by Amanda Churi
“What’s going on?!” Mabel squealed, attempting to break her cuffs. “Where are you guys?!”
“I-I’m right beside you!” I replied, quickly realizing just how overpowered my vision was. “You can’t see me?”
“Of course not!” she barked. “It’s pitch black in here!”
“What about Laelia?!” Griffin demanded, his eyes beaming with fear. “Laelia! Are you here?!”
I did not say anything at first, my breathing shallow as I glanced at her from the corner of my eye. Laelia didn’t even look like she was alive. Her short, dirty blonde hair flowed forward so that her ears and eyes were covered, her breathing slow and lax to show she was still sleeping.
“She’s to your right, Griffin…” I rasped, unable to say anything else as I reflected on her rapidly deteriorating state of wellbeing. “She’s still out.”
“Still?!” Griffin cried, yanking on his cuffs and trying to swing in Laelia’s direction, desperate to catch her attention however possible. “Laelia Caesar!” he tried again in a rougher tone, though she remained unresponsive.
A worried, yet angered growl arose in his throat. He sucked in as much saliva as he could, gathering a large ball on his tongue before blindly spitting her way.
The spit collided with Laelia’s temples, a feeble whimper escaping her lips, though she did not stir any more than that.
“Young lady!” Griffin bellowed. “You stop complaining and get up this instant!”
Probably thinking that the voice belonged to someone within her household, Laelia reluctantly opened her eyes, her sight spinning and pupils dilating in search of light. Her green eyes were neither bright nor sharp like they used to be; she seemed to have a smoky film over her irises, which drastically altered the color. The black bags under her eyes had only increased in potency, pulling down on her skin while her face itself seemed to be sucked in, allowing us to see the sharp frame of her cheekbones.
I could hardly recognize her… She almost reminded me of Tah—short, wiry, dull hair, a rapidly thinning body, and a face deprived of a radiant glow.
She groaned, groggily turning her head in Griffin’s direction and searching the darkness. “Griffin…?” she called back, confused.
“Are you alright…?”
She sighed, lowering her head again and closing her eyes. “Yeah,” she answered with a large yawn. “Just… Sleepy.”
“No, no, no!” Griffin exclaimed. “You need to stay awake!”
“But I’m so tired,” she protested pitifully, refusing to open her eyes.
The harsh grinding of metal on metal attacked my ears, a forceful tug yanking my wrists back as my chains were retracted, and I was slammed against the wall, becoming incapable of any and all movement. Griffin, Mabel, and Laelia suffered my same fate; the abrupt force placed on the sleepy teen was enough to jolt her awake once more as her spine collided with ice-cold metal.
Machines unseen to the eye began to whir around us, spinning their gears and fans as they powered up. I desperately tried to break free, but the chains were far too strong, and the cuffs around my joints only tightened the more I struggled. The room began to shake intensely, my neck going stiff as I pressed my head to the wall, staring upwards when a sliver of powerful light slowly dawned on me.
We looked up in fascination, watching as two plates of metal parted way, allowing a waterfall of luminance to wash over us and banish the darkness. I could not speak, intrigued by all that was happening, when the room suddenly jolted, my head bashing against the wall. I moaned painfully as a light hum reverberated throughout the dungeons, and before I knew it, the light was getting closer.
“I-It’s coming for us?” Mabel stuttered.
“No,” I corrected with an airy gasp, the stone walls passing by us as the light neared. “We’re moving towards it.”
As soon as I finished my statement, the rocky walls swiftly changed to aluminum, and a few seconds later, our heads emerged into open air.
Our unit of transportation came to an urgent halt when we were fully above ground, the whirring slowly transitioning into a low pitched whine as the beams and gears settled into place on a large platform, leaving us pinned to the wall as we took in our surroundings.
We were inside of a bowl-shaped structure, making me feel like an ant in a bubble—a bubble that could probably fit a whole castle and then some. The ceiling of the dome was sheet upon sheet of large glistening white tiles that lit the entire vicinity. Several air vents were camouflaged on the white walls of the dome which stretched from the peak hundreds of feet above down to the glass-like floors. Lines of blue code flew through the translucent material, contributing to the never-ending electronic ticks that polluted my ears. There were steel platforms mounted on the sides of the curving walls, starting dozens of feet above my head and continuing all of the way to the top of the dome. Many people stood on them, looking down into the center of the enclosure while leaning on large, unknown machines. Our group was located on a metal stage in the middle of this bubble—a platform standing approximately ten feet above the floor with rails surrounding it, the only way off being a single set of stairs.
The thing that made me the most nervous were the people. They flooded the room, their numbers easily surpassing one thousand. Like the people in Aphrite, many shared the same features, particularly dark hair and eyes. Their clothes had no theme at all; many wore rags, some had unique outfits, and others were suited up with armor, but none of them looked friendly. They surrounded the stage like piranhas, staring at us with undisguised hatred. I felt like I received the most accusing glares; I almost thought some of them were going to run up the stairs and attack me, but something held them back.
“Laelia!” a frail, tiny voice squeaked.
Our attention turned to the corner of the stage, my heart leaping in shock.
“Sybil!” Laelia screamed, her eyes brightening as she threw herself forward, trying to reach her little companion.
Sybil sat in the corner of the stage, locked inside of a small cage that glowed with electricity. She did not dare to touch the bars in fear of getting shocked, and apart from frightened, she looked just as we had last seen her. Still, I was skeptical; what if she attacked now that she had more of a hold on our story?
“Stand down!” someone announced, their brash voice silencing the crowd in seconds. “Acknowledge your queen!”
Upon hearing of her arrival, hundreds bowed and parted way, lowering their heads respectfully. From the mass of warriors, a figure more poised and prideful than the rest made her way forward in a slow, lax gait, her eyes swiftly swishing across her subjects to make sure all took note of her presence.
She climbed the stairs and came to a halt at the top, her nose upturned as her snobbish ambiance choked the air around her. She loomed at the height of six feet, her long, soft, white hair falling beside her face and down the majority of her back. Her eyes were a deep, piercing ocean blue, so clear that they couldn’t have been natural. She only looked to be in her mid-twenties; her skin was light and pale, and there was not a blemish in sight. Her lips were black, and her face was painted white, a small blue jewel nuzzled in the center of her forehead. A long, elegant white dress encased her body, hugging her thin waist and sinking to the floor like a wedding gown. The way she carried herself was with purpose and grace, a stature certainly strong enough to make it clear that she was the most respected of all. Of course, the small, elegant gold crown atop her head only confirmed that.
She did not speak for a minute, looking to and from each of us. Her eyes studied me the most intensely of all, an angered scowl pulling on her lips as she briskly whisked her head towards the staircase, throwing her arm out. “Bring me the traitors!”
The crowd of people who surrounded the stage quickly parted once more, creating a clear pathway to the stairs that led up the platform.
We inhaled as one as Kaitlyn, Seek, and Rebel were escorted to the stage with their hands cuffed behind their backs, the intense silence
quickly vanishing as cheers of justice took over. Personnel dressed in black shirts and pants were their apprehenders, a solid white mask concealing their identities as the prisoners were led past the queen. They turned them around so that their backs faced us, the personnel kicking our friends behind their knees, sending them crashing to the ground.
The people in the room screamed with victory as the personnel drew back and stood off to the side. What in the world had they done wrong?! Kaitlyn was a member of the Encryption, but judging by the way the three were being treated, you could have fooled me. The world… Was it really so messed up that you could not even trust those fighting for the same cause?
…Wait, I thought in surprise when I realized the connection I had just made. Kaitlyn is an Encryptor… Seek is with her, and Rebel… This is the base? The base of the revolution?
“Thanks a lot, Rebel,” Kaitlyn growled under her breath, turning to her companion with hateful eyes, who stared back at her modestly. “If you hadn’t gone running around, I could have gotten them back here the proper way and not caused such a stir.”
Rebel chuckled cynically, and for the first time, I finally got a good look at her. She looked a bit off, further complimenting her strange personality; her black hair was long but frizzy, her skin holding a queer gray hue, while the area beneath her eyes transitioned to black. The purple streak in her hair almost looked as though it was filled with magic, the contents within ranging from lavender to black and circulating like wisps. She couldn’t have been more than a year or two older than us, but her personality said otherwise.
“I never asked for your help,” Rebel pointed out smugly. “I was just having a bit of fun! They’ve been trying to catch me for five years now; what makes you think they would succeed all of a sudden?”
“That’s not the point!” Kaitlyn hissed righteously. “You could have led them to us! You could have gotten yourself killed!”
“I would be so lucky,” she mumbled. “Do you think I care about my life? The Encryption?” She scoffed. “Please, I care about taking down the Proxez—nothing else.”
“Not even your precious books?” Kaitlyn pressed. “There are no books to read as an Eyla, you know.”
The Rebel’s eyes widened. “Aw… I really want to finish Beowulf…”
Seek shook her head in fascination. “Stop talking!” she reprimanded quietly. “Both of you! You’re going to make it worse!”
“That’s very unlikely at this point,” the queen butt in. All speech in the room instantly ceased, including Rebel and Kaitlyn’s bickering as they turned their eyes back to their successor.
The queen let her eyes run down the line of those on trial before she jabbed a finger aggressively in Seek’s direction. “You…” she whispered darkly, allowing her voice to swell with scorn and disgust. Seek whimpered in distress, collapsing her shoulders forward and looking down, desperate to escape the queen’s menacing glare. “Care to tell me why you strayed from your mission? Why you and Kaitlyn brought back a bunch of baboons instead?”
Seek’s eyes widened with shock, the child slowly raising her head so that she could look her queen in the eye. “You can’t tell…?”
The queen cocked her head to the side, briefly looking my way with flustered eyes. “Well, certainly not the mortals—and even less the demon and lerial.”
Demon? Me? I looked down at my hands and feet, noticing no difference. How did she know? How did any of them besides my friends?
“He is not a typical case,” Kaitlyn stated. “We found him and the others in Pikë. They were traveling as one.”
“And they’re not bad!” Seek added quickly. “They are exactly why I willingly abandoned my mission! While searching the city, I sensed an enlightened presence—two, in fact.” She shifted her shining eyes over her shoulder to Mabel and me, smiling. “Two auras of light, both from extinct worlds.”
“I feel nothing but evil and distortion from them all,” the queen mused dismissively. “Besides, I thought we had this discussion about magic, no?”
“W-Well yes…” Seek admitted sheepishly.
“Then why would you disrespect my orders?!” the queen bellowed, taking a flustered step forward. Seek shrunk in response, whimpering like a puppy. The queen snapped her gaze to Kaitlyn next, snarling. “And you! Bringing them to our base unannounced?! You should know better!”
“Hey!” Kaitlyn snapped in retort, hardly intimidated by her queen. “I’m Seek’s bodyguard; if she tells me they are the ones needed to win this war, then by golly, I’m going to listen to her and keep them safe—especially when those are my exact orders! Excuse me for being loyal!” She turned her fiery gaze to Rebel, who stared at the queen placidly. “And for your information,” Kaitlyn continued, keeping her eyes honed in on the troublemaker, “I would have introduced the situation to you alone and properly, but a little someone here almost got herself killed, and I had to step in.”
“Watcha talking about?!” Rebel screamed defensively, her eyes wild and teeth bared. “I would not have gotten caught!”
“Rebel…” the queen began, her neck tensing. “How many times do I have to tell you?! Stay out of their wake!”
“Sorry for trying to make use of myself instead of just staying underground and waiting for something to happen!”
The queen rolled her eyes, fed up with the incompetence of her soldiers. She looked back at Kaitlyn, beginning the onslaught once more. “Kaitlyn,” she began quietly, “how they got here is of no interest of mine. The fact is that neither you nor Seek warned me of this ahead of time.”
“You would have said ‘no’ to their arrival!” Seek argued.
“Exactly!”
Kaitlyn scoffed in disbelief, irritated. “You don’t understand! I saw it too! I believe Seek is right; they’re the ones we need to win the war!”
“Hey, yeah! I did as well!” Rebel added, trying to be of some assistance to help make up for the mess she created. “They’re all magical and stuff!”
“Quiet!” the queen ordered, swiping the air sharply with her hand. “You’re the ones who don’t understand! You never have! You could have just ruined everything we have been building for decades! I make the decisions around here! Not you!”
Kaitlyn took a deep breath, setting her jaw as she looked her leader square in the eye. “No,” she said through an upset growl, ignoring the gasps of shock rising through the air from all angles. The queen, however, did not seem startled; she only held Kaitlyn’s gaze, her face twisting as she tried to hold her frustration back.
“You tell us to have hope,” Rebel took over, quite baffled by the thick skull of their leader, just like Kaitlyn, “when you won’t even look for the light; you of all people!” Rebel tilted her head towards Mabel, her eyes sharp and demanding. “I believe Seek and Kaitlyn!” she announced loudly for all. “That chick belongs here! She flipping wrecked a Haxor with fire! Real fire!”
“Rebel…” the queen warned, her voice deathly calm.
“And him!” Rebel rolled on, staring at her queen whose anger was building with each passing second. “You know he is no normal demon! Do you not remember the stories? That boy—”
“FLYE!” she roared, so overcome with emotion that the air almost seemed to shake around her. “SHUT THE FUCK UP!”
The Rebel, Flye, fell silent.
“Enough of this!” the queen cried, closing the argument immediately. “This is fucking ridiculous! I will not stand for this—to be insulted and called a fool by my own people!” She forced herself to take a deep breath, slightly calming down. “I’m tired of this,” the queen mumbled bitterly. “You three are coming with me.” She turned towards Sybil and then to the four of us, who had said nothing this entire time. Her pupils were ablaze with anger and pain. “Get them out of my sight. I never want to see their faces again.”
“No, wait!” I protested.
“NOW!” the queen commanded, cutting me off. “Get rid of them!”
“What?! No!” Seek scre
amed desperately, immediately trying to stand up as she comprehended just what those words meant. Several personnel raced back over to the captives, grabbing their shoulders and keeping them down on their knees. Flye and Kaitlyn continuously thrashed and shoved, trying to escape their grasp, but Seek lost it, kicking, punching—screaming relentlessly as another personnel from off stage came to assist in holding her down.
A swarm of resistance personnel, all of whom were identical to the others, climbed up onto the stage, quickly closing in on us.
I knew what they were going to do to us; we all did.
Mabel screamed, trying her hardest to shatter her cuffs as the executioners overtook us. Sybil was anything but a challenge; a man came up from behind, opening the cage door and stuffing her in a sack. They came after Griffin and Laelia as well, Laelia screaming and head-butting any that got within range. For some reason, despite her mental affliction, she seemed to be stronger than ever before. Griffin, on the other hand, was unable to do anything, well… Without his other hand, put simply.
“Get off of me!” Mabel screamed as they overwhelmed her, one man pressing his hand to the metal wall, before with a sharp beep, her wrists and ankles were released. She wasn’t free nearly long enough to take note of what had happened before they were already taking her wrists in their hands and gagging her into submission.
For some reason unknown to me, I did not scream. I wasn’t scared; I was simply enraged. I let them uncuff and bind me, staring ahead into the eyes of the bitter queen.
Sound vanished. The world around me shimmered as my sight took in every ounce of detail it could hold. Movements became sluggish, every frame violently clear as the queen smirked my way, aware of the change within me.
And I didn’t hold back. I allowed it to run free in the form of pure anger, pure hatred, pure resentment—