
Kara
KARA! He exclaimed. THIS IS IT CHILD. Suddenly, I felt a plunging
in my chest. Then I realized. He had ripped out my heart.
I slowly fell back. Tobias rushed by my side. "Kara," he asked, tears
brimming his eyes.
Suddenly, all the pain stopped. I reached up, and brushed the hair
out of his eyes. I knew it was close to that time. "Good bye,
Tobias." Then I turned my attention to Rachel.
"Take care of him Rach," I slowly started to sink back.
"No!" I heard Tobias cry as I faded into the darkness. Suddenly,
Jason's old words came back to haunt me.
" Defining moments"
"Kara don't die on me!" Tobias cried
" Make us who we are,"
"Kara come back!"
" And destine us"
"God No!"
"To be who we are supposed to be."
" Let the moments find you, don't go looking for them."
Suddenly, I wasn't in darkness. I was standing in a field of lilacs.
Suddenly, I felt Jason's arms around me.
"Welcome home," he said.
Tobias
Kara fell limp. I felt for her pulse, but I already knew. "Kara?"
I whispered. No reply. I must have fallen back. Then next thing
I remember is waking up in my bed. I got up groggily, and walked
into the den room.
Rachel was sitting quietly on the couch
watching TV. She quickly switched it off when she noticed me.
I sat down next to her, and looked into her eyes. I didn't say anything,
but she knew what I was asking.
She closed her eyes, trying to keep out the tears, then opened them again.
"No," she whispered. "it wasn't a dream."
I closed my eyes again. My sister was dead. Truly dead. I started
to sob quietly, and wrapped my arms around Rachel. She held me back,
rubbing the back of my neck, and mummering things in my ears.
"What does she want with you?" I asked her, a few minutes later when I
had calmed down. "The ritual, what was it about?"
Rachel was careful not to meet my gaze. "She gave me her powers,"
she said softly. "I'm the new princess." She managed a weak
smile. "Guess Marco was half right when he called me Xena."
I stared at the blank wall slowly filling with rage. "So," I said,
my voice apparent that I was angry. "My
sister leaves me, and gives the only thing
I have left a suicide wish. This is great!"
"Tobias," she said, apparently getting annoyed with my mood, but
not letting it show too much. "This is my choice,"
"What about me?" I asked, not bothering to hear the rest of her explanation.
"What did I have to do with it?"
This time Rachel looked away. There was a few moments of silence
in between us. "I need you to train me," she said at last.
"Kara gave you the knowledge and power to train."
That did it. "Do you expect me too?" I asked, forcing her to look
at me. She bit her lip.
"I was hoping," she offered.
I pushed her lightly away. "I'm not." I said.
"Tobias-" she said, standing. I didn't let her finish.
"Forget it Rachel!" I yelled, standing up too. "I've lost my sister, already.
If you think for one second I'm going to assist the ONLY thing I have left
in getting herself hurt or possibly killed, your wrong."
"This is what your sister wanted!" Rachel shouted angrily.
"And my sister is DEAD!" I shot back, pushing her away again. I pushed
her harder then I meant to. She went flying back into the table counter.
"Oh God!" I cried out, and rushed over to her. A blood stain appeared on
her back. I tried to help her. She
pushed me away.
"Don't touch me!" she snapped, standing up, trying to fend me off.
"Rach-" I started. 'What am I turning into?' I thought to myself.
I looked at Rachel. She was hurt, but not half as bad as her expression.
It was filled with hurt, betrayal, and disbelief. I tried to grab
her hands, but she pushed me away. She slowly inched towards the
door.
I couldn't take it anymore. I had lost my sister, and now was hurting
the girl that I cared about more than, at
the moment, I cared about more than I
cared about my life. I sunk to my knees, wrapped my arms around
Rachel's waist, and just started crying
into herstomach. She slowly crouched down, and hugged me. I
just let her hug me while I cried into her shoulder.
Then, she handed me a small, metal disk. "this is Kara's-" she didn't
have to finish. I knew what it was.
A voice filled the room, Kara's voice. "People are built of moments. Moments
give you emotion. But only the defining moments will give you strength.
Defining moments make us who we are, and destine us to be who we are supposed
to be. Let the moments find you, don't go looking for them."
After I heard that, all my sadness dropped. For one, wonderful moment,
I felt Kara next to me. Her voice echoed as she continued the rest
of her speech.
I know now it's hard for you to realize, brother, why I did this to you.
I want you to know, that you'll never be
alone. I'll always be with
you, in your heart. I know at this point, you are angry with me for
putting Rachel in danger. You'll face many more challenges in your
life. Don't hold out on Rachel. She loves you. You love
her too.
I don't want you to mourn for me. I've already arranged it so that
you won't have to bury me. I'm actually not going to be buried, but
that's a story you're not going to get to hear. I can't visit you
in your dreams, only the next war princess. But I will tell Rachel
messages to give to you.
You've heard my story, and in time, you will accept it. Death
is very final, and you've probably figured I'm not coming back. But
Tobias, believe me when I say I'm going to be much happier where I'm going,
then I could ever be here.
My advice to you…when you find true love, never let go of it.
I did, and ended up scarring myself for life. Remember, keep the
kitchen fairly clean, have fun, and make sure to feed my cat once a day.
All and all, I love
you. You were a really good brother.
I leave you now, knowing that you will be well taken care of.
Rachel…I trust you've learned from my mistakes.
Good luck in life.
The machine clicked off.
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