Perspectives

Chapter 42

Piper let out a gasp of pain as her eyes shot open. Her entire body felt sore all over, most notably her back where it had recently struck against the counter top. She tried to stand up but found her arms had been restrained around the back of the chair she was seated on. Piper struggled against the binds, but they didn't budge. Whatever was restraining her was stronger than rope or handcuffs. 

"There will be no more running for you, girl." Piper whipped her head to the left to see the man who had attacked her earlier there, leaning against the wall with a satisfied smirk on his face. He had removed the suit jacket and shirt he'd been wearing earlier, revealing a thick white bandage on his shoulder, covering the spot where Piper had stabbed him earlier. 

Piper's heart began to thud loudly in her chest as she took in her surroundings. She seemed to be in a fairly small windowless room with strange devices and equipment littering the area. At the opposite end of the room, next to a metal door was the woman who had shot Piper. She was currently typing away at the buttons on the holographic screen in front of her. 

There was no doubt now exactly who her attackers were. Despite their current human appearance, Piper knew these two to be Amasisians. Piper couldn't believe they'd actually followed her back to Earth. Did they really want revenge on her for escaping that badly? 

Piper's fists clenched behind her back as she remembered what had happened to her mom. The image of her body falling to the floor had burned itself in Piper's brain. "If you hurt my mom, I swear to god I'll tear you apart." Piper threatened, turning back to the man.

The man rolled his eyes. "Relax, your mother will be fine." He told her. "Though I can't say the same for you." He added with a cruel grin.

"Why can't you people just leave me alone?" Piper demanded. "All I want is to live my life in my own dimension." 

The woman chuckled from across the room. "Your life is hardly consequential in the grand scheme of things." She said without looking away from her screen. "The wants of a minuscule creature like yourself will not stand in the way of Sovereign goals." Piper struggled against her bonds again despite knowing it would be fruitless. Right now she he wanted nothing more than to get free and break this lady's nose. "We'll be leaving in five minutes." The woman announced, finally turning away from the holographic screen.

Piper tried to push down the rising fear in her. She'd dealt with Amasisians at their full size, surely she could handle them when they were human sized. Yet she was completely at the mercy of these two, and they didn't seem to have much to give. Piper swallowed hard. "Leaving? Leaving where?" She asked, keeping her tone as fearless as possible. 

"Why, back to Amasis of course." The woman replied with a sly smile. Piper could have sworn she stopped breathing in that moment. All this time she'd thought these Amasisians had come to Earth to teach her a lesson for escaping, she'd been stupid not to think they would be taking her back. A part of her hadn't even wanted to consider it as a possibility. After all, she'd been through so much to get back home, and now it was at risk of being all for nothing.

"No, you can't take me back there, I don't belong there!" Piper screamed, no longer bothering to hide the fear in her voice. "If you're worried about me telling anybody, I won't--"

"We have our orders, we're not about to break them." The man told her coldly. "Unlike your pal Ambrose, we're loyal to the Sovereign Council." 

Looking impatient, the woman crossed her arms over her chest. "I do not want to miss our ride, Thaniel." She told the man. "We need to get in position." 

The man, Thaniel, gave a nod in response before stepping behind Piper. Piper heard a beep, then the tightness around her wrists was gone. Before she could even think about trying to make a run for it, Thaniel had grabbed her and dragged her to her feet by her arm. Once on her feet again, Thaniel none too gently shoved the device back around Piper's wrists. 

"You people are monsters." Piper growled, tears pricking at her eyes as Thaniel walked her over to where the woman was standing on a metal platform on the floor. 

"Are humans not monsters to the bugs they crush beneath their heels?" The woman asked. Piper couldn't believe these people could compare human beings to bugs. Their minds were so twisted, no doubt filled with some kind of toxic propaganda spewed by the Rothgard man that seemed to be at the center of all of Piper's hardships. 

Piper tried to fight against Thaniel's hard grip on her arm. If she could only throw herself off the platform before they got transported. The Amasisians would be dragged back to Amasis and Piper would be free. Unable to shake off Thaniel's grip, Piper instead settled for stomping down hard on his foot. He let out a grunt of pain, loosening his grip on Piper's arm. Desperately she tugged her arm free and began to dive forward off the platform just as a shrill ringing began to fill her ears. 

"I don't think so." Came the woman's voice from behind Piper. She felt a tug at the back of her shirt, pulling her backwards onto the platform. The ringing intensified until it came to a sudden stop. Piper struggled to get away, but four hands now had wound their way around her body, keeping her locked in place. An ear-splitting scream ripped through Piper's throat as a flash of white light overcame her vision. 

For the third time Piper was forced to undergo the painful inter-dimensional transportation process, only this time it didn't end in her passing out. Every nerve in her body felt like it was being pinched as her vision returned to her. Piper could instantly tell she was gone from Earth. A look to either side of her and she saw two pairs of gigantic shoes beside her. Piper tilted her head backwards to look all the way up to see the owners of the shoes were familiar. The woman Piper had no name for, and Thaniel stood to the left and right of her as they had been back on Earth, only now their true forms were revealed. 

 A gasp escaped Piper as the monumental man lowered himself to a crouch. She stumbled backwards as his hands lunged towards her. In her attempt to dodge Thaniel's hands, Piper fell backwards. Her hands still bound behind her, she was unable to catch herself, causing her to land painfully on her back. 

A thundering chuckle sounded from above as massive fingers quickly wound their way around her body. The floor fell away from beneath Piper as Thaniel straightened up. The grip caused by Thaniel's fist around her body was tighter than even Kalen's at his worst moments. The breath was forced from Piper's body as Thaniel tightened his grip even further.

"How do you think Lord Rothgard would react if we brought him damaged goods?" The woman next to Thaniel chided. 

"This little brat stabbed me, Lessia." Thaniel reminded the woman bitterly. 

The woman, Lessia, gave Thaniel a hard look. The two giants stared each other down for a moment before Thaniel finally tore his gaze away with an irritated sigh. He loosened his hold on Piper ever so slightly, only enough for her to be able to breath again. She broke into heavy coughing the moment her airways were free, the drained color returning to her face. 

Just then, the glass chamber opened up. Piper realized she was right back where she'd been before she had left Amasis, only now the lab was filled with both scientists and security guards. 

"I see you were successful." A well-dressed man with graying black hair said as Lessia and Thaniel exited the glass chamber. 

"As though we could fail apprehending a little human girl, Layton" Lessia replied coolly. 

The man called Layton raised an eyebrow. "And yet Operative Eledon seems to have been injured in the process." He said disdainfully. Piper glanced to the side to see Lessia scowling at the man. "None the less, you have done your part, but it is now over." Layton continued. "Hand over the human and you two may be on your way." 

Thaniel's grip tightened around Piper slightly. Looking up to see his face, Piper could guess that this time at least, the action had been unconscious. "Should we not be delivering her directly to Lord Rothgard?" He questioned. 

"The Lord has given me clear instructions, the human is to remain contained in the Sovereign Science Division Laboratory under my supervision." Layton responded smoothly. 

There was moment of hesitation until, "Hand her over." Lessia said reluctantly. 

"But--" Thaniel began to argue but was cut short by a sharp glare from Lessia. With a low sigh Thaniel deposited Piper into Layton's outstretched hands. 

Piper let out a hiss of pain as she was dropped unceremoniously onto the strange giant's palms. Piper didn't have a moment to orientate herself before the man had wrapped his fingers around Piper like a vice.