Later Zen was sitting in an armchair in the library, reading about the Amargaritas when a hand landed on her shoulder. She turned her head to face Stephan. “Hey, it’s been some hours. I was wondering if you wanted me to contact my brother to see what’s up?”
Zen gasped and bit her lip. “I didn’t even notice! Yes, we should…”
The pressure in the room changed and Senka appeared from behind them, a dagger at the ready.
A wet and weary Marco appeared carrying a wet and unconscious Isaias.
“Zen, help me with your brother.”
Zen hopped off the armchair and went to her twin, sliding him off Marco and carrying him to a couch in the room. She understood her extra strength now. Isaias had the same.
“Marco, what happened?” Stephan asked, holding out an arm for his brother.
Marco rested against his brother gratefully.
“I had to pull double teleportation after the first but I was drained from the first and Isaias fought off the guards for me while I rested a bit. They just kept coming! We didn’t have any other choice but to fight. I pulled the second teleportation fifteen minutes after the first. We arrived at the rapids and I made a miscalculation and fell in. Isaias hauled me out but bashed himself against a rock trying to save me from the rapids. He hit his head the hardest and was knocked unconscious.”
Zen checked her brother’s head for any signs of bleeding and found some from a cut in his forehead but none in the back of his head. He still wasn’t out of the woods though. He had several broken ribs and a possible concussion. “He’ll likely have a concussion and he has several broken ribs. Let’s hope none of them hit something vital” she muttered the last part to herself, smoothing back wet hair from his face and kissing his forehead.
I can heal him, Guardian.
Zen looked down at Ishevara. How?
I can reverse the effects on him and turn back time.
Wouldn’t that put them back at the rapids?
No, I can reverse the effects of the rock bashing on his body alone Guardian.
Let’s do it Ishevara. Can you undo all the damage?
I can.
Zen grinned and the light from the crystal began to engulf her once more. Senka stepped back while Stephan and Marco watched. She placed a hand on her brother’s chest and whispered, “reverse,”
Marco and Stephan watched as the light engulfed Isaias for a minute before dissipating leaving a sleepy Zen and a groaning Isaias who parted his eyes.
“Hey sleepy head,” Zen whispered before collapsing to the left. Stephan walked up to her unafraid of the glowing around her form and picked her up.
“Since you’re healed, mind giving the couch to your soft-hearted sister,” he said. Isaias' eyes widened and he leaped up so that Stephan could lie Zen down.
“Did she waste her life force to heal me?”
“I don’t know. Stephan looked at Zen and for a minute his crystal eyes shone. Then he sighed and nodded. “It's a minuscule amount, about one or two years worth, but it’s used.”
Isaias' fingers curled into fists as he shouted, “Damn!”
“You came in with serious wounds, she’s your sister with immense power at her command. Of course, she’ll choose to save you,” Senka said, coming to check on Zen.
“Woah! Hey! Who are you?” questioned Isaias as he batted Senka away from his sister.
“Senka Amargarita at your service and owner of this property, so you better be nice to me.”
Marco spoke up from his armchair. “We are sorry to budge in uninvited but,,,”
“We got nowhere to go and Zen is in trouble again because of the crystal,” finished Isaias while the other two nodded.
“I have time for the story. Talk.”
###
Zen awoke to Isaias' voice. “Is that why I can do that? Awesome! I’m almost eighteen and so is Zen. We are twins.”
“Twins are rare in the Amargarita line. In Fact, we have a saying about twins in the Amargarita line. It is said that when one twin manifests so does the other twin at the same time. Of course, it’s never been proven since there haven’t been twins since the first Legendarios Xan and Emerilis Amargarita.”
“Seriously though our family rocks! I wonder why Mama would hide something like that from us?”
“It could be that the Amargarita bloodline is hunted where you are from.”
“Nah, she would have changed our last names then. It’s something else.”
Zen moaned and tilted her head slightly catching the attention of the occupants of the room. Stephan grinned. He was sitting closest to her and was reading from a large book. “The princess is up again. How was your nap? Your Highness?”
“Relaxing, how long was I out this time?”
“Two hours. Zen, how could you heal me and use your life force like that,” Isaias exclaimed.
Zen sighed. “You’re my brother, Isaias, my twin. How could I not give a little to save you?”
“I wasn’t in danger!”
“You hit that rock pretty hard Isaias,” Marco muttered as he went back to reading his own tome. He was fascinated with the history of the Amargaritas. He turned his eyes to Isaias who was standing before Zen, arms crossed, left boot-tapping against the carpeted floor. Isaias turned to him for a minute, and he dodged back into his book blushing. He’d kissed an Amargarita. He wondered if there were any records of that kind of thing in this room.
Isaias turned back to Zen who shrugged. “I’m not apologizing for what I did, Isaias. It’s just a year or so off and we need you in fighting condition to get through this alive. You know they only want me. They have orders to shoot you and Marco down!”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Speaking of, I have to put the two of you on the family registry,” Senka said from his corner in the library. Everyone turned to him, making him fidget. “What!”
“There’s a family registry?” Marco was surprised that the Amargarita would keep their Elemental roots after being exiled from Gaia.
“We do. We’ve always kept one since the clan was founded on Earth's soil. Stay right there I’ll be right back with the registry.”
Senka walked further into the library when an incessant clicking sound came to his ears.
“Well have you found her?”
“Hello to you too, D'Angelo.”
“I’m not one to play games with Shadow!”
“Neither am I. Why didn’t you tell me she was related to me?”
Silence
“I’ve been looking for shreds of my past and I’ve found some. I’m not handing her over. The deal is done.”
Click
###
D’Angelo groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Now what if father or Cecile gets the girl, she’s dead and I don’t want her dead. I want her alive!
A strange static-like noise overtook his hearing and a familiar wheezy voice came in and out of hearing range till it faded completely, completely taken over by a smooth baritone instead.
“This is the GAA speaking with one Don D’Angelo?”
“Yes, what can a bunch of mercenaries want from me? The last mercenary I hired wasn’t all that good ”
“I believe we can come up with a few propositions. You want the girl do you not?”
D’Angelo grinned. “I’m listening.”
“We can separate the girl and the crystal. You give us the crystal and we give you the girl.”
“I’m listening attentively.”
###
Zen stood in a semi-circle with Stephan to her right and Isaias to her left. Beside him was Marco and straight ahead of them stood Senka holding a dark scroll. It was made of shadows and was covered in ornate golden markings.
“This,” Senka said, tapping the scroll, “is the family registry. It shows what lineage you come from and how much of an Amargarita you are. It only needs a drop of your blood and it’ll do the rest. It was made by the first Amargarita. A true elder of our clan and one of the best shadow users in the history of Amargaritas. Who's oldest?”
Isaias stepped up and Zen gave him one of her daggers. He sliced a small incision into his finger, and let the blood drip onto the parchment. It glowed for a minute before settling into neat handwriting. A line extended from Xan’s side of the family and connected to the names that appeared there.
Ricardo Amargarita----Mateo Amargarita
Isaias Luis Amargarita
Zen cut her finger on Ishevara and let her blood drip on the paper. Ishevara glowed and a little of her power entered the scroll making it luminescent for a minute. Then, beside Isaias' name appeared her own connected to Isaias by a gold line, and beside her name were the words Ishevara Guardian.
Senka looked at the registry and whistled. “I think I know why your mother hid the truth from you, Isaias. You’re descended from Xan’s line, a line thought dead when Ricardo and Mateo vanished off the galaxy. There are no lines through them so they are both still alive but I don’t know where they are. You and your sister are direct descendants of the Xan line. If you wanted, you could take your uncle’s place as the Don of Puerto Nuevo...either of you, and this registry proves it.”
“I may have to if things go south with Luis trying to grab power,” Isaias muttered and Zen agreed.
“Is there another copy of the registry we could have to back up our claims,” Zen questioned as Senka folded the Registry carefully.
“No, this is it. It’s all we have. The scroll is basically everything proof and I keep it with me at all times in my dimensional pocket except when I am home like now.” He turned to return it to its sacred place in the library.
He saw their long faces and sighed. “You can comm me anytime I’m needed though and I’ll bring it by.”
Zen smiled and Isaias grinned nodding.
“Guess that means we’ll need your comm info,” Zen said grinning.
###
Stephan was sitting in the common room fiddling with the chain he always wore, ever since his father gave it to him. Marco was sitting across from him absorbed in a book. He sighed and turned to his brother. “I saw why you ran away from us Marco.”
Marco froze.
“And while I understand, I’m still mad at you for believing mom’s lies. Then again you were just a kid too.”
Marco put down his book. “What do you mean Stephan?”
“When you left, guess who she chose to pick up the Anshrank mission?”
Marco winced. “Edline.”
Stephan nodded.
“Why does she not hate me then?”
Stephan sighed. “Cause she didn’t do it, Marco! Do you think I would let a then-eight-year-old carry the burden of murdering thousands?”
“Then who…”
“I did it, idiot.”
“But you couldn’t read minds.”
“I forced myself until I could hear the General. After that, it was just a muscle I had to stretch out and mom made sure I did plenty of that after I joined BEI as a top soldier to protect Edline.”
Stephan showed his underarms. There plain as day was the insignia for BEI’s army that only select officials had. A capital E surrounded by a smaller b and i with a wavy blue line designating his element. Marco had a curly silver line running through his.
“She lied when she said she wouldn’t touch us, Marco. She lied to all of us but what stinks worse is that your own family left you to the dogs. You and Edline abandoned me to that monster. Both of you ran and never once thought of me. I hope it was worth it brother.” Stephan got up from his chair and walked into the library, away from Marco.
“Stephan! Wait! Please!”
“Stephan halted at the door and turned cold eyes to face Marco. “Yes?”
“I never thought she would use you! Why did you join BEI? When?”
“I joined BEI to keep Edline innocent and became what mother wanted her to become. I joined two days after you left. I had no choice. It was that or watch her destroy Edline,” he said walking out of the room and leaving a teary-eyed Marco behind.
“I should have taken both with me,” he muttered sadly as Isaias exited the library.
“Take who with you,” He asked, propping himself against Marco’s armchair.
“Stephan and Edline. I should have taken both with me when I ran. I believed in my mother’s lie and Stephan paid for it. Remember the mission I talked about?”
“What, the one with the general of AnShrank? Yeah, you ran to avoid a massacre of thousands right?”
“It wasn’t avoided, just pushed onto my siblings, and since Edline was too young then…”
“Stephan took it,” Isaias sighed, running a hand through his hair.
Marco curled up gripping Isaias. “I didn’t know! Stephan couldn’t read minds then. He forced himself into a gift that wasn’t even meant for him! He must have suffered a severe brain hemorrhage from forcing a part of his brain to work when it was asleep! He was only fourteen and he had the death of thousands ingrained into him already. Oh god, no wonder he hates me!”
“Hold on Marco. Whether you say it or not, you were running away from something terrible too. He has to cut you some slack.”
“Would you if this had happened to you?”
Isaias thought for a minute then his shoulders slumped. “I don’t think I’d forgive either of you. At least he forgives Edline.”
“I don’t think he actually does forgive our sister. He just gives her more leeway because she’s younger but he doesn’t forgive her. He doesn’t forgive easily.”
“Let’s leave him alone for now and you can tell me what you were really running from.”
Marco sighed. “Can you read my mind?”
“Nope, but Senka says Amargaritas have good intuition about certain matters, and I know a child abuse victim when I see them.”
“I was the preferred amusement of the captains of my mom’s army til I ran away and I hope to god that spot wasn’t filled by my brother.”
He felt arms go around him and he stiffened before calming and leaning into Isaias’s chest.
“Is that what was so different from our kiss before?”
Marco nodded, blushing.
Isaias just held him for a few minutes more.