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[Somewhere over the Atlantic, 16:00]It was a quiet evening on the Nemesis, perhaps too quiet. The only sounds that filled the ship were the rain beating against the metal that coated the ship, the news reports playing on screens all across the ship and the quiet chatter the ship's residents exchanged in reaction to the broadcast.Nollaig was one of the many watching the broadcast. Even though she was sitting in the comfort of her own quarters, she didn't feel comfortable like she usually did. Something must be in the air.She sat motionless, with a servo placed gently upon her lower abdomen. The room was quiet until Nollaig felt a pair of servos grab onto her shoulder plates, followed by a voice greeting her."Primus!" Nollaig yelped, turning around slightly to see her sparkmate standing there. "Knockout! You scared the scrap outta me!""Do you need your audio processors checked?" Knockout asks, raising an optic ridge. "As graceful as I am, I'm not silent moving around""Well, I was watching this broadcast!" Nollaig defended herself. "I can only focus on one thing at once.""Alright, alright." Knockout waved his hand. "Foxtrot is in recharge?""Yes, yes he is. Kodiak still seems to be wide awake." She says, patting her abdomen with a servo. "I swear, he's nocturnal."Knockout smirked, squatting and kissing at where his unborn sparkling was. "That would make sense."Nollaig sighed and relaxed a bit. "Is there something you wanted to tell me?"Knockout nodded and stood. "Empress is having a meeting. She expects both of us there."Nollaig nods slowly before getting up. "When do we need to get there?""If we leave now we should get there on time." Knockout says, helping his pregnant sparkmate to her feet. "Do you want to take Foxtrot somewhere so he's not alone?""No. He'll be fine," Nollaig says, heading to the door with him. "He sleeps like a rock. You know that."[Fifteen Minutes Later]The two sparkmates had gotten to the meeting room with a few minutes to spare, sitting next to Breakdown and his sparkmate, Ravenshadow.Nollaig scanned over the room and the screens, leaning back in the chair a bit and tapping the clean white table impatiently. "I have a bad feeling about this." She muttered under her breath."I'm sure it's going to be fine," Ravenshadow assured her friend. "Besides, we both know that stress isn't good for pregnancy."Nollaig nods slowly, keeping her eyes on Empress, the sparkmate of Megatron. "I just want to know what's going on.""What's going on?" Empress turned to face the Decepticons in the room. "We have finally found a plan to take us to victory!""Clarify what this plan is, Empress." One of the generals in the room says. "I assume that's why you summoned us.""It will be a long and hard process," Empress says, sitting down. "It will also be a dangerous one. There is an island on this rock that seems to be a good home.""You mean to tell us that going to be living on some lousy island?" Knockout questions with a groan. "And then what? We will be so relaxed that the Autobots will just drop dead?""If you would let me finish, Knockout, this island is only for the carriers and their young offspring," Empress replied, causing everyone in the room to panic, ask questions and chatter amongst themselves."Quiet!" Empress hissed loudly, causing the room to fall silent. "I can assure each of you that Megatron and I are just as unhappy as all of you are! But this needs to be done to guarantee the survival of the Decepticons if this goes unfavorably.""What if the Autobots find us?" Ravenshadow asks, crossing her arms. "Many of our best warriors are either mechs or femmes who aren't carriers, we can all be killed!""That's why we are going to be disguised," Empress replies. "Anyone who works in our science wing knows of the shape-shifting chip. In fact, Knockout played a strong role in developing it.""Yes, I did." Knockout acknowledged with pride before frowning. "However, I never thought it would be used for something like this...""What is this shapeshifting chip?'" The seeker femme to Empress's right asks, long wings folding down to allow her to lean back in her chair."Well, they are chips that could be manufactured that would allow Cybertronians to change into another species and back as they please once the chip is installed into our arms." He says. "Such as humans.""You want many of our people to become insects?!" The femme hissed. "You will bring disgrace to the Decepticon name!""As I said, Starfighter, I hate the idea of this as much as you do, if not more," Empress replied. "Just be glad that you don't have any sparklings as I do.""What about our sparkmates?" Nollaig asks, looking to Knockout briefly. "Will we be away for long? Or are we all going to have to go without seeing the ones we love for years?""I don't know," Empress admitted. "I plan to figure something out. But for now, I want you all to pick human names for yourselves and your offspring. We will need to learn insect culture in order to blend in with the rest of the species.""When will we separate?" Starfighter asks, looking up to Empress. "If all goes as planned, we will separate in the period of time of what humans call two weeks," Empress replies, a cringe pulling at her faceplates when she mentioned the humans and their words.[20 Hours later, inside of the Carina Nebula, aboard of the ABS Lifebringer]Bluefire was walking back to her quarters when a few younger bots approached her, all asking questions about a recent plan she announced.She finally stopped and sighed quietly. "Listen, one of our outstanding spies brought one of these chips back to us, and it is easy to reproduce and will work wonderfully to hide those of us included in this plan on earth. We still have plenty of time before we act on this plan, plenty of time to say any goodbyes and plenty of time for me to answer all of these questions, now isn't that time."The others understood that she didn't want to be bothered and left her alone to continue the trip to her quarters.Once Bluefire returned to one of the few places she had privacy, she sighed and relief and looked to the screen that was playing the speech she made just a few klicks ago."Carrier! You're on the screen again!" Bluefire's oldest daughter, Zodiac announced once she sensed her carrier had returned."Oh, I am?" Bluefire asked, glad to see her young protoforms after dealing with the public. "Were they good while I was gone, Silverviper?"The sparklingsitter nodded, holding a sparkling. "Yep, good as always. Op-""Oh yea, Sire is here!" Aerostream, the oldest of Bluefire's younglings announced suddenly.Silverviper chuckled quietly, nodding. "Yep, he is. He's waiting for you in the study."Bluefire nodded in acknowledgment and taking one last glance at her younglings, who she knew wouldn't even remember ever even being Cybertronian before heading to the study hastily.She saw her sparkmate the moment the door opened and she took a few steps into the room before the door closed behind her. "Optimus. I didn't expect you to be here, it's been so long... I missed you."Upon hearing his sparkmate's entrance, he turned to look at her, smiling gently. "I missed you too, Bluefire.""I assume that you're here because of the plan?" She asks him, going to stand next to the window with him, looking up at Optimus rather than the stars. "Yes, I wanted to be here when you announced it to the rest of the Autobots." He answered, wrapping his arm around her backstrut."You felt my stress, didn't you?" She asks, reaching up to cup his helm."Yes, but I also sensed something else," Optimus says, looking down at her and cupping her helm too. "Are you sparked?""Yes, yes I am," Bluefire says, looking down and back up at Prime. "I wanted to wait for you to come back so I could tell you to your faceplates.""There was no need to tell me," Optimus says, getting down so he was at helm level with where her sparkling chamber was. "I felt it in my spark when their sparks came online." Bluefire nodded, keeping a servo on the back of his helm. "So I don't need to tell you that they're triplets?""No," Optimus says softly, kissing her belly. "Are they mechs or femmes?" "Two of them are mechs, the other is a little femme," Bluefire answers, smiling down at her sparkmate. "I'm not going to lie, but I feel bad about having a big family. As much as I would like to have many sparklings to raise, especially your sparklings, I know that they're going to fight over your spot.""There is no need to worry," Optimus assured his conjux as he stood and put his hands on her shoulder plates. "I know that you will raise them to treat each other justly.""I almost forgot that I am going to have to do this on my own..." Bluefire frowned, looking out the window. "I don't know how I'll do this without you by my side.""You were able to command this ship with little help from me," Optimus says, leaning his helm against hers. "I know you will continue to do what is right for the Autobots." "I'll have to try." She says softly, closing her optics. "I think the Decepticons know where this ship is.""Which is why you decided that you should leave with half of the Autobots," Optimus says. "I knew you wouldn't make a decision like this without good reason."She nods softly. "I feel guilty. I'm taking the cowardly route. I'm leaving half of us here to fight everyone's battle so that we can live peacefully while they perform the troublesome task of preventing the Decepticons from finding us.""Don't feel guilty. You're saving the lives of all of our young and their carriers. Without them, the Autobots would go extinct.""I know..." She muttered. "I wish there was another way...""Believe me, Sweet Bluefire, I wish there was too." He says, thinking for a moment before speaking. "But this is the only good option we have.""I only have one request of you," Bluefire says, getting closer to Optimus, as close as she could be. "I want you to fight. And fight hard. For me, for us...""But?" Prime asks, sensing that her statement wasn't complete."But I don't want you to fight if fighting means we'll never see each other again. Even if it's only once more." Bluefiresays, her optics meeting his."Bluefire, we will meet again, I swear on my life that I will do everything in my power to make that happen," Optimus says, wrapping his servo around the back of his sparkmate's helm and pulling her into a deep kiss.[6 Years Later, USA]"Listen, he's coming! I swear!" Sanity heard her mother say from the other room, grabbing her attention away from the tv show she was watching."No, I haven't heard anything, and I haven't seen anything!" She yelled into the phone. "I can feel it!"The woman's child got up to turn the tv off as she listened closely, waiting to hear more panicked yelling.The mother didn't say much more, only a few spaced out "mm hm"s and "okay"s.It wasn't long before the phone was hung up and Sanity's mother rushed into the room with her daughter, getting on her knees so that the two were temporarily closer in height."Okay, S-Sani, listen to me. I need you to listen real close, alright?" Her mother sputtered, gripping her child's shoulders firmly, but not intently.Sani nods quickly. "Mama? What's happening?"The mother took a deep breath, closing her eyes. "Daddy's coming, sweetie. A-And I know you don't know much about him, but I know you know daddy is a bad... M-Man.""Are you gonna make him go away?" Sanity asks, face turning paler than her mother's."I won't, but someone who can is coming. But he isn't going to be here in time for that so I need you to run." She answered. "You remember that old, empty cabin that we see in the woods when we go on walks? I want you to go there and stay there.""What about you?" Sanity asked in a breathy whisper."Don't worry about that. I'll meet you there when this is all over." She replied, freezing for a moment. "Or someone will tell you it's safe but don't worry. Everything is going to be fine.""I don't want to leave you!" Sanity argued.Her mother pulled her into a tight hug, tearing up. "I love you, Sani. I named you Sanity because you are my Sanity. Never forget that. But now it's time to go.""I said I don't want to!" Sanity cried, her mother pushing her away."And I said GO!" Her mother yelled. "RUN!"Sanity stared at her mother with wide eyes, eyeing the panicky woman up and down before bolting off.She ran across her arms and past the tree line before stopping, climbing up a short tree.She sat on a branch and waited, panting and trying to see her house over the hill in front of her, waiting for her mother.Everything was silent with the exception of the songs birds sang until the loud sound of a jet sounded overhead and stopped, followed by a loud thud.Sanity froze, eyes wide. She couldn't see much, but she saw the top of a head over a hill.She started to climb down the tree, slowly. She walked to the top of the hill, eyes widening at the scene below.She had gotten to the top of the hill to see a monster from her nightmares standing on her now destroyed house with the most important person in her world in the large metal claws. She didn't have enough time to yell out for her mother before she got to see the woman who she loved get stabbed through the chest with a claw.She stood frozen, mouth open for a scream that did not go free. The moment this monster looked up at her and growled deep, she decided to listen to her mother's last instructions given to her.She bolted through the forest, ignoring the path and running through thin branches, bushes, and cobwebs. She didn't really know where she was going, she just let her legs carry her until they stopped.She stared ahead, realizing that the cabin where she was supposed to wait for her now deceased mother filled her range of sight.She turned around and looked, making sure there was no one dangerous around before entering the cabin.She sat in a corner and held her legs, starting to rock herself after letting out a loud wail that was responded to by no one.The rocking and wailing carried on until she felt the ground shake every few seconds."Come out here, young insect!" A deep, imitating voice called. "I promise I won't hurt you!"She put her hands over her mouth and struggled not to tip over into hyperventilation. She lifted her head up to the nearby window, only to see that thing that killed her mother looking behind a tree.She quickly leaned back against the wall, away from the window and kept as silent as a child her age could be, waiting.A long few minutes passed before she could no longer feel or hear the thuds of heavy footsteps. She let out a sigh in relief when something heavy and hard flew into the side of the old cabin, knocking it down on top of her.She screamed and slammed her eyes shut, expecting for her story to end here only to find that it still carried on for now, but she was faced with a new problem.A problem so problematic that she ignored another deep voice call "Megatron!" Which led to a short conversation and a deli between the two bots.Sanity wasn't hurt badly, but she was trapped in a tiny space that could collapse and kill her any minute.Being a small child who had no idea of what to do in a situation where she was trapped under a collapsed house, she started to push against the rubble.She pushed with all the night she had, but nothing budged at all. So she did the only thing left to do: she curled into a ball and sobbed, praying that the fighting would stop and she would get out of this situation somehow.Eventually, all became quiet. Sanity listened for a sound, but there was none until a different pair of metal hands grabbed the majority of the degree and pulled it off.The child held her hand up when the sun blinded her with the sudden presence of bright light and squired to see the new, different bot that towered above her.Optimus scanned over her with his optics, getting down on one knee so the girl didn't have to look up so high to see him."Are you hurt?" He asks the child below him."Aren't you gonna hurt me?" The girl asked with a whimper. "The other one already hurt my mommy...""No." Optimus answers shortly, thinking for a short moment before proceeding. "I am an Autobot from the planet Cybertron, I want to protect the earth. The one who hurt your mother was Megatron, a Decepticon who wants to destroy it."The girl nods slowly, thinking for a moment. "I have no home. Megatron destroyed it..."Optimus could feel the distance between him and where his family lived now human lives, knowing that his spark would guide him there. "I know a place where you can stay, little one."
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[New Kaon, Earth]Kodiak's POVIf I had to describe myself in three short words, my quick answer would be: I don’t know.I don’t know what my dad looks like, I don't even know who he is, I don’t know how people like my face, I don’t know why this island is so different from the rest of the world, I don't know why I am the way I am, and on and on.One thing I do know, however, is why I decided to take a part-time job sitting way up in an aerial attack siren tower in the middle of the suburbs I call home. It's one of the few places where I can get some peace and quiet. Plus, I get paid to enjoy peace and quiet.I take a second away from sketching to check my phone which read 4:30 pm. I still have half an hour to go before I can return home from the said job.I continue sketching for a while, once again getting lost deep within my thoughts. The music that once took over all of my senses fades far into the background.I just start to feel completely at peace when suddenly I receive a phone call, flooding my ears with sudden loud guitar and scaring the living shit out of me. My arms become temporarily possessed as they throw my sketchbook off of me and over the side of the tower. It took me an unbelievable amount of effort not to throw myself over the side after it.A weird sound crawls out of my mouth, which sounded like a depressed, dying dog-pig hybrid that lives in a constant state of terrible pain before I answer the phone.“What the fuck Lyth?!” I hiss into the mic of the earbuds, knowing who I was talking to without looking at the number.“The fuck did I do now?!” Lyth groaned from the other end.“I was relaxing up here, drawing when your ringtone suddenly blasted into my ear and scared the shit outta me!” I growled, causing Lyth to do a very bad job at trying to contain his laughter. “This isn't funny, asshole, it made me throw my sketchbook over! You owe me a new one!”Lyth burst out laughing suddenly. “I- oh god- I'm sorry! If I knew I wouldn't have-ha- I wouldn't have called you right now!”I roll my eyes. “Alright, alright. I get it, there's no way you could've known. That's not gonna stop me from getting a new sketchbook from you. Anyway, why are you calling me? I've still got half an hour left of work.”“Dude you sit up there and do nothing. I'm not distracting you from anything.” Lyth says. “Besides, I thought you worked until five. Didja change your hours?”“What? No.” I say. “I work 3:10-5:00, same as always. You know that.”“Dude, it's 5:05,” Lyth says bluntly.“No, I just checked my phone. It's 4:30.” I say, checking my phone which read 5:05. “Holy shit, you're right.”“Anyway, now that you've realized that you're not on duty anymore, I was wondering if you'd like to swing by the city in a bit. I heard that some guy opened a gaming shop around Kaon square. I wanna go see what they got. You in?” Lyth asks. “And yes, there is, in fact, food involved.”“Yea dude, if there's food involved then I'm involved,” I say with a chuckle. “I'm gonna head home after Roy shows up, so just swing by my place.”“Alright, see you in a few!” Lyth replies before we hang up.Shortly after Roy comes up the ladder, complaining about how windy it was up here to himself.“Hey, nice hair,” I say, my voice tinged with sarcasm as I further mess up his deep purple hair.“Yea, thanks.” He says, swatting my hand away. “Believe it or not, it actually looked decent this morning. The wind up here never fails to screw it up.”“Yea, your dad is gonna beat you when you get home.” I joke. “How will he ever recover when he finds out his son went around town looking like he just rolled out of bed?”“Dude, shut up! You make him sound way stricter than he actually is!” Roy laughs, laughing me playfully. “He just wants me to look presentable! Besides, don't you have Lyth waiting for you to go snort weed brownie crumbs or some shit?!”“Nah, we’re gonna go to into the city to twerk for tips,” I say, grabbing my backpack before preparing to descend down the long ladder.“Have fun with that, it would be a far better deal to be paid to watch that.” Roy laughs. “See you around, dude.”I make my way down the ladder, seeing Fox’s car waiting for me once I reach the bottom.“What took you so long?” My brother asks upon entering the car. “It’s been like fifteen minutes.”“Yea, I know, I’m sorry,” I say as I buckle myself in. “I lost track of time. Roy ran a bit late anyway.”“That’s what you always say.” Fox sighs before holding my muddy and slightly damaged sketchbook up for me to take. “I found this.”I took the dirty book and held it to my chest tightly. “Oh, thank god! I was afraid he didn’t make it!”“He?” Fox questions quietly with a soft chuckle.“Yea, I guess. I dunno, this is just important to me.” I say, flipping through the pages to see how muddy they got.“And that’s what you say about every sketchbook that belongs to you.” Fox rolls his eyes, starting the car.“Exactly,” I say as he pulls out and starts to drive towards home.“Any update as to when you’re going to be shipped off, never to be seen again?” I ask him after a short silence.Fox lets out a sigh. “Don’t start, please, we’ve been over this already. I'm gonna go and fight so I can keep this place safe.”“What war are you even going to fight in?!” I question loudly. “It’s not out in the desert! So where?!”“That's classified information, Kodiak. But I’m going to keep in touch, I promise,” Fox explains, gripping the steering wheel tightly.“Mm-hm.” I hum quietly, staring out at the houses that we zoomed past. “Can't you find some other job? I'm sure you'd get a scholarship to go to college or something….”He lets out another, long sigh. “Kodi, why do you think I've worked on border patrol all those years? I've been working towards this my entire life! I'm not going to give up on this!”“Why would you want this!?” I ask, looking back at him and choking back tears.“I want to serve our nation and see the world while doing so!” Fox answers, not looking away from the road. “And I'll probably get to meet dad.”“What if he’s an asshole, Fox?!” I question loudly. “You would have left the family who loves you for some asshole!”“I'll still have you!” Fox says, his voice growing louder.Suddenly my mouth develops a mind of its own, taking control for a verification moment. “Y'know, I don't know what dad is like, but I can tell you both have a thing for abandoning your family!”Fox suddenly slammed on the brakes, nearly causing the car behind us to rear end the red SUV we were currently in, beep it's horn at us and then pass us.“Jesus!” I called out as I nearly slid off my seat, gripping onto the seatbelt. “What the fuck?!”My eyes dart over to my brother, who had his head resting against the top of the steering wheel. “Fucking Christ Kodi…”I want to say something, but if I break the tightness in my throat for even a second, I know I will break down into sobs.A long minute passes before Fox sits up and starts to drive again. “We’re almost home. Can we please play a game called ‘pretend I'm not joining the Reserve soon’?”“Yea,” I speak up, barely audible. “Sure.”“Thank you.” He says quietly, though much louder than I spoke.We spend the next few minutes in silence, soon pulling into the driveway and parking behind my mother’s bright pink Lamborghini.“I still don't understand how she was ever able to afford that thing, even with the money she makes now,” Fox says after moving the stick to the right place.“Me neither,” I replied, hopping out of the car and turning to shut the door. “Aren't you coming in?”“Nah.” Fox shakes his head. “I'm gonna go out. But hey, the week before I ship out is gonna be a fun week, alright?”“Oh,” I say simply. “Alright. See you around.”I close the door and start to make my way inside, watching Fox pull out of the driveway and then drive off.“Don't ever get a job in medicine.” My mother mumbled to me, barely awake as I walk by. “It's a trap.”“Well, then I guess I'm screwed,” I say, walking around the couch to pick up the dirty plate in front of the woman in scrubs.“Well, I hope you enjoy never sleeping ever again.” She muttered. “Being a nurse is bad enough. I can't imagine being a doctor.”“I'll handle it,” I say, taking the empty glass of water.“Good luck with that.” She muttered to me as I go to the kitchen.I return after putting her plate in the dishwasher and refilling her water glass.“You’re a good kid, Kodi.” She says into the pillow after I set her water on the coffee table.“Uh, Okay, thanks.” I stutter awkwardly. “I’m, uh, going out with Lyth tonight, if that’s cool with you.”“Alright. I’m gonna be here, sleeping.” She says, looking up at me with eyes that struggled to stay open. “Just don’t do anything stupid while you’re out.”“I won’t,” I say before walking up the stairs and going into my room to freshen up.I grab my other backpack and make sure I’ve got everything I need in there before throwing on a Bring Me the Horizon sweatshirt.I ran out of the house, hop on my bike and ride it across the street.Instead of walking to the door, I climb up the trellis, climb through a certain window and plop onto the floor.“I'm here!” I announce as I get up and start making my way to the futon, trying to avoid the junk on the floor.“Oh, hey,” Lyth says, sighing when his game character died before looking to me. “I see you still haven't gotten a new haircut. And it still makes you look like a chick.”“I see you're still a dickhead who likes to convince his friends he's not a virgin anymore,” I say, learning really close to his face. “But we all know you are.”“You're a creep!” Lyth leaned back and pushed Kodiak away. “How do you even know shit like that?!”“Dude, I live across the street and we’ve been friends since birth,” I reply. “I can tell when you're full of shit, dude.”“Yea, yea.” He sighs, getting up, stretching and grabbing a sweatshirt from one of the piles of clothes on the floor. “How about we stop talking about each other's virginities and head out?”“Only if we don't talk about my hair and how it's still trapped in my emo days,” I say, getting up.“Dude, I'm pretty sure you’re still in your emo days,” Lyth replies, traveling to the door a lot quicker, his feet long since mapped out the clear areas on the floor.“You still need to clean your goddamn room,” I reply once I joined him in the doorway“Nah!” He answered, walking off speedily.I followed him close behind, riding down the railing once we got to the stairs and getting ahead.“You two heading out now?” Raven asks as she folds clothes once the two of us reach the bottom. “Y’know, we have a front door, Kodi. And you're free to use it.”I shrug. “Yea, but the other way is quicker.”“Falling and going to the hospital because you broke something won't save you any time.” She replied. “I don't want you to break anything, my trellis included.”“Nah Kodi, keep climbing up to my room. I wanna see the day that happens.” Lyth smirks, I elbow his side, which he failed to block.Raven chuckles quietly. “You two go and have fun. And don't do anything stupid. I don't wanna drive to any police stations or hospitals to take care of you two.”“I'm surprised you haven't had to yet,” Lyth mumbled as he walked out.“Me too,” I reply.“And Lythian, tell your brother to learn to fold his own clothes! I don't want him to grow up and have a pile of clothes on his bedroom floor like you do!” Raven said, dropping a freshly folded t-shirt on the couch.“Yea, yea, I will. Bye, mom!” Lyth said to her before closing the door.“Bye!” She called before the door was closed and soon both of us rode our bikes to the metro station at the end of the road.During our ride on the underground train, more memes were exchanged than actual words.“Where do you wanna go first?” I ask, looking up to Lyth as I walk.“Food.” He answered simply. “I can't let my hunger distract me from the goodies the store is selling.”“Agreed,” I reply, my walk growing slightly perkier.We didn't have any specific places in mind, so it wasn't long before we were settling into a table at the nearest burger joint.I let out a soft sigh as I look out the window, seeing a father hold a toddler up in the air as he walked quickly with the child, who had her arms spread out as if she were a jet.“Hey Lyth, you have any idea how some of us have siblings who are way younger than us if all we have are single parents?” I ask, looking away from the window to him.“Dude, they're single parents. If they don't have anyone they need to stay loyal to, a pair of single parents can come together and make more kids to be single parents of.” Lyth says, shrugging lightly.“I would've thought that except I think all of these single parents do have someone they're committed to. Somewhere.” I say. “My mother hasn't dated anyone. Your mother hasn't. None of our neighbors really seem to have dated anyone. No one has. No single parents have even tried to find someone to date so that they wouldn't be single parents.”“I dunno, man. I guess. I haven't heard much about my dad but my mom seems very fond of him.” Lyth starts. “She never really talked about him, but the time I remember the most is when she was cooking her super special super spicy boneless chicken wings and I was already in the kitchen when they were served while my siblings were off doing what they usually do. So my mom says-“ His voice goes higher, badly imitating his mother’s voice, “if you ever wonder what your father looks like-” she put some wings on my plate for me” Lyth makes a gesture of something being on an imaginary plate. “-just know he's hotter than these.” His voice goes back to its normal pitch. “And you had the super special super spicy boneless chicken wings a few times, so you know that's pretty damn hot.”“What do you think he looks like?” I ask after chuckling quietly at Lyth’s story.“White.” He answered without thinking. “Well, maybe not white, but my skin is a good few shades lighter than my mom’s, so he's gotta be at least a bit lighter. And if he's the hottest man alive, my dad and I probably look like clones of each other.”“Nah, I think something went wrong,” I say jokingly.“Screw you!” Lyth exclaimed, throwing peanut shells at me.I laugh, getting up when I heard our order number be called.“So what do you think your dad looks like?” Lyth asked abruptly once I sat down.“I dunno,” I mumbled initially, my voice becoming louder and clearer once I had my wrapped burger in my hand and a second to think. “I don't know, I really haven't thought of it. I think my mom said I had his face once. And I don't have her hair color. Unless she dyed it, but I doubt that. And how come people from literally anywhere else only have a range of like five colors to have as their natural hair color, but here we can be born with any color that exists, and sometimes even two or more colors like I have?”“I don't know. I'm just glad I'm a kid with grey hair here and not anywhere else. So many people would tell me I look like an old man.” Lyth says as he unwrapped his burger.“Makes me wonder what you'd look like when you get older,” I say after swallowing my first bite of cheeseburger. “Would your hair somehow become way grayer than it is now or would it just change colors completely?”“I don't know,” Lyth says, with a mouth stuffed with a burger. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”“Yea, that's if you don't die of dysentery after catching STDs from a cougar first.” I laugh. “Ew! Fuck you!” Lyth laughed, throwing more peanut shells than last time at me.[Twenty-five Minutes Later]The game shop was located in a skyscraper of shops stacked upon each other, there was a sign advertising each store on the first level of the store.It wasn't a long walk to Kaon Square from the burger joint.“How do you think this city got its name?” I ask, seeing a large advertising screen of one of the buildings.“Why do you always ask me these questions, man?” Lyth asks, looking down at me. “I'm not Jesus. I don't know this shit.”“Well yes, I know. But you're one of the few people I can ask this stuff and maybe get close to figuring it if I'm lucky. My mom or teachers or whoever always just ignore it or give me some super vague answer that just leaves me with more questions.”“Yea, me too. But I know that asking people won't get me anywhere and I don't kill myself with curiosity. Just accept that there's just some shit I'm just never gonna know. You should try that sometime. Like now, you should just assume this city is called Kaon because someone important to our country was named Kaon.” Lyth answers, before I could give him a response, he looked up and over to a small group of protesters on the opposite end of the square, facing the tallest building, where our leader, Megan Tronus lived with her family. “What're these asshats whining about now?”“I dunno. I can't even see them. Or hear them.” I answer. “It’s probably about equal rights or taxes or some shit like that. I dunno, and I don't really care. There's always people protesting about something over there.”“Yea, I don't know or care either. It's just this group looks a lot stupider than usual.” Lyth answers, looking straight forward and getting the door to the shop building. “I swear, a blind person made their signs. The words were blurry as fuck. That's if they were supposed to be words.”“Weird,” I comment, approaching the elevator and looking for the shop we wanted to go to on a sign, and for the floor, it was on. “Maybe you're the blind one here.”“Nah, if it's either of us it's you cuz you're taking forever to find the name of the shop you're looking for when it's right in front of your face,” Lyth says, pointing to the label where the shop’s name and floor number was before dragging me onto the elevator that opened after a group of girls left it.[Forty Minutes Later]“Damn, I heard there was some protesting down there but I heard it was just a small group.” I overheard one of the shop employees say to a fellow employee as they both looked out a window and down to the streets below.“I saw some posts on Twitter about there being some protests that were supposed to happen tonight but I didn't think it’d get this huge.” The other employee answered. “The whole thing is pointless, everyone knows that.”“Hey, Lyth!” I call my friend, who was looking at PlayStation games on sale on the opposite side of the shop, motioning for him to come over.“Yea, what's up?” He asks as he approached me.“I haven't seen what’s going on down there, but apparently that small group of protesters has gotten pretty big just while we've been here,” I explain. “We should get going before it gets dirty.”“Yea, yea, sure,” Lyth said rather quickly, before grabbing some stuff that he was looking at earlier and decided to buy on impulse.“You sure you boys wanna go back out there?” The girl behind the register asked as she handed Lyth a plastic bag with his things and his change. “It doesn't look so pretty.”“Yea, I know, but we wanna leave before it can get any worse. We both have curfews.” I answer as I put my already paid for things and my wallet into my backpack.“Well, I’d say that they would understand, but I don't know your parents.” She replied. “I think most parents would, but there are a good number of not good parents out there. The best of luck to both of you.”“Thanks. You too.” I say, walking out quickly with Lyth at my tail.We didn't speak much as the elevator defended to the first floor, and it wasn't because we were both distracting ourselves with memes like on the subway ride.I tap my foot impatiently, the silence only making my anxiety heighten.“When we get out there and the crowd is bad, let's hold onto each other's wrists. To help keep us together.”“S-Sure, sure.” Lyth stuttered quickly, grabbing onto my wrist with a strong hand, holding it firmly, almost painfully.I grip him as well when the elevator doors start to open, and we were met with the sight of an angry mob pushing and shoving each other forward as they yelled.“Ready?” Lyth asks, his voice barely audible.“No. But I just want to get this over with as soon as possible.It was a fight just to open the glass doors to the street, and trying to push our way against the crowd was even more of a fight. What they were changing or protesting about was the least of our worries.“DO YOU THINK IF WE CROSS TO THE OTHER SIDE, IT MIGHT BE A LITTLE EASIER TO MOVE?!” I had to yell to Lyth just for him to be able to hear me.“I DON’T THINK IT IS. AND THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SQUARE IS TOO FAR FOR ME TO STRUGGLE CROSSING FOR IT TO NOT BE ANY BETTER!” He replied.“MAYBE IF WE MOVE WITH THEM INSTEAD OF AGAINST THEM, WE CAN GET TO A STREET OR SOMEWHERE THAT ISN'T CROWDED AND GO FROM THERE!” I yell my next idea over to the friend I struggled to hang onto.“GOOD IDEA!” He replied as we turned around.We got up to the next street, only to see another sea of people marching in and joining the mob Lyth and I were currently trapped in.“GODDAMNIT!” I heard Lyth yell, not long before the chant quickly changed and things got worse, much worse.Just about every other word came through to me as loud white noise.I quickly shut my eyes and forced my hand away from Lyth’s grip and wrist to cover both of my ears, which barely did anything.“FUCK!” I screamed out in pain, which went unheard. “FUUUUCK!”I didn't open my eyes until someone shoved me and I fell to the ground, only to look around and see that Lyth was nowhere to be seen.I went to get up, only to get stepped on, and then tripped over, and then stepped on some more.The fear of being trampled to death quickly set in as the air was forced out of me after being stepped on the dozenth time. Sure, I said that I wanted to die more times than I could count, but I didn't want to be trampled.“OH GOD!” I yelled, moving to avoid being stepped on in the face.It wasn't until yet another man nearly tripped over me when I was helped to my feet by said man.I thank him and kept pushing forward, searching frantically for an exit with hands tightly over my ears.“WE ARE” -white noise- “WE DEMAND TO” -more white noise- Was their current chant.Other than their painful chants and blurted out signs, I could see police lights and hear their sirens off in the distance through my hands.I let out a sigh, hoping that the cops would be my ticket out of this mess and that Lyth wasn't trampled to death like I almost was. At this point, I wasn't sure if this protesting could be considered a riot or not. Either way, I wanted out.I didn't stop moving until something that was thrown nearly hit me in the face and landed in front of me.Instead of fleeing away from this particular spot like most of the people around me did, I stick around a little longer to look down at the metal canister to see it smoking rapidly.Then, it opened and filled the air with gas. I have never been tear gassed before, but the way this stuff made everything burn and not being trampled to death suck, I assumed this was tear gassed. I joined a group of people running the opposite way and managed to find an empty, dirty alleyway to catch my breath and throw up in.Just when I thought things couldn't get much worse from here I heard a group of footsteps approach me.“Hey ugly, you got any money?” I hear someone ask as another person forced my hands away from my ears and throw me into the circle the group made.I looked up and around, their leader held a gun and the rest had pocket knives.“Fuck off,” I mumbled audibly.“Excuse me?”“Listen, I've been through enough shit tonight. And I'm done. Just done. So if you wanna shoot me, then fine. Shoot me.”“Oh, well, in that case, let's fuck you up.” The leader uses his gun to gesture to the other group members, who punch at me and try to rip my backpack off my back.I hold a hand over my face to protect it from the punches and I hold another hand over my crotch to shield my privates from the kicks.The moment I feel the opportunity to break away from their grips, I do so with force.I stumbled back, panting. The group went to rush and pull me back and continue to assault me when the leader stopped them.“Hang on! I want to see what he does when I try to shoot him!” The leader yelled, pointing the gun in my direction.I stay frozen, feeling the need to jump building up.“Looks like he's a frozen one.” He says, my need to jump growing even more rapidly.It was only a second after a pair of headlights turned on and a car started to do a burnout did I jump as high as I could and roll over a very fast moving sports car.I jumped to my feet and looked to the source of screaming, to see that the shiny red sports car had driven over the group and stopped abruptly, before backing back over the survivors.I could have sworn I heard quiet grumbling coming from the vehicle, but I ignored it. For now, at least.“Th-Thank you!” I yelled to the driver as I squeezed between a brick wall and the car. “Y-You saved my life!”I didn't get a response, nor could I see a driver through the dark windows.“Thanks again!” I said loudly once I was past the car before running off.I stopped myself abruptly and reached into my pocket to grab my phone, only to turn and see the car driving around a corner and disappearing.Damnit, my mother would have loved that car. There was only one type of car my mother loved more than pink Lamborghinis like the one she owned, and that was red Aston Martins that looked just like that one did.I sigh and turn to run off.I'm not sure how, but soon I found myself sitting tiredly on a metro train back home and texting Lyth, who had been trying to contact me since we got separated.He also heard the painful white noise too and was quickly pushed away once I covered my ears. He managed to not get tramped, gassed and then mugged unlike me, but he did get sprayed with water from a hose. Lots of water.However, he called the police on his phone and was recorded out and given a ride home.We both apologized for leaving each other, but we were both glad to be out of the situation.However, I wasn't at peace. I tried to not push the questions I had too much, but after tonight, something is seriously wrong and I need to know. I need answers.I know that don't know anything and that makes me afraid.
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[Prime City, Earth] Elizabeth’s P.O.VAfter packing my things, I stare at the clock as the seconds tick by. Three…Two…One…And with the sound of the bell, I'm out of my seat along with the other kids in the classroom, longboard under my arm. I walk out of the room and down a flight of stairs before dropping the board on the ground and riding it. “Elizabeth, get off the board please!” The assistant principal, Mrs. Bernard told me firmly as I rolled into the main lobby. “You know that you are to walk on your own two feet when we are in the building! I don't want to tell you again!”I let out a sigh of annoyance, though I comply. A few steps later I find myself outside again, and I put my board back on the ground and glide along the sidewalk. “No skateboarding on school property! If I see you skating, here again, I'm not gonna do anything because you're special!” I hear a voice from behind me, causing me to stop. I turn and see my favorite white and black ombre-haired girl run up to me. “Oh no! That's horrible! What will I ever do if my teacher doesn't do anything after I get yelled at for skateboarding on a longboard?!” I laugh, getting off my longboard and onto my knees, pretending to beg for forgiveness. My friend laughs, helping me to my feet. “I heard Mrs. Bernard yell at you. I'd like to see you yell back one time.”“You know me, Terra, I’d like to but then they’d call my mom. And then she’ll bring it up and tie it into every lecture ever. No matter what the lecture is about.” I say. “Oh yeah, I know. Like the time she brought up you throwing Doritos at your siblings when she was lecturing you about getting your homework on time.” Terra responds with a laugh. “So is there anyone else coming?” I ask, looking back at the school. “What about Sani?”“Everyone has other stuff to do, so it’s just us,” Terra replies, also turning back to the school after helping me back up to my feet. “I’m surprised Leon and Ryan have stuff going on,” I say. “I wonder- Y’know what, never mind. I don’t wanna know.”“I’m surprised you don’t have stuff going on. You make music, play a few sports, dance, make art and you’re a theater kid. It’s like you’re trying to break a record for the longest resume ever.” Terra says as we walk together, our hands touching every few moments, but pulling away. “Yea. I have a huge list of things I wanna do once I get outta high school but I’m limited to only replacing my mom once she kicks it.” I sigh. “It’s not fair.”“It’s not until she dies,” Terra assures me. “And that won’t be for a while. Even then you’d have to win a vote. I'm sure if you just say you’ll join The Defiance if you win the vote.”“If I say I'll join The Defiance, I'll be assassinated. And if I take a break from the future Prime life, then my skills will get rusty.” I sigh. “At least, that’s what my mom says.”Terra chuckles. “Being a prime is a skill?”“Well, most people just call it leadership skills.” I clarified. “That’s pretty much what it is, just special leadership skills.” “Oh.” She says simply. “But still, you don't even want to live this life or the life that might follow. So why stick with it?” “I don't know,” I say abruptly. “I… I don't know what I'd do with my life. Changing the plans would change everything for me. And I don't know if that's a good thing.” “You won't know if you don't try,” Terra replies as we both stop in front of the large house I call home. “Yea, I know,” I say, hugging the other girl. She hugs me back. “See you around. Oh, and that post you made about the government sorta made the news. So good luck with dealing with your mom.” “Shit… I'm gonna need that luck.” I frown and let a long sigh escape. “Are you sure I can't just move in with you right now?”“Your mom and my aunt are friends, Liz. She’d rat you out the minute you step into my house.” Terra replies and breaks the hug, crossing her arms. “I wish you could.”“Yea, well, sometimes it just be like that.” I sigh again. “I’ll talk to you later.” I turn and walk through the entrance of my house, opening and closing the front door behind me as quietly as I could and gently setting my book bag down. After taking my shoes off, I start to tiptoe to the staircase. I freeze and turn to face a voice coming from the next room. “Hello, Elizabeth, how was school?” I hear my mother say. “It was fine, I guess…” I trail off, holding my longboard close to my chest and internally praying she didn’t see the news. “I heard about that post you made on what was it, instantgram?” She asked I could hear her get up from the chair she was sitting in. “Uh, Instagram, mom.” I corrected her. “Ah, yes. That one.” She says, coming and standing in the entryway into the other room, arms on her hips. “I would like you to know that I am working as hard as I can to keep our country’s people happy and safe. And I would like to add that if sending our soldiers off would guarantee their death, I would not send them off, no matter the consequences.” “It sorta does…” I mumbled under my breath. “What?” “Nothing,” I reply briskly, turning to go up the stairs. “Elizabeth!” My mom called, following me. “I'm not done talking to you!”I stopped at the top of the stairs and turned to face her. “We both know that's not my name!” “Elizabeth!” She hissed back at me. “We don't talk about that! You were never supposed to know the truth!”“Dad wanted me to, apparently.” I shrugged. “Or should I call him sire? Just like I should probably be called whatever my name actually is.”“Go to your room! Right now!” My mother hissed, following close behind me and entering with me. “I don't get why we even bother putting up this fake ‘we’re human’ thing!” I argue, sitting on my bed, my mother closed the door. “I mean, it's pretty obvious once you know the truth. It's a wonder no one has been asking questions!” “Well, it isn't obvious to the other humans out there! We have been able to live under their noses without them thinking twice all of those years!” She countered. “Might have something to do with how we adopted their racism, sexism, and homophobia into our society,” I mumbled loudly for her to hear. “I know it isn't ideal, but it was your generation that adopted these ideas after being introduced to the social media.” My mother said. “And it started spreading.”“And you didn't address it?”“It isn't my job to tell people’s children what and what not to believe…” She says. “Oh, alrighty! So it's good and fine if three of your kids are called fags all the time, makes sense,” I mumbled. “One day we are going to change back to our original forms, and it will all go away, I promise.” She says before her phone starts ringing. “I have to take this, just know that I'm trying my best to keep a good society.”With that, she answered her phone and walked out. Once I was certain she was gone, I shot to my feet and grabbed a bag that I packed when I decided I had enough. I switched my phone out for another, seldomly used phone I made sure I kept secret. I put it into the duffle bag before putting the long strap around my shoulder.I opened the window and climbed into the roofing outside my window. I stood and wiped the dirt off myself before leaping towards the nearby oak tree and catching myself on one of the many strong branches. I sat on the branch I caught myself on to reach into the pocket of the bag, pulling out a scarf and a beanie. I first put the beanie on, tucking my long hair into it. Next, I wrapped a scarf around my face, tucking the bottom into my sweatshirt. Once I used my phone’s camera to check and see that I wasn't recognizable, or at least not at first, I climbed to the tree and rushed away from my house, slowing down when I felt like I was far enough away that someone wouldn't see a blue-haired kid and connect the dots right off the bat. [Twenty Minutes Later] “I'd like a one-way ticket to Outville, please,” I say, sliding a check connected to a savings account under a fake name through the window. “You mean Port Mathew?” The lady behind the window asked, taking the check and making sure it was legitimate. “Oh yeah, right.” I nod. “I'm just used to calling it Outville because it's the only place where you can hop on a boat and get out there.” “Everyone is, hun.” The woman answered, hand over the slot of the ticket printer. “What’s your reason?” “I rescue dogs and work in a shelter, one time I was a dog who had been abused and it seemed calm but when I got close, it snapped and got me in the face.” I start, motioning to my scarf-covered face. “It messed it up real bad so I'm going to America and getting surgery to fix it.”“So that's what the scarf’s for?” She asked, sliding my ticket to me. I nod. “Yea.”“I wish you the best of luck.” She said before I thanked her and walked off to wait in a line for the train. It wasn't very long before I boarded and slid my bag into the cubby above my head. I leaned against the window and tightened my scarf to ensure that it wouldn't fall off my face in case I decided to nap. I watched as the train departed, and the city I grew up in eventually disappeared as we traveled away from it. [One Hour and Thirty Minutes Later] After getting off of the train, I spent the rest of the day at the shipyard, watching boats come and go. The first boat to the US doesn’t leave until tomorrow, and I decided I wasn't going to buy the ticket until then. That evening, I treated myself to some fresh seafood off of one of the fishing boats when it returned to the docks. While I was eating my dinner, I noticed a silvery glare off of something. I shoved the rest of the meal into my mouth and swallowed it before climbing down the ladder and onto the rocks below. I took slow steps on the rocks, nearly falling over a few times anyway. The waves that hit just close enough that I would get splashed every now and then didn’t help matters. Once I was close enough, I found the source of the glare was from a dagger wedged between two stones. With a little bit of maneuvering and a hard pull that caused me to fall on my ass, the dagger was out. I returned to the bench with the blade, observing it. It seemed to be in very good condition, and there was a fire opal in the area where the handle met the blade. I’m no expert, but this blade looks like it’s worth some good money. Since I’m leaving my life behind without much money, this will help prevent me from needing to get naked to afford food.I put the blade in my bag without dwelling on it too much and leave to look at some more boats. A few hours after that, I fell asleep on a bench, wondering what it'll be like to live in a place where no one knew who I was and my own life is in my control. When my ears awoke, it was to the sound of rain hitting metal and glass. As my body woke up more, it realized that I was in a vehicle. Upon this discovery, I opened my eyes immediately. “Shit, shit, shit!” I hissed, sitting up and kicking at the dashboard. “Let me out!” My father, or as my actual species would refer to him, my sire, started to speak. Instead of listening like I usually do, I opened the door before he could prevent me from doing so and jumped out, rolling on the side of the road. The truck quickly transformed, coming close enough to see if I was hurt. “Are you hurt?”I sat up and wiped mud off of my clothes. “I’m fine. I think. I don’t care about that, I just care about how you took me away from the closest I’ve ever been to freedom!”“I know that my life is not the one that you wish to live,” My father starts explaining. “But you are young and growing up differently than I. When you grow older, I am certain that you will be ready and welcoming to becoming a Prime.”“I seriously, seriously doubt that,” I say, crossing my arms. “This isn’t just something that I can just leave for when I’m older, it’s something that I have to dedicate your entire life to. And I’m not going to do that. I’m sorry, but you’re wasting your wisdom on me. You should go give it to Jake or Eliza, you wouldn’t be wasting it on them.” “Even if you do not pursue the life of a prime, I would never feel that I have wasted my wisdom on them. While you have been chosen by a prophecy to be the next prime, you are just as deserving of love and wisdom as your siblings are.” My father tells me. “Thank you for caring, but this little chat isn’t going to stop me from leaving this island,” I say turning and walking in the direction I assumed Outville was. “I’ll swim across the ocean if I have to.” “Elizabeth-” “Don’t Elizabeth me!” I yell, my eyes growing watery. “I! Am not! Happy here! Every single time I start to think that things might get better, I am always proven wrong! If I go somewhere else and get a fresh start, I might have a chance!” “I know that things may seem-” “We’ve had this conversation before! And I’ve tried to follow your advice but it never works for me. I’ve given up! I’VE GIVEN UP! If you didn't figure it out by now, this entire thing has been me giving up! Leaving everything is my last hope! I can’t do this shit anymore!” By the end of my yelling, I was a nothing more than a pile of sobs on the ground. “I’ve given up…”Instead if speaking, the Autobot got down from one knee to both, wrapping his large hand around me. I wrapped my arms around a finger, hugging it tightly. “I can’t do this anymore…” “While I do not know how you feel, I am certain that you feel as though you are hurting. That is why I will ask you to give it one final chance. If your life does not change soon, you can leave for good.” My father says before transforming and opening the passenger door for me. “One last chance,” I reply, getting in.
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Elizabeth's P.O.V
I don't know how late it was exactly, but it was very, very late by the time I was dropped off in front of the place I have always called home.Upon opening the front door, I found none other than my mother waiting for me, arms crossed. "Maybe I owe you an apology.""Maybe you do," I reply, dropping my bag on the ground."I'm sorry if I had anything to do with your desire to run away. I am sure that I did and it must have been hard for you. I want you to know that all want is for you is the best for you. I know that I may not do or say things perfectly, and I don't know everything. I'm sorry if I act like I think I know everything." She says, coming closer to me and putting a gentle hand on my arm."Thank you," I say, barely audible.My mom hugs me suddenly, causing me to flinch initially before hesitantly hugging her back. "I'm just glad you're safe.""I am too," I say, breaking the hug and taking my bag into my upstairs room.I take out the blade that I had found earlier in the pier, holding it up and examining it the best I could in the dim lighting. The fire opals in it caught the light in a way that made them look like they had a faint glow to them.I soon put the dagger back into my bag so it was well hidden before looking to the open window that had escaped through earlier, starting to realize what I let myself be brought back into. "Damn..."Instead of crawling into the bed I missed dearly, I leave my room as silently as I could. I went to one of the windows that sat just above the roof over the front porch.I opened that window and climbed out, laying on that roof and starting up at the partly cloudy but mostly starry sky.A few minutes go by before I hear my mother's footsteps come up the stairs and approach the window."Elizabeth, it's very late at night and you've had a long, exhausting day. It's time for bed." My mother says, expecting a response but getting none before speaking up again. "Goodnight."I watch a dark cloud journey across the sky, blocking out the area of stars I was focused on as my mother left and entered her room.Even more, time goes by before one of my many brothers comes out of his room and stops in his tracks for a moment before coming to the window."I thought I heard you moving around up here." I hear Ryan say as he climbed through the window. "Welcome back to the place where everyone thinks you're Jesus."I almost laugh, almost, but I don't do anything more than smirk for a second."Oh, so you're gonna do this silent thing where you just lay here and expect to become invisible?" He asks, laying on his back and getting comfortable. "Two can play at that game."Barely a minute passes before he sits up. "Well, I'm bored and I have to piss. Have fun doing whatever you call this."And once again, I'm alone.Enough time passes to where I start to think no one else is gonna come out here when, surprise, surprise, someone does."I'm glad you're back." I hear Sanity, the only girl with a hair color that falls within the 'natural' spectrum of human. "I was worried about you. Everyone does."I say nothing, I don't even change the expression on my face."I knew you were gonna try and get into America. If they didn't deport you, I'm sure you would have been forced to do illegal things to make money. Either selling drugs or becoming a prostitute. That's what happens to kids who run away from home." Sani explains, looking at me as if I were a hurt animal.Once again, she is met with silence."I know you don't think this, but you're very lucky. Not just because of your family and its name, but you have a bunch of siblings who love you and a mother with a big heart. You weren't here, but I really saw that tonight when we were trying to find where you were and if you were safe." She went on, I only paid attention to parts of her conversation.The one thing that drains my energy more than running away is people telling me how lucky I am for a long list of reasons.After a few moments of more silence, Sanity sits up. "I just wanted you to know that we're all glad you're here and you're safe. Goodnight, Liz."She got up and went back to her room to sleep, leaving me alone again, staring at the starry sky above.It's not very long before I hear another bedroom door open, but instead of coming to the window, the footsteps go down the stairs.I close my eyes for a few minutes before I open them again when the footsteps come back up the stairs."Hey, Lizzie." I hear the youngest of my siblings, Chicago, speak up quietly. "I brought you some dinner. It's a little cold in the middle, but it's still good! I just didn't want you to be hungry."I sat up and looked to him with a tired smile.He came over, handing the plate over to me."Thank you, Chic," I say, eating the meal he had brought me.He didn't answer, he only looked up at the sky. "Wow. So many stars."I nod. "Yea,-" I clear my throat, "-by this time almost everyone in the city is sleeping, so there's not as much light pollution." He nods slowly, the stars taking up his entire focus. Once I finish eating, I set the plate down and lay back down."I saw dad today," I say quietly, knowing that he was so focused on the stars that my voice wouldn't make it through to his brain. "I can't wait for you to meet him. He's a pretty cool guy."I looked over to him, only to see he had already fallen asleep. I almost start to fall asleep myself when someone else comes to the window."What's up, Fruit Roll-up?" I hear the groggy voice of the oldest of my siblings, Jakob."Hey, Big Bird," I reply, a gentle smile struggling to pull at my lips. "Come out to tell me how everyone was losing their minds trying to find me?"He sat down next to me. "Nope. This isn't about them. This is all about you. Kids don't run away from home when nothing's wrong. So what's wrong?""What's wrong is not only the usual 'i have so much pressure put on me because I'm supposed to become a leader' but also because my oldest brother who happens to be one of the most important people in the world to me is going off to war in a month," I say, looking over to him, staring up at the stars."I know you don't like it, Lizzy. I don't like leaving you either." He answered, looking over to me. "I've been planning to do this my entire life.""I know..." I sigh quietly. "I feel like you've just gotten over cancer and now you might go die in a war.""If I didn't get cancer, I would've left the moment I was considered healthy enough. But when I got cancer, that left me on the no go list. And then all my work preparing physically was thrown out the drain by it so I had to start to work my ass off to prepare for it all over again. And finally I was good to go again and now we're laying up here." Jake says, sighing. "I don't think you would've survived without me here.""You're right, I wouldn't have," I answer. "You're the only reason I came back.""Even though I'm leaving?" Jake asks.I nod. "Even though you're leaving.""I'm just leaving," Jake says. "I can keep in contact just like Ezra does. Only she's in University, and I'll be in the military.""People don't die in University, Big Bird," I say to him."Are you serious? We both know University is filled with sex, booze, drugs and the occasional manic with a knife. Especially me, I went through it all and I'm speaking from experience." Jake says, raising his eyebrows and pressing his palm on his chest.I chuckle. "Were you the maniac with a knife?""Nah, I was the one chased by the maniac. Thought he could get special powers by killing me." Jake says. "But he didn't realize that I can't be killed.""Honestly though, you can't be," I answer, looking back up to the stars.A few moments of silence pass."I remember back when I was your age. But unlike you, I wanted to be a leader. It's just no one else thought I was good enough." Jakob starts. "I would come up here all the time to look at the stars this late at night and they would help me forget about all my fears for a while. And you'd follow me out here.""I remember that," I reply. "That's how you became like my awesome therapist friend brother.""And it looks like you're gonna become Chic's awesome therapist friend sister." Jake smiles to the young, sleeping boy who had my arm around his shoulder."Are you sure I'm worthy of the job?" I ask, looking to him."I think I trained you well," Jake says. "You'll do great. My only advice is to always remember that things that may seem like small problems to you might be big problems for him. Also, make sure he remembers that the garbage disposal is one of humanity's greatest threats.""Well after that story you told about that Zach guy, I don't think I'll forget it," I say, looking to Chic. "And I don't think he'll forget if and when he hears it.""I think he's the best one for you to teach it and guide," Jake says, sitting up. "He's you're duckling now. Raise him well.""Oh, I will. I'm just glad it didn't end up being West." I say, sitting up as well. "He doesn't think he has problems and he thinks every male is someone who wants to fight him or pretend to fight him. Either of the two. I'm glad I get to deal with the pure and soft boy and not him.""It would've been funny no matter how," Jake says, getting up.I yawn. "I think I'm ready for bed.""Me too." Jake nods, picking Chic's sleeping form up and wiping the dirt off his back.We both went inside, Jake went to put Chicago in his bed and I waited for him.We went to the door of my room, and I was about to open it when Jake tapped me on the shoulder."Hey, Fruit Roll-up? I just wanted you to know that even after I leave, you won't be alone. You know this already but there's a lot of us in the prime kid clan. We all are more alike than we think. And when you feel alone, talk to them. They will help you." He says, hugging me. "You will never, ever be alone. I will make sure of it."I hug him back tightly, tearing up. "I'm not ready for you to go.""I'll come back and see you. I swear." Jake says. "It won't goodbye. Just a see you later. Now, go get some sleep. You need it more than you think.""Goodnight, Big Bird," I say, opening my door."Goodnight, Fruit Roll-up."
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
[Kaon Tower]
“What brings you here so urgently, Element?” The Empress asked, laying sideways on a couch in her office, looking out over her insect empire.
“The disguised Blade of Primus has been found, my Empress.” The older woman who entered responded after bowing. “The stars will shift back and we will have to prepare for a great evil to be upon us.”
“What is the next step?” Empress asks, sitting up and looking to the old witch.
“A red-haired boy crafted from science will come today, carrying many questions of our roots. He must go to the owner of the blade and have his questions answered.” Element answered. “I will be sure that he is sent to her.”
“This boy you speak of sounds like Nollaig’s son. Kodiak, I believe his name is.” Empress answered, getting up and going to her desk. “Tell Shadowstrike to alert the council that there will be a meeting tomorrow afternoon.”
“Right away, my lady.” The elder woman answered with another bow, before exiting.
[New Kaon Suburbs]
Kodiak’s P.O.V
“I'm not gonna lie, I'm
still
surprised that they'd choose a nurse to be the healthcare representative of The Defiance,” I say, looking up from my phone and into the open door of the bathroom, where my mother was styling her hot pink hair. “I don't have anything against nurses, it's just that most other countries have doctor's for the job.”
“I've been over this, Kodiak, nurses do twice as much work for not even half the pay as doctors. We should at least have the benefit of outranking them in the government.” She says, looking at me from the mirror.
“Whenever you talk about doctors, they do both half and twice the work that you do,” I say. “Never in between. So how much work do they actually do compared to you?”
My mother comes out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her. “I’m a trauma nurse, Kodiak. It depends on the day and which doctors are on the job.”
“True.” I shrug, before getting up and stretching.
“Ready to go?” My mom asks, picking up her coffee mug to finish off the lukewarm liquid she was drinking at earlier.
I nod. “Yea, I'm ready.”
“Are you
sure
you're ready to go back there? After what happened the last time?” She asks, tilting her head to the side a little.
I hesitate before speaking up. “Yea, yea. I'm sure. I checked the internet and I didn’t see anything about a massive protest that was supposed to be happening. And- Oh! I forgot to tell you about the car the guy who saved me was driving, you would've
loved
it!”
“Oh, yea?” She asks with a soft chuckle. “Was it a Lamborghini?”
“Oh no, even better!” I say, with a shyish sly grin. “It was an Aston Martin, a
red
Aston Martin. It also had this purplish lightning type of detai-”
I was cut off when my mother just
let go
of her now empty mug, sending it to shatter on the floor at her feet.
“-Hey! Are you okay!?” I ask, coming closer to clean the mess.
“I'm, y-yea! Yea, I'm fine. It's just- Nothing, nothing. Don't worry, I'll clean up the mess.” Mom stutters, taking the dustpan I had in my hands and cleaning to mess.
“Are you
sure
you're alright?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.
“I'm fine, I swear.” My mom answered, dumping the glass into the trash. “Ready to go?”
We soon found ourselves in the pink Lamborghini, driving in the direction of the city. I was staring out of the window, as per usual.
“Where's Fox at today?” I ask.
My mom turned the radio down for a second. “He’s out with friends. Why do you ask?”
I shrug. “I just feel like he's been avoiding me since the last argument we had.”
“He's not avoiding you, Kodi. He just wants to spend time with all of his friends before it's time to go.” My mom answers. “Don't worry, he still wants to spend a lot of time with you before he goes.”
“Alright,” I mumbled with a quiet sigh before my mother cranked up the volume on the radio.
A dozen or so pop songs I hate pass before we park in the parking lot of the tower. A few more would have passed by the time we made it through security and into the elevator.
Just as the door started to close, it was held open by another woman who joined us.
“Hello, Nol-Dakota.” The other woman says, straightening her tie. “It’s a beautiful day, isn't it?”
A weird question to ask, considering that it's downpouring outside.
Mom nods. “Yes, it must be a good day for caterpillars turn to butterflies.”
“This must be your son.” The other, suited woman says, looking to me. “What's his name?”
I clear my throat. “It’s Kodi.”
“Kodiak.” My mother says, looking down at me and ruffling my hair, causing my head to sink down. “And Kodiak this is-”
“My name is Stella.” The other woman says, cutting my mom off before she could finish her sentence.
“Well, uh, I've never seen you come to any of these meetings before. Are you new or something?” I ask, looking up at Stella.
She shakes her head. “No. I only come when I am needed.”
“What are you needed for?” I ask as the elevator doors open up.
“That's classified.” She answered abruptly before leaving the elevator, leaving my mother and me in her tracks.
“What was that whole thing with the weather and butterflies?” I ask my mom as we step out of the elevator.
“It was nothing.” She answered briskly. “I wouldn’t worry about it.”
“Oh,” I mumble before I plop down in a seat outside of the door my mom was about to enter through.
“Here’s where I go in,” Mom says, ruffling up my hair again. “Don’t get into trouble.”
“I won’t, I won’t.” I roll my eyes. “I don’t get into trouble. You know that. Not without Lyth arou-“
“Yo! Kodi! I knew you’d come!” I hear the familiar voice that belonged to none other than Lyth speak up from down the hall.
“Alright, you have a very good reason to worry about me getting arrested or shot today,” I say, looking to my approaching friend and then back to my mother. “Or both.”
“Yea, you're right about that.” She says, patting me on the back. “How do you think the weather is today, Raven?”
“It- Oh. I don't know.” She answered. “I do know that I shouldn't have brought my son. Now I'm going to worry about the building collapsing.”
“Oh, come on!” Lyth grinned. “We aren't going to screw things up
that
bad, the worst that'll happen is that Kodi and I will both burn to death while being shot at!”
“I think you two could do worse.” My mom shrugs. “But I don't want today to be the day that you two get arrested for the first time. We have a meeting to be in.”
“Yea, I'll try not to,” I say. “Go and have fun in your meeting.”
Soon Lyth and I were left to our own devices.
“So you wanna go to the cafeteria?” I ask my taller friend.
“Fuck yeah I do!” Lyth says. “I've been missing those spicy chicken burritos like hell!”
“Shit… Me too.” I say, moving my hair out of the way of my eyes, a common motion. “I’m ready to go down there and gain four hundred pounds.”
“We should go before the lunch rush,” Lyth suggests, starting to walk. “If there’s a terrorist threat, that would be when it happens.”
“Then they’d probably blame it on us,” I say as I follow, looking at the pictures that sat were hung on the walls, humming to myself.
Suddenly I felt a hand grabbed my arm firmly, so I looked away from the paintings and over to the old woman who the hand belonged to.
“You are a boy who asks a lot of questions of our roots, yes?” She asks, looking up at me after removing the hood that was covering her eyes.
“Uh- Yea, how do you-”
“You must find the girl who carries the blade. Her name is Elizabeth Prime. She won't be easy to get to, but your journey will begin here.” The old woman says, putting a folded piece of paper into my hand. “Good luck.”
I walk closer to Lyth as she leaves, looking to him and back to where she
was
but had seemingly vanished.
“Who was that?” Lyth asked.
“You think I know?” I ask with an arched eyebrow. “I don't have a clue. Maybe a fortune teller or something?”
Lyth shrugs, pressing the elevator button. “I dunno, man.”
“I don't know any more than you do,” I say, stepping onto the elevator when it arrives. “All I know is that it was weird.”
Lyth got onto the elevator as well, leaning against the wall. “What’s on the paper?”
I open it up and look at what was written on the inside. “Its an address. Some place near where we live.”
“Do you know what’s there?” Lyth asked as we stepped off the elevator.
“No,” I say as we make our way to the cafeteria. “But I'm gonna go find out.”
“I'll come with you.” Lyth offered.
“No. This is just a me thing.” I say, looking through the food options for one food in particular.
“Are you sure?” He asks. “You don't know what's there. You can get all fucked up.”
“I'm already all fucked up,” I say, grabbing one of the spicy chicken burritos from the display. “You don't need to be fucked up too.”
“Alright… Just… Promise to not die.” Lyth says, grabbing one of the same things. “You're one of my only friends who doesn't call me gay when I wanna talk about my feelings.”
“Well, most of your friends are assholes…” I say as we both grab drinks.
“Not really…” He muttered.
“Dude they brag about screwing every girl they see and call every guy that isn't exactly like them gay,” I answer as we checked out together. “They're assholes.”
Lyth rolls his eyes. “Well, then that's why I need you to not die right now. Because you're one of the few people who isn't an asshole.”
“Aw, that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me! I'm so flattered!” I gush with heavy sarcasm, pressing my hand to my chest.
“It’ll be the last time I flatter you if that address takes you to a serial killer’s house,” Lyth says.
“No, it won't be,” I say. “Don't be silly.”
[Ten Hours Later]
I used my phone to find where the address that was written on the paper. After I knew where it was, I hopped on my bike and went there.
I stood at the front entrance, one hand in the pocket of my sweatshirt and the other was in a fist, ready to knock but some feeling in my gut was holding it back.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, before finally knocking three times.
It only took a second before it opened.