geeangel_
angel with a shotgun.
Lael Agani walked through the streets of the Upper City, eyes darting around. She was the fourth child and third daughter of Elites Alastair Agani and Angelica Luscombe, both part of the Diguo Aristocracy. Despite her high stature in the Emperor's Inner-circle, El did not care much about the government; she could care less. Many people believed she was all riches and complexion, but Lael was much, much more.
She noticed the murders and kidnappings of royals. She noticed every time she walked through the markets as more and more gangs fought in the alleyways. She noticed everything in the once-peaceful empire was slowly crumbling but someone or something was trying to hide it. The real question was why?
"Lay. Lay. Lay!" her older sister Evangaline called out, snapping in her face. Lale's head snapped towards her sister.
"Oh. My apologies, Anga," she mumbled, brushing away her bangs. Her sister sighed, "It's fine, love. But please, head over to the flower stand; mother wants a new bouquet for the quarters." Lael nodded, rushing over to the flower booth before bumping into someone else.
Zuri glared at her with her sickly, tired, yellow eyes. "Watch where your going." She said in her sarcastic, mean, and also sickly voice. She started to walk away, but pickpocketed Lael without stopping her walk and was careful for Lael not to see.
Lael watched the girl walk away, a sort of tension forming in the air. "Queer," she thought to herself, "Very queer indeed."
Lael continued walking but quickly checked her satchel. She felt around, then checked her pockets. "That's little theif," she chuckled to herself, realizing she had been pickpocketed of 120 silver. Lael looked back into the crowd, but Zuri had already dissipated.
She saw Lael looking around for her, and she almost laughed. The theif put the money into her red backpack, which she had a lock on every pocket.
Lael had ought to be worried by the loss of money, but she didn't really mind. Instead, she continued her way to the flower stall and picked a bouquet of yellow flowers. She exchanged 20 copper for the bunch of flora and walked back to Anga.
"Ready to head back?" she asked, adjusting her satchel and making sure it was pickpocket proof. The older nodded as they walked back to their abode near the outskirts of the city.
Zuri had got a lot of money from one steal, but she knew better than to try again. Although, that person didn't seem to mind... As she pondered this, she unfortunately, and ironically, walked into Lael. Zuri, being quiet frail, fell over.
Lael look down and smirked. "Okay, down there?" she asked, pulling the frail female from the ground. "Ms. Theif," she added in a whisper.
Anga's eyes widened. "Oh my Diguo! Are you alright, dear?" the other female inquired. Anga was wearing a red, velvet dress and a white lace robe over it. Golden bangles glittered and clinked on her wrist and a golden locket hung on her neck.
That locket could sell for a lot... No. "Y-yeah? I'm alright." Zuri took a step back. Her expression could be compared to disgusted, but she was just confused.
Lael's expression morphed from teasing to confused. "Are you sure you're alright?" her sister asked, "You look confused, darling."
"Yeah, yeah." She says, starting to walk away.
Lael grabbed her wrist. "Don't worry. We're not going to anything," she said. "And if you're worried," she whispered, only enough for her and Zuri to hear. "If you're worried about the stealing, I won't tell."
She ripped her wrist away, adjusting her white button up shirt so that the sleeves covered her robotic hands, but didn't mess up her blue sweater vest or black skirt.
"If you weren't gonna do anything, you'd leave me alone."
The two Agani sisters watched as Zuri turned away. Anga looked at her sister and raised a brow. "Do you know her?" she asked, suspicious of her sister's connections. Lael snapped her head to her sister. "I- No." Evangaline nodded. "Let's go. It's almost sundown," the older said. Lael followed her sister as they took their secret shortcut to the Agani household.
Soon enough, the two sisters made their way to their home.
There was a large, steel gate with beautiful, intricate designs in the front that they had to open, revealing a huge futuristic mansion with an even bigger garden. To the left was a pond with small waterfalls running down a balcony. The whole place was aglow with the water element, an irrigation system beautifully displayed, bordering the green grass.
Zuri didnβt have a home. She was usually sleeping wherever she could, if she slept at all. Maybe it would've been better if she hadn't of left the testing siteβ¦
Lael went off to exchange the wilted flowers for the bouquet of new ones, just as her mother, Angelica, had ordered. As she arranged the golden flowers in the vase, she thought of the strange thief that she had met prior to her arrival. As she thought, a little girl tapped her leg.
Looking down, Lael smiled. "Hey Lily, how has your day been?" she asked her younger sister. The toddler put her arms out, signaling the need of being carried. Lael chuckled and hoisted her up.
Zuri continued with her usual stealing, and selling what she had stolen.
A boy walked into the Thieves Guild, a market of thieves that sold stolen goods. He had golden, amber eyes and brown hair. A green cloak draped over his shoulders and he wore black pants. His eyes scanned the market, looking for something in particular.
Zuri scrambled out of his view. She didn't like being seen by many people here.
She opened up her backpack, and found the locket of the girl she run into... Sometimes that happened to her. She did things without knowing she did them. She tried to open the locket
The boy appeared next to her and grinned. "Hey, doll. What'cha got there?" he asked. "Need help opening it?" he added, quickly taking it from her grasp.
Doll? She didn't think she looked like a doll. "Listen kiddo," she says, snatching it back. "If I were you, I'd stay away from the girl with robotic hands, who could probably choke you in a few secs."
He chuckled, taking it back and holding it over her head.
"And if I were you," he whispered, "I'd stay away from an Elite who could report you to the royal guard. Not to mention I have, how do I say this, connections to Alastair Agani? You know him right? The Emperor's right-hand man? Yeah, I'm pretty sure this locket belongs to his eldest daughter." He looked down at her, playing with the locket's golden chain while smirking as he'd won.
She'd let him win, but not without a little pain. She kneed him in the balls and walked away.
The boy doubled over, still holding onto the locket. He silently cursed to himself as Zuri walked away with the last bit of dignity he had left in his being. Once he recovered from his suffering, he stood back up and fixed his hair as if nothing had happened.
Pulling his hood up, he walked away from the Thieves Guild and returned to his home.
She smiled to herself as she saw him leave. But it was getting late, and she'd have to find a safe place to sleep. She tried sleeping in the woods, but she wasn't a huge fan of wild animals and it was very cold.
It was past sunset when he arrived home. A large, steel gate with beautiful, intricate designs in the front greeted him as he took a turn, resorting to climbing the wall instead of using the front gate.
He jumped from the wall and into the garden, his combat boots hitting the ground. The sound of trickling water made his way into his ears, causing him to smile slightly; personally, he liked the sound of the waterfalls. He removed the green cloak and entered the mansion, only to be greeted by sounds of sobbing. He had at least expected to be yelled at for coming home late. He definitely didn't expect everyone to be crying about hi-
"Elijah!" Lael cried, seeing him standing in the middle of the hallway. "Lay! Hey! What's going on? Who's crying?" he asked, walking into the living room and setting his cloak onto the couch. "It's Evangaline! She lost the locket Prince Maven gave her two summer's ago!" his sister replied. A light bulb went off in his mind. "Oh, you mean this?" he asked, taking the necklace out of his satchel, the twin to Lael's. Lael's eyes widened.
"Where did you find it? She was wearing it at the market. It's impossible that you coul-" He cut her off. "It doesn't matter that I found it, I'm just glad I- I mean, that I did," he stated, nearly exposing the thief he had met and the Guild.
The streets were different at later times. There were more gangs, drunk people stumbling around helplessly, more stealing, more violence, and every day there was more kids.
She walked slowly, not having much energy. She found that if she stayed up until night her eyes hurt, then she could actually fall asleep. But she still had to find a place.
Lael automatically thought of the thief she and Anga had bumped into earlier. "Did you- Ah, never mind," she stated. The two siblings, who many mistake for twins, walked up to Anga's rooms.
"Hey Anga," Elijah started, "We found your locket." Anga's futuristic door opened on it's own accord, revealing her red eyes from the minuets of crying. "Y-you did? Oh my gosh! I thought I had lost it," she cried, bursting into hysterics while hugging her younger brother. "Thank you, Eli." Elijah patted her on the back while Lael covered her laugh.
That locket probably meant more to that girl than she could sell it for. She looked up at the sky. She was feeling kinda sick, and didn't wanna smell the city. If she could find that river again, maybe she could sleep nicely. She liked the sound of it, but was afraid of falling in. She slowly made her way to the forest, her mind full of thoughts.
"So, have you had your dinner yet, big brother?" Lael asked. Elijah shook his head. "Nah, I'm not really that hungry." he replied, ruffling his hair. Lael hummed.
"Anyways, there's a meteor shower tonight and Lin had to cancel last second. Being the princess's lady-in-waiting was easy, she said. I can make it, she said! But no! So, do any of you want to head to Elon's Rock in the forest tonight?"
Zuri didn't remember to well, but she didn't get much sleep last night. She kept having the strangest dreams. Nightmares, more or less. Zuri looked up at the stars.
Maybe it was her fault they sold her to testing. Her fault that she was sick all the time. Her fault that her family didn't want her. That she didn't have a home. That she didn't talk to many people in fear of being sent back. Her fault...
After agreeing on watching the meteor shower, Elijah and Lael treked to the forest.
Anga decided to stay home with their two younger siblings, but the second youngest Agani, Alexander, wanted to tag along.
"Is the meteor gonna hit us?" the youngest boy asked. "Hey look, is that a cat?" he asked quite loudly, pointing at a figure in the distance. The figure, was in fact, the robotic girl from earlier today.
She walked next to the river, and sat down next to it. She took off her backpack and opened up a pocket. Stolen things, a bunch of money, a water bottle, no food.
"Hey!" the seven-year-old cried out. "Hello! Are you lost?" Alexander asked, earning a slap from Lael. "Hey! That hurt," he whispered, pouting.
Zuri looked over. "I'm most certainly am not lost, but thanks." She says in a monotone, putting on her backpack and starting to walk away.
"Woah, it can talk!" he whisper-yelled.
Lael rolled her eyes. "Let's just go." The girl lead the way while Elijah realized where he had heard the familiar voice. "The thief!" he thought to himself.
"I'm not an it either." Zuri muttered loudly.
An it... That's how people saw her. Just a thing. You don't know what the thing is, but that thing takes up space. You don't want the thing, you might want it gone. Just an it. That's all she was in this world.
At least in testing she had a purpose.
The three siblings were nearing Elon's Rock before an arrow flew near Eli's face. He swiftly caught it, but Lael knew it was an ambush. Elijah scooped his younger brother up as Lael followed behind. She pulled on her golden necklace with a triangular charm on it as the fibers shifted into a platinum sword.
"Technology," she muttered, "Great."
One of the ambushers spotted them and cried out, "Grab the Elites! We need them: dead or alive!"
Zuri climbed up in a tree.
She didn't want to be apart of this. The tree was thick. She was unable to see the sky. She just wanted to go to sleep.
Elijah cursed the assassins' out while Lael swung her sword.
"Agh! Screw this!" she cried as her sword's fibers shifted, shocking it's wielder. Now, Lael was holding a platinum bow. "I don't need a bow right now!" she asked releasing an arrow by accident, hitting a pursuing assassin. "I- oop. I think I might have killed him," she said, looking back at her older brother sheepishly.
"Great! Now run!" he yelled, holding a frightened Xander.
Zuri watched this from her hiding spot. Dead or alive. They weren't gonna die. Maybe if she kept up stealing she'd be wanted dead or alive. People wouldn't be afraid to end her.
She had no purpose. She was just a thing.
"We can't head back home! They'll get Ronnie and Lily!" Elijah called, still running as Xander cried. "I want mom!" Lael stopped as her two brothers kept running.
"You run to a place with a lot of royal guards," she said sternly. Elijah stopped, protecting Xan with his arms. "Are you trying to be brave?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows. Lael rolled her eyes, pulling back an arrow.
"Screw bravery, this is called stupidity," she replied, letting the arrow fly to one of the assassins.
Zuri could sneak away now. She climbed down the tall tree, but fell. She didn't scream though.
Her reflexes weren't good enough to be able to grab a branch to stop her fall. She tried, but her head hit a branch, sending a shock of pain down her spine.
The girl hit the ground, and was so tired and in so much pain she closed her eyes for a second and couldn't get them back open.
Lael watched as a figure fell out of a tree. Thinking it was an assassin, she walked towards them. "Oh, its her," she thought. "Well, another thing to protect," she noted mentally, shooting down two assassins with one arrow. "Not bad. Two birds with one stone," she muttered under her breath.
Zuri remained unconscious for a minute, then shot up so fast she got dizzy. She got that sick feeling again.
She slowly stood, trying to steady herself. There goes her chance of getting out of here. She looked at the city in the distance.
There were only a few assassins left. Lael quickly decided to make a run for it instead of maiming the group of guys who tried to kill her.
"Hey," she said, turning to Zuri. "Can you walk? Can you run? We need to get out of here."
Zuri was slightly confused, and still dizzy. "Yeah? I don't understand what your-"
"Gah, screw this," Lael muttered, shooting one more assassin.
Zuri looked at her confused.
Lael grabbed the girls hand and ran along, zig-zagging amongst the trees and away from the assassins.
Zuri felt a little sick with the constant jerking, and tried to wiggle out of Lael's grip.
"Let go of me." She said in her usual monotone.
Lael let go, seeing no assassins, but didn't let her guard down. "Are you crazy?" she said in between breaths. "You would've died!"
Zuri hesitated before just shrugging. "What if I had nothing to live for?"
Lael's dark eyes scanned the cyborg, not knowing what to say. Before she could reply with the words finally formed in her mind, an arrow pierced her side. Lael's eyes snapped to an assassin who took the chance to run from the teenagers. The world spun around her as her vision started blurring. She grinned as she lost balance.
Zuri laughed, and turned to the assassin. She grabbed the arrow, then felt a stabbing pain in her robot parts, and everything flashed white. She blinked away the white and was covered in someone else's blood. She killed (or at least knocked him out) the assassin. She thought for a minute, before helping Lael up, and running off with her.
"Ow!" She dropped Lael. "Oh, sorry." Her arm was stabbed, the wonderful thing about feeling pain late.
Elijah stopped for a second, setting his little brother down. Alexander looked up confused and scared. Sweat dripped down the older's forehead as he wiped his hands on his pants. He looked into the night, standing closely and protectively next to his younger brother. He pulled a switchblade from his pocket -- his prized possession.
"'Lijah..." Alexander trailed, "You're not going to leave me, are you?" The little boy was shaking and his big black eyes were frightened. Elijah frowned sympathetically, still wary of his surroundings. "Don't worry kiddo," he whispered, "I'd never abandon you." Xander nodded and scanned the area. 'Goodness, Lay. Where are you?' Eli thought to himself. He was worried. His sister was a fool and could be dead by now. Why was he thinking these things? Not now, Eli. Not now. He drew the blade into the night, awaiting whatever came.
She was covered in a stranger's blood, Lael's and her own. "Ha ha, isn't t-this wonderful?" She said sarcastically to herself. "I'm gonna look like I killed this girl."
It had been minutes. Lael was a good fighter and Elijah was starting to think she'd gotten herself captured. 'Not dead. Oh Lord, please not dead,' he thought.
"Xan, stay next to me," Eli ordered, grabbing the little boy's hand, "We're gonna search for Lay Lay, okay?" Xander nodded and complied with the older's orders. 'Please not dead, you can't be dead.' As he thought that, Lael went limp. Blood spilled from her side and onto the rotting leaves on the forest floor.
Zuri groaned, in no condition to do this herself. She got that sick feeling, it was like a stab. So fast and so sharp, she couldn't calm it and threw up. She felt dizzy from the blood loss, which didn't help.
The two boys wandered through the forest in search of their sister. The leaves crunched below their feet; the wind whispered. The night was haunting and the moon peeked through the leaves. This time, the moonlight was not enchanting. This time, it was a looming spotlight.
Xander's heart thumped in his chest as he heard a gagging sound. He turned towards the noise and saw a figure. "I hear something," he whispered, leading Elijah towards the sound of sickness. There was the girl from earlier. She stood over Lael's limp body, throwing up to the side. Elijah's eyes went wide and it felt as if the wind was knocked from him. 'Not dead, not dead. Please not dead!' Xander did not say anything. He could not say anything. He just saw his sister lying in a pool of scarlet liquid. It disgusted him.
Zuriβs backpack was probably also covered in blood, but she didn't check. She saw them, and her heart skipped a beat. Her arm hurt so bad, so, so bad. But hey, when your sister is dead and with some girl covered in the same blood as her, then she probably did it.
She looked at them for a second, looking much younger. She looked like a sick, scared, tired little girl, although she wasn't a little girl. She ran off, as fast as she could.
Elijah made eye contact just as the girl ran away. Covered in blood, scared, and tired; her expression reminded him of a lost puppy, but he didn't have time to worry about that. The two boys walked up to the body of their sister. There was still a chance she was alive, right? Oh, how hope had fooled them.
Her eyes were open and lifeless, a grin plastered on her face. She looked triumphant, yet she was dead. It was funny how the one who had so much to live for had died and the one who had nothing to live for had lived. Life just wasn't fair -- you never got what you wanted. Not unless you were Lael.
She wanted her siblings to be safe, and if it meant dying, then so be it. It was the price she had to pay.
Elijah choked, making a funny noise before falling next to his sister. Salty tears fell from his eyes as sobs echoed through the forest. She was younger and foolish and stupid, but she died valiantly. Xander stood dumbfounded as his brother mourned. He was too young for all of this. His eyes had seen death; he had lost his childhood and did not even know it.
Dead and cold and nothing. He felt dead and cold and nothing. His sister was gone. There was nothing he could do about it.
When running, she fell into some sort of a trench, or hole. Zuri couldn't see well.
She grunted and hit the ground, she couldn't climb out with one hand, maybe if it was her robotic hand, but that arm, her left arm, had been stabbed. 'I'm gonna bleed out and die.' She thought. 'Here, alone...'
If she was gonna die, she wished Lucy could know. But Lucy was probably still in testing. Maybe dead. The only friend she ever had. She opened her backpack and pulled out a paper. The last drawing game she played with Lucy. Lucy didn't speak English well, and was stuck testing, but was so happy. She was Korean and taught Zuri all she could. Lucy was the greatest person she ever meant.
Their drawings were getting covered in blood. She breathed shakily.
Elijah continued to cry as he took shaky breaths. "You're okay, you're okay," he laughed hysterically, convincing himself his sister wasn't dead. "Oh, beautiful, sweet, foolish little Lael," he sobbed, wiping the tears with his sleeve. He was in denial and finally convinced himself she was still alive. 'She's fine! She's fine...' He licked his lips and dried the sweat dripping from his chin. Xander took his brother's hand, the light in his eyes different.
"We need to find the girl," Alexander whispered, looking into the night. "W-why?" Eli questioned, furrowing his brows and clenching his fists. He remembered the thief covered in blood. It was the blood of Lael. He remembered the locket of his sister dangling from her hands in the guild. The locket of Anga. Zuri was dead to him; she was a murderer. Greif clouded his mind.
"Lael had so much to live for, maybe we could give them something to live for, too," Xander explained, looking up at his brother's tear-stained face. "There are a lot of people with nothing to live for," Xander whispered, "We could give them something to live for, too." Elijah clenched his teeth. "No. I'm not looking for a person with Lael's blood on their hands unless it's for revenge -- I'd gladly hunt them down. Let's go, Alexander."
Xanderβs brows furrowed, his eyes going wide. "No! You said you'd never abandon me! Please, let's just find the person! They could be hurt! O-or, or-" Elijah snapped, "Or dead? I could care less! They deserve to end that way! They- they deserve it after what happened to Lael! You know what? I'd deserve to die as well! I was so stupid to let her fight those assassins off; almost as stupid as her staying back! God, I'm an idiot!" Eli cursed. Alexander stepped back from his brother.
"Y-you don't mean that. You don't want to die..." he mumbled, his dark eyes wide as saucers. "You're crazy!" Xander yelled. "This isn't you! You're just blaming yourself for something that you can't even control! You're denying it all, Elijah! Guess what, there's nothing -- nothing -- you can do to change that! She's dead, she's gone! Stop trying to convince yourself otherwise!"
Xan was always older than he seemed, maybe he wasn't. Maybe he matured just by staring death in its face.
"If I didn't know any better, Lael tried to save that person," the younger went on, "And the least we could do is give someone a life that Lael couldn't live, ya know? Instead of being a coward and thinking about taking away your own life!" Before running in the direction of Zuri, Alexander turned his back to his brother and said one more thing. "You're a coward, Elijah Agani. You're a blasted fool." And he ran off into the night.
Zuri sat there for a minute. This isn't what Lucy would want.
She stood up. "Help! She yelled in a raspy voice.
Elijah watched his brother run away as the words sunk into his skin. It's true: he promised to never abandon him and he had broken that promise only minutes later.
He looked down at his hands, covered in red. It had been his fault she died. Xander was right, Eli was just blaming himself for things he couldn't control. But that's how it is when someone dies; he had a right to be crazy. Elijah let out a raspy laugh and leaned over Lael's corpse.
"God!" he screamed suddenly, flickering from crazed to angry. He shook Lael's body as one stray tear fell from his eye. "You're not gonna wake up, huh?" Lael's cold eyes only looked up at him blankly and she grinned triumphantly as if it was all a joke. Elijah cursed. "You had to go get yourself killed! I needed you, ya know?" he screamed up at the stars, not bearing to look at his sister any longer. "We all needed you and you left us," he whispered.
Meanwhile, Xander was searching the forest for the person who fled away from the scene. He heard a raspy "help!" from a few feet away. He took a few steps forward and looked around. "The voice was right here," he muttered, eyes flickering from tree to bush all around him.
He wasn't sure if it was a trap. He still needed to be vigilant.
Zuri looked up from the hole, her vision starting to blur.
She wasn't going to die in a hole, not now. Not yet. She had to find Lucy first. She couldn't stand up, but she tried to yell and nothing came out. She felt of wave of tiredness fall over her. Not now, not now... She grabbed the top of the hole but just fell again.
Alexander heard a thump from below. He looked down and saw Zuri's crumpled form at the bottom of a ditch.
"Hey there!" he called out, "Are you alright? I'm gonna try to help you out but you need to work with me, okay?" He put his hands on his knees and peered into the dark hole. 'Man, how am I gonna do this...' he wondered.
Zuri screamed, recognizing Alexander. Her breathing was hard and she could barely stand up straight.
Xander almost jumped, feeling his soul fly out of his body. "I-is everything alright down there?" he called down, frightened by the girl's shrill cry. He noticed her uneven breathing patterns and poor condition.
"Dang, this is gonna be harder than I thought," he mumbled under his breath.
"Y-your sister..?" She breathed shakily, unable to say the whole question. She took off her backpack and tried to throw it up.
Xander caught the bag and placed it near the roots of a tree. He didn't want to answer the question, but it came out of his mouth like nothing: "She's dead."
The words felt empty, he felt empty. How come he wasn't affected like Elijah was? Lael was his best friend, after all. Why? Why didn't he cry when he saw the body? Why did she have to die? Why did it have to be her? Xander shut his eyes and exhaled, the thoughts leaving just like his breath.
"Do you have anything in your bag that could help get'cha out?" he asked, taking off his sweatshirt. He was hot and sweaty, yet everything felt cold. It would have been strange to see a seven-year-old out in the woods alone, but it seemed he'd be alone for a long time now that Lael was gone. Dead. He'd be dead someday, too. Would people mourn for him like Eli did for Lael? Would people with nothing to live for be mourned? He'd met death and now he was questioning it. Why is death so painful, not for the one who dies, but for the one who mourns?
When someone you love dies, does a piece of you die with them?
Zuri swallowed. "M-maybe? I have a lock one every pocket..."
Xander sighed, losing just a bit of hope.
It seemed he was losing everything tonight -- his sister, his sanity, and his hope. He couldn't lose anything else; it couldn't get any worse for here, right?
'The woods ought to have something, like a branch or somethin' I could use,' Alexander thought. "Just hold on!" he reassured, "I'm going to find something to get you up and out!"
She waited, trying to stay awake, she didn't say anything to him, she had nothing to say.
Xander wandered through the silent wood as the trees stared at him. He wondered what had happened to Elijah; he thought about Evangaline, Veronica, and Lily. The silence was eerie, but Alexander soon found something he could use to help Zuri. It was a long branch. He hoped it would work.
Xander zigzagged through the trees and towards the hole, clearly remembering the previously taken path. He had a terrific memory, something he was thankful for. "Hey!" he called as he made his way to Zuri. "I found this big stick I think we could use to haul you up!" The stick was sturdy, very sturdy. He lowered it into the ditch, letting Zuri reach out to it.
Zuri hesitated, but did grab it. She did remember she was surprisingly light, and had a very frail body. She didn't want him to acknowledge it.
Alexander heaved Zuri up with just a bit of a struggle. Thank goodness his attempt was successful.
"A-are you okay? You look pretty beat up," he noted, looking at the blood and grime on the girl. The seven-year-old took a good look at her. He dismissed the robotic parts and rather noticed the resemblance between her and the second eldest of his family, Veronica.
Elijah wandered through the forest, not caring about anything in particular. His mind was too fogged up to understand anything. He wandered the woods like a drunkard and his eyes were cloudy and glossed over. He was on the brink of insanity with no one to put him in his place. The person who put him in his place was dead and his little brother had run away. Evangeline and Veronica gave up trying to put him in his place a long time ago; he was just too stubborn. It seemed the younger siblings didn't care, though. They always put him in the right headspace.
Elijah leaned on a tree, inhaling deeply. He was calm for a moment, but that did not last long. The calmness disappeared at the feeling of a gloved hand covering his mouth. He blacked out, not caring much anymore. What was there to care for when you were practically dead? You may be breathing, walking, talking, but that doesn't mean you're alive. Elijah was dead, he was dead inside. He had been lost before he even wandered.
Zuri grabbed her backpack. "Oh yeah," she said, surprised she had the energy to be sarcastic. "I've never felt better, it's like I haven't even been stabbed and I'm not covered in blood and it's not the middle of the night." She was mostly talking to herself.
βBut thank you," she said, the sarcasm leaving her voice to the normal monotone. "How old are you, like six? Who was here with you?"
Alexander furrowed his eyebrows and sighed.
"The thank you would have sufficed and, actually, I'm seven. I was with my brother but" -- Xander coughed -- "He- he didn't want to come b-because of Lael." The young boy shrugged. "He wasn't in the right headspace, I'm sure he'll be fine. He's Elijah, one of the best fighters out there." Xander paused. What if Elijah wasn't okay? What if he made the wrong choice leaving him behind? He swallowed and his throat hurt. His stomach didn't feel right. The air changed and something felt very wrong. He already lost his sister and what if he lost his brother, too? Did he go too far?
The thoughts made him dizzy and he had a hard time breathing. "They're fine," he murmured, "He's fine."
"Kid are you alright?" She asked. This best fighter, huh? She didn't think anyone was the best fighter.
Every great fighter had their breaking point. A weak spot. In every story.
No one was the best. No one could be. The best is too hard to reach, you could be the tallest person in the world, but you wouldn't be able to fit through doors. You could be the best at basketball, but even then there will always be some kid better than you.
The best is a title too far away.
"Maybe you should sit down for a hot sec before we find your brother."
Xander nodded shakily. "I'm fine. Everything's fine." But he felt like it wasn't. Everything was definitely not fine. "We need to find Elijah. He- We just do," he blurted out, steadying himself. Alexander had made a big mistake and he knew it. He just didn't know what it was.
"Where is she?" a voice asked as Elijah slowly regained consciousness. The voice threw in some swears as they interrogated the young Elite. "Tell us where she is before-" The door opened and Elijah blinked away the light as he shielded his eyes.
Something clattered to the stone floor. There was yelling, but Elijah blacked out once more.
"No, sit down first." Zuri forced him to sit by a tree. "If you don't take a break now, you'll need one twice as long later." She opened her backpack and tossed him a unopened plastic water bottle. She got one for herself and drank in all in one go. She pulled out some sort of cloth, and rapped it around the stab, which had stopped bleeding for the most part.
"What's this pretty little prince's name? Elijah? Yeah, that's to old, I'll call him Eli." She said, mostly to herself.
'Pretty little prince...?' Xander thought while sipping on the water. 'Hm..' The boy stood up and peered at the darkness. "Let's go. I don't want to waste any more time. The last time that happened my sister died," he stated, mumbling the last part to himself.
Elijah felt a slap on his face. "Wake up," the voice directed, shining a light into the Elite's eyes. Eli only groaned, throwing his head back. "Elijah, wake up." The boy blinked, pushing the light away from his eyes. "W-what?" he groaned once more. "Hmm... What time is it?" he mumbled, ruffling his hair.
"Look, man, there's no breakfast. Where's your sister?" Elijah opened his eyes slowly, blinking away the sleep. "Which one?" he yawned, stretching his arms -- well, at least he tried to. Eli's eyes went wide as he saw he was tied to a chair. He cursed. "What in the-" The anonymous person slapped him again.
"Are you kidding me? Who the-" Elijah shut up once he saw their face. Everything came back to him. Lael was dead, Alexander was lost, he had been abducted. His head swam in confusion.
"Alright kid." She said. She didn't feel too hot herself, but that didn't matter. "I think I might have a few ideas where he is, do you know anything about the assassins?" She put on her backpack and started pacing back and forth.
Xander fiddled with his fingers and went a bit stiff.
He didn't want to think about assassins. That means Elijah could be dead; he didn't want to lose another sibling. The young boy shook his head.
Meanwhile, Elijah stared at his captor. "No... What do you want from me?" The younger teen sat in a chair across from Elijah. "She's dead, isn't she? Lael," the younger whispered, his bangs covering his eyes. Elijah swallowed. He didn't know where to start.
"I- The assassins." The younger boy slammed the chair and clenched his teeth. Elijah only stared at him with wide eyes. "Isa..." Eli started. The captor buried his face in his hands and shook his head. "Don't 'Isa' me. She's freaking dead. She was the biggest part of-" the boy groaned.
"Screw this!" he yelled, knocking papers off the desk and breaking a picture frame. The young teen by the name of Isagani sighed, composing himself. He picked up the frame and frowned. "I'll need to get this fixed later..." he mumbled to himself.
"I know who it is! She said, finally putting it together.
She knew everything she could about every street lingering gang or bad guy, without ever taking part in their plans. "It's probably that Isa... Isagoni or something." She remembered that everytime he saw her he said she wasn't looking good in one way or another. Which was true.
"Look, man," Eli started, "Just untie me and we can talk it out." Isa looked up from the mess he had made and set the frame on the desk. "Fine," he mumbled, untying the rope.
Eli moved around a little and looked at the teen. Isagani looked lost. Elijah knew why. "I had the same reaction as you," Eli explained as Isa looked out the window. Elijah chuckled. "Maybe even worse. You couldn't imagine the scene. There was blood everywhere and I just broke down. She's my sister after all."
Isa's eyes watered a moment before he brushed the tears away. "She was too young and stupid," Eli went on. "She's always been stupid," Isa interrupted, fiddling with a bracelet on his wrist. Elijah only chuckled again. "Yeah... Anyways, um, the assassins. They were after the Elites. She stayed behind, saying her stupidity and bravery thingy." Isa was silent for a moment. "Then she died," the younger male whispered. Elijah coughed, "I- Yes." Isagani nodded.
"That's all I need to know. You're dismissed. Lin prepared a room for you. We have a few of your Elite friends lounging here after similar attacks."
Elijah stood up. "Hold up! Wait, wait. Why? Why are there Elites here? What do you know about the attacks? I want to help!" Isa made his way to the door and shook his head, his back facing Elijah. "I know you're a good fighter, 'Lijah, but not now. I'll tell you once the time comes." And he walked out.
Eli stood there baffled and blinked once. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and turned towards Isa's desk. He eyed the pile of papers, and the mess, but what caught his eye was the broken picture frame. He picked it up and smiled sadly.
Isa had been through... a lot. He had lost nearly everything. Now he lost the only thing he had left. Elijah set down the picture back in its place and walked out of the room. The happy picture of Isagani and Lael sat there like a painful memory. That's all she was now: a memory.
Zuri grabbed Alexander's wrist and started running, as she practically pulled him, she asked, "Say kiddo, I never got your name?" She zig zagged through the forest, knowing exactly where to go. She didn't feel good. At all. She noticed how pale she was, and probably looked terrible, considering how she usually looked.
Alexander looked up at Zuri. "I- I'm Alexander,' he stuttered, noticing the girl's pale complexion. "Are you alright?" he asked. Then he thought back.
'Isa...goni?' Alexander pulled her back. "Wait- Isagani? You know him?" the boy asked.
Isagani sat in his room at the headquarters flipping through a journal. He rolled his head back and shut his eyes, trying to stop the tears from falling. "Why..." he mumbled, slamming the journal shut.
"Yes, no, maybe so, let's just say I've run into the guy once or twice." It wasn't exactly true, but she started running again.
"I ain't feeling far to hot kid, but if I drop still go find your brother, don't wait for me, I probably won't wake up... At least, not for a while." She snorted, as if it were a joke. She pulled him through the city streets and into a building.
Xander let the words sink in. The girl knew Lael's- "I never got your name either!" he suddenly realized.
She did not respond, on purpose. She opened the door to Isagani's office with a sort of slam.
A tall boy with raven hair burst into Isa's room. "There's someone inside."
Isa clenched his fists and dropped the journal, walking out of his room. "How in tarnation did ya'll let someone inside the HQ? Security was out there and everything and someone just happens to walk in? How do you explain that, Perc?" Percy followed his friend towards the office. "You're the one in charge! Why don't you explain that?" his friend rebutted. The two stopped in the middle of the corridor and glared at eachother.
"I haven't been on top of everything because sheβs dead, okay? She kept me in the right place and now she's gone! You should know better than anyone, Percy! Adee was sent to testing! How would you feel if your girlfriend died, huh?" Isa's cold, blue eyes stared at Percy standing there. "You weren't the only person who lost someone; she was my friend, too, Iz. We need to keep on with the mission." Isagani stood there defeated as he placed his hand on the knob to his office.
"You're right." He turned the knob and the two boys walked in.
Zuri felt a guard place their hand on her neck, and took them out with one punch from her robotic hand. She saw them, and a bit of panic flashed through her dead eyes. She leaned against the door frame.
"Hello again Isa," she clicked her tongue cockily. "Remember me?"
She got over confident in her pose and fell over.
Percy cocked a brow while Isa glared. "You know her?" Isa shook his head, looking down at the girl. "Not exactly. She's not a friend either." He kicked her gently with his foot, making sure she was alive.
Alexander popped up from behind the desk. "Isa?" he asked. Isa whipped around quickly and his heart skipped a beat for a nanosecond. Xander looked exactly like his sister, and just for that nanosecond, it was like she was there. Isa gave him a small smile which quickly turned confused. "Hey kiddo, what are you doing here?" he asked as Xan walked over to him. Isa bent down and checked the little boy's face, letting his hands rest on Xander's shoulders. "Better yet, why are you here?" he asked, voice laced with concern. Xander took Isa's hands and took them off his shoulders. "I'm fine. We were looking for 'Lijah and-" Isa made him pause for a second. "Wait, we?" he asked, looking from the seven-year-old to the clumsy girl sprawled on the floor. Percy was holding her down with
his foot.
