Beyond the Necropolis - A Nihilistic King

Beep, Beep, Beep

Leonardo opens his eyes, finding himself in his throne he thinks to himself that he must've dozed off. He stares at his beeping wrist computer for a moment, he straightens himself upwards and proceeds to press on the device's screen.

"Father, are you ready? We don't want to be late to your festival" a voice calls out from the device's micro speakers.

The voice belongs to Leonardo's creation, his so-called son, Apollo, an android designed by Leonardo to keep him company. The man gets up from his throne and replies, "Yes, I'll be descending in a moment, carry on without me, Apollo."

"Alright, see you down there…" calls out the android from Leonardo's wrist computer.

He stares at the glass windows, revealing an almost blood red sky, it's sunset on Admathadasha, the planet Leonardo has been calling home for so long now. Leonardo then shifts his gaze towards the wall, on which there were hanging a few cloaks of various colors and a portrait of Leonardo and his family.

A family that had died so long ago.

The man approached the wall and examined his cloaks, running his fingers across their fabrics. He pulled the purple cloak off the wall and draped it over himself stating, "I think the regal looks fit today."

He then began walking out of his chamber, but something stopped him, a feeling that started building up in his gut. Something he hadn't felt in a long time, an odd mix between what one might describe as slight anxiety and hunger. Leonardo turned his head around and stared at the family photograph hanging on the wall, his brother's face in particular, at this moment, Leonardo utter in an almost grieving tone, "You wouldn't believe me, David, but I miss you, all of you, I miss you so terribly" before strutting out of the chamber hastily.

As he walked the halls of his craft, Leonardo called out, "Hestia, please switch The Calypso to autopilot and open the Cooper vane, I am about to descent onto Migdalel"

"Good evening, Master", a metallic feminine voice echoed through the halls in response to Leonardo's commands. "Autopilot has been activated, sir." The voice proceeded, "The vane will be opened in thirty seconds, please enter into descend position, sir." It went on.

"Thank you, Hestia." Answered Leonardo as he stepped just on top of the vane.

Red lights filled the space around Leonardo and the computer counted down seconds to the opening, it's metallic feminine voice ringing through the air craft.

"Ten"

"Nine"

"Eight"

Leonardo's mind got preoccupied with the thoughts of what Migdalel's citizens might prepare for him during that year's Theodorian festival during which they celebrated his reign as their God King.

"Four"

"Three"

Pondering the endless possibilities of what might await him below his aircraft, Leonardo failed the hear the screeching of the slowly parting metal doors beneath his feet and the influx of cold, highly pressurized air hitting against his body.

"One"

A bright light had shone all over Leonardo as his body came diving down onto the planet below in such speed that if he were just a mere man, his body would not survive the impact. Upon landing his body caused a mild shockwave which he did not seem to notice, calling out boastfully, "dear citizens, I've arrived…"

His face turned into one of scorn once he realized he was surrounded by a ring of fire, "Oh what a terrible timing." He uttered as he raised his hand, causing a small-scale shockwave that dispersed the fire around him.

"There always has to be something…" he muttered as he was about to call Apollo through his wrist computer, but then he noticed that the fire had covered as far as the eye can see, the whole city of Migdalel was burning.

Leonardo's face went blank, all the previous emotions and thoughts were erased from his psyche. He still intended to call Apollo but the agonized screams of men burning alive interrupted him from doing so.

He heard a woman begging for help not far from where he landed, throwing his raised arm to his side, Leonardo made his way towards the woman's voice. Once she was in his line of sight, the woman recognized who he was and ran up to him, crying hysterically.

"You… You… You… You are… G… G… G…." she cried as she clutched at his purple cloak.

"Yes, I am, child, I came to help you" Leonardo said, as he tried looking as empathetic as possible to the woman.

He could hear a child's crying in the pile of burning rubble to his left.

"My son… trapped… help me… dear Lord, help me… please." The woman begged.

The child's crying had suddenly stopped, abruptly.

Leonardo gently shoved the woman aside and turned to his left, raising an arm at the pile of rubble he created another shockwave that threw the burning debris away.

A broken and burned tiny human body laid there, on the charred soil, unmoving, barely breathing. The woman ran up to the child and picked him up to her arms, hugging him tightly against herself.

"Than…." She was about to thank Leonardo for saving her son, but she stopped mid-word and began screaming, "No! No! No! Don't Die!"

The child had stopped breathing.

The woman began screaming and wailing once more, screaming at Leonardo that her son was dead.

With an expressionless look etched on his face, Leonardo looked the woman dead in the eyes and said, "Your offspring is dead, child."

"Fix this… fix this…" she barked at Leonardo in response.

His face remained expressionless, as if he discarded all possible emotion at the moment, "There's nothing I can do, even I can't bend this rule of the universe, whatever dies must stay dead, child." He said to her in a cold, almost inhuman tone before turning around and walking away.

Leonardo made a few steps away from the woman, but she chased after him, still holding the corpse of her son in her arms. She began hitting Leonardo's back while cursing him as a false god and a monster for letting her child die.

The man turned around and grabbed the woman by her neck. He lifted her off the ground, causing her to drop the baby's corpse, which in turn made a sickening thumping sound that resembles a really hard slapping of skin once it hit the ground. With a glossy, somewhat psychotic look in his eyes Leonardo tightened his grip around the woman's neck and asked, "Would you like to join your offspring in the afterlife, my child?"

Her eyes widened with sheer terror for a moment, and then Leonardo snapped her neck between his fingers.

Tossing the woman's body to the side, Leonardo raised his second arm up and called Apollo's name at his wrist computer. "Yes, father?" Apollo's voice came out from the small device.

"What is happening here?" Leonardo questioned his creation.

"I don't know, something went wrong during the preparation for your festival." Apollo responded.

"Find out what happened and bring me the head of the man in charge, Apollo."

"Yes, father"

"Oh, and try to save as many of them as you can."

Leonardo cut off the transmission and sighed.

"You are a monster, Leo" a raspy voice came calling from behind the man, Leonardo's eyes widened in disbelief.

That voice, while much older and somewhat raspier, Leonardo knew whom it belonged to.

David's voice.

"This is…" Leonardo tried saying as a sharp pain surged through his chest.

He looked down, only to find himself skewered by a metallic rod through the chest.

"Impossible… yeah… so we thought about space travel…" said the voice, with apparent pleasure.

Leonardo slowly turned his head backwards to see an old bearded man staring at him.

"H… H…. How…" struggled Leonardo.

"How is it possible that good ol' Dave Polinsky is still alive?" The old man mocked as he twists the rod inside Leonardo's body. "The Necropolis, it was a technological marvel, and you see, the stasis does prevent you from aging… Just like you've noted all those years ago."

Leonardo grabbed the rod with his hands and tried to say something but the old man pulled the rod out of his body. Everything started fading to black for Leonardo as he fell to his knees, fearful of dying.

"That serves you right, mech-ass" called out the old man just a moment before Leonardo finally collapsed on the ground.

Beep, Beep, Beep.

Leonardo's eyes shot wide open, his head throbbing, his mind racing. He looks around – he's still sitting on his throne inside The Calypso.

His wrist computer is beeping, Apollo, his android creation is calling.

"I'm alive… Truly alive…" Leonardo mutters to himself.

He raises his arm up and answers the call.

"Father, an interstellar spacecraft just crashed not far from the Calypso." Apollo's voice calls out from the devices micro-speakers.

Leonardo runs his hand across his face and responds, saying, "Any signs of life inside this space craft?"

"There appear to be none, however, there are many skeletal remains, and a whole lot of robotic parts."

"Skeletal remains, of what species?"

"They seem to be human…"

Leonardo goes silent for a moment, pondering the possibility of another colony other than the one he had started.

"Father, I think the name of this spacecraft is Anne's Blessing"

Leonardo is stunned as he hears Apollo's words, but just for a moment, he then begins smiling, uncontrollably, he is barely able to hold off a chuckle.

"Father? Is everything alright?" Apollo asks

"Apollo, come back home, I think it's time I tell you some of my personal history."