Thin Hope

by Holly Hook

  “You have no business here,” Kiki said. “Unless you’re helping us, which I highly doubt.”

  Ariel's hair spilled around her shoulders as she leaned precariously close to the edge, still holding the support beam. “But I do have business here...Kiki.”

  Kiki took a step back. This was the first time she had ever met Ariel--she hadn't even known what she looked like until now--yet she already knew her name. Kiki reached down to one of her pistols and grasped it while Ariel laughed and twirled around the support beam.

  “What do you want?” Alexander asked.

  “I was hired by Patrick to deliver a message," Ariel said. "Kiki, this is your last chance to come to our side. He has great plans for us, once Ivan is gone for good. I can take you to him."

  Kiki immediately drew her pistol and aimed at Ariel. Ariel froze and stared down at Kiki. Her violet eyes became visible as a flashlight beam aimed on her, making her pupils narrow. They were full of insanity, greed…all the same things that were present in Patrick's.

  “Patrick isn't trustworthy,” Kiki said. “He's only for himself. I'd leave if I were you.”

  “It's not that simple. Patrick and I have been in contact for years," Ariel said. “I know all of his secrets. It was easy to get him to open up to me. We're in this together. We're going to make right the crimes against Emoshis years ago.” She lit another cigarette and blew smoke into the air, watching it swirl up into the night. “I can't break my deal, you know.”

  “And what deal is that?” Damon asked. His hand closed on his pistol.

  Ariel stared at all of them and laughed if they should have already known. Kiki seethed. Around them, soldiers continued to march towards Ivan's palace. They didn't have the time for this. In minutes, Ivan could unleash all the Lateinians' magic on them again, and if he did, there would be nowhere to hide out in this open amusement park.

  “What is this deal, and why is it so important to you?” Kiki demanded.

  Ariel looked back down at all of them, taking the cigarette out of her mouth. “In exchange for persuading you to come to our side, my siblings and I will be given Patrick's blood and a seat of power in our new world order.” She faced the palace, then stared back down at them. “We'd be more powerful and more beautiful.”

  “You have no idea what you're getting yourself into,” Alexander said.

  Ariel laughed again.

  “Of course I do! This is the chance to finally gain power for our kind. Sometimes I just don't understand you, Alexander. You forget what we went through.”

  “From what I understand,” Alexander said, sucking in a breath, “Patrick turned against his own wife and abandoned his own daughter. I can imagine he'd be capable of doing the same thing to you.”

  “Well, Kiki? You coming? If not, Patrick and I will have to take action.”

  She answered by raising her pistols and firing.

  Ariel turned into a blur, spinning around the support beam and appearing on the other side. The bullet sparked as it grazed the coaster frame where Ariel had stood a split second before.

  “Shit,” Kiki muttered. Bullets wouldn't work here. She glanced up and down the coaster. All the lights were off, leaving the ride a dark skeleton. No one was riding in this power outage.

  “That's it,” Damon said, stepping forward. “We take her down. Now. Take the support beam.”

  Above, Ariel kept twirling on the beam, laughing as if she were at a party. Cigarette smoke blew into the air around her. She was truly insane. She'd stop at nothing to hurt her sister.

  Kiki was the first to leap the fence. Twin thuds followed as Alexander and Damon followed. She seized the support beam as Ariel continued to laugh, the noise cutting over the footfalls of the march.

  “Coming up?” she asked.

  “No, going down,” Kiki said.

  “Leaving me? Aw, but we were having so much fun!”

  “I didn't mean us,” Kiki said, giving the beam a tug.

  The coaster hadn't been repaired or maintained right in a long time. It was evident from the cracking of the wood inside as she pulled. On the other side, Damon and Alexander pushed, their eyes squeezing shut with the effort and muscles bulging.

  A deafening pop echoed through the air, causing the sound of marching to slow for a second as people stopped to watch.

  “Stop it!” Ariel said in a whiny voice. “I’m going to fall!”

  “You damn well deserve this,” Alexander shouted up at her. “Look at what you’ve done with your entire life. Kill. I know you'd have no regrets about hurting your family."

  “You wouldn’t hurt me really, would you?” Ariel asked. Her voice rose with panic. “I'm your baby sister!”

  “Push!” Kiki yelled, giving the beam another yank.

  Another crack cut over the march once again, and the beam lurched in Kiki's grasp.

  She realized too late which direction it was tipping. Towards the march.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Jacob's heart stopped as the roller coaster's wooden planks snapped like toothpicks, letting go of a wooden support beam and letting it fall towards the march itself. Screams shot up from the crowd as soldiers and civilians alike rushed to get out of the way.

  “Move! Move!” Jacob waved his arms, his voice drowned out by the cracking, popping, and screaming.

  A figure in black—maybe a Delainian soldier, maybe not—blurred as it jumped from the falling beam and to the ground in front of the fence. The chain-link fence made a squealing sound as it stopped the beam from hitting the concrete, leaving it hanging only inches from the tops of the crowd's heads. More screams filled the air as feet thudded out of the way and a few Keilaran troops fell backwards to avoid it.

  Silence followed as most of the crowd stopped to stare. The black blur was nowhere to be seen. Ivan had to be behind this, or one of his operatives. He was getting desperate.

  “Don't stop! Keep marching! It's a distraction!” Jacob ordered, taking Riley's arm and holding her close. Helicopter blades sounded through the air, slowly getting louder. The concrete wall would be getting blasted open in a few minutes. He glanced at his watch, but it had stopped working since they'd dove into the water. They must have taken a better part of an hour marching to the palace. Ivan would be able to unleash another attack very soon. Jacob raised his megaphone. “I said continue! Don't stop for anything!”

  “The helicopter's coming, Jacob. I see it,” Riley said, tapping his arm. She glanced at the concrete walls of the palace, worry lines forming over her eyes.

  * * * * *

  “Where did she go?” Kiki asked, vaulting back over the warped fence and looking around. She expected to see Ariel lying somewhere around the beam, knocked out from the fall, but only a cigarette, still glowing orange at the end, rolled on the ground in the breeze. “Where?”

  “I can't tell in this crowd.” Damon squinted, studying the sea of heads in the plaza.

  The annoying laugh cut through the crowd somewhere. Kiki trained on it to see a blond woman in a black dress weaving away through a group of Lateinian civilians armed with planks. They ignored her, too intent on their goal as they marched forward.

  Ariel stopped and looked back. "Maybe we'll have a better encounter next time we meet!" she said in a fake sweet voice. "I can't wait to see you again, Kiki!"

  Then, with a blur, she vanished into the crowd of thousands.

  “There's nothing we can do now,” Damon said. “She's gone. We came here to overthrow Ivan, not go after her.”

  Damon was right, unfortunately. They would have to give up on Ariel until she made an appearance again. The main focus was infiltrating the Lateinian Palace and taking down the Emperor.

  “Stay around Riley,” Kiki said, rushing towards Jacob.

  * * * * *

  Ivan was beginning to get worried.

  The plaza outside the palace walls was rapidly filling with bodies, and the sounds of shouting could be heard even from here. His loyal troops had been useless holdi
ng them back: drained of magic, they were no match for the soldiers with guns.

  The Emperor closed his eyes and felt for the magic of Lateine. Any minute, it would rebuild to the point where he could unleash another attack, one that would surely wipe out these clueless rebels now that they were all out in the open, but for now, he could only watch.

  One of the roller coasters in Imperial Land lost a support beam, sending planks crashing to the ground and protestors scurrying away. Ivan grasped the railing, knuckles protruding from his fists. These people were worthless rioters. Violent. A prime example of the primitive beings outside of Lateine, always warring with each other. Ivan closed his eyes and focused--he could barely muster enough magic to allow the vision--to see three figures standing near the fallen support beam, staring into the crowd. He recognized one, with her long red hair and desert eagles clipped to her waist. Kiki, eldest princess of Keilara. And Damon, the new Royal General of Keilara. They spoke to each other, though their words were indistinguishable over the roar of the crowd--and turned to walk towards the palace, a third man in tow.

  All three of them had violet eyes, eyes he had not seen since closing his borders to other races decades ago. Even the Emoshis had come to overthrow him.

  "No," he gasped, opening his eyes and leaning on the railing. Lateinians had no resistance to their powers. He had failed at the oath he had made hundreds of years ago. Lateine was no longer safe from any enemy race.

  "My honorable Emperor, I fear they are about to storm the palace," Melanie said from behind him. "We need to ensure your escape. I will order the guards to open up the north tunnel and--"

  Ivan whirled around. "Get out," he said, his voice dropping to a growl. "Get out, before I regain my full power and vaporize you. These walls will hold!"

  Melanie opened her mouth to say something, but closed it. "Yes, my Honorable Emperor," she said, bowing and backing out of the room.

  Ivan turned away from his Commander as his heart started to race, a sensation he hadn't felt since the Emoshis tried to invade Lateine over two hundred years ago. His eyes squeezed shut on their own, but a vision took the place of the darkness behind his lids: that of Princess Kiki Endicott, holding his crown above her head and laughing at him, staring with those violet eyes of hers.

  Opening his eyes, Ivan seized his crown, making sure it was still there. A slight tingle rushed through his arms. The magic was slowly building back up in the people of Lateine--and in him. The balcony seemed to tilt around him as the crowd thickened in the plaza, more so than during his sermons. If the walls held until his full power built--and they would--he could unleash another wave of magic, and these violent primitives would have nowhere to hide.

  Rocks flew at the wall, bouncing off uselessly, as his former loyal subjects hurled insults at him, all blurring together into one roar. The crowd was staying some distance back from the wall, however, and standing at the front of the wall of people was his former Commander, Jacob Ortiz. Next to him stood Princess Kiki, Damon, the Keilaran King and Queen, and even Darren and Gracie Storm of Delainia. As he watched, the third Emoshi rushed up to join them. Riley was nowhere to be seen, but the crowd was thick, almost impenetrable. Her parents were likely holding her back in Keilara, making sure she was unable to return to him.

  “Emperor Ivan!” Jacob's voice amplified through a megaphone, silencing the crowd around him. “This is the final day that you will be called Emperor! You murder your own people. You wage war on your peaceful neighbors. You can either give up the crown peacefully or we'll come to you and take it from you forcefully.”

  As Jacob stopped speaking, a cheer erupted from the crowd.

  He took a step back. He, a murderer? He never killed anyone unless it was absolutely necessary to protect Lateine. His hands tightened around his crown. Without him, Lateine and his people would fall to these filthy Delainians and Keilarans and Emoshis.

  “Ivan,” Jacob continued, “you can't win against your own country. All your citizens and soldiers know what you are. You are not a god, but a coward that uses his power to take advantage of others.”

  “You are wrong!” Ivan yelled. His voice felt useless, falling away into the crowd without his microphone. “The outsiders have corrupted you! Lateine needs me! Without me, these…" he stared down at Kiki and Darren Storm, meeting their gazes. "…these monsters will destroy you!"

  “Ivan, if you hand over the crown, we'll let you live, but if you don't...we'll have no choice but to kill you,” Jacob said.

  The tone of his voice told him that only the second half of his promise was true. The rage his former Commander's eyes told him that.

  "Jacob Ortiz is a traitor to Lateine!" Ivan shouted over the roar of the crowd. "He has stolen our Empress from us, and let these barbarians in. Stand with me, people of Lateine!"

  The crowd's roar turned into a quake. The railing seemed to shake with the rage of the crowd. They had sealed their fate, then.

  Ivan stormed off the balcony, letting his cape be the last thing everyone below saw of him.

  * * * * *

  Riley inched out from behind Jacob. The roar of the helicopter blades grew louder, until bright spotlights became visible over the dilapidated buildings behind them. The concrete wall would be blasted open in less than two minutes.

  "Ivan won't be able to capture me," she shouted to Jacob and Kiki. "If you send me in now, I can keep him from using his power again." She could barely hear her own words, but knew it was true. Ivan thought Jacob had kidnapped her. He might not realize that she didn't love him. Still, the thought of going near that man again made ice run through her veins, but she was the only one Ivan would let get close to him. She was the only one who could distract him enough to let the others get in.

  "Stand back!" Damon shouted, borrowing Jacob's megaphone. "Back from the wall! Now!"

  "When you go in, I'll be right behind you," Jacob said, taking her arms.

  "And I will be, too," Kiki said as she moved back with the wall of people, making room for the rockets to do their work.

  Jacob checked the balcony for Ivan, leaned down, and slowly pressed his lips against Riley's, pulling her into a kiss. Wind blasted down onto them from above as the helicopter got into position. Happy tingles rushed through Riley's whole body; a second later, a deafening explosion rang through the air as the rocket struck the concrete wall.

  She separated from Jacob, in time to see smoke billowing from the concrete wall up ahead. It died, leaving a crumbling section of wall in its place.

  "Stay back!" Damon ordered. "Remain here until the King and Queen give their order."

  The crowd roared in protest, but stayed in place. Behind Jacob, her father stared at her…and smiled. He'd seen Jacob kiss her. It was all out. There was no going back now.

  The last of the smoke cleared, leaving the wall open and the front doors to Ivan's palace damaged. One hung open, splintered. It was time for her to go. All the tingles vanished from her body in an instant.

  "Right behind me, right?" Riley asked.

  Jacob nodded. "Yes."

  She took a deep breath and began to walk up to the front doors, stepping over slabs of fallen concrete and taking one look back at Jacob before stepping through the door.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The floor of the entry hall made Riley stop and gape. She couldn't help it. During her previous stay, she hadn't strayed much from her guest room. Under the thick glass of the floor, fish swam inside an enclosed tropical reef. Lights illuminated brilliant green and red corals as a stingray floated past, oblivious to the events unfolding outside of its world. She felt secretly glad that the missile hadn't damaged this.

  Her shoes made loud clicking sounds as she walked across the glass. Riley dove to the side and hugged the wall, afraid Ivan might appear at any second. He didn't, but she couldn’t risk him seeing Jacob come in through the front doors with her. It would destroy the entire plan.

  Already, portraits of Ivan glared down at her from up and down
the hallway, ruining the beauty of the tropical fish tank extending down the middle of the hall.

  Somewhere, glass shattered. The faint smell of grease hit her nostrils. She must be near the kitchens. A thump sounded. Someone was breaking in.

  Riley followed the sound, opening a door and stepping down a hallway of beige carpet. Twin swinging doors waited on the end of it, and one burst open and Jacob came through.

  "Jacob!" Riley rushed over and hugged him. "Ivan might have heard that. Or one of his servants." Where were they, anyway? She hadn't seen anyone since entering the palace.

  "Ivan's up on his balcony again. I couldn't use the front door," he said, hugging her back. "Kiki and Damon are finding their own entrance. I didn't realize Emoshis were so good at climbing."

  "But the servants--"

  "Are gone," Jacob said, giving her a sad look. "I hope some of them escaped. Or that they're hiding down in the basement. There's soup still boiling in the kitchen, so I'm hoping."

  "Follow me," Riley said. How long before Ivan could unleash all his power again? Not long.

  Suddenly, the sound of footfalls thudded above them, growing fainter as if they were getting farther away. At the same time, Jacob closed his eyes, concentrating.

  "Ivan's running up towards his bedroom. At the top of the tower," he said, opening his eyes. "My power's returning if I can see visions. That means he's ready to unleash another attack."

  Riley's heart sank. Ivan was getting high ground, so he'd be safe from the onslaught he was going to throw at the people in the plaza.

  Jacob didn't need to tell her to run. They sped for the spiral staircase together.

  * * * * *