by Dani Hoots
Nothing.
It could never be easy, could it? That I would wake up and the person who captured me would be waiting, and then explain everything to me so I was up to speed. No, it was never like that. I always needed to make a big scene before I was told anything, kill a few people if I must. It was like the person who captured me wanted to test my patience.
And guess what? I had absolutely no patience.
I shrugged, laughing. It had been a while, having to act like my old self, both teasing and cocky, not letting anything take me down. I was impervious in this state of mind, I mean, other than doing stuff to Lance, but that was a little different, not to mention I still let up at times. Here I could finally give it all I got.
And it felt great.
Wes had made it so I had to hold back, knowing he would give Alan the order to kill me if I tried anything foolish. It was ridiculous, really, how he hid behind Alan and Lance from me. If it was a one-on-one fight, I would win in an instant. And he knew that.
So Neil was testing me, he had to have been, to see if I changed, to see if being with my brother all this time had weakened me somehow, or to see if I was still the fighter that I once was. The fighter that I will always be.
I couldn’t let him down, now could I?
Especially since I wanted him to trust me again, to have him think I had seen the error in my ways, that I had been a fool this whole time and should have been serving him just as I had promised. It made me want to gag just thinking about it, but I had to keep up the farce. I had to make him think I still wanted to serve him.
So that meant I had to be the old me. I had to be cocky, heartless, and a ruthless killer. It would be easy, honestly, because I hadn’t really changed all that much.
“All right then, I guess I will come find my captor myself.”
The camera, although seeming invisible to the naked eye, was in the very center of the ceiling, which is rather hard to get to without any help. That is, if you weren’t an assassin, or the shadow to the Emperor in a future scheme of time. I jumped off the side of the cell and up to where the camera would be. I was able to break the lens on my first try. Normally a human wouldn’t have that ability, but I wasn’t human. I was a Sanshlian that also had inhuman strength. It wasn’t much, but it did come in handy at times like these.
Now I needed to find a way out of here before they came to teach me a lesson about breaking expensive equipment. How did I know it’s expensive? Well, because this wasn’t my first time breaking one. And I indeed learned my lesson about breaking expensive equipment.
There was a vent on the ceiling. There was always a vent on the ceiling. Trick was knowing which panel was where that vent lay hidden. They all looked the same but when you had been captured as many times as I had, you know which one it is. Jumping up, I punched the crate open. It made a loud crash and still no one came to see what the noise was.
I concluded that they wanted me to escape. Whoever was behind all of this was waiting for me somewhere. Was I really that predictable? They should know better than this, letting me be able to move freely without any kind of hindrance. Climbing up into the shaft, I ventured towards different parts of the ship.
I could feel the ship moving, breathing as if it were alive. It was a strange sensation that I had now, being able to hear and feel things that others could not. Sure, I used to have dreams and be able to heal quite quickly, but this was different. This was more intimate. And it wasn’t just with ships, but any building, any forest, any place. It felt as if it were alive and I could hear it.
Although I was never truly alone with Wes always checking on my whereabouts, I always considered myself to be alone. With these new powers, for once in my life I felt connected to something, that I wasn’t merely just a lost girl trying to find her way through the universe. I had Jack, yes, but at the moment I had no idea if he was here, or even alive.
I pushed the thoughts of Jack to the back of my mind. I didn’t want to think of him in a time like this, when I need to concentrate on the task at hand, which of course was impressing Neil. He was the only one who could be behind this as he would be the only one searching for me, other than Wes of course. But if it were Wes, Alan would have already come to knock me around some, maybe even get in a shot or two for knocking him out like I had.
No, this had to be Neil. It felt like him. That, and I didn’t sense any presence I was familiar with in this timeline. I didn’t know if I could sense people from the future in their new bodies, as I had only been around David and the others.
And how did they know where I was? It wasn’t like Wes ever let me out of his sight, or out in the open. No one except those close to the Republic knew I existed. The outside world was oblivious. So whoever it was had to be from the future.
And if it was, I would be one step closer in finding a way home.
Home. I almost let out a laugh. I never thought I considered a place to be my home. Even on Garvner, I didn’t feel completely at home and finding out that I was originally from Sanshli made me finally understand I had actually been from another life, living in one that shouldn’t have been mine. I wondered how they tricked Father into adopting me, and why he never said anything about it. It was probably because he was going to wait until I was older, at an age where I could understand. I did miss him and loved him more knowing that he treated me like his own daughter when I was in fact not. If, in some strange circumstance, I was able to see him again, I would thank him for everything.
It was also strange because I had seen photos of when I was just a baby. But from what I knew, Myra, as in myself, was a little girl of about three or four when she was hidden from Nygard. I had no idea how that was possible or what had happened.
I wished Father had never been shot, that he never had to get in the middle of all of this. This whole time he was trying to help my mother in destroying Nygard. This whole time he knew the truth, knew I wasn’t his daughter, and he never told me. But that was why he had the keys and the pocket watch that were still snug in my pocket. It was all to fulfill the prophecy. He gave his life so that I could go on, so that the universe could be saved somehow, but not by doing my brother’s or Neil’s bidding. I had to be a rogue agent.
I would finish that conquest, if not for the Sanshlians, but for Father’s sake. I wouldn’t let him die for nothing. I couldn’t, not after everything he had given me, and everything he wanted to give me.
As I put my hand forward on the vent shaft, I heard a creak and the panel under me begin to shudder.
“Ah, shit,” I whispered as the entire panel fell down and I with it. I slammed into a metal table, probably bruising even more bones from the impact.
Good thing I could heal fast, otherwise that would have ended a lot worse, and a lot more embarrassing.
“Ow...” I rolled over to find a man sitting at the desk. His blue eyes watched me as I stared at him. Although they were light, something inside of his eyes were dark, I could tell. He was not a person to be reckoned with, that I knew for a fact. He wore a suit and had short black hair with a trimmed beard to match.
“Nice of you to drop by.” The man grinned, though it was fake. He appeared as if he was hiding something, as if the smile on his lips was just a mask, something he had mastered to hide his true feelings. And what those were, I wasn’t sure.
“So I was correct, you expected me to try to escape,” I said as I sat up slowly, my body shooting out signals of something having been fractured. It was going to take a few hours to get that to heal. How I could be so unlucky, I had no idea. I swore when Violet sent me to the future, she also cast out a curse on me, one that made my life full of pain. Or maybe it was Nygard, I couldn’t really be sure.
The man shrugged. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from you.”
I glanced around the room. It was a standard interrogation room, one I found myself usually on the other side of the table of. Usually I was the one asking questions, more through use of actions rather than words
though. And by actions, I meant punching, stabbing, and kicking until grown men wept for their mothers and told me everything I needed to know.
And as with any other interrogation room, there was a mirrored wall. One which held a reflection of my mother staring right back at me. Could my interrogator see this reflection, or could only I see it?
“Shield your mind,” she ordered.
“Why?”
“Because you don’t know who he is.” With that, she disappeared.
I took a deep breath and shielded the thoughts I didn’t want this man to see, if he even could. I agreed that I really should have been doing that already, but being away from my brother left me curious and I almost felt free, so I forgot about the little things. From now on, I would keep my mind shielded, just as she wanted.
I turned back to my interrogator and grinned. “So, who do you work for?”
The man just laughed and scratched his scruffy beard. “You are a very interesting character, Arcadia. Always asking the questions even when you are on the opposite side of the table. Even when you are the one who should be answering the questions.”
“Heh, that’s for sure. But you do know who I am, so I am at a disadvantage.” Because I had no idea who he was, other than he was obviously from the future, or at least was told of my existence.
“Of course I do, you worked under me most of your life. I just can’t believe you don’t recognize your master when he sits in front of you.”
I stared at him for a second longer, then jumped to my feet. I should have recognized him, the first emperor of the Pandronan Empire all those years ago, I had been taught all about the history of the Empire, seen so many pictures, so many videos of the war by Neil. Yet I didn’t even recognize him as he sat in front of me.
Not only that, but it also meant he could only be one person from the future. The one person I had been looking for, the one person who I had hoped was looking for me.
“Neil.”
CHAPTER 6
“Sir,” I knelt down on my knees, grimacing in pain as my leg that had been fractured from the fall. I would take the pain, though, because I knew he could and would cause worse if he thought it necessary.
The Emperor stood up, circling me as if he was examining his prey. “Interesting that you bow to me. After all, last time we saw each other you wanted to kill me.”
“That seems like a lifetime ago,” I stated, although in a way it was a different lifetime. Time travel really put things in perspective, not to mention it has given me many headaches trying to fathom all the paradoxes and implications, “And I realized I was wrong to hate you. You were the one that trained me, I should have followed your orders. I should have destroyed the enemy when ordered. I deserve any punishment you give to me. My life is in your hands as it always has been and always will be.”
Neil laughed. “Words I thought I would never hear you say.” He looked at me for a moment, probably reading my mind as he apparently usually did whenever we met. It was strange to think he knew all the things I was thinking over the years. Then again, it explains why every time I tried to kill him, he was always one step ahead of me.
His eyes softened after he read the lies that filled my head. “And surprisingly you are telling the truth. You really regret turning against me.”
Good thing Violet taught me how to properly shield my mind, and to fabricate false thoughts for those who could read minds. She knew that one day this would come to pass, that my enemy were those who could read minds. Strange to think his family were one of the ones who had served under Nygard, that they had been searching for the planet and statue for all these years.
“Please take me back to serve you. I regret ever letting anything come in the way of my duties. I was confused, everything was new to me, overwhelming. I panicked when I should have remained loyal.”
He examined me closely, as if not believing in what I was saying. “Even after using you? Even after leaving you there to die? Letting you go insane from all the voices of the ghosts that remain trapped there?”
“You had to do what you needed to do. I betrayed you, I deserved it,” I repeated. It was probably true, I deserved any punishment for all the things I had done in my life. I deserved to be killed for all the things I did under his order. It didn’t mean I still hated him for using me all those years, him never telling me the truth about my past. I didn’t let those thoughts show in my mind.
He placed his finger underneath my chin and lifted it to make me look at him. Now I recognized those deceiving eyes. They were exactly the same as the ones his original body had. It made sense, seeing as how this man would be his many-greats grandfather. “So the voices are gone?”
I nodded. It had been such a long time I had forgotten about them. “They are.”
“Before or after we came here?”
“A moment before.”
He smiled. “So you solved it? Just before it happened.”
I raised my eyebrow. How did he know so much about Sanshli and I never knew anything? “Solved what?”
“What happened after you pulled out the sword.”
“I did, and I tried to stop my idiot brother but it was too late. He let his feelings get in the way of thinking and didn’t stop when I yelled for him to. Now here we are.”
Neil nodded, examining me as if I was spectacular to watch. “I’m impressed, Arcadia, no one has ever solved the problem of how to get those voices out of their head. I have heard of so many people before you killing themselves, seeing no escape, yet you got them to go away in mere minutes.”
“Yeah, well, I’m special like that.” I tried to act like it was no big deal, but just thinking about those voices, how loud they were, how much they took over my mind, I shuddered. If I had had to endure them any longer, I probably would have been one of the many who put a bullet in their head.
“So you are.” He tapped the table, as if thinking it all through. “Question is what should I do with you?”
So he still wasn’t sure. That was positive on my end because then I could get him to believe that I truly wanted to help, that I truly would be a great aid for his cause. I could hide the fact that I really wanted to punch him in the nose, let it heal, then do it again, till I felt vindicated for all he’d put me through.
But I wouldn’t let him know that. “Please, sir, I will do anything for you. I will never go against anything you say. I will do anything you want me to do, just let me serve you.” I put my head down, staring at the floor, surrendering myself to him. I had to make it look genuine. “I am begging you, sir, please.”
He laughed at me, seeing me in such a state. I wish I didn’t have to do this, I hated looking like a weakling. “Is your brother really that horrible to deal with that you would bow down to me once again?”
I looked back up at him, trying to hide my amusement at his dead-pan comment. “He’s a traitor to anything sacred. He is committing genocide. His next attack is on Ttkas, I can give you all the details that I have learned.”
A sliver of a smile appeared on his lips. “I do believe you have destroyed quite a number of people yourself. You are anything but innocent, Arcadia, or I should say Myra. What do you go by now?”
“Those people committed crimes against the Empire’s law. The people Wes is destroying are innocent people. He is destroying people before they have done anything. I can’t allow that,” I explained. “And I go by Myra, usually. It is my original name, and the name of this body.”
“Strange being in another’s body, isn’t it?” he asked.
I nodded. “It is, but I have gotten used to it. After the past year, I have been able to get my muscles and muscle memory to do what it once was trained to do. It took a while but I am as strong as I was before.”
“Not stronger?” he asked.
I tried not to let out a sigh, but failed. “I… haven’t been able to master my powers. I don’t know how to learn to be an Illusionist. I can heal for sure, but I can’t really do anything els
e.”
“What about the others? Your brother and his friends?”
“They each have different powers but even with them I could defeat them with no problem. I got away, didn’t I?”
Neil stepped around the table and looked at the mirror. I stayed still, my leg throbbing in pain. I wondered what he was thinking, if he was still trying to read my mind. I can’t even imagine all the thoughts he had read over the years. He knew everything about me and I never knew anything about him, at least not truly. I knew that his parents had been assassinated when he was young, that he was born to his position. Now I knew he was a Sanshlian as well and could read minds, born in a lineage that served Nygard and would do anything to bring their master back. Other than that, I didn’t know much about him.
He turned back to me. “So if I ordered you to, you would kill your brother?”
I let out a sharp laugh. “I have tried to kill him already. Problem is there is always someone to stop me before I succeed.”
“That has never stopped you before.” He paused, letting the information linger in his mind. “Which means there is someone there you don’t want to kill.”
That was true. I could never let Lance come to harm, maybe deep down I did care for him. That was probably the real reason I never succeeded in killing my brother. That and I imagined our father haunting us until the end of time. “If you gave me the orders, I would kill any of them, sir.”
“No, I think there is one whom you will not kill. David, or I guess Lance now. Your mind betrays you, Myra. You know you can’t hide anything from me.”
I wanted to slap myself across the face for letting that information slip into my mind at just the wrong moment. I should have been more careful. But it took me by surprise. I couldn’t help but think of Lance when he brought up the face of someone I didn’t want to kill, which showed I wasn’t completely emotionally repressed. “He was the only who showed me compassion, yes, but my loyalty to you is greater. I will kill him if you want me to, you know that.”