Contradicting Worlds

"Wait, so after all this, and then Sarah finally agreed to talk to us--which I doubt would happen--and she concurs with us. What will happen next?" Clain asks, glancing around all of us but unfortunately, none of us knew. "I mean, you said earlier that this disease is still running wild. If--and this is a very big if--Sarah withholds this whole...fiasco. How can we stop this virus from spreading? Especially since you told us that this could wipe the world out." We all stare at Roderick, marking time as he remains silent. We are now all standing around Clain"s dining table since there isn"t enough chair. Roderick is sitting on the only chair situated on the head of the table, he"s gazing on the table when he finally lifts his eyes and met mine. I hold his stare and I can feel the eyes of everyone dancing between us.

"She would know," he said in a clear and confident tone. The thing is, I don"t know what the h.e.l.l he"s talking about.

I blink at him in confusion. "Me?" I query while pointing my index finger at my chest.

"And her?" He nods in the direction of Juliana. I pivot to regard Juliana but she doesn"t seem to be as surprised as me instead her gaze is directed toward Roderick and she"s narrowing her eyes at him. I know at once that they are speaking through Juliana"s link and I know that she blocked us out since we can"t hear what they"re talking about.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Riley asks, sliding her arm around Juliana"s waist while putting the other on the table so she can lean her weight on it. "Care to share? The two of you?" Her eyes bounce between Juliana and Roderick but neither of them is paying attention to any of us, they just look like both deep in conversation through their eyes.

Finally, after a good 5 minutes of the silent treatment, Juliana rears back and sighs heavily, furrowing her brows in the process. "Rebecca," I turn to Roderick. "Look at the mark on your right arm." As if acting on instinct, I hide my arm from his view.

"H-how do you kn-know that?" I stammer. And everyone looked at me with confusion written all over their faces. Only Juliana looks at me with...understanding?

I ask her without really asking out the question. She knows just by my expression. Her breathing got heavy and she bit on her bottom lip, looking hesitant. She brings her arm out, her hand coiled in a fist which rested on the table, her wrist facing upward. Then she pulls the sleeve back and I stifle my gasp, searching for her eyes but she won"t look at me.

I mimic her movements, watching her the whole time but she won"t look at me. Our group gasps but my jaws are clenched and grinding so hard I am afraid my teeth were breaking. "Care to explain what"s happening to the three of you?" Avery requests for the three of us.

"Among the 8 gammas, there are two people that have two unique abilities each." Roderick took the liberty to answer Avery"s question when neither one of us speaks. "The two of them were called the royalties. They were able to connect with the other universe. The Verse of the Wild, we call it. That is the only universe that can help us restore the balance on earth and stop the spread of the virus. The first royalty was called The Life Royalty, she can bring back the dead to life. The other one is "The Knowledge Royalty", she can foresee things and she can visit the events that had happened in the past, she can do anything that has something to do with time. The late royalties were--your mother--Allianah and the other one was Sarah." He looks between Juliana and I but I kept my eyes glued to him. "As to why I know this. Allianah treated us like her own family ever since the government killed her real ones. We didn"t keep secrets from each other so the moment she had these dreams, she told us but Sarah managed to keep it hidden to us. Knowledge Royalty ought to know that there are always two Royalties. The Knowledge Royalty was made to support The Life Royalty. We didn"t know this until Sarah finally told us. She told us the day of our revolution but she also informed us that she couldn"t tell us what she foresees because it won"t change a thing and because it was against the rules of time. She told us once, she tried to a.s.sess what will happen and it cost her Jacob"s life. Since then, we didn"t even bother asking her if she sees something. Because we"ll know, she always acted strangely like something is bothering her but she never opened up to us. We can"t blame her. She was traumatized by what happened to Jacob. She thought that if she gives us a hint--even a hint--would cause for her to lose something valuable."

"The day I watched her killed every last one of our family," he continues after a great silence. "I thought she has gone mad. But then I watched as it broke her. It shattered her into a million pieces. Now, I realize that she didn"t do it because she has gone mad but because she has to. She has to stop the spread of the virus."

"Then why is she doing this? If this virus already claimed lives then why is she killing people? What is she trying to achieve from this? Because we all know that if she doesn"t stop, and together with the virus..." Stewart trails off and we all swallow, even Roderick closes his eyes. "We are going to reach human extinction in no time." In every word, his voice reduces itself in a whisper.

"I don"t know. I don"t know her full plan." Roderick repeated. "This is why we"ve got to stop her. And we need to demand answers from her. As for the two new Royalties, your two friends here are the chosen ones. I"m guessing you--" he points his finger at me--"are the life royalty just like your mother." I give him a sharp nod and he turns to observe Juliana. "And you are the new knowledge royalty." Juliana nods slowly. He releases a deep breath. "It"s already late. You have to sleep to prepare for tomorrow."

"Wait, what"s for tomorrow?" Avery asks and Roderick stops mid-way from standing.

He fully stands before answering. "You are going to train of course."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

I"m looking at Clain"s window with his translucent curtains drawn. My arms crossed over my chest. After all, I am not looking because I am so deep in thought. I am still trying to digest everything that Roderick said whereas my friends were all asleep, terribly exhausted from all the information. They are upstairs, cram up in Clain"s confined bedroom s.p.a.ce while Nate and I chose to have the couch so we can alert them if anything happens.

I feel arms snaking around my waist and pulling me into a hard chest. Nate rests his chin on my shoulder, pressing a kiss on my cheek. "What are you thinking?" His breath is hot against my ear. I lean my head against his shoulder and close my eyes.

"I don"t know," I trailed off. "Everything." I shrug then sigh. "It"s just...I feel like I"m missing something big. We"re missing something big." I turn my head slightly so my nose is brushing on his cheek.

He shifted so he"s turning us and we are standing, face-to-face with each other. He cups my face so I can look at his eyes. "Are you having second thoughts? Just so you know I am with you, whatever it is that you want." The sincerity in his eyes made me smile and I lean into his hands.

"It"s okay. I am not having second thoughts because I feel like Sarah can give me the answers that I want." He kisses me softly then we heard a throat clearing. We pull apart just slightly and look at the direction of the sound. Juliana is at the bottom of the staircase looking at the two of us with a shy look.

"Uhm, I"m sorry to ruin the moment but do you mind?" She looks at me then to Nate then back to me again. Nate presses his lips on my forehead and says he"ll be in the kitchen if I need him and I nod. Once we were alone, Juliana speaks. "I"m sorry that I didn"t tell you. It"s just---"

"I understand," I put a hand to stop her ramble. Because I truly understand. "I didn"t open up too. Besides no one is harmed and that is all that matters." I smile at her and she returns it then she breaks into sobs and then the next thing I know we are hugging each other. We are laughing and sobbing at the same time, in short, we are a crazy mess. But I love crazy. "You scared me there when you took the knife for me. I thought I had lost you for good." She pulls back and looks at me and shakes her head while her eyes are close.

"Uh-uh. You won"t lose me." She opens her eyes and that"s how I know that she knows that I will never really lose her. We hug for what seems like an eternity until we finally broke apart and she heads to their room.

Nate came back to me with a smile. He encloses me in his arms and I breathe him in. "Let"s get some sleep, shall we?" I nod in his chest, mumbling okay.

We resume our former position. His arm is around me, the other is behind my head, playing with my hair, while I lay my head on the crook of his shoulder, my nose is pressed against his neck, my arms wound tightly around his waist. "I love you," I whisper. I can almost feel his smile as his arms tighten around me.

"I love you." He said back and that"s how we sleep, like monkeys wrapped around each other. And I don"t mind. Not a single bit.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

*CLAIN"S POV*

I hate sleeping on the floor but I"ve got no choice since Riley and her girlfriend took my bed. My bed! Nonetheless, if I try to force her to sleep on the floor she would kick my b.a.l.l.s so I just drop it and accept her explanation that Juliana is still healing blah blah blah. But it isn"t so bad. Sleeping on the floor I mean.

Isabella stirred in my arms and I feel her turn around so she can face me. See? It isn"t so bad after all. I open my eyes a little to see her staring right at me. "I"m scared," she whispers whine to me.

"Because of what?"

"I don"t know." Her answer comes out frustrated. I tighten my arms around her. Because I know that she has a lot of things running in her mind right now. Because she"s worried about what might happen after. (Honestly, all of us are afraid we are just naughty to say it.) Because she"s worried about a lot of things and because she"s Isabella. She doesn"t let anyone see her real emotion because she feels like she needs to act strong and tough for all of us since she"s the oldest. Even though I don"t like it because every time something bad happens she blames herself for being not competent enough for us. I can"t force her to change so instead I forced her to open up to me and through time she learns how to rely on me and only me. I can"t say I don"t like it because I love it, she let me see the part of her that none of our group see and I am more than happy to help her.

"Sleep baby." I murmur in her hair. "Sleep. I promise tomorrow will be better." I am lying and we both know it but we want to believe in it. She sighs and a minute later her breathing is regulated and for once, I think I said the right thing.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

*RILEY"S POV*

We were woken up by a loud banging on the door at the crack of dawn. I yawn out loud and stumble to get out of the room, my eyes are still heavy with sleep. By the time I made it at the bottom of the stairs, Roderick is already inside the house, brushing off the dust from his suit. He looks up and so does Rebecca who"s the one who opened the door. "Sup, people." I acknowledge them and they nod in my direction.

I head to the kitchen to pour myself a cup of coffee. The coffee maker"s halfway from making my coffee when I felt small arms encloses around my waist. I stop the coffee maker, get my mug and turn around so I can fully give her my attention. Juliana is smaller than me and skinnier than me in lots of ways. She looks up at me with that sleepy look of hers and she smiles with her eyes close. "Hey, girl, sleep well?" I ask her, kissing the top of her forehead.

"Mm," she mumbles. "Coffee." Her voice sounds rasp from sleep and I chuckle. "You smell good." She said in my chest and I laugh again.

I turn us around so I can start her coffee and I put her on the counter. She looks so adorable with her eyes close that I lean in and kiss her nose. "Careful, we"re supposed to be practicing," I told her when she puts her hands around my neck and pulls me close so I am between her legs.

I am leaning in to kiss her when a very disturbing voice suddenly came out of nowhere. "Hey, folks." Clain"s stupid voice said and Juliana yelps in my arms, she"s fully awake now. "Roderick said we gotta go out and practice." I grunts and I can almost see his smirk and Juliana laughs lightly.

I heard his footsteps fade and Juliana looks at me. "We gotta go, babe." She dares to look smug. She jumps off the counter and pats me on my chest as she goes but she stops when she"s at the doorway. "Oh, and bring me my coffee." Then she walks out.

"I hate this day already," I mutter but smile nonetheless.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

"I told you yesterday that the gammas were called gammas because of their powerful abilities. Their abilities can penetrate through anything. In short, they have no weaknesses. Except for being tired, of course. Y"all are still human after all." Roderick said. All of us are gathered in Clain"s backyard or should I say the forest at the back of Clain"s house. Because it"s not his, but the government"s but he likes to own it, says there"s no one using it and no exiles are lurking in the shadows so we"re safe to practice here. That"s how we end up sitting under the scorching gaze of the sun with Roderick lecturing us about our powers.

"Now, let"s start your training. We don"t have much time."

Several hours later, we are slick with sweat, we are heaving--not panting but heaving!--and we are slump on the ground. "Wait, j-just one m-minute. Gi-give us at least...a...minute." Clain wheezes out. He"s lying on the gra.s.s, on his back with one arm slung over his eyes.

Over the few hours, Roderick was wearing us out. He is teaching us everything that we need to know about our abilities, which abilities are the hardest to fight, and every other thing. At first, it was fun but as his challenges get harder and harder, we are getting frustrated too and he all does was stand there and shout, "Come on, you can do it! You are the gammas!" B*tch I tell you I was so close to killing him myself if he told us one more time that we must do this and save this fudging world. Even Aimee, Dani, and Lia are on the ground because of him. Well, he was kind of including them in our training. He"s training them with knives and guns and everything because it"s essential for betas, like Dani and Lia, and an Alpha like Aimee for them to know these basic skills. He said, I quote.

"All right folks, that"s it for today. Tomorrow, I won"t be knocking at your door, I"m meeting you here. At 8 o"clock, sharp. Understand?"

"Yes, sir." We murmur while starting to stand up. None of us said a thing when we get to the house or even on our way to bed because we are exhausted. We fell asleep almost instantly after our long day.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

*REBECCA"S POV*

I am the first one to get up, it"s not even the crack of dawn yet but I cannot fall asleep after the rustle of leaves wakes me up. If I"m being honest, I can tell that I am being paranoid. Not for myself though but for my friends. So I got up as early as 3 am and my body AND mind is still sore from the training we got yesterday but I don"t mind because sleep left me the moment I woke up.

I put on my jacket, braid my hair, and then as quietly as possible I got out of the house. The rush of wind hits me and I shiver from the cold. I rub my hands on my arm as I step out of the threshold.

Roderick told us that it is safe to roam around the house but we shouldn"t go out within the 50 meters vicinity. I am not a person who disobeys the rule so I didn"t instead I went directly to our training ground yesterday.

I was forced to take a step back--surprised--when I saw Roderick there, smoking while sitting on a tree trunk. He looks up as if he senses me there and he resumes smoking. I don"t know how long I stand there, wondering what to do or what to say but then he stood up and made his way to me. "You"re up early."

I shrug then shiver. "I can"t sleep."

"You need strength." While blowing a smoke.

"Already have it," I answered curtly, looking everywhere but him.

"You look so much like your mother but with a little bit from your father." Only then that I look up at him.

"Can you..." I trailed off, hesitant. "Can you, Uhm, tell me about them? What were they like?"

He nods in understanding and he drops his cigarette and stomps on it. "Mm. Come sit with me then." I follow him and sit beside the tree trunk, on the gra.s.s. "Allianah. She"s a strong girl. A tough one if you ask me. She has a feisty side on her that we all come to love. She"s the one who makes the decision for all of us and for that we all look up to her. She has this nature to always find the good side in every bad thing that happened and she always likes to smile, she"s that kind of girl. Cheerful but doesn"t give a f*ck about what others think about her."

I release a low chuckle. "I guess I caught the latter part."

"Yeah, I guess you did. You"re a combination of them you know. Cade. He"s silent, always the resilient one. But he"s not the one who doesn"t have a sense of humor in him either. He jokes around us actually, that"s the side of him that we love. He"s not an all-out cold man. If he doesn"t know you, he"ll watch you because that"s what he does, he"s that protective. But if you get to know him, you"ll see the side of him that only us, his friends, see." We"re silent for a moment before he continues. "You have the tough exterior that Allianah always showed and the silence and resiliency of Cade. You also don"t care about what others think of you. But there"s one thing that the both of them possessed that they pa.s.sed onto you."

"What"s that?" I ask him, a sob bubbling out of my throat.

"You are strong and smart and have a big heart just like them." I continue to ponder on his words, wondering what if they are alive now. Would they be proud of me? Would they say the same thing that I am a combination of both of them? Would they agree or disagree with my choices? Would my life be different if they were here? "They are proud of you." I jump slightly, surprised that he"s still there but more surprised by myself that I didn"t feel him stay.

"How do you know that?" I turn to him.

"Because any parents will be. And they are watching over you, wherever they are. They will continue to watch over you." He stares blankly at the black sky as if he can see them through the clouds. He smiles a sad smile before returning his attention to me, breathing a white breath as he did. "I know you are a life royalty. And it"s your responsibility to save the world just like how it had been Allianah"s. But you need to know, saving the world from the current threat won"t save the world from future threats. But it will buy us time. Time to enjoy life while we have it. I know that you must be wondering why am I suddenly helping you guys when I allied with Sarah in the first place. But the thing is, you"re young. This--" he motions around us--"this shouldn"t have been what you see the moment you open your eyes. You shouldn"t have been stuck in this kind of world. That"s why we opposed the government in the first place because we wanted to make a world wherein the kids can go out and not be afraid to live and laugh and be wild and be free. This isn"t what we have planned. What we planned was a whole lot different. This was supposed to be a beautiful paradise made for the youth. Not a...a nightmare they need to wake up from. So, will you do me a favor?" He runs a hand on his face and looking at me skeptically.

"What is it?" My brows creating a crease.

"When this ends and Sarah is back. I mean back to her old self. You and the other gammas will restore the earth the way it was when it was born. Don"t ask me how it"s Leo"s duty to tell you how. When the earth was back to normal, I need you to do something..."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

We trained for days after that and every day we learn a new thing about our abilities or even about ourselves. We weigh the pros and cons of fighting Sarah and her minions.

Roderick still won"t tell us what his ability is and we stopped pestering him for it because honestly, you don"t want to see a Roderick-trying-so-hard-not-to-combust. So instead we just focus on our own business--which is of course--"taking down the queen of minions" as Clain likes to call it.

"I am so exhausted," Clain said. He plops down on the couch with a huff, his arm spread beside him. We all take our places on the floor while Juliana went to the kitchen to get us our water. She came back with a pitcher and gla.s.ses and she set it down on the table.

We all help ourselves then we all look when we heard the front door open. Roderick emerges and just like us, his skin is also shining with sweat. He went to stand in front of us and we all shift to listen. "Your skills have improved in terms of combat fighting. Y"all learned the pros and cons of your abilities and how fighting together will help you in the battle. For now, I want you to rest and by tomorrow, we will start our planning as to where we"ll be able to find the right allies."

Roderick starts moving but Stewart speaks which causes him to stop in his tracks. "Wait. Let"s say that we found allies but what would we tell them. "Hey, we are the gammas, your only chance to be saved. We are here to tell you that we are going against the government and we need you to be our ally. Don"t question why just come with us." I mean, if there"s a way to give their memories back maybe, just maybe, we can talk them into really going with us." We all look at Roderick and he looks at me.

"I know how." They all look at me with a weird expression on their faces.

"We both know." Juliana smiles at me, gentle and caring and I return it. I nod and turn to others.

"Yes, we know how and we"ll teach you tomorrow." They shrug and nod then Roderick excuse himself. Just like every other day, we went to bed without another word.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

*RILEY"S POV*

"Okay, so here are the top locations where we can find most of the exiles hiding." I heard Raven said from beside us. Our group had been divided into two, the girls in the south and the boys in the north which makes sense. They are situated in the living room while we are in the kitchen. We are all in gear because today is the day we will part and we"ll start searching for exiles.

"Remember, do your best to persuade them then when they agree that"s the only time you will bring their memories back. Okay?" Rebecca asks us and we nod.

Earlier in the day, they taught us how to disable those chips which alter our memories. After that, we disabled our own and I tell you, it hurts like h.e.l.l. Imagine, your skin being ripped and forcing a little bug out of your flesh without any pain reliever, dude I swear when they did that to me I was almost ready to die.

We weren"t like the warriors like Raven, Clain, Juliana, and Rebecca too. Remember the serum that the warriors used. Well, that is the reason why their wounds heal easily that even being a gamma can"t afford. Becca told us that her wound stopped healing since she also stopped taking the serum. So the look on her face was priceless when the wound on her nape healed within a second after undergoing the process. Being a life royalty helps with that.

Rebecca continues to talk about our plan and we all listen eagerly. By the time we"re done planning, the sun was already beginning its descend. Our month in the north was not as eventful as we thought it would be but I guess the suspense will kill us in its way.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

*REBECCA"S POV*

As we get ready to leave the north because night time is the only safe part of the day we could sneak out to the borders, I felt a soft brush on my shoulder before I fully felt the fingers on my wrist. I turn slowly to Nate and he gestures with his head for me to follow him. I trail behind him silently, the mission is getting on my nerves now. We round Clain"s house and he stopped when we were out of our friends" view. He turns around and faces me with an uncertain expression on his face.

I bridge the last steps between us and I reach to cup his cheek in my hand and he leans into the touch. He put his hand on mine and he turns his head to kiss my wrist. "I"m scared," he whispers against my skin.

"Me too," I mouth at him. His brows bunch in a concerned gesture.

"Can"t you just---"

"I can"t," I cut him off gently. I know he"s going to ask me why do we need to split up but it"s faster this way. I also know that it pains him as much as it pains me to be away from me and me from him. We just found each other and we just remembered each other and then we are forced to leave, but we have to. "Besides we"ll see each other when we"re done gathering allies."

He grumbles something under his breath and he almost pouts which is so cute that I reach over his neck and pull him in for a gentle kiss. I kiss him once. Twice. And more which causes him to laugh between kisses.

"Hey, folks! We need to get movin"," Clain"s voice booms from behind us, and Nate grunts and I giggle.

"Come on," I told him and I pivot around but he held me back. He uses my arm as leverage to turn me around and to face him. I laugh at him then stop myself when he has this serious face on. "What is it?"

He then places his hand in the s.p.a.ce between us which reveals a lovely looking necklace that I remember so well. My eyes welled up with tears and I lift my hand and put it on my mouth in an attempt to cover up my sobs. "I found it," he says as he went behind me to put the chain around my neck.

It is a vintage necklace, it has a small clock and rings encircle around it which makes it looks like a planet that has rings. It is also the same necklace he gave me when we were kids. I hadn"t realized that his arms are around me until I felt his breath against my nape. "I love you," he murmurs.

"I love you too."

"We"ll get through this. I promise." He kisses my head softly.

"Oh G.o.ds, I swear if you two are making out I"m gonn--" We both look up as another invader rounds up the corner. Riley stops when she saw us and the punk has the audacity to be shy.

"Let"s go. Can"t let the kids wait anymore longer." I said before giving him one final kiss. Together, we march to our friends and towards the secrets and uncertainties ahead of us. We"re going to make our army, an army that will lead us to unlock those secrets and brushing away those uncertainties. The exiled army.