Underneath the Aetherium Sky
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This is a piece from a Sci-Fi anthology that I am currently working on, in fact, this is the first piece I worked on. It's a simple story that introduces the world of the Aetherium and a bit of the pirate crew of the Sundancer but it mainly focuses on the relationship and feelings of two crew members, Nathaniel and Lincoln.
The hum of the thrusters, the flapping of the solar sails, and the ever-expanding beauty of the Aetherium do wonders for the mind. It can be humbling, to see so many stars and galaxies in the distance, to know that you are not alone; or it can be terrifying, to know that you are truly not alone. However, for Nathaniel, to see the stars twinkling in the distance, the nebulous gases creating deep purple clouds that float within the endless night, it’s calming, especially after a fight.
As Nathaniel stares into the vast Aetherium, he hears cheering coming from below deck as the crew celebrates their latest raid. A golden-gilded frigate was sighted near Carnifaro’s Cluster. Its passengers were pompous members of the upper class, perfect targets of a raid. It was clean and efficient and, even with the Federation’s Astronavy jumping in, nothing went wrong. Definitely something worth celebrating. The captain even took out her best rum to share with the crew. Nathaniel was never much of a drinker, all he ever did during these parties was sneak more food onto his plate and stare at his glass. He usually stays and enjoys the crew’s company but today, he needed the fresh air.
“Why is he being so stupid” he mutters to himself “Something wrong could have easily happened”
Thoughts upon thoughts continue to leave his lips as he paces around on top of the quarter deck of the ship until suddenly,
“NATHANIEL? YOU UP THERE” a voice yells out from the main deck, interrupting the spiral of thoughts. The reason Nathaniel left the party has decided to show itself, or rather himself.
Nathaniel lets out a deep and long sigh and finally takes a sip of his rum. The deck’s floorboard thud softly as a man of medium build and a devilish smile walk up the stairs towards Nathaniel carrying a bottle of rum. Unlike Nathaniel’s simple getup, a white shirt with loose frills, tied-up brown pants, and black boots with a silver buckle, the man was more extravagant with his outfit. A deep crimson shirt with the buttons intentionally undone, complemented with a long black coat with golden linings, perfectly fitted pants, and black boots with more golden linings and patterns. He even had an eyepatch on his left eye with roses on it. He didn’t even need it, he just
likes how it looks. His stride and the way he holds himself come off as loud and gaudy. He is the center of attention for all the wrong reasons and by the looks of his smirk, he wears that fact with
pride.
“There you are! I was looking all over for you 'cause you left so suddenly... what are you doing up here alone?” the man asks. Nathaniel continues to stare off into the distance, ignoring the question.
“Nathaniel?”
“What do you want, Lincoln?”
Lincoln backs away a bit, stunned. He has no idea where the attitude is coming from, and it’s starting to concern him. So instead of backing away, he’s gonna do what Lincoln does best. Flicking up his collar and making his already wide grin wider, he gets real close to Nathaniel, bumping his shoulder to his, almost shoving Nathaniel, and asks in full earnest.
“What’s wrong, did something happen?”
The question lingers in the air. As Lincoln looks at Nathaniel innocently, Nathaniel recoils.
“Seriously?” Nathaniel responds, baffled, only to be met with the biggest shit-eating grin Nathaniel has seen in a long time.
“What do you mean seriously? Of course, I am being serious, why wouldn’t I be?”
“You genuinely don’t know why I’m mad?”
“No.”
“And you have no idea?”
“It’s not 'cause of me, right?”
“My God, Lincoln”, Nathaniel moves away from the railing of the ship, from Lincoln, with an expression of complete bewilderment. At this point, his thoughts of concern have melted away and been replaced with confusion, dumbfounded feelings, and anger. And as the thoughts slowly spiral more and more, out of desperation, he downs the whole glass to ground him back to reality, an action that even shocks Lincoln.
“I can’t believe you Lincoln”
“Okay, I’m very lost, so it is 'cause of me”
“YES, IT’S BECAUSE OF YOU”
Lincoln doesn’t respond. He’s never seen Nathaniel this mad. Lincoln’s smile is still there but it’s more of confusion. He doesn’t know what to do and just stands there like the dazed fool he is. Nathaniel doesn’t even know what to say, the rum didn’t even help ground him, it only caused his throat to sting violently in a way he is not familiar nor comfortable with. His feelings are at a
bottleneck, choking him. As the tears start to well up, Lincoln notices this, and his cocky smile shifts to one that gives comfort, and slowly approaches Nathaniel.
“Nathaniel, please…talk to me”
“What’s even the point?”
“Natey, please..”
“DON’T NATEY ME!” Nathaniel snaps back immediately. While stunned, Lincoln continues to slowly approach.
“Please” Lincoln softly speaks as he places his hand on Nathaniel’s shoulder. Nathaniel’s breath stutters a bit as he tries to say something, anything. A tear slowly rolls down and Lincoln moves his hand to Nathaniel’s cheeks and wipes his tear away. Finally, as Nathaniel nuzzles his face
against Lincoln’s hand, he’s able to speak.
“It’s about our fight”
“The raid?”
“No dummy, the one we had at the party”
“But we didn't fight”
Nathaniel’s comforted mind returns to being baffled and Lincoln’s comforting face returns to a look of utter confusion. Nathaniel moves away from Lincoln’s hand and buries his face into his own hands, releasing a deeper, more tired sigh.
“This is what I’m talking about, you don’t even listen to me”
“I told you not to worry about it”
“EXACTLY, that’s all you said don’t worry, how am I not supposed to worry”
“What, so you don’t trust me?”
“It’s not about trust”
The atmosphere between the two shifts drastically as it grows thick with guilty animosity. Lincoln keeps his boisterous demeanor to ease the tension but Nathaniel is slowly unraveling at a rate, he cannot control.
“It’s about how you don’t care about how I feel during raids, you always run in without a care, running like a reckless idiot.”
Lincoln starts to laugh, which takes Nathaniel off guard by quite a bit.
“Nathaniel, come on.” Lincoln proclaims in a rather jovial tone, “you’re talking to the greatest swordsman of the bloody Sundancer”
“Lincoln, I don’t care if you’re the greatest swordsman in the galaxy, it only takes one thing and you’re done.”
Lincoln pauses for a moment, thinking about what Nathaniel said until he finally inquires about it.
“What do you mean?”
“One stray blaster shot, one explosion, one stab, one wrong step, move, anything, and you’re gone.”
“You can’t be ser-“
“YOU’RE GONE, LINCOLN, THAT’S ALL IT TAKES.”
Tears start flowing from Nathaniel’s eyes, his lips quivering,
“I can’t lose you, I can’t handle you being so stupid whenever we go.”
A silence of uncertainty rings in the air. Nathaniel quietly sobs into his hands and Lincoln stands there awkwardly, dealing with the revelation that Nathaniel deals with this thought at every single raid. A moment passes, then another as the two keep their distance, Nathaniel still sobbing and Lincoln trying to figure out what to do and why he was so blinded to Nathaniel’s feelings.
"I’m sorry.”
“What?” asks Nathaniel in a rather surprised tone as he looks up toward Lincoln. He sees that, for the first time that they have known each other, there is only Lincoln. There is no extravagant personality, no jovial tone, no snarky grin, no Lincoln Roseeye, the most fearsome
swordsman of the Sundancer. Just, Lincoln.
“I didn’t realize how much my actions were affecting you, that I was making you worry this much. I’m sorry for waving your feelings off as if they don’t matter. That was extremely immature and rude of me. And the fact that I made you cry… I’m sorry.” Lincoln removes the eyepatch, carefully pocketing it in its own case, and takes both of Nathaniel’s hands.
“I love you dearly Nathaniel, please forgive me”
Nathaniel pauses for a moment, his overwhelming thoughts die as he fixates on Lincoln’s deep brown eyes, completely enamored by them. Lincoln sees the hesitation and the worst scenario plays out in his head. He slowly lets go of Nathaniel’s hands, preparing for the worst. But before he
can fully let go, Nathaniel pulls him close and embraces him. While a bit surprised, Lincoln quickly holds Nathaniel tightly.
A few moments pass before they finally break the embrace.
“I love you too,” Nathaniel says, smiling bashfully.
Lincoln says nothing, only smiles back and wipes Nathaniel’s tears away. Holding Lincoln’s hand, Nathaniel leads him to the railing he was leaning against so that they may stare into the Aetherium together.
“Lincoln, I have to say…”
“Yes, Natey?”
“You’re not the best swordsman of the Sundancer”
“What?”
“Captain Hawke is leagues above you”
“Yeah but…well…yeah no I can’t argue against that”
The pair laugh and continue to talk, sharing the rum that Lincoln brought up from the party. They spend time sharing stories, compliments, and jokes, some make Lincoln laugh loudly and others make Nathaniel blush. After what seems to be hours passing, after the cheering of the
crew dies down, after an abrupt interruption by a very drunk Captain Hawke (who, to their surprise, wasn’t naked this time), the pair stay out on the deck, shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand, staring into endless beauty. As Lincoln rests his head on Nathaniel’s shoulder, underneath the Aetherium sky, the two share a calming silence.