Prologue
1902
Vela knew Orion was right on her feet. She could literally sense him. But she had to keep running. The baby wasn’t his and he knew it. It was hardly even hers. She could never let anyone know how it was conceived. They’d execute her, or worse; send her to Earth, the ultimate punishment.
Vela kept running, not looking back. She ran into an open door and locked it. The baby did not cry at all.
Orion had thought the baby was his until he saw her (three months prematurely). He saw the black hair and was immediately furious. He thought Vela had cheated on him. If only she had really cheated on him.
“Vela! You ðüå,” the king shouted.
He was right outside the door. It was over. For the baby and for Vela. He tried to open the door.
“Vela, open this door right now!”
She didn’t say anything, as if he’d leave her alone.
He kicked down the door. Shockingly, he didn’t have any of his guards with him.
“Please, Orion. Do not kill her. It would be like killing me. We can learn to love her. I am so sorry for what I did,” Vela cried.
Orion yanked the baby from her arms. The baby girl still didn’t wail. He stared at the infant like his glare would kill her. “We can keep it.”631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ00FoirYCTQ
“Really?” Vela got on her knees and clasped her hands together. “I am in your debt. I do not know how I let this happen. I was a dumb-”
“Forget it.” The king shoved the baby into Vela’s arms and stalked out of the room.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxVYFgPsMch
The baby’s eyes were wide open and they were a disturbing shade of gray. “I will name you Amelia.”631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBItKGxtF2L
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Chapter 1
2020
I had never felt good enough. I felt like I was below average, invisible. To my family and to all of Ohio. If these people knew where I came from and that there was intelligent life on other planets, they’d šĉôt themselves.
Šĉôt. It meant shit in Enceladian. I was from a planet called Enceladus. It was Saturn’s eighth moon of fifty-three. My planet was icy and cold. It was 1,271,542,694 kilometers (790,100,000 miles) from Earth--
I had to go to work.
I stepped out of my apartment, into the dry Ohio summer. The heat nearly suffocated me. I lived in Columbus, Ohio. It was lovely, except for the heat.
I had only seen a few states on Earth, plus Asia. When I first arrived in 2012, I landed in Asia. In my spaceship I had set the coordinates for Earth and it took me to the largest continent on the planet. I used the self-destruct on my ship after I landed so no humans could stumble upon it. I had quickly hopped on an airplane I had known nearly nothing about (never been on a plane) and flew to America. While in the airport I looked at a brochure of America and saw how pretty Ohio was and decided to go there. It was difficult trying to get on a plane because I didn’t know to speak Chinese, only English and Enceladian.
I hoped to travel more. I needed to move soon so my family didn’t find me but I dreaded thinking about that. I had made a life here for the past eight years. It was home, whereas on Enceladus I had never felt welcome.
I was 118 years old, although I looked twenty. People on Enceladus aged and matured far slower than humans. Children on my planet aged from one to fifty years old. Teenagers went from sixty to two hundred. Adults ranged from three hundred to a millennia. That meant I was technically a teenager. Next to my siblings, I was very young. They were three times my age.
I walked to my car down the street. It was a Prius. The man at the dealership insisted it was best for the environment and practically begged me to buy it. Up until eight years ago, I had never seen a car in person. Cars on Enceladus had become obsolete ages ago. Before I was born. Enceladus was so small you could get everywhere by walking. Or flying.
I worked at a small coffee shop called Café Brioso downtown, near Ohio State University where I was just about to start a new year as a junior.
“Hey, Amy,” said my coworker, John.
“Hey, morning.”
I put on my uniform and took my spot at one of the registers.
“Can I get an iced vanilla latte?” a customer asked.
“Sure, what size?” I asked in my friendliest voice.
“A small-”631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDb11wUStWx
My thoughts were taken to another place. Years ago.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡta04pE1Gdp
“Amelia that will not fit you. It’s a small. And um . . . you are not,” Cassiopeia said to me. She was my oldest sister. She was tall and gorgeous with white hair and blue eyes. 631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWUTUyIktwc
“It will too fit. I am as small as you,” I protested. In my mind I thought, ðüå.
They hated me.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3dKxwvMTmz
“I think you are too big.” Delphinus snatched the long, sequined blue dress from my hands. “I should wear it.” She spun around, clutching it to her body. Delphinus had ash-white hair and green eyes.
I was fifteen but my sisters were as cruel to me as if I were an adult.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiX4ZvKYs3W
“No, you wear this one.” Cass gave Del a green dress, similar to the blue one. “It matches your eyes.”631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIXuLqjZJ7f
“And Amy, you wear this silver one that matches your môn eyes,” Del snickered.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhtHoGrbQWo
Môn meant devil in Enceladian.
My eyes were gray, nearly silver. Devil eyes? Yeah, I guessed they were.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAIXvm89ChZ
A knock sounded on the door. “Girls? Are you ready yet? I bet you all look dashing,” Lynx, our youngest brother called.
We stared down at our slips and the dresses in my sisters’ hands.
“We’ll be ready soon, Lynx!” yelled Cass. 631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsTwrBdbqrO
“Hurry, our dearest mother is already down at the ball, alone,” Lynx shouted back.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOzpRzCFOho
I was pulled out of the memory by the customer ordering the “small” latte. “Sorry, a tall?”
The lady nodded, confused by my blackout. I took her money.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqyWNl4dbLa
I had flashbacks on a daily bases. They were vivid and horrible.
My eyes were indeed gray. On Earth I wore blue contact lenses. My family always said they were creepy and unnatural. As if magical powers and wings were natural.
I finished my work day and decided to get some new school supplies. Classes started again in one week at Ohio State. I was a psychology major. I was extremely interested in the way humans thought. Really, they were pretty blind. They were poisoning their world and they ignored it. I supposed my world wasn’t that better off. We were suffering just as much.
I stopped by Office Depot. I was picking out some pencils when a girl bumped into me.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFwi47ApMDY
“Oh! I’m so sorry. I’m ridiculously clumsy,” she said. She had adorable black-rimmed glasses and short white hair with blue dye staining underneath. She was gorgeous. “I’m Lainie.”631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnzFyGAIeYq
“I’m Amy. Nice to meet you.” I shook her hand. Her eyes were a deep brown. “I love your hair.”
“Thank you,” Lainie said, keeping my stare.
The intense eye contact threw me back into another age old memory.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuFZqtQGefj
“Ënô rüš!” My mother, Vela, shouted at me. It meant come here. “The men are here for you!”
I was about to meet my future husband, mother kept telling me. It was 1926.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKTXaUCIdHn
I wanted to strangle the maids after they had stuffed my curves into this awful dress. I guessed it wasn’t entirely their fault. But I still couldn’t breathe.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjLNa02qlOC
I struggled to walk down the stairs. Mother was there with four men, all in tailored suits. Only the best for the Queen’s bastard child.
I grimaced inwardly as I shook each of their hands. But when I got the last one, he wouldn’t touch me.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY0zoOqdY4b
“Something wrong, sir?” Vela asked politely.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1H5gNU2jow
“You promised your prettiest daughter. Not your môn,” the man said. He practically spat at my feet.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLuVBcBnlMp
My vision blurred with tears. I was young then. Only twenty four. Mother said it was time for me to have a husband. I didn’t know how that was fair. I was technically still a child. No parent in their right mind would marry off their child on Enceladus. Caelum was the only one betrothed anyway. Lynx, Cassiopeia and Delphinus weren’t even close to getting married and they were nearly two hundred years older than me. I was sure mother had just wanted to get rid of me quickly. 631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdrHKyW48ps
“Don’t you dare refer to my daughter like that!” Vela said. “Leave.”631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡupqsywPA7R
The man stumbled backward at the Queen’s increased volume. “Fine. No one’s going to want that bastard anyway.”
I remember running to my room, crying. Then, I didn’t know what I wanted. Little did I know, that man’s rejection would mean nothing to me in a couple of years.
Now, I knew what I wanted.
Someone was shaking me. I opened my eyes to see the cute girl, Lainie, a breath away.
“Are you alright?” Her breath smelled like spearmint. “You just kind of sat on the ground and didn’t respond to me.”631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3iKwLcNc4E
I was sitting on the ground. Awkward. “Yeah, I’m alright. I just um-I get these dizzy spells. I’m fine, thanks.”631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVIchPoQXDl
“Maybe I should walk you to your car,” Lainie suggested.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJz5JTisFMX
We bought our supplies and she walked me out to my Prius.
"You sure you’re okay to drive?” Lainie asked me.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡacpBylnJWN
“Yeah, I’m okay. Really. Thank you so much.” I wanted to get her number but didn’t know how to ask. I was slightly socially inept.
“Here. Why don’t I give you my number? You can call if you have any other dizzy spells.” She winked. Well, that took care of that.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7FTKLoZt2R
We exchanged numbers and said our goodbyes.
Chapter 2
It was time for school. Time for another year at Ohio State. I had two more years until I graduated OSU. Then I had to do graduate school. I didn’t mind being in school for so long. Back on Enceladus I just had tutors for every subject. Enceladian children went to school until they were eighty years old. I liked the way the university taught way more than my tutors. I just wasn’t sure what exactly I’d do with my major.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmfIsIlUb4p
This quarter I was taking psychology 100, speech 110, Spanish three and French. I hopped out of the shower, put my blue contacts in and got dressed.
OSU wasn’t very far from my apartment. I didn’t stay on campus because it felt like a prison, like how I had felt on Enceladus631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbFLPdHBxgE
I got in my Prius and found somewhere to park after thirty minutes. I located my first class, psych, in the main building.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK8Vy0ZxJEa
“Amy?” I turned around and Lainie was running up to me. She was wearing black skinny jeans and a black pea coat with a blue scarf. She had dyed all of her hair a vibrant blue.
Lainie and I had a coffee date last week. It was cut short because of a family issue of hers. After that we hadn’t had time to get together again.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHM6BhUlJoC
“Hey,” I said. She grabbed the crook of my elbow and walked with me into the main building. We had the same psych class.
She unraveled her scarf from her neck. “Sorry we couldn’t get together again.”
“Oh, it’s no problem. We have all year, right?” I said.
“’Course.” She tightened her hand on my arm as we walked into our classroom.
After class, Lainie looked at me like she was going to be sick.
When I asked her what was wrong, she said, “I think this is going to be a hard class for me.”
She was going to Ohio State to be a nurse and this was her first time taking psychology. “I can help you if you’d like,” I offered.
“I’d love that!” she squealed. She was adorable.
“Cool. Well, do you want to do something after our classes?” I lazily grinned.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmUEQbasEdy
“Hell yeah! I’ll meet you in front of the café!” She took a few steps back and waved goodbye.
After Spanish, I met Lainie631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkSrwaBPCqm
“Hey, darlin’,” she said.
I smiled. This girl would be the death of me.
“Where should we go?” I asked.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLeM0YwvefS
“We could get an early dinner,” she proposed.
We took my car to Roosters, a casual American lunch and dinner restaurant.
“So were you serious about helping with psych?” Lainie said.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE1lKs7LsmS
“Yes, of course. I’d love to.”
She grinned.
“You have a gorgeous smile,” I said to her which made her grin even more.
“You’re too sweet.”631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfIRj8NY2aG
We ordered our food.
“So, have you had anymore dizzy attacks?” Lainie asked.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYflaPGitMR
I shook my head.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlfJ5Dv3V30
“How do you get your hair so silky? It’s perfect,” she said.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcsL28d9bpR
“Oh, I don’t kn-” I was stopped by her hand running through my hair, lightly brushing my cheek.
“Sorry,” she mumbled and yanked her hand back.
“No, it’s alright.” I rested my hand on hers. “I’ll be right back.” I stood up and saw a boy with ash hair.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1YAxYabno1
“Shut up!” I screamed at Caelum. He was telling me that mother had an affair to conceive me. “That’s not true!”
He vigorously nodded his head; his light charcoal hair shaking with it. I was very young, about nineteen. Cal was 239. He knew better about making his little sister cry. “Think about it, Amelia. You look nothing like mother, father or any of us.” He got closer to me. “You don’t belong here. You should just run away. Live with the poor, you will fit right in.”631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM3yykghbFo
“Quit! I hate you! Why are you saying these things?”
“Because they are true.” He grabbed my wrists and threw me down. “Accept it.” He then spread his white wings and flew away.
“Amy?”
I snapped back to reality. Lainie was watching me with worried eyes. “I’m alright.” I rushed off to the bathroom. Once there, I splashed cold water in my face.
Get it together, Amelia.
These flashbacks were going to ruin my chances with Lainie. She’d think I had some sort of sickness.
I walked back out, smiling like nothing happened.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m great. Great to be here with you.”631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOS75LHpHYi
Good one, Amy.
Lainie smiled. “I like hanging out with you.” She grabbed my hand.
I dropped Lainie off back at campus where she lived.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡswQf1ikzaJ
“Let’s do this again,” I said to her.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ7kHzyn2GE
She kissed me on the cheek in answer. “I’ll see you Wednesday.” Our psych class was on Mondays and Wednesdays.
As I was driving home, I had this eerie sense that something bad had happened back on Enceladus. But that was ridiculous, right?
I walked through my door and knew something was off, wrong. I opened my computer and I had an email.
It read;
Amelia,
I have some bad news. Mother and father have been murdered in a coup . . . The murderers have worked their way into our government. Our world is in chaos. Public executions, fighting, everything father kept at bay. The citizens won’t even let us bury mother and father. If there was anything of mother left to bury . . . We need you to come back. We need your help. The others don’t want to admit that we need your level-headed thinking. Caelum is being a ðüâ as usual. And the rest don’t know what to do. You’d know what to do. Please come back to us.
Ü mïð zü. I miss you.
~Lynx
Šĉôt. I swore out loud.
Orion and Vela were dead? I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. They never expressed their love for me. Orion hardly ever looked at me. I never once called him father. Even as a child. Vela was always judging my actions and words. Lynx was the only one who actually loved me.
I couldn’t return to Enceladus.
So I wrote back to Lynx;
I can’t. Come to Earth. Live with me.
Lynx had only contacted me once since I had been on Earth. He had simply said “I miss you” in Enceladian.
I kept thinking about my flashback in the restaurant. Caelum had always said things like that to me. He was completely right. And now I did accept it. I looked nothing like any of them. Vela, Orion, Cass and Lynx all had snow-white hair. Del and Cal had ash-white hair. And here I was with black hair and gray eyes.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKRSA8I6bgD
They all had powers and white wings. But me? No powers, no wings. Mother used to say I was just a late bloomer.
All Enceladians had special abilities. They either had telekinesis, invisibility, mind control or control of the elements. The normal citizens (non-royalty) were only able to use one power. Every citizen contained each power but King Orion made each citizen choose just one power to possess. They could be punished if they used a power outside of their specialization. Based on the citizen’s powers, the king put them in divisions. Everyone who chose to use telekinesis for their main power lived in the T Division, and so on. It was unbelievably controlling. Orion had to control every single aspect of Enceladus. I was glad I left.
I pulled out my homework and sat at my desk.
I was somewhat troubled by my powerless body. When I got to Earth, I mostly forgot about my abilities, or lack thereof. There wasn’t a pressure to be something more. I remembered one day when I was thirty-one years old;
“Quit it!” Cassiopeia yelled. Delphinus was using her invisibility to yank Cass’ hair.
“Only if you can catch me,” chuckled a disembodied Del.
Cass used her control of the elements (wind) to throw some sand into the air so it would land on Del and outline her body.
We were outside of the kingdom, but still in the gates. Enceladus was a dark, wet, icy planet. There were small rivers nearly everywhere. Since Enceladus was one of Saturn’s moons, it was dark. We had no sun.
“Amy, why don’t you use your powers? Or your wings? Or anything?” Del teased. She wasn’t invisible anymore.
I tried and tried to summon some power, any power. But nothing came out. Not even my wings. I felt they never would.
When I opened my eyes, I was laying on my desk, with a piece of paper stuck to my face. My stomach growled.
Earth food didn’t satisfy my Enceladian hunger as much as Enceladus food. So I basically had to eat like an animal. Enceladians were stronger, taller and had an amazing memory compared to humans.
Humans greatly outnumbered Enceladians by billions. Our population was 503,007. We had population control too, so there was nowhere near seven billion people. Plus there was no room. Everyone on my planet could live comfortably in New Jersey (which is the smallest state in the U.S.). Almost too comfortably. Enceladus was 545 kilometers (313 miles) in diameter and Earth was 12,743 km (7,918 mi). We used kilometers on Enceladus.
My stomach brought me back to reality.
I had perfected the making of ramen noodles. I had never had to cook for myself until eight years ago when I moved to Earth. So when I did come, I was ashamed to say it was a culture shock.
After dinner, I fell asleep reading my psychology textbook.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3t2TeC9jrk
That night, I had the worst dream I’d ever had.
Mother was screaming. Screaming her head off. “Orion!” she yelled. “Please, stop. He’s your king! Do not disrespect him.”
I was standing outside their enormous room. I couldn’t see what was going on but I heard it all. I heard screams and yells and grunts.
I realized Orion was getting beaten. I heard his groans and cries of pain. Why wasn’t he using his powers? And why wasn’t I helping?
Vela kept yelling “stop”.
“Shut up!” yelled a man. I heard a slapping sound.
“Don’t touch her,” growled Orion.
I heard a sharp gasp followed by the cries of my estranged father.
Suddenly I found my courage and stumbled through the door.
My eyes were instantly wet with tears.
Mother’s arm was laying over by Orion. But that wasn’t what made bile come up my throat. My mother’s body was all the way across the room.
I had to swallow several times so I didn’t lose my lunch.
There were six men with swords and one with a bloody machete.
“Well hello. You must be the môn. I don’t care what people say, you’re pretty,” the man with the machete said.
I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t have any powers or wings. I still didn’t understand why Orion or Vela weren’t using their powers.
Orion was holding mother’s one-armed limp body, sobbing. “Take Amelia, leave us alone,” he was saying. Trying to barter me off to the terrorists. I didn’t think he could sink that low.
Just then one of the men came up to me and slit my throat.
I sat upright in bed, sweat dripping off my forehead. What a dream. Just a dream. But in his email, Lynx had said there was nothing left of mother’s body to bury. Maybe a part of the dream was real. I shuddered.
I laid back down and was jolted by a knock at my door.
I rolled out of bed and opened it. It was Lainie. And she was crying.
“Lainie? Are you alright? Tell me, what’s wrong?” I ushered her inside and brought her some tissues.
“It’s-it’s my mom . . . she’d dead.”
I gasped and gathered her in my arms, leading her to my couch. She rested her head on my shoulder and kept crying.
“I’m sorry. I just didn’t know where to go. She was the only one I had left.”
The clock read four a.m.
I just hugged her tightly. She looked up into my eyes. She inhaled sharply. “Wait. Your eyes . . . they’re gray.”
Šĉôt. “They’re contacts,” I lied.
She nodded absentmindedly. “I’m sorry. We’ve only just met and now I’m crying on your shoulder,” Lainie said, grabbing a tissue.
“No, it’s okay. I’m here for you. That’s what friends are for. Even new friends.” I grabbed her hand.
“Friends?”
“Well of course.”
“I was hoping we could be more . . .” Lainie leaned forward and kissed me.
Her lips felt just like I’d imagined they would. I could taste her tears. She kissed me deeper and I pulled her close. She broke away and her cheeks were rosy.
She grinned at me and her eyes were now dry. “Do you have class tomorrow?”
I nodded. “Just French at 5:30, an evening class.”
“Um . . . do you mind if I stay here until morning?” Lainie asked timidly.
“Of course. It’s no problem at all. You can sleep in my bed. I’ll take the couch.”
I got some blankets for the couch and we laid in our respective places. “Goodnight Lainie,” I called from the living room.
“Goodnight Amy. Thank you for letting me stay.”
I nodded then remembered she couldn’t see me. “You’re welcome.”
It was silent for a while. “Amy?” Pause. “Will you, um-will you sleep in here with me?”
I got up with an embarrassingly big smile on my face and made my way to the bedroom. I started to set out a blanket on the floor.
“No, right here.” She patted the bed.
My smile grew even bigger. It was a good thing it was dark. I settled in next to her and she snuggled up to me. I put my arm around her and pulled her closer. She soon fell asleep peacefully.
Chapter 3
I woke up, suddenly, sensing my siblings. But that didn’t make sense. They were on Enceladus and I was on Earth.
It was 8:30 a.m. I had to work at ten. Lainie was still sleeping next to me. I had managed not to have a nightmare or a traumatizing memory the rest of the morning.
I got up and made some tea. Coffee was too strong for my sensitive Enceladian taste buds. I heard Lainie stir with my superhuman ears. Enceladians had superior senses and better physique. We were thinner and better looking, nearly flawless.
But I wasn’t bragging.
I heard the water running in the bathroom and then Lainie emerged. “Good morning.”
“Good morning, Lainie. How are you?”
“I’m alright,” she said. She came closer to me. I handed her a cup of tea.
“Sugar?”
She nodded. “Amy, you still have those gray contacts in. Aren’t they irritating?”
Bæt. “Oh, they’re overnight contacts.” Good thing I could lie well. “I’ll go change them.” I rushed to the bathroom and put in my blue contacts.
“So, I have to go to work soon. Um, you can stay here if you’d like, while I go,” I offered.
“Oh, no. I have to shower and pick up some groceries. Thank you, though.” She smiled.
“Do you want to talk about last night?”
Lainie chewed on her lower lip. “My mom. She um . . . she had breast cancer. I knew it was coming but it was still a shock when I got the news.”
“I’m so sorry.” I put my hand on her arm. “What about your dad?”
“Oh, we were never close. He left mom and I when I was young.” There was anger in her beautiful brown eyes. That in turn made me angry. Who would ever leave a girl this amazing?
I brought her in for a comforting hug. We broke apart.
“Where are your parents?” Lainie asked me.
I’d never had to lie about my parents before. “They live in Alaska, where I’m from.”
“Oh, that’s amazing. What made you leave?”
I thought about it for a second. “They were too oppressive.” It wasn’t entirely a lie. Vela was quite suffocating. I still wasn’t sure how I felt about her death. I could care less about Orion. I knew from the beginning that he wasn’t my real father.
“Oh, that’s too bad. Did you have any siblings?”
I nodded. “Four actually. We all went our separate ways.”
“Thank you again for letting me stay here.” She sipped her tea.
“Anytime. I’m going to shower.” I kissed her on the forehead and watched her cheeks turn red.
After I showered, I went to my room in a towel. To my shock, Lainie was there sitting on my bed.
“Sorry, I was just-” She stopped mid-sentence. Her eyes wandered my body then rested on my face. There was a hunger in her sweet eyes. A hunger that spread tingles throughout my whole body.
She stood up and walked closer to me. I took in her beautiful face and enticing hair. She had the most perfect frame. She slowly brought her hands to my face and kissed me. My hands found her hips and pulled her as close as possible. Her lips tasted like mint lip gloss.
She sat me on the bed. I would’ve never guessed she would be the one in control. I laid down and she came with me. We kissed and kissed some more. I rolled on top of her and my towel came off. I tried to grab it but she took my hand.
“I want to take this slow. I really like you, Amy,” Lainie said, her eyes half-lidded.
“I like you too. A lot. Ever since I met, I’ve wished for more hours in a day,” I said.
Another smooth one. I rock.
I rock? Ugh, good thing Lainie couldn’t read my mind.
Lainie’s grin was wide. “You’re too sweet. How do you come up with things like that?”
“I’ll never reveal my secrets.” I smiled wickedly. I glanced at my bedside clock. It was 9:42. I was going to be late for work. “I’m going to be late for work because of you,” I teased.
“Oh! Sorry. I’ll get going. I’ll see you tomorrow, alright?” She pecked me on the mouth and skipped out of my apartment.
I leaned against my dresser, heart happy. Then I realized I was late. I scrambled to get dressed and dry my coal hair. I took out my contacts to give my eyes some rest. They irritated me a lot. I curled my hair, grabbed my keys and ran out the door.
I walked inside and John, who was tall and strikingly handsome for a human, smiled at me. We always worked every shift together.
As I was saying hello, his eyes widened. “Amelia, your eyes . . .”
I didn’t have to look in a mirrior to realize I had forgotten my blue contacts after I had showered. But that wasn’t quite what had shocked me the most. John had called me Amelia. On Earth I went by Amy Thorne. I had never once said my real first name. I didn’t know how to respond to him.
“You . . . called me Amelia?”
John stuttered. “I just thought that-that Amy was short for Amelia.”
I noticed I was in the way of a customer. I beckoned John to the back room with me. Once we were there, I backed him up against a locker.
“Who are you?”
“You know me. I’m John. John Reed. We’ve been working together for two years,” he stuttered again. He seemed terrified but I didn’t think he really was.
“How did you know my real name?” I growled. I closed in on him.
He raised his hands in surrender. “I-” He stopped at the sight of another employee walking in the break room. I backed up and glared at him, practically saying “this isn’t over”.
I put on my uniform and sulked out.
Chapter 4
It had been a week since Lainie’s mom had passed and she came to my house. In that week we had gone on a few dates. Tonight we were doing a formal date. I was taking her to a fancy resturaunt called The Melting Pot.
I picked her up on campus. She was gorgeous. She had re-dyed her hair that same striking blue. She was wearing a solid black, high-low dress. I was wearing a dark red knee-length dress. She definitely up-staged me from her deep brown eyes to her short blue hair that looked natural.
“Hey babe.” She kissed me as she got in.
“You look amazing,” I said. Which earned me another kiss.
“Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise,” I grinned. My eyes suddenly blurred.
“You can’t wear that,” said Lynx. There was another ball. I didn’t know why we insisted on throwing numerous balls a month. The only people that could come were my family, the kingdom’s many guards, and the family’s of the leaders of each divison. That was all.
The year was 1935. I was thirty-three and Lynx was 233.
Lynx was reffering to the pants and tank top I was wearing. “Sure I can.”
Lynx glared at me. He knew if mother saw me in this, I’d be torn through. He was just looking out for me. I should’ve listened to him every time.
Lynx brought out the brand new, custom made, red flowing gown. “Perfect.” He even did my hair that night. “I want you to look your best tonight. I’m introducing you to someone.”
“Who?” I asked as he yanked and curled my black mane.
“Well, it is a girl.” Lynx knew how I felt. He felt the same way. Well, the opposite obviosuly. “It’s a surprise.”
Lynx introduced me to my fisrt girlfriend that night, much to our parents’ dismay. He also had a man on his arm. Winners of our fathers love and affection, I’d say.
“Amy, hun. We don’t have to go if you don’t feel good,” Lainie said, back in the present.
“No, love. I’m okay, really. I was just thinking how happy you make me.”
She leaned over and kissed me deeply. “Now, let’s go. I’m starving!”
I drove us to the Melting Pot and Lainie squealed when we pulled in the parking lot. “How’d you know I love this place?” she gushed. I loved seeing that expression on her face.
We went inside and checked in our reservations.
“I love fondue,” Lainie said with her mouth full of a strawberry. She literally could not be cuter.
Suddenly I felt this shooting pain through my skull and I had to grab my head. It was vision blurring.
“Amy?” Lainie put her hand on my arm. “What’s wrong?”
I couldn’t respond. It felt like someone was shoving a knife through my ears. I heard Lainie shufling around and suddenly she was pulling me out of the booth and outside. I couldn’t quite open my eyes but I trusted that she woudn’t lead me into a tree. Enceladians were highly tolerable to pain so this was a shock.
My whole body was starting to hurt. My eyes, my arms, my legs. I briefly opened my eyes and the bright parking lot lights assaulted my senses. I clamped my eyes shut but not before I saw and felt Lainie putting me into my car.
I heard the car start. I still couldn’t speak. My lips parted but no sound came out. My head was splitting apart.
“It’s just a bad migraine, Amy. I’ll get you home. Don’t worry, hun.”
Suddenly I screamed. Lainie gasped and swerved the car. The pain was getting worse. Enceladians didn’t get sick, let alone have mirgraines. I wasn’t even sure what migraines were. I felt tears slipping out of my eyes and then Lainie’s hand.
“The hospital then.” Lainie swore.
I somehow found my words. “No! No hospital. I’m f-f-fine.”
“You don’t sound or look fine.”
“Home. Pl-pleeease.”
I think she nodded but my eyes were still closed. If she took me to the hospital, they’d run tests on me and find out that I wasn’t human.
All of a sudden I heard Cassiopeia’s voice in my mind. She simply said, zë tô ënôw.
Then she was gone but unfortunately the pain wasn’t. I felt the car slowing. Turning off. Car door shutting.
Lainie took me out of the car and up the stairs to my apartment. The pain was lessening slightly. We got inside and I was able to open my eyes because of the dark.
“Should I leave the lights off?” she asked.
I nodded slowly, taking in my surroundings. Lainie led me to my room and sat me on my bed.
“What happened? You were crying the pain was so intense.” She wiped my tears. Then ran and got me water.
I drank greedily. “I don’t know,” I managed.
“Are you like sick or something? My mom got headaches like that before she was diagnosed.” Lainie’s voice was small.
“I’m not sick. I think I just have a migraine syndrome.”
Lainie stared at me like I said something worng. “You scared me.” She hugged me tightly.
“I’m sorry that I ruined our dinner,” I said, rubbing my temples. The pain was almost gone.
“No, it’s okay. We were done anyways.” She ran her hands up and down my goosebump filled arms. I wasn’t cold. I didn’t get cold on Earth, in Ohio because their temperatures were nothing compared to Enceladus.
I was so filled with affection for Lainie, I grabbed her face and kissed her passionately.
“Is your head okay enough?” she asked.
I responded by kissing her again. I pushed her down onto my bed. Her hands roamed my body. She held me tightly and I felt safe in her thin human arms. I kissed her deeper and she replied by getting on top of me and pinning me down. I loved when she took control. She kissed my neck and chest.
She abruptly sat up and took off her dress.
“I liked that dress.”
All she did was giggle. Bæt.
Chapter 5
The next morning I awoke with a naked Lainie in my arms. My head was a bit sore from last night but not nearly as bad. I checked the clock. Ten a.m. Saturday. I gently slipped out of the room to make breakfast.
I thought about Cass’ message. It meant “we are coming”. I didn’t want to decipher it now, while my head was still tender.
By the time Lainie woke up, I had made bacon, eggs and waffles.
She grinned devilishly and sauntered over. She grabbed my waist and closed in for a minty toothpaste kiss. “You made breakfast.” She kissed my nose with some effort. I was much taller than her. I was 5’10”.
We kissed which led to more kissing and then ate and talked.
Unexpectedly she said, “I’m really glad I had you when my mom died.”
I came over to where she was sitting at my small kitchen island. “Of course, love. I’m glad I could be there.” I kissed her.
“You have to work today, right?”
I was too busy savoring her taste on my lips to reply.
“Amy?”
“What? Oh, yeah I do.”
“When?” She toyed with my hair.
“Soon,” I pouted.
She pouted with me. “I’ll come with you. Keep you company for a little bit.”
I thought of John. Or whoever he was. We hadn’t gotten a chance to talk again since a few weeks ago when he called me Amelia. He had been calling in “sick”.
I encouraged Lainie to come anyways. Her company was always welcome.
We showered, together, and got dressed.
We got to Café Brioso and John was at the register, a costumer-friendly expression on his face.
Lainie ordered a green tea and found a table.
John smiled at me. “Morning, Amy.” And in a much quieter voice he said, “Did you get the messege?”
What the fëŵ?
I gave him a fatal stare and before I could question, a customer came up to the registers.
“I’ll have a tall . . .”
I stopped listening and froze. Outside the bay window of the coffee shop I saw Cassiopeia and Lynx with their wings out. I blinked several times to make sure I wasn’t halucinating.
I sure as hell wasn’t. Customers started pointing and gasping. Beside me, John was smirking.
I didn’t know what to do. The customers started taking pictures and videos of the freaks. Cass and Lynx walked into the coffe shop, ducking their wings.
“Amelia! Ĉëv!” Lynx yelled. He said “hi”. Although I was happy to see Lynx, they were scaring the humans.
I rushed up to them. “What are you two doing here? Do you know nothing about Earth? Put your wings away!”
Lynx just hugged me. “Ü ŷôte zü!”
Oh, he missed me. Sure. “Speak English! These people know nothing of other planets.”
Cass pushed past me. “John?”
“Princess Cassiopeia.” They hugged. They actually hugged. Then it clicked. John was from Enceladus.
I glanced around the café. The people were whispering, some frightened. I caught Lainie’s eye. Confusion was written across her beautiful face.
Finally my brother and sister put their wings away, followed by terrified gasps. Enceladian wings disappeared completely into their backs when they wanted them to be hidden, like they were never there. It was understandably distrubing.
Cass leaned in to me. “We have to erase their memories.” Well, hello to you too, sister.
Lynx and John agreed.
I nodded. “Everyone, if you could all direct your attention to my friends here.” Even though my powers still hadn’t came in, I’d seen my family control others’ minds many times.
I looked at Lainie. She looked scared. I walked over to her and took her hand. “Come with me.” I led her to the break room while Cass, Lynx and John worked their magic.
“What’s going on, Amy?” We sat on one of the benches.
“Well um first of all . . . I’m sorry for lying to you but my feelings towards you are true.”
“Lying about what?”
“My name is really Amelia Ladus.” I winced, thinking she’d lash out at me.
“Yeah? So what, lots of people lie about their name. Amy isn’t that different from Amelia,” she said.
I chose my next words carefully. “I’m not from Earth.”
Lainie squinted at me. “I’m pretty sure they aren’t either.” She jerked her chin toward my siblings outside the door.
I was glad she was taking this well but I was a little unnerved about it. “Doesn’t that freak you out? And you believe me?”
“I think you could probably tell me that you’re from the future and I’d believe you . . . I think I’m in love with you.”
I froze.
“Unless you’re not in love with me then forget what I said.” She laughed nervously.
“No I-I do love you.”
She grinned and kissed me.
“I just need you to know what you’re getting involved with,” I said, taking her hands again.
“Lay it on me.” She squared her shoulders bravely.
“I’m from a planet called Enceladus. It’s a moon, really. Saturn’s eighth moon. Everyone on it looks human. But with some hitches. We all have powers. But-”
“Wait. Like magical powers?”
I nodded.
“Like wings. Where are yours?”
I bit my lip. “I don’t have my wings yet. Or . . . my powers. My mother always said I was a late bloomer.”
Lainie paused. “So you lived on Saturn’s moon with millions of people who look just like humans?”
“Well half a million. 503,007 to be exact.”
“That’s it? That’s nothing. Tell me about the powers.”
“Well my family, two brothers and two sisters, contain all four powers; telekinesis, ivisibility, mind control and control of the elements. But my father made every citizen decide which power to use forever. They can only use the one they picked for the rest of their lives. Which is a long time. Enceladians can sometimes live up to a millenia.”
“And how old are you?” Lainie asked.
I hesitated. “I am 118 years old.”
She gasped. “No way! You look my age.”
“Yeah, we age really well.”
“So, are your dizzy spells and that headache from you being on Earth?” Lainie asked.
I shook my head. “My ‘dizzy spells’ were actually poweful flashbacks. I’ve gotten those ever since I got to Earth. But I’ve never had a headache in my life. In the middle of the heachache my sister sent me a message saying ‘we are coming’. I didn’t realize she meant they were actually coming to Earth. And these are my real eyes.” I took out my blue contacts.
Lainie was silent. Looking into my eyes didn’t creep her out.
“I’m sorry I had to lie to you,” I said. I rested my hand on hers.
“I understand.” She leaned in for a kiss when Lynx came into the backroom.
“Ah, zü fëŵåš gïx!” he said. He grinned slyly.
“Lynx! English!” I shouted. What he said too inappropriate to repeat.
“What? What’d he say? You have your own language? That’s awesome.”
“I am Prince Lynx of Enceladus,” he introduced himself. He kissed Lainie’s hand.
“And I’m Lainie of . . . Earth,” she said, giggling.
“It it a pleasure to meet you, Amelia’s consort Lainie.” Lynx and Cass had a slight accent to humans. It sounded almost Fench. I no longer had it because of my time on Earth.
“Okay, she’s my girlfriend, not my consort. Remember brother, we’re on Earth,” I reminded him.
“Of course.” He bowed to Lainie then turned to me. “Amelia, you have to come with us. We need your help.”
I shook my head slowly.
“Please, you know you’re the best fighter out of us all,” Lynx said.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD2mXRuBcZ2
I scoffed. “Caelum would disagree.”
“Amelia, you have to. You’re by far the most level-headed.”
I sighed. “I haven’t trained in eight years.”
“We can train on the ship. It’ll take us a while to get back. You know that.”
I thought it over for a while. “Fine. I’ll go.”
“Can I go?” Lainie asked, hopefully.
“No,” I said at the same time Lynx said, “sure”.
“No, Lainie. You can’t go. It’s incredibly dangerous.”
“Come on, nïx. We can protect her,” Lynx said, calling me sister.
“I’m sorry Lainie. I don’t want to lose you.” I grabbed her by the waist to bring her close.
“I understand.” She kissed me sweetly.
“We need to go now. It will take way too long to get-” Cass came into the break room. She made a noise of “I knew it”.
“Lainie, this is my sister Cassiopeia.”
Cass shook Lainie’s hand. “Actually its crown princess. Soon to be queen once we catch these-uh what’s the word for môn?”
“Devil,” Lynx offered.
I couldn’t even count how many times Cass had called me a devil. She knew the word. “Okay listen, Cass. If I am going back home with you, I am not going to take anymore of your šĉôt. I’m tired of you, Delphinus and Caelum calling me names and bullying me. I will not stand for it any longer.” I backed her up into a corner. “Do you understand me?”
She nodded fiercely.
I backed away. “Now let’s go.”
Lainie followed us out into the shop. “I am so turned on by you right now.”
A tingly feeling spread in my lower stomach.
There was no one in the café except for John. They must have already wiped everyone’s memory.
“Where’s the shuttle?” I asked.
“The shuttle? Like a spaceship? Can I at least see it?” Lainie wondered.
I agreed. I owed her that.
“We had to set it on hover above the city because it is too big to fit anywhere close,” Cass said. She wouldn’t look me in the eyes.
We headed outside and I had to remind my brother and sister to keep their wings away. We walked to the World’s Largest Gavel which was downtown. Lynx and Cass stopped moving once they were in the center of the park.
“Here it is,” said Lynx.
“Where?” Lainie asked.
I tiled her chin upwards as Lynx pulled a remote control out of his pocket and pushed a button. Suddenly the spaceship appeared and Lainie gasped.
It was enormous. The humans would see it instantly. I didn’t know what Cass and Lynx were thinking but apparently they hadn’t done their research of Earth.
The space craft was dark grey. It was made of Enceladian metal which wasn’t found anywhere on Earth. It had two long pointy shafts in the front. There was a blue-ish glowing hue to the whole thing. It was magnificent.
I had never had a reason to travel on one of our bigger ships. I guessed today was the day.
“It’s amazing!” Lainie shouted.
I grabbed her arm and told her to keep it down. “We don’t want to draw more attention to it.”
People weren’t looking up though, most of them were too invested in their cell phones.
“Can I see inside?” Lainie asked.
I contemplated it. “Sure, babe. But it will have to be quick. It’ll take us about 35 days to get there.”
“Which is a month too long. Hopefully Caelum, Del and our parents’ trusted guards aren’t dead yet,” Cass said.
“How do we get up there?” Lainie asked.
“We fly,” John said, matter-of-factly.
I looked around from person-to-person. I still didn’t have my wings.
Lynx understood. “You still haven’t sprouted your wings, sister?”
I shook my head.
“I’ll carry Lainie and John can carry you,” Lynx suggested.
Lynx put his arm around Lainie’s waist and she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Don’t let go.”
I did the same to John. Suddenly Lynx and Cass disappeared, no doubt going invisible so that the humans wouldn’t see us.
Above John and me, I heard Lainie’s disembodied laugh. She was adorable. I just wished I could have been the one to give her, her first flight.
We all landed on the rear deck of the ship. Once we were inside, Lynx used his remote to turn the ship invisible again.
“You guys didn’t spare any expenses, huh?” I murmured.
“Well, Princess Amelia, our world is in peril,” John said. I had stopped listening once I heard “Princess Amelia”. I hadn’t been called that in nearly a decade.
Lainie stepped farther in the ship. We were only barely inside, in the space lock, and she was taken aback. There was literally nothing in it. I chuckled.
We all exited the space lock. The control room was next. It was a big oval space with Enceladus computers. All of the words were in Enceladian. Everything was so intricately designed. Enceladus had much further advanced technology than that on Earth.
“This is so awesome.” Lainie hugged me.
“I’m sorry Princess, but we need to go,” John said.
“You will come back to me, right?” Lainie’s big brown eyes looked watery.
I held her in my arms. “Of course, love. I promise. I’ll be back before you know it.”
She kissed me deeply. “I love you.”
It was weird how just in this short amount of time I felt so strongly for a human and she felt the same. “I love you,” I muttered against her minty lips.
“I’ll take you down,” Lynx said to Lainie.
I gave her one last kiss and watched her go.
Chapter 6
“So you were spying on me for eight years?”
“Yes, Princess Amelia. Your parents gave me the assignment and I gladly accepted. Long live the King and Queen,” John said and bowed his head.
We had been in transit for a week now. I was all but interrogating John.
“So what about the years before I worked at Brioso?” I asked. We were in the ship’s cafeteria.
“I just spied on you from a distance. When I heard you put in an application to the café, I immediately got a management job there. I was on Earth to protect you, Princess.”
I nodded. It was a shock to me that my parents sent someone to look out for me on Earth. And I wondered how they had found me so easily. There was probably tracking on the shuttle I took there. But I had initiated the self-destruct on the ship in Asia . . .
Lynx sauntered in the room. “Amelia,” he sang. “It’s time to train.” He was carrying two swords in their sheaths. “You need to be at your best when we take down the murderers.”
I followed him to the training/weapons room. I didn’t know why Cassiopeia and Lynx took one of our biggest ships. They didn’t need that much room for the two of them.
Lynx and I finished sparring and I excused myself to use the restroom.
I was walking down one of the numerous halls and I swore I saw a flash of blue hair. I missed Lainie. But as I turned the corner I saw the flash again. Suddenly I started running in the direction I saw it.
“Lainie?!”
Then I saw her. She was wearing a plain white tee-shirt with her back to me. Her blue hair had faded slightly.
“Lainie?”
She whipped around. “Amy!” She ran up to me and jumped up into my arms.
I inhaled her scent. “How did you get here?”
She chewed her bottom lip. “I never left.”
“I’m so happy to see you, but it’s too dangerous.”
“It’s fine, Amy. You can protect me.”
I led her back to the cafeteria where everyone was. “Anyone want to explain? Lynx?”
He looked just as guilty as John. Cassiopeia was giving Lainie the stink eye. I glared at them all.
“It was Lynx,” Cass said.
“Düå,” Lynx spat.
“Lynx.”
“Sorry, nïx. I just wanted to bring Lain for you. I know how much you care about her. And look, she loves it.”
“I’m sorry,” Lainie said.
“It’s okay. You can stay. It’s not like there’s anywhere else you can go,” I said.
“Actually, there’s an SE base close to our location,” said Cass.
“Cass,” I exhaled sharply just as Lainie asked what SE was.
Space Enforcement. They were like police in space. There were very strict rules of the universe. They controlled it all, even if Earth and a few other planets were oblivious to the universe’s secrets. SE kept alliances intact. They had one overall rule; never tell oblivious planets of SE’s existence.
“It’s nothing, love.” I held Lainie’s waist.
“What? She cannot stay here. She does not belong with us, on Enceladus,” Cassiopeia said.
“Excuse me?” I let go of Lainie and stepped closer to Cass.
“Zë tô zür ïjå. Ŷë gïx.”
I slapped her. “You are not my family. You have never been my family.”
She stumbled back, shocked. “I kept you out of trouble in all of your cowardice years on Enceladus.”
I tackled her to the ground. We wrestled and I heard Lainie yell my name. Cass reacted by using her telekinesis to hold me above her, in the air.
“Put me down!”
She laughed at me. I had split her lip with my slap. It was bleeding slightly.
She kept me in the air and with her other hand summoned her control of elements. At first I didn’t know what she was doing. Then I quickly realized. She used it to suck the air out of my lungs.
I gasped, bringing my hands to my throat. Cass let me down but continued to torture me. I vaguely heard Lainie screaming. My vision started to dull. Lainie knelt in front of me.
“Okay, try to calm down,” she said. She started rubbing my back. I assumed she thought it was a panic attack and not Cass’ magic.
Suddenly I could breathe. I inhaled several deep breaths. I looked around to see what had changed.
Across the room, Cass was lying on the floor, passed out. Lynx was the source. John wouldn’t have touched a hair on our heads. Lynx nodded to me and I gave a curt nod back.
“Princess Cassiopeia!” John rushed to her side. He obviously had a thing for my rotten sister.
“Amy, are you alright?” Lainie had me in her arms as soon as I started gulping air. “What happened?”
I looked up into her concerned brown eyes. “Remember how I told you Enceladians have powers?” I inhaled. “Well, Cass specializes in controlling elements. Just now she used it to take my air.”
“Why does she hate you?”
Out of the corner of my eye I saw John carrying Cass out of the cafeteria.
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I look nothing like Lynx or Cass. I also look nothing like my parents or Del and Cal. They used to say mother had an affair and had me. So they were never kind to me. They would bully me. Except for Lynx. He was always so nice and loving.” I smiled at him.
“Mïð zü,” he said and left the room.
“Did he say ‘I love you’?” Lainie asked.
I nodded.
“What did Cassiopeia say to you earlier?”
I sat up and looked at my lap. “She said ‘we are your family. Not her’.”
“Oh.”
“You are part of my family. You and Lynx are my family. Ü mïð zü.”
She grinned and kissed me. “You have to teach me your language.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡegx01Tzgpj
Chapter 7
December
It was a month later and we were about to land on Enceladus’ spacecraft dock. My world was dark and cold, no sun. No sun meant crop growth problems. But our scientists who lived in the E Division (control of the elements) came up with an artificial sun system hundreds of years ago.
Our temperature never got above 60 degrees Fahrenheit. And if it ever did, we’d be in trouble. Our planet and our bodies wouldn’t react well. That was why during the summers in Ohio, I left to somewhere colder. I returned early this year to work.
We landed on the dock. I handed Lainie several layers to wear because of the cold. We stepped out and it was terror. We were slightly above the city and there were fires as far as the eye could see. Even though I had never really liked Enceladus, my heart went out to the citizens, especially the children.
There was shooting below us. Enceladus didn’t have guns. At least not the dirt poor citizens. We used swords. My father had declared fire arms outdated and outlawed because of our abilities. There must have still been some guns still in our weaponry.
I grabbed Lainie’s hand. “How do we get to the kingdom?” I asked Lynx.
“Fly.”
I looked to the sky. There were a handful of Enceladians in the sky. We didn’t know which of those people were part of the coup.
“I won’t let anything happen to you crown Princess Cassiopeia, Princess Amelia and Prince Lynx. And you too, Lainie.” John bowed.
That seemed like an unnecessary mouthful. We all knew he had sworn to protect us.
“We should hide you, Amelia,” Cass said. We had made up since the fight but I still wasn’t feeling any sisterly love from or towards her.
John grabbed a hooded blazer from the ship. I put it on and we set out into the sky. The royal palace was sixteen kilometers from the docking station. We flew past the planet square (the equivalent to a city square or circle) which was overrun with rioters. I wasn’t sure what they were rioting. The king and queen were dead.
John was carrying me again. I struggled to keep my hood up against the wind. I desperately wished I had my own wings.
Someone unexpectedly flew into John and I fell from his arms. I was in a free fall and had no way to stop myself.
“Amy!” Lainie screamed.
I tried to scream but nothing came out. I was falling at least six meters. I couldn’t see the ground yet. I saw both John and Cassiopeia racing after me. Cass didn’t love me but she didn’t want me to die. I’d call that progress.
Why was I joking right now?
Probably because I was about to die.
John was close to me but not close enough to grab me. I fell faster than he flew. Points for me.
I was getting closer to the ground. I could see fires on the side of the dirt road. I would be a splat on the road and no one could help me.
Suddenly I felt an immense pain in my back. It hurt so badly, my eyes watered. I again tried to cry out but no sound came. The ground grew closer and closer. I closed my eyes.
Abruptly I stopped falling. I opened my eyes. I was nearly a foot off the ground. I looked around to see what had caught me. John and Cass had just landed, staring at me curiously.
My brows came together. I looked behind me.
I had caught myself.
My wings had come. But that wasn’t the weird part. The weird part was that one wing was white and the other was black.
John and Cass were staring at me like I really was the môn.
I shrugged and my wings moved with my shoulders. It was so strange to have wings. Like I had an extra body part.
“Amy!” Lainie and Lynx landed. She ran into my arms. “Are you okay?” Then she stepped backward, looking at my wings. “They’re beautiful,” she whispered. She hugged me again. “I thought you were going to die.” There were tears streaking her beautiful face.
“Hey, I’m alright. See?” I flexed my wings. They were huge, bigger than any of my siblings’. And they knew it.
Cass looked at me with envy and John looked awestruck.
“Okay, yeah, your wings are lovely. We don’t have time. Del and Cal could be dying and we’re just standing here,” Lynx said in a rush.
We took off and this time I got to carry my girlfriend. The takeoff was a little rocky but as soon as I was soaring I got the hang of it quickly. I was shocked. It took Enceladians a few years to master flying. We went to Ability/Wing school until we were 130 years old.
We landed at the mansion. I barely recognized it. The gates surrounding it were completely gone. The windows of the king’s part of the castle had been damaged. I could tell Delphinus and Caelum had tried to keep the citizens out of the palace. It didn’t look like it was working. The castle itself was scorchedfrom multiple fires, some still lit.
I held on tightly to Lainie. If she got hurt, I didn’t know what I’d do.
We went inside the main doors. The house I hated was trashed. And not just with trash. There were bodies littering the floor, most dressed in guard’s armor, some normal citizens. From the smell, I knew they were old, months old.
Lainie had her hand over her mouth and nose. Her eyes started to water. She had never seen such carnage. I unfurled my new wings and shielded her with my black one.
We walked passed the bodies and went straight to the throne room. Lynx threw open the doors. What I saw was almost comical.
Caelum was in the king’s throne and Delphinus was in the queen’s. They were both wearing elegant battle armor.
Del was just as gorgeous as the last time I saw her, with her ash hair and green eyes.
“Nïx, nïxï.” Delphinus said. “Amelia,” she spat in disgust. “I see you got your wings. And of course they’re devil wings.”
I flexed them, revealing Lainie. Caelum and Del gasped.
“Fån ôp gïx?” Cal said ‘who is she’. Hello to you too, Caelum. He matched Del’s appearances but he was more muscular since the last time I saw him.
“Amelia’s consort. Human,” snarky Cassiopeia said.
I rolled my eyes. “Nice to see you too, Cal.”
“Amelia.” Caelum got up and grabbed my forearm as a greeting gesture. I stared, mouth open. “We are glad you came.” My eyes widened even more than my mouth.
It was like he had matured since I’d been gone. But not enough because he didn’t acknowledge Lainie.
I introduced Lainie to Del and Cal. “Now, do you know where the leaders of the coup are?”631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRGNTrM7RG4
“Well, when they killed mother and father, there was only six men. We killed them all immediately but have you seen the streets? The leaders of the coup weren’t the ones who killed mother and father. They sent their followers, the cowards,” Cal said.
“How many guards are left?” I asked. I put my wings away, which was an odd sensation. I had always watched people put them away but never felt it myself. It felt like a limb disappearing into thin air. But somehow I could still feel them inside me even though they just vanished entirely
“About seventy. We lost a lot during the first few months,” said Del.
The kingdom had at least 200 guards. “Well you didn’t answer my first question. Do you have any idea where the leaders are?”
Caelum shifted. He was obviously uncomfortable with my new sense of authority. I wouldn’t let them bully me a second more. “We think they are residing in the planet hall. The square is where they fight.”
“Then let’s go.”
Lynx stopped me. “Amelia. You’re getting ahead of yourself. You have no weapons or armor.”
Lainie was biting her lip. “Where will I stay?”
“Here, love. You can stay with our best guards,” I said. “Right Caelum?”
He nodded, holding back whatever disgusting comment he would have normally made.
Lynx clapped his hands together. “Okay. Weapons. Armor.”
Lainie, Lynx, Cass, John and I went to the weaponry downstairs. There were also dead bodies all over the floor. No one was in charge so no one had ordered any servants or guards to clean up the bodies.
“How are Del and Cal still alive?” I murmured under my breath.
John heard me. “It seems to me that they haven’t fought yet, Princess.”
Of course those chickens hadn’t fought in all three months of the civil war.
I held Lainie close again. Nothing would happen to her. I’d let something happen to my “siblings” quicker than I would Lainie. Minus Lynx.
Lynx picked out some gear for me and it was almost comical. Almost.
He gave me a thick, dark red leather body suit.
“Nope.” I handed it back to him.
He rolled his eyes and shoved it back in my arms. “You have to. You’ll look sexy, nïx.”
I mimicked him, rolling my eyes. “Fine.”
After I put it on, he put a metal gorget on me that went around my neck and ended high on my chest. He handed me a type of black corset that was as hard as a human’s bulletproof vest but more fashionable. He looked in the closet for something else. Out he came with a cuisse. Cuisse armor went around a person’s thighs, hooked on the body with a belt and two fastens behind the legs. He secured those on me. Afterward he gave me red gloves, a sword with a sheath, a few knives and a shield. The shield that had my initials on it. When I still lived on Enceladus, Orion had shields made for each of us along with weapons.
“You look hot,” Lainie said.
Lynx came up behind her and raised an eyebrow. “I told you so,” he said in Enceladian.
Caelum ordered several guards to look after Lainie.
I had a few minutes to say goodbye.
She hugged me like she’d never let go. “I love you, Amelia. You’d better come back to me. If you don’t I’ll resurrect you just to kill you again. You can’t leave me too.”
I winced. She was referring to her mother. I held her face, wiping away some tears. “I won’t leave you, Lainie. Ü mïð zü.”
I squeezed her once more and Lynx pulled me out the door.
We took off into the sky. The princes and princesses of Enceladus. Plus several guards, including John. We were all in similar attire. By my wings, people would instantly know who I was. Everyone else had white wings. Not white and black.
We landed in the planet square. Shockingly, there was no one around.
“So what’s our plan?” Lynx asked.
Cal, Del and Cass all spoke at once.
“We attack them in there.” Delphinus.
“We sneak in through the windows.” Cassiopeia.
“We distract them with our elements.” Caelum.
I walked away from their bickering and scanned the building. “No.” I thought of something. “We draw them out. There could be traps inside.”
My siblings faced me like I was a stranger to them. They had never seen the real side of me. The side I had come to be. “We make loud noises out here so they come. Then we attack. We also need a formation.”
John cleared his throat. He looked so fierce in his outfit, I could see why Cass liked him. “Us guards shall be first. Your highnesses last. It is our duty to protect you five at all cost.”
I agreed. “Don’t use your powers unless they come at us with their own. Most of them are only trained in one power.” Thanks to Orion’s rules. “So we can take them down easier. Don’t use the same power they use on you. Be creative. We want to keep the fight on the ground. It’ll be easier. So tuck away your wings, only to be used when needed. But Del, I want you to use your invisibility at first since you specialize in it. Surprise them.” I wouldn’t show how scared I really was.
My siblings again stared wide-eyed at me. “Understand?” They all nodded. “Good. Now Cassiopeia, make some noise.” I grinned.
Cass used her elements to bring up a giant piece of the earth and smash it down. It shook the ground. We heard chaos ensue; yelling from the other side of the square. I could only imagine how each Division was doing with our government-less planet.
Cass did it once more. Suddenly the doors to the planet hall swung open. We were about ten feet away from the building.
“Ah, the rest of the scraggly royal family,” yelled a man, stepping out of the building. “Come to fight us?”
“We’ve come to avenge our parents’ death and take back our planet,” Caelum shouted back.
The man chuckled. Several more men came out behind him, all armed.
“Once we kill you we can finally take what your father stole from us.”
A sour feeling sprouted in my stomach. My father was an awful man. He was controlling, manipulative and cruel. The people of Enceladus just wanted to be free.
“Now,” whispered Cal. Then we attacked.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpaI1ZHR6Kf
I had never killed anyone before. So when I did, it was a shock to say the least. I pulled my sword out of the man’s chest. Blood spewed everywhere. I almost threw up. I became dizzy and sick with guilt. What did these people do to me? Nothing and I had just killed one. Bile rose in my throat again. I pushed it down and fell to my knees.
“Amelia!” Lynx yelled. “You can feel sorry later. Now, fight!” He had just decapitated someone. My siblings hadn’t killed people either until a few months ago. They seemed to be doing just fine.
I snapped out of it when someone punched me.
“So, the môn is back. You’re a pretty little thing, with your unusual wings.” The man who’d punched me was holding his sword at his side, not in a ready position.
I wiped the blood from my mouth and stood up. “Fëŵ zü.”
He laughed. “Feisty.” He tried to hit me again but I blocked it with my sword. He screamed, falling to his knees. He gripped the nub where his hand used to be. I lifted my sword to kill him but I heard Lynx scream.
I whipped around. Lynx had a sword stuck through his shoulder. It wasn’t fatal but it opened something inside of me.
My vision got darker. My wings unfurled. I cried out as my wings felt like they were growing. Suddenly I lost control of my actions.
I soared into the air, just high enough to see the whole fight. I lifted my hand and somehow threw off a guy that Del was struggling with. I was nowhere near close enough to touch him.
I silently thought to one of the men fighting Cassiopeia, “you want to stab yourself”. And he did. He stabbed himself right through his heart. Cass looked up at me, wide-eyed.
I took out all the men who were responsible for the coup. Breaking their necks, slitting their throats, making them kill themselves, suffocating them, setting them on fire, ripping off their wings.
All of a sudden all traces of Amy vanished. I wanted to kill everyone there. I was furious.
Something primal stirred inside me. I opened my mouth and inhaled deep. The people below me looked to the sky. Their mouths opened too and with each second I grew stronger. I looked at them all. Everyone had some kind of white mist coming out of them. It was empowering. They were at my mercy. I felt strong. No one would ever defeat me.
Our fight had drawn a crowd. I took from them too. Whatever the white mist was, it made me stronger.
“Amy!”
I shut my mouth and all the ants collapsed. I turned my head to see a blue-haired human. Why was a human on Enceladus?
I lowered to the ground.
“Amy! What are you doing?”
I stared at her enchanting hair and flew closer. I landed and folded my wings. “Who are you?”
She gazed at me, hurt. “It’s me, your girlfriend Lainie.”
“Lainie.” It sounded strange in my mouth.
“What happened to your eyes? What were you doing to those people? This isn’t right,” she said.
I reached my hand out and lifted her up using my powers. She started to gasp for air. I smiled.
“Amelia . . .”
I was tempted to crush her windpipe but she was just so enticing to me. I could keep her as a trophy when I became queen.
I set her down. She panted. Then before I could react she lunged at me and knocked me down. She straddled me, pinning my arms down. As if I couldn’t kill her with a single thought. But I remained still to see what she would do.
She kissed me. Her mouth tasted like mint and I threw her off of me.
“Amy . . . ?” She crawled towards me.
Suddenly it all came back to me. “Lainie.”
She hugged me. “What the hell happened?”
I blinked several times, getting my bearings. “What did I do?” I was horrified. At least two dozen people littered the square. I did that.
“I don’t know . . .”
My hands started to shake. “Did I hurt you?”
She shook her head.
“Lynx?” I questioned. “Lynx!” I rose to my feet. I scanned the roads. “Did I kill them?”
Lainie shrugged. In her eyes was fear. She was afraid of me. “Your eyes were black. You should’ve seen what you did.” She shuddered. “All of these people had their mouths open with white stuff coming out. It was all going to you--inside you. It was like you took their-”
“Energy,” I finished. “I felt it. Coursing through my veins. It was a rush. A terrible, power-hungry rush.”
I heard painful moaning. I glanced around. Some of the people were stirring.
“Lynx?” I saw him amidst the people. He still had a sword through his shoulder. I rushed over. He sat up and cried out in pain.
“Amelia.” He reached out a bloody hand in a “stop” motion. “You nearly killed us,” he coughed out.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know what I was doing. It just happened.” I slowly stepped closer. I had to take the sword out or else it would damage his flight for the rest of his life.631Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRFtpytX7ec
“How did you do that?”
I shrugged, feeling my wings. “I took your energy.”
Delphinus, who was next to Lynx, woke up with a gasp. She stared at me, frightened.
“I need to get that sword out of you,” I said.
Lynx nodded. When I came closer, Del scooted away.
I tore off the breastplate of his armor. I put one hand on his chest and the other on the hilt of the sword. I gave it a swift tug. He screamed in agony. Then it was out. He huffed when I tore some of his shirt to press it to the wound. Even when he was on the verge of losing the ability to fly, he still cared about his clothes.
He gave me a grateful nod. “I’ve never heard of the ability to suck energy.”
“That’s because it doesn’t exist.”
I turned around and saw Caelum and Cassiopeia. I was relieved to see that I didn’t kill them.
“It is called energy sourcing. And somehow you managed not to kill us all,” said Cal.
I opened my mouth to ask him how he knew that but more of the citizens started to wake. I remembered brutally killing those responsible for the deaths of Orion and Vela.
Apparently I didn’t “energy source” anybody for long enough to kill them.
I also realized that I got my powers. That was how I did all the killings before I took the energy from the citizens.
“You really are the devil,” whispered Cal.
The insult hurt me more than it ever had but I ignored him. “I’m sorry everyone. I don’t know what came over me. I wasn’t thinking.”
Lainie came up to me. She stood next to me and grasped my hand. “Ü mïð zü.” The words were clumsy in her human mouth but beautiful nonetheless.
“I love you too.” I kissed her cheek. I had no clue what time it was but I was exhausted.
The citizens gathered around us. One older boy came straight up to me. “Be our queen,” he said in Enceladian.
I stared at him incredulously and struggled not to laugh. Though it wasn’t funny. “Queen? That’s ridiculous.”
“You are a force to be reckoned with. No one will ever attempt a coup again, not even our neighboring planets,” said an old woman, coming forward, also speaking in Enceladian.
“I-I can’t. I’m not meant to rule. I know nothing about ruling a planet. I’m two centuries younger than my siblings, who are much more capable. Like crown Princess Cassiopeia.”
Cass brushed off her armor and stood straighter. Caelum desperately wanted to be King but it was Cass’ right, being two years older than him, so he kept his mouth shut.
“My life is on Earth with my human girlfriend,” I said proudly. The citizens instantly started whispering disapprovingly. From the research and the rumors they’d heard about Earth, they thought all humans were dumb, greedy and wasteful. Three words that described Orion.
Lainie grinned and squeezed my hand.
Cass stepped up. “As your crown princess, I will restore our government to the way it should have always been. I do not agree with the late King Orion’s policies. My first abolishment as your queen would be the sanction that you cannot fly or use your powers in public. That is absurd.”
The crowd cheered.
“But what about using all of our God-given powers?” asked an elderly man.
“I will have to talk that law over with my council.”
“Will you be getting married?” said the same older boy that asked me to be queen.
“I-” Cass was stopped by John, battered and bruised, stumbling up to her.
“Crown Princess Cassiopeia Ladus, would you do me the honor of marrying me?”
Everyone gasped, even me.
“John, I don’t know what to say. We haven’t been together in eight years,” said Cass.
“I never stopped loving you. There wasn’t a day on Earth that I didn’t miss you.”
I decided they needed some privacy. “Everyone, why don’t we give our crown Princess a little space?” The citizens groaned in protest but hurried along. I suspected they were still afraid of me.
“Are we going home?” asked Lainie.
I hugged her tight. “Soon, love. All I want to do is curl up with you and not move for maybe the next week.” I realized that my body was sore.
“Well it is winter and we can happily get snowed in.”
Her blue hair blew in the wind. “You’re gorgeous, did you know that?”
She grinned, her cheeks becoming redder than they already were due to the cold.
“Lynx, can you fly?” I asked him.
He flexed his wings and winced. “I’d better just rest them.”
“Okay, we’re going back to the castle.” I took off with Lainie in my arms.
“Can I see you old room?” Lainie asked.
I couldn’t say no to her.
We climbed the elegant staircase.
My room, Cass’ room and Del’s room were next to each other with adjoining doors separating them.
We stepped into my room and Lainie was taken aback while sour memories filled my head. The room was exactly how I’d left it.
Lainie walked further in and made cute gasping sounds. “It’s beautiful! It’s bigger than any room I’ve ever seen.” She sat on the four poster bed. “What’s this?”
I was saved from the brink of a nasty flashback when Lainie held up an envelope with my name on it. I grabbed it and instantly recognized the handwriting. It was my mother’s.
It read;
My dearest Amelia, if you are reading this then it means that you have returned to Enceladus and something has happened to me. I’m sorry that I had to write this to you rather than explaining it in person. I wish I could have seen you again. I always loved you even though at times it may have seemed like I despised you. I must tell you how you were really made. Orion is not your father. I am barely even your mother. I conceived you, yes, but you may have noticed by now that you are not entirely normal. One hundred nineteen years ago, I was dumb and reckless. I loved Orion but I was unhappy. I did not cheat on him in the physical sense. But on the religious level. I prayed to the Gods to bring me another child. One that was kind and beautiful, with a strong heart. But what answered me weren’t the Gods. What, or who, answered me was the devil. The devil in whatever sense you think about him. Whatever religion, whatever faith. I made a sacrifice to him, not knowing who he was. The sacrifice was my soul. I sacrificed everything for you and still managed to feel love for you. I gathered ingredients and made potions. I killed to create you. I lied, I stole and manipulated everyone close to me. The day after I made the main sacrifice, I was pregnant. I conceived you just six short months later. You were made from dark magic and a soulless being. I don’t want this to change how you are, who you are. You are amazing and I wish I could’ve known the real you; the you not trapped on Enceladus. Ü mïð zü. Don’t forget yourself.
~Vela
I fell to my knees and stopped breathing.
“Amy?” It sounded like Lainie was under water.
I shakily handed her the letter.
She gasped as she read through it. Her voice still sounded far away. “Oh, Amy.” She put the letter next to me.
I used my telekinesis to crumple it up. I had no clue how I had mastered my powers so effortlessly. I had them for only hours and they seemed perfected, just like my flying abilities.
Lainie, the darling that she was, held me while I had a full-blown panic attack.
I didn’t know how much time had passed. I knew Lainie was speaking to me but I couldn’t decipher what exactly she was saying.
I couldn’t believe what was in the letter. I was created by dark magic. I was a daughter of the devil. The devil.
I laughed hysterically. Who even was I?
Eventually I pulled out of the attack, eyes watering.
“Amy, you do know who you are. I know who you are. You’re brave and strong and sweet. You are not the devil’s daughter. You are not evil or void of emotion. You love me. I love you. You’re passionate and kind.”
Apparently I had said those things out loud during my panic attack. I grabbed her gorgeous face. “I do love you. And you’re right. I know who I am. I’m Amy Thorne of Earth,” I said. I stretched out my wings in the enormous room. My wings touched the ceiling from my position of the floor. I couldn’t extend them fully if I were to stand. They were far bigger than any of my siblings’ and my “parents’”.
“Can we go home?” Lainie asked.
“Yes, love. We can go home.”
Chapter 9
One month later
Lainie and I finally burrowed into the Earth’s atmosphere in January 2021. It was a nice trip. Just Lainie and I.
We had missed the start of winter quarter at school but we could enroll for spring classes. Lainie didn’t seem to mind how much school we had missed. We were just happy to be together. We had also missed Christmas and the New Year. Lainie insisted she didn’t mind. I had never celebrated Christmas before so I wasn’t missing out.
I probably had several missed calls from work on my cellphone that I had neglected to bring to Enceladus. But I still didn’t care. I had finally gotten my powers and I felt stronger, better.
There had been a rough goodbye between Lynx and I. He made me promise to not let it be eight years until I saw him again. I had agreed and mumbled awkward goodbyes to my other siblings. They each had thanked me in their own unique way and I considered that progress.
Lainie and I stepped into my apartment. There was a stale smell from it not being aired out in two months.
I opened some windows.
“It’s good to be home,” Lainie purred. Whether she was talking about my apartment or Earth, I didn’t know. I kissed her. She blushed. “I want to know more about your planet. Tell me everything.” She cradled her head in her hands and gazed curiously at me.
So then I launched into everything there was to know about Enceladus.
Epilogue
Vela approached the planet’s spacecraft dock. She had to leave without being seen but there were four guards in the way. She didn’t want to use her invisibility because that was too easy.
“Queen Vela,” one of them greeted as they noticed her.
Bæt.
Vela calmly unsheathed her sword and not too calmly decapitated one guard. She used her telekinesis to crush the second guard’s skull. On the last two guards she used her mind control, what she specialized in, and made them kill themselves.
Feeling satisfied, Vela jumped in a small ship and set course to Earth. She felt a dull pain in her chest at leaving Orion to be killed. It wasn’t powerful enough to make her go back but at least she knew she wasn’t a complete monster. Or was she? The devil did take her soul.
She no longer wanted to be the Queen but she didn’t fake her death for that selfish of a reason. No, it was much bigger than her. She urgently needed to tell Amelia why. In the letter she wrote, she couldn’t tell Amelia about the changes. Someone would have found it. She also couldn’t tell her why she cancelled the treaty or faked her death. That had to be done in person.
Vela desperately wanted to save her planet and knew that her daughter, crown Princess Cassiopeia wouldn’t have believed her old mother. Amelia would save their planet.
Maybe for the second time if the King’s and my death caused an uproar, Vela thought.
Vela knew sentencing her own husband was cruel but it had to be done. Vela had to make up for what she’d done the past 500 years.
Starting with saving their planet.
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