by SunnyJustice » Tue Dec 01, 2015 11:05 am
Apricot was pretty ticked off with everyone. Clark was being his stupid nose-picker self, thinking that he was a good runner just because of his height. He was worse than a mule. Apricot ran past him easily, giving him both pinky fingers as an offensive salute. And then there was Amber, with that annoying smile on her face. Apricot was furious at her, too; she looked so arrogant and inconsiderate with that irritating grin, like she thought she was working harder than anyone else. Apricot didn't even acknowledge her, she just kept running. Worst of all was stupid, fat Richie, whose morbidly obese behind looked like a good target to kick. He was a pig, a disgusting, egotistical pig, and she would kill him like one. Apricot left him in the dust. One of these days, that idiot would regret being born.
They will all regret everything, she thought, enraged. Apricot was in the most foul mood ever, because she hadn't killed, smashed, or otherwise obliterated anything in the past month. She needed to get her hands around some idiot Mog's neck, or she would take it out on her former Loric. She ran past Alder, and her stupid brother looked the most idiotic of all. Then past Vincent, the annoying little stubby-legged freak. Vincent gave Apricot a curious look as she ran by. Bad move.
"What the hell are you looking at?" Apricot snarled at him, still running.
"Sorry, I-" Vincent began, looking her in the eye nervously.
"I don't disgracing care!" Apricot screeched. She was about to rip the kid apart.
Vincent squeaked and quickly dropped his gaze. In a rage, Apricot ran away from the beach, in the other direction. She did not want to be around anyone right now. She was going to break something, and the next person to come by her might be that 'something.'
Gingko simply smiled at Amber. She didn't even acknowledge Apricot's departure; the General-in-training had a severe anger problem, and it was worsening by the day. Gingko knew that at its root, Apricot would have to resolve that issue on her own.
The short girl was so angry, she didn't even notice how inhumanly fast she was running... but Gingko noticed, alright. Apricot had the Legacy of super-speed. It was very obvious, but Gingko would just let her niece find out for herself. She needed to use her brain once in a while.
"Alright, that's enough!" she called out to everyone, stopping in her tracks and giving the signal for the others to halt. "You've all done great today. Now cool off in the lake, or go inside to take a shower." She paused a second. "Not the pool, though. Don't want you dirtying it up."
Rowan was almost asleep on the porch, but then Esme's voice snapped him back to reality. He thought about it, but honestly, he had no idea. "As many as you want," he said with a soft smile, willing her to take the lead. The mother always had the most say, the father was only there for moral support -- and, of course, some good cooking. Rowan might have been horrible in the garden -- it was a long story -- but in the kitchen, he was amazing. "And only when you're ready."
Acacia was confused as to why the flashes of blue were constantly pestering her. She knew her father set her room with soft lighting to ease her slight visual problems, and she was grateful for that, but it wasn't helping tonight. Perhaps it was lack of sleep. She was laying in bed, using Matty's laptop -- her own computer was in for repairs, and she was borrowing her friend's for the night while he slept. She needed to research, find out some more clues about this Garde thing.
She didn't just want to hunt. She wanted answers. Why were they so hated? Acacia wanted justice, not prejudice. The incomplete mission hadn't shaken her, but it had ignited her passion to learn more. To look deeper. Conflict wasn't reasonable without justification.
To get started, she browsed through Matty's browsing history. Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Chicken Smoothie... nothing of special interest. Wait, one of his items was faded out. Acacia clicked on it, and it took her to a deleted Blogspot URL. This piqued her interest.
With much effort, she found a cached version of the webpage, stored only on Matty's own computer. Upon reading through the posts, she promptly deleted the entire cache and his internet history, leaving not even residual traces on the machine. Matty had deleted the website from the internet, but these minute files had still been on his own computer. Now, hopefully, he was safe. But Acacia had memorized all those messages, and some of the content was... interesting.
She paged Matty immediately. She was concerned for her best friend, and needed to sort this out. "If you are awake," she said, "come to my room. Don't knock. We need to talk. Alone."
As soon as she hung up, the vivid cerulean light blazed across her entire field of vision, and this time it was painful. Calmly enduring the burning sensation, she closed her eyes. She could still see blue, and that was all there was, a stabbing azure expanse of blank-
No, not quite. Acacia looked harder, and when she did, it surprisingly eased her pain. She began to make finer distinctions. A dock, a smile, a hand holding out a pendant... and then it faded. She opened her eyes, completely intrigued. Where had she seen that smile before?
Her mind was running wild. Some alien intuition, deep within her, drove her to stand up and make her way towards her bedside shelf. And what did that have to do with anything? She didn't know, but she left the laptop open on her bed as she knelt beside the drawers. She let instinct guide her for once. Maybe it would allow her to find the answers. Her hand closed around the bottom drawer.
I never use this shelf. The bottom drawer least of all, she thought in amazement as she opened it. There seemed to be nothing inside, and she was about to close it when she saw the envelopes, hidden at the very back. She took them and gazed at them in interest. One was addressed to her, the other to Rori. Acacia highly respected Rori's privacy, she was like a mother to her. The soldier put the red envelope back, and carefully opened the white one.
Icaron was doing paperwork, and it was going great. He thought he was loved, and he didn't think he was feared. Icaron had taught the humans many new technologies, and in return, their governments were negotiating peacefully. They didn't accept him as their leader, at least not yet, but they saw his kind as allies. Icaron couldn't stress how important that was. The existence of the Mogadorians was not widely known, it was a secret between governments, and the public still had no idea.
That was alright. Soon enough, they would be comfortable enough to accept him fully. Icaron didn't want a dictatorship; he wanted the humans to choose him as the leader. Of course, the existing governments would still be there, but only a step below, like a council. Country borders would cease to exist when Icaron united the races as one. Except against the 'crazed Loric terrorists' he warned the humans about, war would become a thing of the past. Those letters might never have to be read.
As if on cue, Rori entered the room, evidently still infuriated by the California incident. It wasn't a success, but Icaron knew how hard she and Acacia tried. It meant a lot to him. With an understanding smile, he set aside the documents and treaties. He gently welcomed his Lieutenant into his arms, then cradled her close to him, as he slowly stroked her brilliant red hair.
"Don't beat yourself up over it. Please," he murmured in his best comforting voice, which he didn't believe was very good, but it was worth a try. "I know you well, and I know you're still angry. I just want you to know, however, that I was never upset with you. I could never be."
He took a deep breath. The memory of writing his letters returned to him, and he wondered if he would ever get a chance like this again. Everything was going smoothly, but life had a tendency to twist and turn at unexpected corners... he thought of Khali, how she had twisted his daughter into an emotionless shell, how she had betrayed him instead of helping his people. A mutual agreement turned into a genocide. Icaron had no choice but to retaliate before they could strike.
Indeed, for many things in life, Icaron had no choice in the matter. But now, in this moment, he still had the ability to make a choice. And he made his decision.
"Rori, do you want to know why? I have kept this from you for too long, and I cannot deny you the truth any longer." He took a deep breath, his dark eyes glistening with tears of every emotion. And he spoke the three words he had been waiting years to say.
"I love you."
Acacia had read the letter, every word of it, and she had memorized this as well. She couldn't handle emotions at the moment, so she burned the letter in her private bathroom's sink, flushed the ashes, then sat back down on her bed and waited for Matty to show up. The door was already unlocked, and she had explicitly stated for him not to knock. There was no use in making noise.
Besides, her father was just down the hall. He didn't need to know about this conversation. Acacia didn't know why she wanted to consult with Matty over Number One, but she hoped her intuition was telling her the right thing. If not... no, she wasn't going to think about that.
