by Emmy Oakes
Chapter Six.
Lacier and Alexia appeared in Polly’s kitchen. Amosa was sitting at a table across from Polly. She looked angry but was hungrily eating a spread of treats that Polly had prepared. Tall layered cakes, brightly decorated cupcakes and chocolate brownies covered the whole table.
Polly looked at Lacier and Alexia ominously. Amosa had obviously informed her of their situation. “Well done, Lacier. Here's to your first successful mission.”
“Thank you.” Lacier didn’t sound confident that it was very successful. “Amosa, I need to talk to you.” Amosa didn’t look at her. “Amosa, you can’t ignore me forever.”
“Why not? You seem to think it’s okay to ignore the truth,” Amosa snapped as she took another bite of cake. “Polly you’ve changed the recipe, it’s good.”
“More chocolate, dear,” Polly said.
“I thought so.” Amosa took another bite. Alexia shuffled her feet nervously. Amosa stared at her as though she had committed the worst offense possible. “And you! I told you to keep away from me!” Amosa said, fiercely.
“Amosa Sian! You have no right to talk to her like that,” Lacier scolded.
“We all need to sit down and talk calmly,” Polly tried to relieve the tension in the room.
“You’re just as bad, Polly,” Amosa snapped. “You obviously knew about her!” Amosa pointed rudely at Alexia as though she was a doggy doo on the floor. Alexia turned away and closed her eyes. She wished that she had never met Lacier or knew about her powers.
“Amosa, it is Sianic law that a mother must raise one daughter and make her as powerful as possible. It is simply too hard to raise two girls. We would end up with two weak fighters rather than one powerful one,” Polly explained.
“Nobody here has had twins before, girls. I know we didn’t deal with the situation at all well. We didn’t know what to do,” Lacier said, sounding like she was going to cry.
“So what happened when we were born?” Amosa wanted to know.
“Polly examined the two of you and determined that you would be the best defender so Alexia was sent to Earth and was placed with a very caring family.”
“That’s terrible. That could have been me!” Amosa sounded horrified at the idea of her being sent away. “Luckily, it wasn’t me. Polly, I think you made the right choice. This girl does look weak.” Amosa looked down at Alexia.
“You don’t know anything about me,” Alexia defended herself.
“I know you are the reject who got sent to Earth,” Amosa sounded very happy with herself.
“How come they had to bring me all the way back here to find you then?”
“You don’t know what you’re saying,” Amosa stared evilly at her.
“It’s true, Amosa. If it wasn’t for Alexia, we wouldn’t have been able to find you.” Lacier said.
“Lies. I would have escaped eventually anyway.”
“Amosa, nobody thinks any less of you for being captured,” Polly said.
“Why would they? It wasn’t my fault, I’m very powerful,” Amosa boasted. Alexia rolled her eyes in disgust. They may look the same but Amosa had a completely different personality to Alexia.
“We’ll make sure that everybody knows it couldn’t be avoided, dear.” Polly soothed Amosa. She smiled back at her.
“Thank you, Polly. Release a statement will you?”
“Very well. All of Siania will know that you were greatly outnumbered, dear.”
“Excellent, Polly. Excellent.” Amosa smiled as Polly stood up and left the room, taking a cupcake with her. Amosa glared at at Alexia. She stopped smiling and narrowed her eyes at her. “I can say something for you, Alexia. You are good looking,” she said, smugly.
“Amosa that’s enough,” Lacier snapped. “You have no reason to be angry at Alexia.”
“So I should just be angry at you then?”
“Don’t you think I’m mad enough at myself? I didn’t want to do what I did. I had no choice.” Lacier wiped away a tear.
“Lacier, can you send me home now? Amosa is back, you don’t need me anymore,” Alexia asked, quietly.
“You, you want to go back?” Lacier looked surprised. “Excuse us for a minute please, Amosa.”
“What? Why don’t you leave?”
“Amosa! Please.”
“Fine. I’m glad you’ve decided to return to Earth, Alexia. You just aren’t cut out for this place,” Amosa said as she reluctantly left the table full of food. Alexia waited for her to leave and spoke.
“It’s obvious that I’m not welcome here. Polly acts as though I’m an invalid, Amosa thinks, well I don’t know what she thinks.”
“Give her time, Alexia,” Lacier pleaded.
“I don’t think I want to know her. She’s so rude.”
“I know she seems rude. Being a royal Sian is a bit of pressure sometimes. It can go to your head.”
“Please I don’t want to be a royal anything. If I were meant to be here, you wouldn’t have sent me away when I was born.”
“Alexia, I’ve thought about you every minute of every day since you were born. You don’t know how hard it’s been to look at Amosa all these years and not think about you.”
“Please send me home,” Alexia looked away from Lacier and looked at the liquid floor.
“Okay, if that’s what you want,” Lacier gave in. “I won’t forget about you, Alexia.”
“I don’t think I’ll be forgetting about any of this anytime soon,” Alexia acknowledged.
“It’s very late on Earth at the moment. I think you should have a good nights sleep. I’ll take you back to Earth first thing in the morning.”
“Okay, I guess I don’t want to wake Cynthia and Gina.”
“I’ll show you to your room,” Lacier said as she walked down a corridor, her boots splashing against the floor as she walked. Alexia followed her down the hall. A room caught her eye as they walked. She ducked her head inside to take a peek.
Inside the room was painted pink. There was a thick netting on the floor, covering the water. “How come there’s netting over the water?” Alexia asked. Alexia walked further into the room, with Lacier following.
“This was Amosa’s nursery,” Lacier replied. Alexia looked around the room, colorful paintings were positioned around the room and large soft toys of animals Alexia had never seen before, sat by two cribs.
“There are two beds,” Alexia said.
“I decorated this room. When I found out I was having twins, I put two beds in here.”
“Did you want to keep both of us?” Alexia asked. Lacier walked closer to her and took her hands in hers.
“Of course I did,” Lacier said thoughtfully. Alexia stepped away from Lacier.
“Where am I sleeping?”
“In the next room,” Lacier said as she led Alexia out of the room and stopped at the door. Taking one last look at the two cribs, Lacier closed the door and walked away from the nursery.
Sunlight spilled through the window onto Alexia’s face, rousing her from sleep. She opened her eyes and squinted. Don’t they have curtains in Siania? Alexia asked herself as she swung her feet over the side the bed and screamed. “Oh! Wow I don’t think I could get used to waking up to you every morning,” Alexia said to the giant shark that was staring at her. The shark seemed to nod at her and dove deep down into the water saturating Alexia with a giant splash. “Oh nice, thanks for that!” Alexia yelled down into the water.
Her wet clothes clung to her as she walked out of the room and stumbled into the kitchen. An amazing spread of food awaited her on the table ranging from pastries, bagels, toast, cereals and fruit. Polly was sitting at the table eating a croissant drizzled with chocolate. “Morning, Alexia.” Polly didn’t look up from the newspaper she was reading.
“Morning,” Alexia replied weakly.
“Eat something,” Polly still didn’t look up from her paper.
“What are you reading?” Alexia asked as she t
ook a plate from the table and sat down.
“A newspaper from another planet. I read through them every morning to make sure there hasn’t been weird activity reported.” Polly turned a page.
“Weird activity, like reports of magic?”
“Yes, either from careless Sians or Temorvick’s workers,” Polly took a bite of her croissant and turned another page.
“How many newspapers do you have to read everyday?” Alexia picked up a bagel and smothered it with cream cheese.
“Six hundred and thirty two planets are civilized enough to report the news. The others don’t have news.”
“You read that many newspapers?”
“No, I read usually read one. I have many other girls reading them right now.”
“Why not just use computers?”
“Too much rubbish turns up on the Internet. If it makes it to a reputable paper, there's a good chance it has merit.”
“Makes sense I guess.” Alexia bit into her bagel. “Wow, this tastes good.” Alexia looked at Polly who was still avoiding looking at her.
“Lacier picked up all of this food from your favorite bakery on Earth.”
“Oh, the Sugar Pot in my home town?”
“I think that’s what she said.”
“How did she know that was my favorite place?”
“She watches you, Alexia. When she isn’t working, she is watching you. She never stopped being your mother. Just a silent one.” Polly finally looked up at Alexia and then looked away very quickly.
“Oh, thanks for letting me know.”
“Uh huh,” Polly said, showing no emotion.
“Where is she?” Alexia asked.
“She’s rather tired. Stupid girl was up half the night crying. I told her to have a nap because you Earth people don’t seem to get up until quite late. ”
“Why was she crying?”
“I don’t know. Weak perhaps,” Polly said, the newspaper rustling in her hands.
“Oh, Lacier, hi,” Alexia spotted Lacier standing in the doorway. Her usually stunning face showed signs of a bad night’s sleep. Polly looked up at Lacier.
“That’s a bit better. You no longer have baggage under your eyes, just bags,” Polly chortled.
“Thank you, mother. You’re too kind,” Lacier said sarcastically. “How was your sleep, Alexia?” Lacier asked.
“It was good thanks. Until I was saturated by a big shark.”
“Oh I should have told you about that. We have sharks instead of alarm clocks,” Lacier said as she cut a bagel in half.
“You guys seem to like sharks quite a bit.”
“We are not guys, Alexia. I thought I told you that,” Polly scolded.
“Sorry,” Alexia said.
“Sharks are powerful creatures. They are highly respected here,” Lacier commented.
“Do you keep pets on Siania?”
“No. We aren’t at home long enough to look after them. Adair is the only cat on Siania and he can look after himself,” Lacier said and then took another bite of her bagel.
“When are you taking Alexia home, Lacy?” Polly tried to disguise the satisfaction in her voice but couldn’t.
“Are you ready now?” Lacier asked.
“As I’ll ever be,” Alexia said, suddenly feeling sad to leave but also excited to be going home. She placed her half eaten bagel onto a plate and stood up.
“You don’t want to finish breakfast first?” Lacier looked disappointed.
“It’s best that I get it over with. Cynthia is probably going crazy.”
“Okay,” Lacier stood up reluctantly.
“You said we could go first thing in the morning,” Alexia said, sensing Lacier’s annoyance.
“Yes, it’s no problem.” Lacier clenched her fist and tenderly took Alexia’s hand . “Let’s go then.” As she opened her fist, the purple mist filled the air and transported Lacier and Alexia to Earth.
When they arrived on Earth Alexia felt pangs of excitement. She couldn’t wait to see Cynthia. Lacier waited outside Alexia’s house as she rushed up the balcony steps and burst through the front door. “Mom?” Alexia looked in the kitchen and then the laundry. “Mom, are you home?” After receiving no answer she raced up the stairs. “Mom! Are you home?”
Alexia stepped into her room and smiled. It felt good to be back. Still, she was feeling uneasy and wanted to talk to Cynthia. She jumped onto her bed and hugged her pillow tightly and closed her eyes. Suddenly remembering about Cynthia, she placed her pillow back onto the bed and stood up. Alexia padded across the soft carpet floor smiling to herself, there’s no walking on water here, she thought.
Alexia left her room and trodded down the stairs. Lacier was standing in the front doorway. “Cynthia isn’t home,” Alexia said, being careful not to call her Mom.
“I will wait with you until she gets back if you like.” Lacier didn’t seem to want to leave.
“Thanks.”
“No problem. So, why don't you show me around.”
“You’ve already seen my house. Polly said that you watch over me,” Alexia said, wanting to know if this was true.
“Yes I do. Sometimes I would come and sit on the edge of your bed and sing you Sianic lullabies.”
“Oh, I had no idea.”
“You don’t know how hard it was for me not to hug you and tell you everything, Polly wouldn’t allow it.”
“How come Polly doesn’t like me?”
“She feels guilty. She knows that she made the wrong choice by not allowing me to keep you.”
“So, she is trying to make me hate her?”
“No, she just doesn’t know how to handle her guilt.” Lacier looked at the photos on the walls. Alexia stood beside her.
“I always had an idea I was different to them,” Alexia said, looking at a photo of Gina.
“Cynthia is a very special lady. I chose her for you, especially.”
“How did you find her?” Alexia asked as they walked into the living room and sat on a couch by the window.
“I needed a strong soul to look after you, somebody to devote themselves to family life. So I arranged some tests. I offered Cynthia a job that would send her all around the world and make her rich. She declined to stay with her husband and child, whom she had before you came along.”
“So when she declined, you told her about Siania?”
“I had to, I knew that there was going to be some weird activity with you around.”
“Like what?”
“Like… like you teleporting out of rooms or transforming food into different types of food,” Lacier laughed.
“Sians can use magic as babies?”
“Certainly can. It is like breathing for a baby, it comes automatically. It’s a defense mechanism in case a baby is ever left alone. The powers go away by the time you are five and come back at fifteen.”
“Why do they go away?”
“We don’t really know. I think it’s so that we learn to live without them.” Lacier leaned back on the couch and sighed. “Sometimes I think you were much luckier than Amosa.”
“How come?” Alexia asked, sounding mystified.
“Life on Earth is more fulfilling than anything that happens on Siania. We all know each other. There’s no mystery, and no men. We have to search out men from other planets.”
“Who is my father?” Alexia said, wondering why she hadn’t asked this earlier. Lacier sat up straight and stared at the floor.
“I knew this would come up,” she said with some dread. “He is a human from Earth,” Lacier looked at Alexia. “His name is Brad.”
“Does he know about me?” Alexia asked. Lacier shook her head.
“I couldn’t tell him. Everything was too complicated. As a Sian we are supposed to find somebody to have a child with, not a partner.” A tear rolled down Lacier’s face as she spoke. Alexia placed a hand on her knee.
“What’s wrong?”
“I loved him. I was a damned fool a
nd fell in love. That’s our number one rule in Siania. Don’t fall in love. Don’t ever fall in love. . .” Lacier’s voice trailed off.
“Sometimes you can’t help it,” Alexia said, thinking about Joey.
“I should have known better.”
“Love doesn’t work like that,” Alexia said too wisely for her years.
“I think Polly promoted me to be a commander was because she knew I spent too much time watching you and Brad and not guarding the Earth.” Lacier wiped away another tear.
“It isn’t fair that you have to spend so much time guarding everybody else.”
“It’s the way we are. We only exist to protect. That’s why you were lucky to come to Earth.”
“I don’t know. Having magical powers is pretty cool.” Alexia smiled and remembered the thrill of removing the magical vests the burly guards were wearing.
“If I could go back and choose to have a family over my magic, I would do it.”
“Really?” Alexia asked, surprised.
“Definitely.”
“Does my dad – I mean Cynthia's ex-husband know who I am?”
“We can't tell too many people about us. We had to cast a glamor on him. He believes you are his real daughter.”
“What if he saw me using magic?”
“Luckily he didn't.”
“Is that why I didn't want to live with him?”
“You didn't want to live with him because you aren't obsessed with material possessions like your adopted sisters.”
“Does he love me?”
Lacier shrugged. “He thinks he does. I suppose the glamor will wear off if you refuse to see him.”
“I don't mind. He's a bastard. Cheated on Cynthia, I don't know how many times.”
“Yes. Are you sure you weren't thinking about him when you summoned those fat worms?” They both burst into gales of laughter at the thought.
Suddenly remembering something, Alexia stopped laughing. “Hey can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“Since you watch me often, did you see me finding my dismantled bike? And the envelope filled with blood?”
“When did this happen?” Lacier looked slightly concerned.
“Just before I found out about all this,” Alexia said. “Before I was attacked by Price.” Alexia thought about Price and suddenly felt very sad. “I hurt Price, he didn’t mean to hurt me, he was controlled by those things.”
“It isn’t your fault.” Lacier placed a reassuring hand on Alexia’s shoulder. “You did what you had to.”
“I didn’t even know I had powers! If I knew about them I wouldn’t have burnt him.”
“It’s okay. Look, maybe you should go and visit him sometime. You might feel better after seeing him.”
“Yeah maybe.” Alexia didn’t sound so sure.
“Now, about this blood in the envelope. How long did you hold the envelope for?”
“Um, I held it while I opened it, then threw it onto the ground when I saw blood inside.”
“And you went back with Cynthia and it was gone?” Lacier asked. Alexia nodded in reply. “Damn.”
“What is it?”
“It could be nothing,” Lacier lied.
“Somehow I don’t believe that.”
“There’s only one reason Temorvick’s minions would want you to hold that blood,” Lacier said as she stood up.
“Why?” Alexia felt herself on the verge of panicking.
“There are certain substances in the universe. If they are charged by the right person, they can become very powerful.”
“What sort of substances?”
“Well if you said that it looked like blood, I would say that it came from a blood petal. A flower that excretes a red substance that looks very much like blood,” Lacier explained. “This only happens every two hundred years. The blood petal is also very rare. But with the rate Temorvick takes over planets, he could have easily found one.”
“How would I have charged anything? All I did was pick it up.”
“You are very powerful, Alexia. Obviously Temorvick knows this. You were an easy target for him to get what he wanted. There’s no way he could have gotten a trained Sian to charge anything.”
“I’m sorry,” Alexia said, looking ashamed.
“Alexia, it isn’t your fault. You shouldn’t have been sent away in the first place.”
“I still don’t understand how I charged anything.”
“Just by holding it, Alexia. It doesn’t matter now. It may be nothing.” Lacier paced across the room back and forth. “Where do you think Cynthia is?”
“I don’t know. I’ll try call her cell phone,” Alexia stood up and found a portable phone sitting under some papers. She dialed Cynthia’s mobile phone number.
*
A small black mobile phone sat on a wooden floor. It started to vibrate rigorously around the ground and play an annoying upbeat tune. A shadow appeared over the dancing phone. Then a foot crashed down on the phone, silencing it.