Dark Drifters Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Family ties

A melancholy fell over the two as Aeryn finished her story, She sighed and looked into Xilon`s golden eyes
“Sorry, guess I’ve had that all inside me for so long, it just burst out, thank you though for listening to me, and for letting me get it off my chest, I do feel better having told someone…  Anyway lets... Talk about something else, how are things in your life going surely better than mine aside from people trying to kill you that is?”

"I suppose they are going rather well." Xilon chuckled to try and raise the mood, "Never knew things would pick up this quickly honestly." He shrugged as he cleaned up. “I have some stuff to do in the garage; you can come with me if you would like"

"Sure I know my way around a spanner or two" Aeryn said following him she was glad for the change in convocation and the distraction.
Xilon led her to the garage which was on the backside of the house leading from a doorway in the kitchen. He opened the heavy door with another device like the one on the front of the house and stepped in, turning on the light switch when Aeryn was though he closed the door behind her.

The garage was completely designed for vehicle designing and developing. Yet another sector looked rather off. It seemed to be the area he kept all of his eco in, and there seemed to be some odd, but intricate machinery that was completely of original design placed out on the work bench with some Eco canisters and tools.

Welcome to my workshop, may not look like much but great things have been built here” Looking around Xilon saw some blanket covered parts in the corner
"That reminds me, maybe you can help me with designing better armor that looks the same as my previous design?"
Aeryn smiled at the question "Yes I remember you asking me about that when you were bleeding to death on me, next time worry about yourself first rather than your car ok? I might be able to help but im more a weapons person there is said to be a good mechanic in Kras who can help guy called Hail I think"

Xilon nodded and smiled as Aeryn  looked around and walked towards the Eco canisters that were simply placed in a box with no top.  
“You keep your Eco here just loose?”
"That stuff? I have nowhere else to keep it so I keep it out here. I use it for. A lot of things. I mainly use it for armor reinforcement, ammunition, that kind of thing...custom defense unit too. Speaking of I need to fix something.."

He approached the Eco table and would take off his gloves. Beneath them, attached to his hand and wrist was the same type of tech laid out on the table, except this set was fine tuned. It looked like a cybernetic overlay on his hand that was rigged to a streamlined eco casing attached to his arm beneath his sleeve. Taking off  the devices, he started to  fine tune them.
Aeryn would look at his glove curiously looking at it closely and remembering how he had apparently shot yellow Eco from his bare hands.  

"I’ve never seen that kind of technology before it looks somehow futuristic but also ancient a fusion of two worlds”  
"This particular technology here, is all my own design. I was fascinated by how the channelers and sages of the old world once worked. How they could harness eco, control it and bend it to their will for anything. It took a long time to figure it out and perfect it. I had nothing to work off of but the world lore and some old precursor pictographs in the ruins, luckily I had some help from a Precursor expert that my family knew"

He paused as he finished tuning up the eco glove systems and put them back on securely, "I'd part with it...but only to very trustworthy sources that wouldn't let it into the wrong hands. The Baron would kill to get this I'm sure. And many others.."

Aeryn nodded still fascinated by the device, a glove that could create a ball of Eco without harming the user.
“My uncle Sol would love this was always helping my aunty Athena with finding precursor artifacts, I wonder... did your paths ever cross?"

"Athena..." Xilon trailed off in thought for a minute, then would look back to his friend, "What did she look like? The name is familiar.."

Aeryn thought for a moment "she had red hair shoulder length, wore a brown choker with what Sol called "The Precursor chest" if memory serves she often wore a set of Precursor amour when she was out artifact hunting”

Xilon paused in thought, even appearing to have zoned out for a minute as he reflected on the past, "My parents knew her.." he trailed off, finally breaking his blank stare to look back at Aeryn, "I knew her too, I think”

A look of deep thought crossed his face briefly before he raised a brow in a questioning fashion, "Athena.." he began, "What was her second name if you don't mind my asking?"

"Winter" Aeryn said with an inquisitive look. "Come to think of it I never fully told you my name: Aeryn Lucia Winter"

He would give a light look of surprise and disbelief, "I suppose I'll return the favor. My full name is Xilon Voldarus."  He paused for a second before saying "Wait.. The Voldarus family was close friends with the Winter family” He was about to say more as fresh memory’s came thought but something stopped him so he gave a light laugh of shock, "This is unbelievable, but, amazing all the same! What are the odds?"

Aeryn was stunned for a second "It is either one hell of a coincidence or.... something bigger, I’ve heard the name Voldarus before. If I remember correctly Athena and my Uncle Sol were... your god parents!"

"Yes, they were!" Xilon felt excited but tried to contain himself, "That's just. Wow!" he gave a light chuckle and smiled again, "What a coincidence really! Just two strangers who meet at a bar, when really our families knew each other!" He lightly calmed from the rush of the realization, "I never would've expected this to happen, but then again. Maybe it was intended. The precursors. Probably pushed us together to help one another, and..what better than with some familiarity, right?"

Aeryn nodded and smiled again this time she took and shook his hand.
"There might be a larger force at work here, in either way it looks like your secrets need to stay hidden, at least from most people in this city. I promise I won’t let them take your family’s legacy from you Xilon"
She looked into his eyes now but there was compassion behind her words. "From now on we`ll stay together"

"Sticking together sounds good to me." Xilon would keep his smile, "I know you'll keep your promise, and, in return, I promise to be there for you when you need a friend. I still don't want you on the path you walk alone, especially now."

"Thank you Xilon... I appreciate your help in all this" She gave him a hug at first just as a thanks but soon she didn’t feel like she wanted to let go until an inner instinct kicked in and she backed off "Sorry, I should... get going, I... don’t want them following me here"

"You don't need to rush out..and there's no need to be sorry.."
Xilon assured her, "There's no harm in expressing yourself." he really didn't want her to go, nor did he want her to feel oddly about her actions, he honestly didn't mind and that was heard on his tone of voice. "However, I..suppose it would be bad if they found you here with me. I don't exactly have the greatest reputation with anyone around here." He gave a heavy sigh, "I wouldn't risk it."

He tried his best to keep the disappointment from his voice , "Just stay safe when you do go, and...You’re always welcome here."

Turning her back on him she started walking but then stopped, "I won’t be too far away, Xilon, just keep an eye out and even if you don’t see me, I`ll see you"
Her reply wasn’t as she wanted it to sound, her mind in fact was quite a mix of emotions, she had started to feel something for him and now that was all she could think about. She knew she had to get out, she couldn’t let her feelings betray her and perhaps.. Endanger him.

"I`ll contact you soon, let you know I’m alright" she wrote something down on a piece of paper and left it on the bench.

"I'll look forward to hearing from you again. I’ll know when you're there." he finally set aside his disappointment, "Here, I'll show you out..I have to use this glove to open the doors for you, otherwise, there's no leaving this place." he had taken notice that Aeryn had written something down, but figured he would look over it later. He'd begin to head out of the garage, beckoning her to follow.

"Stay safe Xilon, I... would like to see you again as soon as I can" Her voice had a lighter tone to it, trying to make up for her comment earlier.
"Same, Aeryn, same.." Xilon answered with a light smile. He still felt lightly disappointed that she had to leave, but knew it was for the better. While Aeryn gathered her things, he'd go and unlock the door for her and would keep the glove on it in order to keep the door open for an extended period of time, "Goodbye for now."