Children of Sun (Oracle's Legacy)

by R. B. Holbrook

  Ellis was stunned momentarily, but he soon recovered enough to use his power to relax Granger's mind and his hold.

  "Don't make me possess you," Granger growled, reinforcing his hold as he began to take on the powers of one of his River spies, reflecting Ellis's powers onto him.

  The twin's fury eased as his own calming powers soothed him. "How …?" Ellis's voice trailed off as he lost the will to ask. The man slid to the floor, limp.

  He let Ellis go. The man was completely submissive at that moment, giving Granger pause. Ellis's power was far more formidable than he realized. His ability to relax the mind affected all aspects of a person--relaxing powers, body, and guard, taking away any will, apprehension, emotion, or sense of being. It was like being stoned on some drug. And it was a perfect counter for Ollie's abilities, especially since his abilities potentially could heal the mind, while hers could destroy it.

  Ellis's body woke up slowly as his mind came back into focus.

  "How did you do that?" Ellis looked up at Granger with big, round eyes, like those of a wondering child.

  Granger hadn't known he could do it until a few days ago. But he learned so he could protect Ollie. He had explored all facets of his powers to make sure he was capable, and he'd found he was more than capable. It scared him.

  "So you want to talk now?" Granger laughed. "Forgive me if I don't answer you." He turned and walked off. Ellis still needed time to think things through. Plus Granger needed to concentrate on finding Ollie.

  "Ann." He turned to his attendant who stood quietly in the corner, bewildered. "Tell Dale to get us up in the air. We are still headed toward Michigan until further notice." She immediately left to do as he asked.

  Granger went to his seat and buckled his seat belt. Ellis made his way to a seat and did the same.

  As soon as they were up in the air, his attendant came into the main cabin with a phone.

  He cleared his throat before answering it. "Yes?"

  "It's George. Can I speak to Ellis?"

  Granger frowned but handed his phone over to the twin.

  Ellis frowned, answering it. "What?"

  "Yer've to get 'er to stand down, Ellis," Granger felt George say through Ellis's mind.

  "What do you think I'm trying to do, George?"

  "She's at risk. Devil's Trill gave a order for 'er to come in. She ignored it."

  Terror grabbed Ellis. Devil's Trill? Granger could see the image of a young man playing the violin. If what he was seeing was correct, this Devil's Trill had a considerable amount of power in Moon.

  "Why?"

  "Can' say."

  "Where is he?"

  "You know I don' know. You'd know better 'an me. But if she doesn' come in, 'e's gonna send out recon."

  Granger felt Ellis's agony. Evidently that was bad.

  "You 'ave to stop Ollie. If 'ey catch 'er--"

  "Don't you think I know?" Ellis growled. It was Ellis's job.

  His job? Wait.

  Granger dug deeper into Ellis's mind. Granger was shocked by what he found. Ellis had been commissioned by Moon to stop Ollie if the need ever arose. It was a safeguard in case she ever went rogue or let her darkness take over completely. Or if she ignored Moon protocol and took matters into her own hands, potentially exposing Moon or endangering the Oracle. Ellis had agreed to it because he wouldn't let anyone else touch her. Ollie didn't want him to have that burden, because it might mean he'd have to kill her, but Ellis wouldn't let anyone else have it. Granger felt bad for the brother. How could he even agree to something like that?

  "Ellis, if you don' an' Moon doesn', Blade could--"

  "George, you may be my cousin, but if you go after Ollie, I will hunt you down--and everyone of your kin and order. Understood?" Ellis's voice was stone: cold and immobile. To his own cousin?

  George was silent for a long time.

  "You could try, cousin." The words were colder than Ellis's. Moon wasn't one to threaten.

  Ellis … laughed? "Next time we meet, George, you better hope Ollie's with me." Because Ellis had every intention of grinding the man's face in.

  Granger grinned at Ellis's nerve. He was truly Ollie's twin. The job description came with nerves of steel. It was impossible to survive her without it. Ollie had a presence that made everyone around her stronger or want to be stronger.

  "An' if she gets ou' of hand?"

  "Would you like to be the one to stop her?" Ellis asked. His stomach clenched at the thought.

  Silence stayed between them for a long time.

  "Do you know about her condition?" Ellis's words were slight, barely passing his lips.

  "Condition?"

  "She's dying." His hands trembled in time with his words.

  "Call if you need anything from us." There was an ache in George's reply as he hung up.

  Ellis was surprised by the man's response. George had never offered Moon's services to him. Ever. Though they talked as cousins, family, never had they talked as associates in business. Anything Ellis knew about Moon came from Ollie. Ellis felt the weight of his cousin's offer. Ollie was really in a bad place.

  Ellis handed the phone back to Granger, who didn't say anything.

  As Ellis sat, completely silent, Granger felt worry and questions inside of the concerned brother. The turmoil of what had happened to them when they were children played over and over. He blamed himself for being Sun instead of Moon as he covered his ears hearing her scream and cry to be let out of the room. All he could hear was her crying, whimpering, pawing at the door. And no matter how hard he tried, he could not get to her. Not old enough, not strong enough. Not a good brother at all. Even in his sleep, he could see her broken body when Geo had burst into the room and pulled her out. She was dead.

  His little heart shattered bit by bit as Mama tried over and over to revive her. Ric was the one to call the paramedics. Geo made sure that the woman responsible didn't go anywhere. And then there were footsteps, as if someone was walking through the room, but Ellis could not see who it was, if anyone were there at all. An overwhelming feeling came over him, and the urge to sleep grew heaver than his will to be with his sister.

  When he woke up, he was lying in a bed beside Ollie. She was alive and hooked up to several machines. The tubes connected to her made her look half-artificial. Geo was there when he woke up and told him that those responsible would be put in prison for a long time. They had made it appear as if both of the children had died due to child abuse. They would no longer be known as they once were.

  The boy didn't care. He crawled out of his bed and lay in her bed, next to her, to make sure that he never left her again. No one would hurt her again. No one would take her away from him again. She was his sister, under his protection. And he would kill for her. Had killed for her.

  Granger eyed the man, seeing the memories.

  ()()()

  "Where have you been, Ellis?" Geo looked down at the quiet seventeen-year-old.

  Ellis would not indulge him. If he wanted answers, he would have to pry them from him.

  "Ellis?" Geo warned.

  "Antonio, leave him," Mama said, entering the room with a towel in her hand. "Go help Troy with his homework." She placed the towel on the back of one of the kitchen chairs, smiling at the oldest. "While calculus is a breeze for him, he has not quite grasped the concept of Shakespeare."

  "What kind of fruit loop writes in prose?" Troy's voice yelled through the house. "If you mean to say somethin', just say it!"

  "It's art, Troy!" Ellis yelled back to his naïve brother, defending the great author. "Expression of emotion through words, imagery."

  "Bull!" Troy yelled back.

  Ellis rose from the table to confront him, but Mama grabbed him and pulled him outside onto the back porch. "Look at you," she said angrily.

  Ellis turned away from her. She knew where he had been and what he had done.

  "You are ready to go after your own flesh and blood, son." She turned his face to meet hers. "I warn
ed you, didn't I?"

  He nodded.

  "Once you take a life, things change. You change. You can never take that back."

  "And I don't want to." Not after what they did to Ollie. She did not deserve her punishment. He would hunt them down again and kill them both with the same satisfaction.

  "But will you stop with them? Can you truly turn it off? You cannot kill every individual that hurts your sister, Ellis. People will say things, do things, that will hurt her."

  "Then I will--"

  "You will not." Mama put her hands on his shoulders, giving him a stern look. "Listen to me. If you harm anyone else for her, you must ask her first. Do you hear me?"

  He stood still, wishing he did not have to.

  "Ellis. If I have to, I will wipe your mind clean and make you a puppet. Then she will be nothing to you." The woman's voice held promise. "Do you want that? To forget her?"

  He shook his head. That was the last thing he wanted.

  "I will not have you murdering people."

  "They starved her. Killed her. Mama, they had to die!" he shouted.

  "And who made you God?" she shouted back at him.

  He grew silent as tears ran down his cheeks. "I can still hear her crying in my sleep, Mama. They changed her."

  "We all change, Ellington. Your names changed. Your family changed. You have grown, and so has she. You will go your separate ways one day. But you must chain the darkness inside of you, my son, because Ollie has enough darkness in her to accommodate all of us. You need to be her light, the positive force in her life. Keep her out of trouble. Protect her with your love, not your hate. Promise me," she said, hugging the boy, who cried.

  "Yes, ma'am," he promised. But if Ollie asked, if she ever needed him to, he would kill again.

  ()()()

  Ellis was tormented by those days as much as Ollie was. Even more so. He felt responsible for her, for what had happened. Wishing he was Moon instead of her.

  But there is more, isn't there, Ellis?

  "You know things about Moon, don't you?" Granger watched the man as his grip tightened on the armrest.

  "What makes you think that?" Ellis said quietly.

  "You are Ollie's twin. And your mother was Moon. So I figured you would have the inside information that no one else has."

  He laughed bitterly. "You know how to retrieve it from me, so why ask?"

  "I prefer not to dig that deep. Especially since what I've learned from you so far is as scary as some of the things I've seen in Ollie."

  "Then you have not seen half of Ollie." His intensity crowded the plane as he thought of his sister. Granger caught an image of her standing over a bleeding man, switchblade in his shoulder, trembling as she questioned him without remorse about his pain.

  "Then tell me about her."

  "Why?" Ellis frowned.

  "I want to know why you protect someone you are so scared of." Granger felt calmness fill the man, who smiled.

  "Because she is my sister. I love her despite how crazy, loud, rude, and deadly she is. Though she does not care much, when she does, she cares deeply. She loves deeply. But the reaches of her love and loyalty are limited and can be squashed as easily as if she stepped on a roach. She can remove herself so … completely that it can … unnerve … anyone." His voice trailed off.

  "And she would do anything for her family."

  "That is her limit." Ellis sighed. "Granger, I will only tell you this because you can find out regardless. But I will only tell you once. Ollie cares little for herself. She would sacrifice herself in a minute to save her family, because she feels that they … we are the only thing good about her."

  Granger remembered what she had said. Without them, I'm nothing more than a shell. He laughed.

  "Why do you find that funny?" Ellis snarled.

  "I don't. What I find funny is how you all see her. I have read all of you and seen your memories. It seems that you all believe Ollie is the one who needs protecting. You all think that without her, the family would fall apart. She worries about you most of all, and you worry about her. You all worry so much about her being found out as Moon--so much so that she makes herself conceal her eyes. She rarely stops using her powers unless she is asleep. Without proper rest, the strain exhausts her. She tried to stay put, to please you all, when she wanted to be out in the field, creating a further imbalance. She is killing herself to please you all."

  Ellis frowned, wanting to deck Granger. Then as soon as his anger had come, so did his sorrow. "I killed her."

  Granger immediately regretted his words. Ellis was blaming himself again. Damn. Ollie would kick his ass right now.

  "No, you didn't. And Ollie would put her foot up both our asses if she knew you thought that. So cut it out." Granger began to consume some of his grief.

  "What are you doing?" Ellis looked over at Granger, startled.

  "Clearing your head so that you can think through this. Ollie cares so much that she would sacrifice herself for you all, so this is part of her sacrifice. Giving up her identity to protect you all. To make you all happy." Granger looked out the window of the plane, feeling a bit jealous. "She is strong-willed, determined to make her own way. So this was more her decision than anyone's. If you said you wanted something, she wouldn't hesitate to get you what you wanted, even if you told her not to worry about it. Ollie isn't a stupid woman. She is extremely conscious of all of her decisions. All of her actions, even the crazy ones, are deliberate, Ellis. So don't blame yourself for her condition. She wouldn't like it."

  "Mama, always says she spoils us."

  Ellis's mind began to work at a rate so fast that Granger had a hard time keeping up. He was processing something, and it was creepy how fast and complex the process was. The man was truly brilliant, and far more powerful than he let on. What was that thought he just repressed?

  "You have feelings for my sister," Ellis said, without any question. Granger felt his stomach turn.

  "What?" Granger's neck almost snapped when he turned to look at the twin.

  "Does she know?" Ellis narrowed his eyes as his suspicions rose, as did an acid-like hate.

  How did he know? "What makes you say that?" Granger cleared his mind to try to find a way out of this impending mess.

  "You are far too in tune to my sister. You sound like her, almost. You ask questions that surround her. More than idle curiosity."

  "I've just spent days with her on my yacht. I helped her when she was in pain. I guess I would have some form of feelings for her in order to help her figure out her condition."

  From the look on his face, Granger could tell that Ellis was reasoning through it.

  "She showed you her eyes." Ellis's voice became a growl. "What is going on with you two?" he said, folding his arms over his chest, trying to hold back his rage.

  Granger had to think. He had to get Ellis to focus on the task at hand.

  "I've been trying to help Ollie. When I found out she was Moon, she took it upon herself to show me her eyes." Granger had to omit some of the details, but it wasn't far from the truth. "Now, focus." Granger warned.

  Even though Ellis was still suspicious, he respected Granger for not going down a road that the twin feared.

  "Will you tell me about Moon?"

  "Moon …" Ellis thought for a moment. "I don't fear Moon, if that's what you were implying." No, but he feared Ollie. That was why he was hesitant.

  "Then can I ask you something?"

  "Fine."

  "What happened three thousand years ago that made Moon fail in their duties?" Granger asked.

  Ellis glanced over at Granger. He shook his head. "You ask something I should not know."

  "But you do?"

  "Because of our mother and Ollie. Not even Geo knows what I know. So give me a reason why I should tell you." Ellis had so much knowledge in his eyes that Granger could almost pluck it from there.

  Granger pulled the amulet from around his neck. "The Oracle gave me this," he said. />
  Ellis glanced down at it and frowned. "Mama gave you that? Did she say why?"

  "She said it is a focus. Arjun told me it was the Oree. Do you know what it is?"

  "I've … seen it once, and I hoped to never see it again." He moved uncomfortably in his chair as his mind began suppressing information in such a way that Granger couldn't get to it. It wasn't like Ollie's wall of darkness; it was something entirely different. But Ellis looked very uncomfortable in his seat, almost as if he was going to be sick. "You are in possession of a very important artifact. And if it was given to you, then it would be wise not to flash it around. It could draw a lot of unnecessary attention from those who might know of its existence."

  "You're not going to tell me, are you?" Granger frowned.

  "You were already told."

  "Ellis."

  Ellis exhaled a rush of breath, running his hands over his face. "In the old language, its full name was Oree Caubra. I don't know what more I can say. The only person I know who could answer your question is …"

  "Ollie."

  But Ellis knew of another. Who?

  "I'm guessing you already asked and she gave you nothing. Not surprising. She was probably trying to protect you. Best you let her. She knows more about that doctrine than I wish she did. Please, let it go." Ellis pushed Granger's hand away from him, giving him the impression that he should put the amulet back on. So he did.

  He had a million questions about the amulet, but it was best to save those questions for someone who could answer them--and would. "Then can you tell me about why they failed to protect Dietti? Why were they accused of killing her?"

  "First off, you must understand. Moon did not fail to protect Dietti." He looked at Granger with pain in his eyes. "Moon has never failed its duties."

  "What are you telling me?" Granger thought of the implications.

  "If Dietti was killed, and Moon didn't fail, then-" Ellis looked at him with unwavering honesty. "-Moon killed her."