"Okay you can release her," Aunt Trish commanded the plants.
I slumped to the ground as the grip of vines slackened.
"Actually, make a hammock for her." She waved her hand.
Already, the effect of the illimor was weakening the fight in me. I felt tranquil and peaceful. No! I wanted to feel afraid and confused. My body did not care though. My body was an uncaring feather floating in a river heading towards a whirlpool that would engulf it. I noticed the vines were entwining together, forming a hammock. Then parts of the vines slithered beneath me like a snake curling its way around me, lifting me into the air. The vines finished twisting together, and I was left cradled in the hammock.
"Now dear, I am sorry I had to do this to you, but it's important you listen to us."
"Okay." It sounded good to me.
"Like Aaronmon already told you, you were born a princess of our home planet Emréiana. A week after your birth you were put in danger by our enemy planet, Helentania. The Bremoir, the race that dominates Helentania, believe, from a prophecy of a sort, that you are the girl -who will stand in their way to rule all."
"Why would they believe that? I have no intentions of messing with any planet."
"You were born as the heir to the throne. The prophecy states that a girl, born the heir to the planet, that stands against Helentania will defeat the Bremoir and take away their right to rule all."
"What makes me the heir?" I asked with a smile. Why was I smiling?
"Your parents are the Dynamen and Krea so you have rights." Aaronmon jumped in.
I sat there in silence. I- was not sure if I was contemplating what I was being told or if I was ready to pass out.
"I still don’t understand.” I tried to fight the sleep. “So why now? Why are you telling me now?"
"We will inform you about the Bremoir and Helentania later, but it's time for you to sleep," she said. Aaronmon lifted me from the vine hammock and took me into the living room. I was too tired to care. Aaronmon rested me on the couch and grabbed the over throw from backrest and placed it over me. I remember blinking several times before everything faded away into darkness.
CHAPTER THREE
My eyes blinked open. I felt strange, like a truck had hit me in the night. Suddenly, I sat up, realizing I was in the living room. I recalled everything from yesterday. The memonai, Aaronmon, and Aunt Trish with her weird plant tricks. Above me, Trish's pet vines hovered. Startled, they realized I was awake. Quickly, I jumped up.
"Don't even think about it," I said loudly. I was not putting up with these plants.
"Go on and enjoy the nice sun." Trish came in and commanded her pet with a smile.
Then, like a dog that was told to fetch, the vines quickly made their way back through the window.
"Good Morning!" Aunt Trish beamed then turned her attention to me.
I noticed she had a frying pan in her hand. I knew she was cooking breakfast, but couldn't help but ask myself if she would use it to whack me should I try to run out. After all, she was still the same loving Aunt who raised me, right?
"What's for breakfast?" I asked uneasily.
"Bré." She pushed some type of meat on the skillet with her spatula. She turned and smiled at me. "It's similar to Earth’s deer jerky. Only, this animal is smaller than a deer, like the size of a rabbit."
"Great, rabbit sized deer," I mumbled.
"Just wait till you try holgy eggs!" Her eyes got wide with excitement.
Aunt Trish went back into the kitchen to put the frying pan up. I noticed Aaronmon coming around the corner from the kitchen.
"Do you not have anywhere else to stay?" I asked with annoyance.
"I stay where the Lenai is. I am your garnix. It's what I do." His words came out as if I had a single clue as to what he was talking about. He must have noticed the blank expression on my face, so he elaborated for me, "A garnix is a bodyguard made especially for the royal families or the Dianie. The Dianie is the Emréian coven."
"Emréiana has a coven?" I raised my eyebrow.
"Well it's almost like the British government here on Earth. Except, well, the royals have more of a say than the British royal rulers do, but we will get into all of that later in your training."
"Training?" I interjected. Aunt Trish quickly came back from around the corner as I finished. "I'm not training for anything. I never agreed to anything."
Aunt Trish sighed. She had a look of distress. Something inside of me told me she was disappointed. It was like she had been waiting my whole life for this day, and now I was letting her down.
"Look, you can't raise me up in lies and then expect me to give up the life I have to cater to your needs," I explained.
"We know that dear." Trish came and took my hands. Then, she led me to the couch. "They sent assassins to kill you. We had to protect you."
"They’re not going to stop, even if you don't take the throne,” Aaronmon argued his thought. “As long as you’re alive, you pose a threat to them. You will be putting Emréiana and Earth in danger."
"What will this training be?" I asked after a little thought. I wasn't just going to give in, though.
"Well, you will have to learn everything about the country, your powers, the government, and the war." Aunt Trish took a seat on the couch.
"Yes, and you will also have to learn how to fight and keep yourself alive." Aaronmon stepped closer.
"I already know how to protect myself," I said.
“You didn’t think I would prepare her even a little?” Aunt Trish repositioned herself.
"Still, I will further your training. Not only is it for your safety, but it is also for tradition. All Emréians know how to fight. We even have hand to hand combats during celebrations. Kind of like how here on earth knights had jousting and such. Plus, you need to know how to protect yourself from anything, especially while we are at war. You need to be able to fend for yourself in combats." Aaronmon sat next to Trish.
I thought about the word combat. He meant in the heart of the war, in battle- life and death situations. It was something I wasn’t willing to do. It wasn’t something I could do.
"Look, if I wanted to join the army, I would have done so here on Earth. Why would I be in the middle of combat? Am I not supposed to be in a safer place because of the war?"
"Yes, the garnix protect you as much as possible, but when the enemy is always trying to get you, eventually they will get close. The only protection you may have is yourself,” Trish said. “Plus, the citizens like it, because it shows that you care for them and their well being enough to protect yourself and to protect them. That is the reason your father serves, anyway."
"Served...." Aaronmon corrected. He hung his head down low. Trish stood up confused.
"What is going on?" Trish said.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Carson, I believe you have figured out that when we left Emréiana both your parents were alive. Aaronmon, what has happened?" Trish stood up keeping her eyes on him.
"Five Raegon moons past, there was a surprise attack. Things had been at a standstill since Carson left as a baby. However, Dynamen Algen had been angry with the royals and the Dianie since we never returned to the planet Jadon to search for his son. We believe he is the one who told the Bremoir where Carson is. Dynamen Algen gave them the information they needed and then he led the attack into the kingdom. Annut went in to help save many of citizens... only he got killed in the process. He is a hero. He saved many lives that day," Aaronmon finished telling us. The room got quiet, and there was a twinge of sorrow in my stomach that grew.
I never knew my dad or my mom. I had grown up my whole life believing they were dead anyway. Now, I finally learn that it had all been a lie. Still, I wouldn’t be able to meet my dad. I had never grown up with a father figure, and now I never would.
The feeling began to change in my stomach. It was still sorrow, but now it was stronger. It was the loss of someone genuinely cared about; something told me that this f
eeling was coming from Trish. I stiffened as the new sensation washed out my own feelings. The feelings faded slowly and I was back to normal. What was that? I looked between the two of them who were staring at me confused.
"What?" Aaronmon asked me.
"I just had a weird feeling." I rested my hand on my head.
"What type of weird feeling?" Trish grinned slightly.
"I don't know how to explain it..." I tried to think of a way to express what happened.
"Did you hear talking?" Aunt Trish stepped closer to me.
"Huh?" I shook my head and raised my brow.
"You may be trying to regain you capabilities." Aaronmon rubbed his chin.
"What I have freaky powers, too?" I huffed.
"I'm a Capritus. My power is that I can manipulate people's realities. Well, for me, mainly in dreams. Like the memonai I have had with you the past few weeks." Aaronmon said.
"I'm an Aríenom, but my main talents are with the plants,” Aunt Trish explained. “I can barely do weather. But you, I never got to see for sure. I always had you on Pale. That medicine I gave you every morning, that I told you was vitamins, was really a suppressor. It made your powers go into hibernation. But I didn't give you any this week, because I learned he was coming. So I made a choice not to give it to you. Instead, I swapped it out with regular vitamins." Aunt Trish picked up the bottle on the counter.
"Why do you think I heard talking?" I went back to her question before.
"Well, you are always close to animals. I thought maybe you were a specie communicator talented Aríenom."
"Did you hear your cat?" Aaronmon asked, very interested in learning my capabilities.
I shook my head.
"What was it?" Aaronmon stepped closer to me.
"I don't know. It was weird. I felt something. A feeling..." I tried to explain. "Sadness. It was coming from Trish when she learned about my dad's death."
Aaronmon and Aunt Trish exchanged confused glances.
"What? Is that bad?" I asked.
"Are you certain that’s what you felt?" Trish asked. Her expression was still frozen with confusion.
"Yeah."
"No, that can't be right," Aaronmon said, taking a seat.
"Will someone please explain to me what is going on?" I demanded.
"We don't know." Aunt Trish shook her head.
"You don't know?" I started to fume.
"What she means is, there isn't a power within the four signs that… uh… do that." Aaronmon scratched his head.
"Great. My day keeps getting better." I huffed.
"Could she be a new breed?" Aunt Trish asked Aaronmon.
"I don't know. We haven't had a new one since the Ominus, and that was over a thousand years ago." Araronmon looked at me, at me as if I had just performed a magic illusion, and he couldn't figure out how I’d done it.
"Well I better get ready for school," I muttered.
"School? Dear, you don't have to go to school today. You have much to learn and not enough time to learn it." Trish stood up and stepped closer to me.
"I was ordered to make sure you were prepared when the time came," Aaronmon said.
"Look," I took a deep breath, "I didn't ask for any of this. Neither of you even asked if I wanted to be queen, or if I wanted anything to do with Emréiana. Honestly, I don't. I'm not sure if there will ever be a way to make me forget what I just learned, but I am willing to find a way to live a normal life here on Earth. I have friends, a boyfriend, and a life. This is something every normal human girl wants, and I have it."
"Honey, you're not a normal human girl,” my aunt stated gently. “You're not even human at all. You were sent to live here for protection. You, however, are not an actual Earthling Resident. You being here has posed a threat to Earth. The Bremoir sees Earth as an enemy for protecting you, even if Earth doesn’t know a thing about the universe around them. If we don’t get you off the planet soon, then the Bremoir may take action. Earth can’t fight off anything like that."
It took me a minute to realize what Aunt Trish was saying. She meant I may have to leave Earth. I may have to leave behind every bit of the life I had established here. It really didn't matter if I took the throne or not. I would still never be a human, and I may never be able to live on Earth again. My eyes widened as a new piece of information hit me. They were the reason I had not gotten into a college. They were not going to let me put roots down on Earth. They knew this day was coming. I didn't know how they did it, but somehow they had kept me from being able to put roots down for good.
"I'm going to school," I choked. "I know you have stuff you want to teach me, but I need some time okay."
"You need to know how to control your powers, whatever they are. Trust me, when you first start developing them, you don't know how to control them." Aaronmon stepped in my way.
"I don't want to control them!" I shoved my way around him and I headed towards the stairs.
"You don't even know if they are here." Aaronmon grabbed my arm.
"Who?" I asked angrily. I turned hard on my heel to face him.
"The Bremoir. The whole reason you are here on Earth. They know you are here on Earth. They may even know that you are here in Alice. The only thing they don't know is who you are and what you look like. But, if you go and make that known, then it's all over."
"Well, let's just hope they don't find out." I pulled my arm away and ran upstairs.
After I got ready, I almost made it out of the door before Aaronmon stopped me.
"I'm sorry I pulled you into a memonai yesterday. I should have waited until after I’d talked to your aunt."
“Have you been following me, too?"
"Yes. It's my job to protect you." His hazel eyes met mine, making my body warm.
"Why did you contact me before talking to my aunt?" I asked, curious.
"Just wanted to meet you," he said with a slight smile.
I nodded. As he turned around to head back into the kitchen, I noticed the curvy V on his neck. On each side of the base were two lines, and at the top of the split, what appeared to be a flame sat narrowly inside.
"What is that on the back of your neck?" I asked quickly. I hadn't even realized I had actually asked it.
Aaronmon turned around.
"It is the symbol that reveals my power. There is a symbol for all four. Every year, there is a ceremony for those that have gained ability. We get our nilva imprinted on the back of our necks." Then he disappeared into the kitchen. I wondered what mine would be since they have not seen anything like me?
The silence in the car never broke my attentive thoughts. I wondered if my life was ever going to be the same again. I felt like I was placed into a horrible sci-fi movie, and I was the lead role.
I pulled into Alice High, noticing Kyle waiting outside his car. I had a sudden realization that I never texted him to tell him I couldn't make it last night to Star House Coffee.
"Hey, I was starting to get worried," Kyle said as I opened my door.
"I'm sorry. It was just a rough night." I wasn't really lying.
"Something wrong?" His eyebrows pushed together in confusion.
I wish I could tell him. Since I was five, I could tell him anything that bothered me. We never had secrets from each other, and now I had a huge secret weighing in on me.
"Everything's fine. I was just working on the graduation speech last night. I was up all night, so I'm a bit tired," I lied.
"Okay, here, let me take your books." He gestured when we heard the first bell ring from the school building.
"No, you go on. I'll see you at lunch," I told him. I just wanted some time to think about what my new secret would mean to our relationship. Could he accept me as an alien?
"Okay, I love you. Don't forget about Karlie's party Friday." He kissed my forehead then ran to class. However, something felt odd around him, and it felt an awful lot like suspicion.
I sighed in frustration and grabbed my books from the seat. I had t
o get to Mr. Marshal's class. Not that history was my main priority.
"Today, we have a pop quiz," he said with his big fat glasses hanging off the tip of his nose. Everyone's emotions of irritation grasped and clenched me. I felt a twinge of pain on my left temple. This power was going to give me a head ache. I took in a slight breath.
Mr. Marshal grabbed a stack of papers that sat on his desk and started to pass them out.
"You have fifteen minutes," he said, looking at his watch.
The whole time, I kept fidgeting my pen. Not once did I look at the quiz. My life was slowly starting to change, whether I wanted it to happen or not. Nothing was ever going to be the same again; why did they have to tell me? Why couldn't they have just let me live a normal life?
Suddenly, I felt a tap on my back shoulders. Stacy pushed a pile of papers in my face. I realized that Mr. Marshal had called time and was taking up the quizzes.
"Sorry." I took the papers from her. I added my empty quiz to the pile and passed it up along with the others. I had a 4.0 GPA anyways; it wasn't like it would hurt me to fail one quiz.
Then, the door opened. I didn't bother to look up. I concentrated on writing down the assignment. Everyone started to whisper. I hadn't looked up yet, when I started to feel their interest in whoever walked through the door. My surprise started to overcome everyone else's emotions when I saw Aaronmon standing in the doorway. Aaronmon handed Mr. Marshal a pink paper, a paper I knew was only given to new kids. I groaned, but Aaronmon glanced at me and gave a toothy smile. My cheeks warmed. Jerk! Could he at least let me have school time to myself?
"Everyone, this is our new exchange student Aaron," Mr. Marshal said to the class. I raised my eyebrow at the sound of his name. The girls started whispering to each other and giggling. I supposed Aaronmon did look good. Okay, so he looked real good. His long, shaggy dark hair brought out his hazel eyes. Eyes that were looking at me. Eyes that were heading my way.
Aaronmon took the seat to the left of me.
Leaning towards me, he whispered, "I told you I have to watch out for you."
"Don't talk to me." I hushed him.
Class was beyond awkward. Aaron seemed to be able to answer most of the history questions that Mr. Marshal was asking. Of course, that wasn't as bad as the girls ogling him. It didn't help that I could feel their lust. Ew! I wonder if they would feel the same way if they knew he was an alien? HA! Finally, the bell rang and I started out the door.
Gemini of Emreiana Page 3