Org. Fic- "Mellow Yellow" (1/100)-"Rome"

[walkwithheroes]

Title: Rome 
'Fandom': Mellow Yellow 
Claim: General/Character Development 
Prompt: 001. Beginnings 
Word Count: 3, 709
Rating: PG 
Summary: No one ever gets off the penitentiary planets alive. 
Author's Notes: This is my first entry in the ‘fandom’ of Mellow Yellow. The story is really a mix of a lot of different ideas I’ve had over the last year. Basically, at its heart, it’s a story about love and friendship. Really, in the writing, it’s about a group of criminals. 

No one ever got off the penitentiary planets alive.

Once you were sent there, or if you had the unfortunate curse of being born there, you stayed. You lived on a dusty world with polluted water and air that wasn’t quite right. You lived on a world with new and strange diseases that no one was looking to cure. You lived on a world with nothing to do and heats that could fry skin clean off a person. You lived on a world that couldn’t grow anything and you relayed on the government to drop boxes off supplies once in a blue moon.

Once you were on Rome or Deadwood or Babylon, you didn’t get off alive.

And that is why Lily Henry killed herself.

She didn’t think it was very fair that she should be stuck on Rome. After all, her parents had committed the crimes; her only crime was being born. So, at the mere age of fourteen she set out with a plan, to kill herself and get off of Rome.

-________________________________________________________

In the winter, or at least what passed for winter on Rome, people tended to die of the diseases that grew into being on the planet. Bellus was the disease that most people died of and it was the disease that Ori ‘Mad Eye’ Luns was rumored to have. Everyone knew that Ori ‘Mad Eye’ Luns was the son of some famous ruler of some far off planet. Mad Eye had been convicted of the third most deadly crime (as ruled by the Counsel of Planets). He’d been sent to Rome some eight years before, but he had been granted ‘Bodily Return’, which meant that instead of shooting his dead body into cold space, the Counsel would actually send his body back to his home world.

Mad Eye lived in the east camp, in a dark hut made of mud. He had few visitors and made few friends in his eight years on Rome. Yet, it wasn’t a surprise when people began to come to see him. It was all questions about if they could have his belongings.

No one bothered asking the important question, no one until Lily Henry paid him a visit. "Mr. Mad Eye?" Her voice was soft, childlike, and oh so unsure. She stood awkwardly in the doorway of his hut, the sun shining behind her.

"Close the door, Sweetness." Lily did as she was told, but she stayed by the door. "If you’ve come for my things, you’re too late. Gave most of it away an hour or so ago. If you’ve come to offer me, one last go at the sins of the flesh, I don’t think all my bits and pieces are working." He paused for a moment and gave her the once over. "Mores the pity."

Lily glanced nervously around the hut, it was all dark and was decorated with odds and ends that Mad Eye had found over the years: books with the endings missing, a cracked mirror, a table with only two legs, a chair with half a back, and a bed that was really just a lot of dirt inside a stained sack. It was wholly depressing, it was also a perfectly normal home as far as homes on Rome went.

"Ya speakin’ or ya lookin’?" He coughed lightly. "Haven’t got all day. Culler came by, thinks I got a while." Mad Eye chuckled. "So, I guess I do have all day."

"I…I have a question, sir." Lily swallowed and moved herself deeper into the house. "You’ve got Bodily Return, don’t you?" She closed her eyes and then opened them, to find Mad Eye’s red eyes staring at her dirty face. "Everybody in every camp says you do. They say you’re the son of some ruler."

"Ori Luns, third son and fifth child, of his Royal Lord Ans-Luns of the Most Esteemed World Catulee. Royal Lord Ans-Luns, is the High Priest of the Catulee people and Savior of the species." Mad Eye gave Lily a side ways grin. "What’s it to you, Sweetness?"

Lily looked away from Mad Eye’s gaze. "I, uh…you get Bodily Return. I’ve been thinkin’ that I could kill myself and get off Rome by coming along in your coffin." She awkwardly glanced back at him. Mad Eye’s red eyes were burning into her, but his skin and scales looked so pale and dirty; Bellus was not a good way to die. "They always make the coffins too big, because of the Zas. I could kill myself, come with you, and get off when they refuel on some planet. Please, sir."

He sat himself up as straight as he could and gave Lily a long and hard look. She was nothing but skin and bones, awkward, with big blue eyes. Lily Henry was pure human, and two percent of the universe was pure human. Pure humans were a dying breed; Lily won’t last a day out there.

"You’ll get yourself killed, again." Mad Eye told her simply. "You wouldn’t last one day on a real planet. It’s easy to live on Rome, cause we got nothing." He gave her a little smile. "You know how to survive on Rome, but do you really think you could live out there? It’s easy here, all dust and camps and stuff we know. The guards won’t even come down to the surface, because they’re scared of us. Out there, the Counsel of Planets rule everything."

"Couldn’t I?" She was playing with the ratty hem of her shirt. Her mind was clearly racing with the thoughts of Counsel ruled planets.

Mad Eye sighed softy. "You couldn’t handle it, Sweetness."

"But, I could try." Lily pressed. "I could, really. I’m good with the machines we find, ain’t I? I don’t belong here." Mad Eye began to chuckle, then cough. "I don’t!" She rolled her eyes. "And you oughtn’t laugh like that. You shouldn’t even be talking this much."

Cleaning the spit and blood off his chin, Mad Eye shook his head lightly. "You’re the one that started this." Lily briefly looked guilty. "Come on, you can’t honestly tell me you got a plan on how to kill yourself and get off of here." Lily just looked at him. "Do you?"

"I do. A good one, too." Mad Eye raised an eyebrow. "I‘ll talk to Holliday and ask if he can make me something. Something to make me sleep for a week or so and then wake up. Then, I could just get out of the coffin and get off on the first planet the ship stops at."

Mad Eye began to laugh and cough again. "That’s an awful plan."

"I…oh." Lily moved to Mad Eye’s bed and knelt down beside him. "I told you not to laugh." She shook her head lightly. "Bellus is an awful way to go, isn’t it? Not as bad as Arooj or Over Heating, but bad none the less." She gently ripped the bottom hem of her shirt and used it to help clean the blood and dirt off his face. "Look at you. Just because you’re dying, that’s no reason to not take care."

Lily’s hands were soft and cold and all together much too small and pale. Yet, Mad Eye liked the feel. It had been much too long since someone had taken care of him and he rather liked the idea of her being the last to do it.

"How long have you had been sick?" Lily gave him a pointed look. "Rumor has it that you got sick just this morning. But, from what I can see, you’re three weeks into this." Mad Eye opened his mouth, and Lily put a hand over it. "No, let me have my say, sir. I’ve seen fourteen years of this world’s diseases. I know how they work and how they progress. I’ll make you a deal, I’ll take care of you, make it all as painless as I can and then, when you go, I hitch a ride."

He removed her hand from his mouth. "It’s not going to work, but okay."

_ ______________________________________________________________

Lily Henry went to see Holliday mere minutes after Mad Eye told her that she’d have a ride off of Rome. She had briefly talked with him before, but no deal had been struck. Really, it made Lily a little nervous, she’d ask for something to make her sleep for a while and he’d ask for something she didn’t want to give. Holliday live in a hut made of sticks, with a bright red piece of cloth for a door. He was a big thing, all blue fur and sharp teeth; Lily was especially scared of his yellow claws. Holliday was a rogue scientist, who had been arrested for committing crimes seven, ten, and two on the ‘Top Twenty List of Deadly Crimes’ Holliday was completely mad.

He sniffed the air as Lily entered his hut. "Oh," he sighed breathlessly. "a female." He blinked his little eyes and moved closer. Lily stood perfectly straight and stiff as Holliday moved around her, sniffing her hair and clothing. "A human female. Fresh. Henry, Lily Henry."

"Yes, sir." She swallowed. He could smell the fear on her and now was not the time to be scared. "I’ve come to ask for a favor, sir." He smelt like blood, and she closed her eyes. "I want you to make me something."

"Mm, what would you need?" He took a deep breath, breathing in her hair. Lily shivered. "Mm, speak up. What do you want?"

"So-something to make me sleep. To make me appear dead. Something to make my code stop working." Holliday stopped moving. His yellow eyes stared at her. "I’m willing to pay, of course. I know what you want and I’m willing to give it."

A sick smile curled over Holliday’s lips. "Really? A volunteer?" Lily nodded. "Open your eyes." Lily did as she was told. She found Holliday standing in front of her, his hands reaching out to her shoulders. Holding tight, Holliday pulled Lily to him. "This will hurt." With a movement that was faster then most things his size could manage, Holliday lowered his head and bit deeply into Lily’s stomach.

The scream was loud and reminded Holliday of a baby he had once eaten. He ripped into Lily’s stomach, only pushing her away when he had gotten a large piece of her skin. Holliday carried it off to a corner, leaving the girl alone, still screaming and bleeding heavily from the stomach.

Lily placed her hands over her torn shirt, scared to look down at herself. Holliday had taken too much. She was going to die. She could feel it. She’d die, and she’d break her promise to Mad Eye, and she’d never really get off Rome.

"Stop that screaming and whimpering." Holliday moved back over to her, a jar in one hand and a large, white, bandage in the other. "I only took a bit." He clumsily opened the jar. "Nano-genes, they’ll replace your skin and tissues within a few weeks." He tipped the jar toward Lily’s stomach. Tiny blue bugs crawled out of the jar, over Lily’s hands, and into her body. "We’ll just cover the hole with a nice bandage. Change it once in a while, all right? No use getting all bloody, is there?"

Lily’s response was a whimper. There was a burning feeling in her stomach and she wondered what those nano-genes were doing exactly and if they’d get it all right. "What?" Holliday gave Lily a look. "I only bit you. Don’t go into shock." He placed the bandage on her and made sure it was nice and tight. "Now, go on and get back to wherever you belong. Come back in…come back in a few days and I’ll have your stuff already."

Lily dumbly nodded, turned, and walked softly out of the hut.

_ _______________________________________________________________

Bellus Disease started with memory loss and throat problems. It spread to the lungs and heart, as it progressed in the brain, with more memory loss and loss of muscle control. The disease went on with loss of brain function and organ failure. By the end of it, the affected died a very slow death that was quite painful. Lily had seen it a million times; Bellus usually lasted four-hundred and ten days. She was prepared to take care of Mad Eye for that long. He lasted just one hundred days.

A day after Mad Eye died, Lily waited for the coffin. The guards arrived in a two man transport and gave the coffin to Lily, saying it was her job to place Mad Eye’s body inside, and that they would be back for it at a later time. Lily placed Mad Eye inside, before crawling in herself. She placed Mad Eye’s sonic key in her pocket and then drank what Holliday had made for her days before. After that, it was all darkness.

Lily Henry was dead.

_ _________________________________________

Weston Northsea Docks

The transport ship, Günter, arrived on the planet of Weston three weeks after departing from the penitentiary planet of Rome. Günter arrived at the Northsea Docks and the crew left the coffin of Ori ‘Mad Eye’ Luns in the cargo bay, when they exited the ship, to get supplies.

Twenty minutes later, Lily Henry came back to live.

Holliday had told her that it would be very natural, like waking up from a good sleep. Holliday had either been wrong or lying through his green teeth.

The first thing Lily felt was a pain in her lower back, it felt as if something were trying to rip her apart from the inside. That pain made her wake up. Something snapped in her brain, causing her to gasp for air. She slowly opened her eyes, to find herself staring at the side of Mad Eye’s face. Lily swallowed a scream and forced herself to roll over onto her back. She got the sonic key out of her pant’s pocket and set to work on getting the cover of the coffin off.

It only took a few minutes, before she was pushing the cover off and crawling out of Mad Eye’s coffin. She took a deep breath of the ship’s air. It smelt recycled and hot.

Heat. Lily coughed back a giggle; she’d never have to watch someone over heat again. Oh, things were coming together nicely. She was free, and not hot, and all together happy. All she had to do was leave the ship and go out into the universe. How hard could starting a new life be?

 

_______________________________________________________

Weston Northsea Docks
Southern Side

 The shops on the southern side of the Weston Northsea Docks were rumored to be the places were all of the Counsel of Planets top criminals hid out. It was also rumored to be where all the universes’ crimes began and ended. St. Anne’s, a local pub that was ran by a fat and unpleasant Trilept was said to be the worst of the shops, the place where the worst of the worst went to drink. It was a place frequented by Captain Billy Tennant and Boyd Sirk.

Together, the two had committed nineteen of the ‘Top Twenty’ crimes, as listed by the Counsel of Planets; they had committed nineteen of them three times, each. Boyd often boosted that he only had one more crime to go, and since no one ever committed the first crime, he was practically the worst criminal to ever exist. Usually, that was when Billy told him to shut up and finish his drink.

Captain Billy Tennant had been called many things in his life, but honest wasn’t one of them. Hell, he wasn’t even an actual captain. Still, he did have his good qualities. For example, Captain Billy Tennant knew how to commit crimes. Boyd often told him that it was the one thing he was good at. Billy had to agree.

Crime was the only thing Billy had been interested in, anyway. Whereas others had fallen into crime, Billy had actively pursued it. Billy knew how to commit the crimes and Boyd knew what crimes to commit, it was why they had become partners in the first place.

Billy always knew the perfect mark. He could practically feel it in his toes. He got that feeling the second he saw Lily Henry.

She walked into St. Anne’s with a confused look on her pretty face. Lily carried herself like someone who was used to not looking anyone directly in the eyes. Her blond hair was covering her eyes and her shoulders were slumped and she seemed nervous to touch anything or anyone.

Billy nudged Boyd’s arm, nodding toward Lily he smiled slyly. Lily looked like a rich girl trying to play poor and that made her perfect for them. One sweet smile, a few charming words, and one good fuck would be all it would take to get some of her money. "I’ll go, mate." Billy began to get up from his stool, but Boyd put a hand on Boyd’s arm. "What?"

"She’s young." Boyd pointed out, matter of fact.

"So?" Billy gave Lily another look. Young? Maybe. Hot? Totally. "She’s a good mark. An’ we could use the credits." Billy scrunched up his face. "Don’ go all noble on me, Sirk."

Boyd rolled his brown eyes. "Fine." He slid off the stool. "Wait here."

Billy watched in interest as Boyd walked over to Lily, who was currently awkwardly standing in a corner.

Boyd smiled brightly, showing he teeth. "Hello."

"Hello." Lily nervously began playing with the hem of her ratty shirt. "It’s very dark out, isn’t it?" She cleared her throat. Boyd raised an eyebrow. "I’m not used to nighttime. It’s...it’s always bright where I’m from."

"Oh?" Boyd casually touched Lily’s arm; Lily’s eyes widened and she quickly backed away. "Oh, don’t be scared. I’m not going to hurt you." He leaned into her, as if he were going to tell her a secret. "You have to be scared of the others." Boyd whispered menacingly. "A pretty girl like you, you’d be raped and dead in a few minutes if any of these had their way. You should stick with me, let me take you home."

"No," Lily veraciously shook her head.

Boyd glanced back at Billy, who was leaning on the edge of his stool, and then back to Lily. "Now, I think it’s for the best."

"But, I don’t want to go back to Rome!"

The eyes of St. Anne’s all turned their attention to the person who had shouted the name of a penitentiary planet, wondering who had dared joked about getting off of one. Lily blushed and ducked her gaze from everyone in the pub. Billy looked as if he were about to fall off his stool. And Boyd, Boyd’s eyes were as wide as plates.

Boyd grabbed Lily by the elbow and drug her back to the stools and Billy. "Say it again." Boyd hissed in her ear. "Did you say you’re off of Rome? Nobody, nobody, gets off of Rome alive."

Lily wormed out of Boyd’s grip. "Yes, they do! I did, at any rate. I just died and I got off." Boyd and Billy exchanged an amused look. "I did! Mad Eye died of Bellus and I had Holliday make me something that would make my code stop working."

She pulled down her shirt, to reveal the code that had been implanted into her chest at birth. It was a small square box, with a red line running thru it. When she was alive, the red line had moved with her heart rate, now it was flat. "See?"

Billy seemed more interested in Lily’s chest then the code, so it was Boyd who responded. "Are you serious? This is insane. You’re a little girl and you got off a planet that people have been trying to get off of for decades."

"It wasn’t hard." Lily replied with a light shrug. "I just had to let Holliday take some of my flesh." She used her other hand to raise her shirt, showing the two men her scar from Holliday’s teeth. "He fixed it up, but it left a scar I’m sorry to say."

Billy swallowed. "You’re still hot." Boyd hit Billy upside the head, as Lily blushed and fixed her shirt. "What?"

Boyd rolled his eyes again. "So, you’re not some rich bitch out for some fun. You’re one of us."

"I suppose I am, aren’t I?" Lily smiled at that idea. She may have wanted to be free, but she had never wanted to be alone. "Does this mean you won’t try and take me back to Rome?"

"Oh baby girl," Billy breathed. "It means so much more then that." He looked over to Boyd. "She’s the only person to ever get off of a prison world, alive. She’s special."

Lily smiled. "That’s what Mad Eye used to say. ‘Cause I’m all human."

"That makes you double special. Noone’s pure human anymore." Billy moved closer to her. "I’m Captain Bilantics Tennant, and this is my friend Boyd Sirk." Billy grinned. "What do they call you?"

"Lily. Lily Henry." She paused in thoughts for a moment. "My mother was Angelica Henry and my father was Tadarida Su. Did you know them?"

Billy took one of Lily’s hands and held it lovingly. "No. But, I am so very glad I know you, Lily Henry."

Boyd made a face, before pushing Billy away from Lily. "Put her in your yank bank, Billy." He took Lily’s hand and shook it. "It’s a pleasure, Ms. Henry. We may not have known your parents, but I believe that this could be the beginning of a wonderful friendship between the three of us." He gestured toward the bar. "Why don’t I buy you a drink? You can tell us exctually how you got off of Rome while we’re at it."

Boyd helped Lily sit down on a stool, while Billy ordered up three more drinks. Together, the threesome huddled at the bar as Lily told the two men her story. Hours later, the three of them left together, talking like old friends and headed toward the first sun rays of morning.