Unwanteds Stories

shatter ourselves to build something new

Lani and Samheed hadn't fought this much since they first moved to Artimé.

It was constant- the bickering, the shouting, the spells shooting at each other from behind trees when they least expected it, the dark glares and the furious glowers- and Alex had had just about enough. He had his own problems to worry about! Among all the other things happening on the Island of Legends, he and Sky weren't talking at all. They'd just broken up.

While Lani and Samheed's breakup had been an angry, explosive row, with crying and screaming and spells flying in all directions, and then an immediate return to comfortable friendship, Sky had broken it off with Alex coolly and calmly, and neither had spoken a word to the other afterward.

Just keep moving, don't look back, you don't have time for regrets-

~X~

"Hey."

Alex glanced up to see Samheed. It just made him even more confused. "Hey," he replied dismally. "You want to come sit?" he asked his friend. Samheed nodded and sat down next to Alex on Talon's huge bed. He was close enough that Alex could reach out and touch him. Sean was lying down on the other end of the bed and seemed to be fast asleep.

Samheed looked steadily at Alex. "Are you okay?"

Alex gave a short, bitter laugh. "I don't have any right not to be," he replied. Sky had made that perfectly clear.

"Okaaaay," Samheed said slowly. "I'll take that as a 'no', then."

Alex's face crumpled. "I just- I don't know how to talk to her!" he cried. "If I could just- just tell her how I feel, then maybe . . ." He rubbed his hands over his face miserably. He was lost. And Samheed being so close didn't help, because on top of all the strangeness with Sky, Samheed always made him feel weird, confused and conflicted and it was better just to ignore it. Ignore things, problems, feelings, and maybe they would go away.

"Ignore feelings . . ." he whispered.

"What's that?" Samheed asked apprehensively, looking concerned for Alex's mental well-being.

Alex ignored him. "Ignore feelings! And maybe they'll go away!" he exclaimed, startling his friend, who now seemed prepared to go get help at a moment's notice.

"Al, what are you talking about?" Samheed started. "That doesn't sound like a good ide-"

"No, you dolt!" Alex scoffed. "I'm not saying I should, I'm saying I do! It's my solution to everything, and I never even really realized it! Don't you understand?"

Samheed blinked, shaking his head slowly. "Are you saying that-"

"I'm saying that I've been fighting Quill's teachings, Quill's mindset, every day of my life! And I never even knew it!" It was shocking and horrifying and almost too much.

"Oh," Samheed whispered. "That's it. It's like they've ingrained it in our minds, forever!" His voice rose as he grew angry, not even bothering to question what had led Alex to this realization. "I thought we'd escaped that place, but instead it's a part of us! We can never get away from it, can we?" He let out a long, furious breath. "I hate them," he whispered. "I hate them, I hate them, I hate them! How? How could they do this to us?"

"Because they don't feel," Alex said quietly. He was as furious as Sam, but a calm had come over him. This conversation wasn't about Sky anymore, nor Lani, nor even Samheed or Alex. It was about all of them, all the Unwanteds. "Because they had it taught to them. We got away with just strings attached, but they've never known any better. And at this point, I don't think they ever will."