Alicia

The trip through the travel tubes was akin to riding the world’s longest waterslide. Except, instead of cheap plastic, it was millions of dollars worth of carbon fiber, and instead of being greeted by a pool of water, they were met with a face full of dirt. Alicia sniffed her surroundings. She detected forty percent urine, twenty-five percent naked sweaty men, and thirty-five percent fruits and spices. They were in Jurah District at the base of the mountain.

She reclined against the back of a nearby hut and took a long and tired breath. It was a cool night, soothing, unlike the fatal blizzards of Lucidea. The cryoelixirs provided some relief but buying them required money, lots of it. And no one in the City of Dreams wanted to hire a brown girl with no qualifications. Since waiting for someone to take pity on her wasn’t an option, she started stealing. Made a damn good career out of it until she was captured and arrested by one self-centered prick of a girl.

The same girl who lay unconscious at her feet, bleeding from countless glass shards lodged in her half-melted armor. The wounds were almost certainly worse on the inside. Alicia slapped herself awake. If I panic now, we both die. She placed an ear against the ground and listened for approaching footsteps.

It was four, no, five uniformed soldiers, and judging by the volume of their footsteps, they were standing right on the other side of the hut, less than ten feet away from her.

“Do you see anyone?” The leader called out loudly enough to wake an infant.

“No, sir!” his deputy answered.

“Well, keep looking. Orders from Commander Yousef. Don’t let a single one get away.”

Alicia got so pale they could’ve mistaken her for a ghost. They couldn’t have been looking for her, could they? No. Not possible. They didn’t even know her face. Then again, they weren’t supposed to enter the Temple either.

“Turn the city upside down, if you have to. If those foreigners get away, it’s gonna be our necks on the line. Now, go!”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

The footsteps got faint and soon, became inaudible entirely. Alicia sat in hiding for another five minutes before moving. Better cautious than dead, her shitty father had taught her. Carrying Hope proved to be less of a challenge than she had imagined. The girl was nearly a foot shorter than her, which already made her easy to lug over her shoulders. But she was also light, much lighter than she should’ve been for her age. Even with the full-body armor, she weighed almost nothing. Does she never eat?

The rest of the trip was, thankfully, uneventful. She stuck to the shadows, moved through back alleys, and hidden shortcuts she’d learned during her time in the city. It had been nigh essential as a lowborn. Thanks to her cat-like agility, they managed to reach the hotel without so much as a whisper. Alicia kicked open the door and shouted, “She needs help. Now!”

Kaiden Harroun jumped up from his nap. He eyed the girls with suspicion as he inspected Hope’s wounds with a delicate finger. “Multiple lacerations. Heavy bleeding. I’m guessing broken bones too. What on Earth was she doing?”

“There’s no time for that! You gotta help her.”

“Calm down, young lady. Take her to the medical room and set her down on the bed. I’ll bring my kit.”

Once Hope had settled down, Alicia was asked to wait outside. That was, by far, the most painful part of the night. The moment she left the room, Sebastian came tumbling down the stairs, grabbed her by the collar, and bombarded her with every question in the English dictionary. “What? How? Where? When? What?”

Alicia pried him away like a leech. “Listen, you scrawny brat, I’ve had a shitty night. I ain’t feeling like a social butterfly right now. So, gimme some breathing room.”

Sebastian backed away in an instant and apologized. “Is she… is she gonna be okay?”

“I don’t know. But moping around ain’t gonna help us. Now, where’s that bastard Trent and his lapdog?”

Sebastian scratched his unkempt hair with a guilty expression. “Yeah, about that…”

The kid described everything he saw with drama befitting a local politician. Despite having done next to nothing, his narration was so powerful that it made Alicia’s own experience look lame in comparison. She had to use up every last brain cell to separate facts from fiction and get a half-decent idea of what had actually transpired. One thing, at least, was absolutely clear: No one had seen either Trent or Ren since the explosion.

“Do you think they… you know?” He suggested.

“Nah.” Alicia scoffed at the notion. “Bastard’s probably lying low till the heat dies down.”

“Ummm.”

“Loosen up, kid! He ain’t ditching us. Not while we’re still useful, at least.”

“I… I see,” he mumbled and fell back in his seat. His frail body was suffocating under a mountain of anxiety.

“And don’t you worry about your friend either.” She slapped him across the back. “She’s a tough cookie. Have you seen the shit she pulls? Hell, if she weren’t strong, she would’ve died like a million times by now.”

“I know.” He smiled faintly.

A deathly silence fell over the room. Alicia thought to break it with another witty remark but she was too exhausted. They both were. So, she waited. For what? She wasn’t sure herself. Perhaps, for a fairy to conjure up a spell and whisk away all her sorrows. That felt unreasonable. So, she waited for the old man to bring them news of Hope’s recovery. She prayed that it wasn’t too much to ask.

“I’m… I’m sorry.” Alicia exhaled.

Sebastian looked at her with surprise. “Erm, for what?”

“I was kind of an asshole to you back then.”

“Kind of?” He chortled. “Understatement of the year.”

“Just take the fucking apology before I fucking stab you.”

“Y-yes, ma’am!”

“I was… in a bad place. Still am. Hell, if anything, things are much worse now. I had trouble trusting anyone for the longest time. Least of all your dumbass friend.”

“Um, side note: only I can call her dumbass.” He insisted politely.

“But she was nice to me. I tried pushing her away but she’s like a fucking paint stain you can’t get rid of.”

“Heh! I know, right? She just can’t stay away from sad people. She’s got a problem, I tell you.”

“I just… I just want her to be okay.”

The back door to the hotel was swung wide open and they were greeted by the smell of cigarettes. Sebastian jumped to his feet when he saw two cloaked figures coming out of the medical room. His fear turned to joy when they removed their tattered hoods and he was met with the faces of his teammates. Alicia remained seated with a stone-cold expression.

“Well, well, if it isn’t my two favorite people in the world. I pray you’ll forgive the delay. We were held back by truly unfortunate circumstances,” Trent spoke with his usual confidence even as he walked with a limp. His garments were dripping with blood, his thigh was wrapped in a dirt-stained bandage, and his now-bearded face carried a haunting number of cuts and bruises, but he was alive. He spoke with a wheezing cough common among smokers and panted like he’d outrun death itself, but he was alive.

“Indeed,” Ren added. “It was awful but I was lucky to be with Sir Trent. I am glad he found me when he did.” While not as badly injured as Trent, he carried the same haunted expression of one who’d just witnessed a massacre.

“Mr. Trent!” exclaimed Sebastian. “But that explosion. I mean, there was Roland and… everything went dark after that. We thought we’d lost you.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, boy.” He coughed and took a seat opposite them. “You won’t be getting rid of us that easily. Speaking of which, I had a chat with Mr. Harroun on my way in. It was truly unfortunate what happened to Miss Hastings. But rest assured, he has told me that she is completely out of danger. A few days of bed rest and she’ll be spry as a horse. You have nothing to worry about. The herbs of Wadin are truly remarkable. Although, I would recommend lying low, for the time being. The army will be looking for tonight’s culprits.”

Sebastian fell to his knees with a cry of elation. The poor kid shivered like someone had lifted a mountain off his chest. “Thank God, she’s okay. Thank God, she’s okay,” he kept muttering.

“That’s… that’s good.” Alicia nodded and allowed herself a momentary smile. Thank fuck, she’s okay.

“Now, as for the mission. I trust that you took care of everything, Miss Miller?” He raised an eyebrow at Alicia.

“Yep, all done,” she said.

“Is that so? And pray tell, did you happen to run into anything out of the ordinary?”

Alicia’s mind immediately raced back to the dragon that came within inches of swallowing her whole. One part of her wanted to talk his ear off about all the nonsense she had to go through for his stupid mission. But the sensible part of her brain prevailed.

“Nothing we couldn’t handle,” she said with the sharpness of a news anchor.

He burned a glare into her pupils to see if he could squeeze out another word. Failing that, he clicked his tongue and smiled. “You’ve done well, Miss Miller. All of you, really. I was afraid the interruption would throw you off the game but it turns out, I chose the finest possible candidates for this mission. Truly, great work, everyone. I believe a long rest is in order. Since we’ll have to wait for Miss Hastings to recover, you might as well use the opportunity. Well, I believe that covers everything, for now. I shall see you all tomorrow.”

As expected, it fell to Alicia to address the big undead elephant in the room. “Not so fast, dipshit! That was a big ass explosion at the temple. How the fuck did you survive that?”

Trent paused in his tracks and stared at her with the viciousness of a born killer. When she refused to relent, his voice took on a more playful quality. “Oh, is that incredulity I sense in your voice, Miss Miller? This will not do. No. Absolutely not. Settle down, my friends. I shall dash all your doubts at once.”

With some help from Ren, he sat down and rested his injured thigh atop the table. He thanked the boy, blew a puff from his cigarette, and began his story:

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“I smelt it in the air the moment I set foot in that temple. I knew I would find that devil of a man. And find him I did. And with him, twenty of the finest soldiers of Yousef’s army. Bastard must’ve thought he had me on the ropes. But little did he know, I was prepared.” He pulled out a tiny satchel from his pocket and tossed it at Sebastian.

The kid grabbed it in an instant. It was a cloth bag, light as a feather and tied shut with a white cotton string. He pulled the string and the satchel unfurled to reveal five metallic spheres the size of tennis balls. He observed them for a minute before jumping in surprise. “Holographic tech! But this is way ahead of anything I’ve ever seen. And so compact at that. Man, the circuitry’s so complex I could spend weeks just analyzing it. Where did you get this stuff?”

“Courtesy of a friend,” Trent remarked with a bit of pride. “I laced myself with a bunch of these before heading in. Pretty nifty, don’t you think?”

“That blast, the smoke, you mean it was all fake?” she asked.

“Nothing but smoke and mirrors.” He laughed. “Except, of course, the bullets. Hit me square in the leg, the bastards.”

He pointed to the bandage around his leg. Alicia noted that the material resembled his royal-blue vest.

“So, whatever happened to Roland?” she asked again.

He shook his head in dismay. “Scurried away like the rat he is. But don’t you worry about that. We’ll have our chance. With two servers destroyed, we’ve already hacked off a sizable chunk from his frothing mass. Trust me, that kills him more than any bullet to the heart.”

“S-so, what happened afterward?” urged Sebastian.

“Then, he found me.” Ren continued for his master. “And good thing he did too. If he hadn’t gotten to me, I would’ve…”

“Hush, kid. I’ve always got your back. So, I’m sure that covers everything. If you need me, I’ll be in my room. Sweet dreams, everyone. And once again, good job.”

Ren helped him to his feet and the duo disappeared behind the medical room.

“So, that was that, I guess,” said Alicia. “Fucker didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know.”

“He’s hiding something, isn’t he?” asked Sebastian.

“Like a crook with an empty briefcase.”

∆∆∆

The next week passed away in the blink of an eye. Despite resistance from Mr. Harroun, Hope was out of bed on the second day. She claimed that staying active would help her recover faster than any medicine. That positive outlook got her as far as the front gate before she collapsed. The second day was slightly better. With Alicia’s help, she managed a whole lap around the hotel. By day five, she was practically prancing around all over the district. In full disguise, of course. Trent would’ve killed her for blowing their cover.

Once she’d healed up enough that she wouldn’t slow down the mission and Sebastian had repaired, well, restored the Vega suit to an acceptable degree, Trent’s face carried the relief of a man who’d just avoided a bullet to the skull. “We leave tomorrow evening,” he said and left them to pack their belongings for the long journey ahead.

It was the day before they left. Sebastian had asked Alicia to get some items from the market. How he’d found a use for carrots, dumbbells, and a vat of manure was beyond her but she was more than happy to leave the hotel. That feeling vanished the moment she set foot in the midday sun. After that, it was one painful haggling after another until she’d gathered every single ingredient on his obnoxious checklist and returned with bags heavy enough to be eligible for weightlifting.

Alicia was, to put it mildly, not a fan of the universe. She used to say, “Fuck the universe, man! What has the universe ever done for me?” Life had been one colossal trainwreck after another and the universe had done little to prove her otherwise.

She wondered how she could get back at Sebastian for putting her through that hellish workout. Punching him would be too easy and if she was being honest, the idiot seemed to be getting used to it. She could dangle him over the roof. Seeing him screaming as he held on for dear life would be a spectacle to behold. No. That’d definitely blow their cover and she wasn’t about to risk that.

She was still contemplating all the various ways she could torture him when she arrived at the hotel. A Wadinese woman was standing outside the main gate. Alicia’s pace slowed down to a crawl as she observed the woman from head to toe.

Is she working for the military? The Malaks were no strangers to using women for espionage. But, for some reason, Alicia could not picture this woman being a spy. She was pregnant, for one. But there was something more. Something familiar about the way she stood. Her face was obscured by a veil but her eyes, the same deep sapphire as Alicia, seemed too pure, too innocent to do something so atrocious.

Seeing that the woman could not so much as hurt a fly, Alicia decided to give her a piece of her mind for scaring the shit out of her.

That plan went right out the window the moment she saw her face.

No. No no no. It can’t be.

Alicia dropped her bags with an audible thud.

It was her sister. Even with most of her face buried under a shrubbery of headwear, it was unmistakably her. Her angelic smile. Her face, a hundred times more beautiful than her own. And a… baby bump? That was new but it didn’t matter. Nothing else mattered. She could’ve been scarred beyond recognition and it wouldn’t have mattered. Zaheera was alive and standing before her.

Alicia wiped her tears and jumped to embrace her sister. For one moment, everything was perfect in the universe.

∆∆∆

The sisters sat side by side in Alicia’s room as Mr. Harroun brought them warm lemon tea. They thanked him and drank it in silence. Alicia was chomping at the bits to know everything that had transpired. Six months didn’t sound long but, for the sisters, it was a lifetime ago. She had no idea where to start. Neither of them did. However, after her gaze fell to her sister’s pregnant belly for the sixth time in as many seconds, she said “fuck it” and chose that as the conversation starter.

“So, you’re having a baby.”

“Yes, Aliyah. I am having a baby.” Zaheera smiled.

“And the father?” Alicia feared she already knew the answer.

“Remember Raheem? The Blacksmith from Kharoh District.”

“Not really?” That was unexpected. Alicia scrunched up her face as she struggled to recall the specifics.

“He’s the guy who called you impure for kissing what was her name again? Ah! Never mind. But surely, you remember beating him up.”

Alicia’s face lit up with sudden realization. “Oh yeah. That guy. Why on Earth would you marry him? Are you out of your mind? I mean, I know Father prolly didn’t give you much of a choice but come on, dude. Him?”

Zaheera laughed with a hand cupping her mouth. “Turns out, he used to have a crush on me. He said he didn’t even care about my parentage and only wanted me. He’s a total sweetheart. You should meet him, sometime.”

Alicia remembered him now. He was an okay kid but his sister could do so much better. She silently cursed her father. No doubt, he had forced her into marrying Raheem. Once again, he had found a way to mess up their lives. But Zaheera seemed happy so, she controlled her anger and responded calmly, “No, thank you. We’re not that tight. I certainly don’t wanna see him when he’s boffing my kid sister.”

“Aliyah! Not in front of the baby,” she protested.

“Oh, come on! The little bastard ain’t even born yet. Speaking of which, do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?”

Zaheera shook her head and caressed her stomach with a loving smile. “Raheem wants a girl. He says she’ll be just as beautiful as me.”

“Pfft! Flirty bastard. I swear, he had a thing for me too. Fucking explains a few things. Like, why he got so angry when I came out.” Noticing Zaheera’s death glare, Alicia swiftly changed the topic. “So, what do you want? Boy or girl?”

The younger sister coughed and spoke solemnly. “I’ve always wanted a boy. Think about it, he’d grow big and strong like Raheem and I could teach him to be gentle and respectful. Oh, he would be perfect!”

“Dreamy as always.” Alicia rolled her eyes. “You thought of a name?”

“Suleiman.”

“Suleiman? Like that idiot drunk on the main street?”

“No, you dummy!” Zaheera slapped her forehead. “Like the West Wadin Emperor. I swear, that moron has ruined such a beautiful name.”

“Suleiman.” Alicia chuckled. “The man of peace. Sounds perfect, actually. And what if it’s a girl?”

Zaheera answered with a bashful smile. “If it’s a girl, she’ll be named after her auntie, Aliyah.”

Alicia wanted to be angry. She had always hated her name. All her life, it had brought her nothing but misery and misfortune. It was the name of the little girl who didn’t know why everyone treated her differently. When she’d tried making a living in Lucidea, it was the name that no one would hire because it “sounded weird and untrustworthy.” Like most of her past life, it was something she had been more than happy to throw away. But today, it sounded like the most beautiful name in the world.

“Good choice,” she said, chuckling lightly. She’s happy. She’s genuinely happy and I’m gonna be an auntie, she told herself. It should have been good enough but some part of her refused to accept it. Her sister deserved more than this. Her niece deserved more than this. But she didn’t have it in her to tell Zaheera. Not when she looked this happy. Alicia contained her frustration and smiled.

Zaheera breathed a sigh of relief and smiled back at her sister. “Oh, thank goodness! Honestly, I was afraid that you would be mad.”

“You got my blessing, sis. It ain’t a bad name. Besides, it was getting wasted on someone like me.”

“No argument there.” Zaheera laughed. “From what I’ve heard, you changed your name as soon as you could. Well, no matter. You’ll always be Aliyah for me. Oh, and do tell me all about your adventures beyond the walls. How’s the ocean? Is it exactly how I pictured it? How about the cities? Tell me everything.”

Alicia told her about her journey to Lucidea on a stowaway ship. She told her about the refugee camps, the others from Noor who’d made it across the walls. The ones that were still alive, anyway. But before she could spout any more angry insults, Zaheera urged her to tell her about the good stuff. Alicia thought for a moment, then told her about the food, the soap operas she enjoyed, the architecture, the sports, and the social media. Zaheera understood, at best, five percent of it. Soap opera? How do you make a soap sing opera? Hot dog? Why would you heat up a dog? It didn’t matter. It was new stuff!

Her eyes sparkled with childlike innocence. “Incredible! You mean, the buildings are actually made from glass?”

Alicia wanted to drop everything and take Zaheera to see the skyscrapers just to see her smile like that again. But she couldn’t. Not like this. Not against her will. So, she contained her helplessness and smiled. “You should see it sometime. When no one’s screaming at your ears to go back to your own country, when you got a proper supper for the evening, and the wind is just right, it’s magical. It looks like they’ve actually trapped the stars in their walls. I… I wish you could see it.”

“Me too.” She smiled. “But it’s okay. I’m happy where I am.”

Alicia had had enough. She had to try. For the longest time, she’d been practicing these words inside her head but never had the chance to say them. It didn’t matter if she failed anymore. She owed it to Zaheera to at least give it a chance. She grabbed her sister’s wrist, took a deep breath, and made her request. “Come with me. Leave this shithole behind you. Soon, I’ll have enough money that we can start a new life, together. Hell, I’ll even take care of the baby. I just… I just need you to say the word, Zaheera.”

The younger sister laughed with a touch of sadness in her voice. “You know I can’t, Aliyah. Not anymore. I have a loving husband and a beautiful baby is on the way. I can’t just throw it all way. I can’t think of only myself anymore.”

Alicia’s heart was in a million pieces. Not because Zaheera had said no. She’d known it was a long shot. But even more than that, her sister had dared to say something so moronic that Alicia lost control of her emotions, jumped to her feet, and erupted like an active volcano.“Oh, bullshit! Since when have you ever thought about yourself? If you’d given a rat’s piss for your own sake, you would have been free! If you’d given a shit for yourself, you would’ve had a good life.”

Zaheera tried comforting her sister. “Aliyah…”

Alicia yelled at her. “Why the fuck did you have to care about me? Couldn’t you have been selfish for just one fucking day, you stupid idiot? Just why… why did you have to save me?” Alicia collapsed and fell sobbing into her sister’s lap.

Zaheera caressed her face with soft, motherly fingers. “Because you’re my sister. The same sister who used to parade me all over the slums like I was some sort of mascot. The same sister who would beat the crap out of any boys that tried to approach me. The same sister who taught me to dream. Aliyah, I’d do it all over again if it meant you could have the happiness you deserve.”

Alicia sobbed. “I… I don’t know what to do anymore.”

“Yes, you do. You’re the smartest person I know.”

“Thank you.” Alicia smiled through her tears. God, what she wouldn’t give to stay like this forever. “I mean, I know that bar ain’t terribly high, but thank you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, just shut up and give me a hug.”

The sisters talked long into the night. Alicia told her about Hope and Trent and all their strange adventures. Zaheera, in turn, told her about Raheem, his mother, and how happy she’d been as a housewife. Alicia insisted that her life was better and that her sister was a damn fool for giving up on it. Zaheera insisted vice versa and the discussion went nowhere. But it was fun. With all the crazy stuff that had happened, they were almost thankful they could talk about nothing in particular.

Far too soon, it was time for Zaheera to leave. Alicia offered to take her all the way home but the younger sister insisted otherwise. “They see me as Raheem’s wife but in their eyes, you’re still Yassin’s daughter. It’s safer this way.” In the end, they settled on saying farewell outside the hotel’s gate.

“You know, the offer still stands,” said Alicia. “I could carry you outta here if you want.”

Zaheera chuckled as she looked back at her sister for the last time. “I don’t know, sis. I’m pretty sure I’m too heavy for you now. Try to stay out of trouble.”

The sisters embraced one another as the full moon warmed their backs. Zaheera walked away with happy tears in her eyes. Alicia had no intention of crying but the waterworks started on their own. Goddammit! I’m getting soft. She wiped them away with her sleeve and returned inside. For the second time that day, she was greeted by an unexpected sight. It was Hope, resting on the stairs in nothing but a white t-shirt and denim shorts. She still wore bandages over her forearms but other than that, her injuries had almost completely healed.

She looked at her with the most annoying smile in the universe. “That. Was. Beautiful.”

“How long have you been sitting there?” Alicia demanded.

“Long enough.” She smirked. “You seem happy, though. I’m glad I put in the legwork.”

“No, I’m not!” She protested until she stopped to think and finally realized what had transpired. “Wait, you set this up?”

“Yuh-huh.”

“Oh, come on, girl! I never asked you to do this.”

“I know. You’re welcome, by the way.” Hope was grinning ear to ear.

“God damn you. Fucking paint stain.” Alicia stormed away before her face could betray the slightest hint of happiness or gratitude. Or worse, love.