Novus - In Defence

Chapter 1
Novus - In Defence

Chapter Description: Come to Novus looking for yourself, you will be helped. Come to Novus looking to harm, you will be very sorry

In the twilight of the setting summer sun, a song can be heard from the radio of a stolen car as it speeds down an unmarked road, the driver somewhat erratic.

“Why don’t you slow down? We lost the police when we turned off the main motorway” The speaker, a Mark Smith, growls angrily as his stomach struggles not to throw up the contents of a hastily eaten supper.

“I’m not slowing down till we’re hidden” The driver, a Steven Peters, replies as he tries to focus on the road, he was never good at multi tasking.

“I told you that we should have stolen the car farther down the road, no one would have seen us, let alone any police! But no, you just had to nick the first car you saw just as a police car turned the corner and saw us, smart move, real smart” A man in the back, a Paul Phillips, grumbles.

“How was I to know? You were the one who told me to get us a car”

“But you could have waited a few minutes! If we had ducked into that shop we had just left then they would have never seen us!”

“And who’s bright idea was it to go on the run in the first place? It would have been so easy to not draw attention to ourselves, but you said ’steal a car, mate, the first one you see’ right after we bumped off that shop”

“It’s done now, let’s just find somewhere to hide till everything cools off” A drying heaving sound can be heard from the passenger seat, Steven spots a sign post approaching on the left side of the road, it says ’Novus’.

“We’ll stop here, it looks pretty secluded” Steven comments.

“And if anyone questions who we are?” Paul asks.

“We could always threaten to kill someone”

“Or actually kill someone” The only sound after that comment is the song on the radio as it finishes and the dry heaving from Mark.

“Let’s try and not kill anyone unless we really need to, you almost killed that shop keeper”

“He pulled a gun on me! I didn’t expect him to pull a gun on me, that’s more of an American thing!”

“You can remind him of that if you see him again” The dry heaving increases and Steven risks looking over to Mark.

“Don’t you dare” The car sputters suddenly. “Now what?” Steven growls as the car slows to a crawl, then stops outside a house.

“Nice stop, did you learn how to drive and stop from a video game?” Paul jokes lightly.

“Shut up! Let’s get Mark into that house, he can throw up in the bathroom in there, if it has one”

As the three men leave the car and approach the house, supporting their ill friend, someone watches them.

“Prevent their intent” Only the person hears the voice, then heads for the house.

“Here mate, throw up in there” Mark leans in towards the bowl, barely making it, before throwing up heavily.

As Mark empties his stomach with Steven trying not to be sick himself at the sounds, Paul looks around the house. It was clean, way too clean considering that it seemed like no one lived here. It was like it had only just been cleaned in the past hour.

“We’ll hide out here, Steven, it’s a big enough place by the looks of things” Paul calls out.

“You aren’t welcome here” A voice says softly, causing Paul to jump, he hadn’t heard any footsteps. He turns to see a woman in her thirties standing in the doorway, her clothing seemed younger than her.

“Get out” Paul growls, he hates women, something his father had taught him - that the only good woman was one who didn’t speak, didn’t do anything but serve men.

“No. You need to leave, you aren’t welcome here” Paul went for the gun he had stolen from the shop keeper after beating him to an inch of his life hours ago, only to find that the woman was now holding it and examining it. “The outside world and it’s weapons, nothing changes” The gun glows, then begins to change into, oddly enough, a baby rattle. “Much better, less deadly”

Footsteps and Mark and Steven enter, the woman looks over at them. “I was telling your friend here that none of you are welcome here” The baby rattle appears in Paul’s hand.

“We just need somewhere to hide, that’s all, we won’t be any trouble” Steven says quietly, something about the woman was unnerving him.

“You have already been trouble, your friend here” The woman looks over to Paul “Is thinking of causing me great harm, he has a hatred of my gender, one that makes him want to kill me. There are many women in this village, just as there are many men. We live here in seclusion by choice, the outside world holds no interest to us despite how modern we may look. Anyone who comes here looking for themselves receives our help and is welcome to stay, anyone who means us harm get one chance, and then they pay the price for bring the outside world into our home” Paul growls, he has had enough of this woman. He lunges for her and then stops in mid stride. “Watch, your friend’s end” The woman says coldly.

As Steven and Mark watch, Paul begins to glow, a faint orange glow. As the glow increases Paul begins to age, his skin becoming looser with each second that passes. He doesn’t even have the time to scream as his body begins to collapse into itself, his organs turning to dust as his skin shrivels away.

The glow fades and the dust, all that remains of Paul, flies apart, the baby rattle now appearing in Mark’s hand.

“His kind have no place here, they have no place anywhere” The woman says softly as the dust that was formally Paul settles to the floorboards.

Mark, his eyes wide in shock, backs away from Steven as he also begins to glow.

“Even you, despite your disinterest in killing, is a threat to the people here. Maybe it would be best if you never existed” The glow around Mark increases, but unlike what happened to Paul, Mark begins to shrink. His features become younger, his clothes become loose.

“Help me!” Mark calls out to Steven, who’s in shock and not sure what to do. Mark’s years continue to reverse at a fast rate, he enters his puberty in reverse, then his childhood. Baby fat appears and he begins to cry, his cries increasing in pitch as he returns to infancy, then all movement stops. Within the clothes are a single drop of blood which turns to dust.

“Was and never was” The woman comments, who’s attention is now on Steven, who finds he has a baby rattle in his hand, he drops it and backs away.

“You’re crazy, how did you do that?” He cries out in fear, the woman just smiles.

“Here in Novus, we have long lives. I’ve been alive for about two thousand years, ever since this village was settled by the Roman Empire who believed they had found a place of great power, however that power would not allow itself to be misused and so the settlers remained, un-aging, unable to leave this village. We know of the outside world however, the village itself adapts to fit to ensure that we have what we need. At the same time we have the ability to shape time around a single person, to age them like I did to your friend, or to take them out of existence, like your other friend just now” The woman doesn’t move, but to Steven she seems to be right next to him.

“Time has no meaning here, want and need are abstracts. Novus provides for us, we protect her in return. Now you have one chance, you can leave and never remember this place, reality will have changed and you will have never known your friends. Or you can remain here, you can have a new life, maybe even change who you are in full. Perhaps be raised again”

“Get away from me!” Steven cries out in fear.

“I can see it within you, the longing for a new life, a better life. The secret within you that you repress in order to fit in, would you like to be who you truly are? I can do that for you, it is very easy to do and then you can be raised again, as you truly are and you won’t have to suffer again like you did in the past” The woman still doesn’t move, but to Steven it’s like she’s everywhere at once.

A glow begins to appear around him, the woman still doesn’t move. “Be the true you” As the glow increases around Steven, he begins to feel his body changing. A pinching between his legs lasts for a mere second, then fades away. His features become smooth, the stubble from before melting away, his hair becomes softer, longer.

He looks down and sees his chest begin to develop, his shirt tightens, then begins to change into more feminine looking clothing, his body becomes more curved, the male shape melting way and being replaced with a much more feminine appearance.

“Please, just let me go!” He cries out and he hears his voice change, the gruffness of his male voice now a higher pitch, softer, more feminine. The glow fades and where there was once a man, is now a woman.

“Much better, and you’re still able to bear children. This is the true you, the you that you’ve repressed due to a very narrow concept of what defines a person. Yet you are still a danger, so I believe it is time for the second change” The glow returns and Steven, how Sarah, begins to shrink.

“The reality shift is complete, they never existed in the outside world” The woman nods in response, the baby girl in her arms contently suckling away at her breast.

“I regret having to deal with the other two as I did” She says softly as she looks down at her new daughter, a soft smile as she pats her daughter’s thickly padded bottom, her daughter continuing to suckle.

“They would have caused harm, it is better this way”

“Novus provides, we protect”

“As it will be, as it has always been” The baby girl, given the name of Sarah, continues to suckle, her former life now little more than fading memories.

Come to Novus looking for yourself, you will be helped. Come to Novus to cause harm, you will be very sorry.