Star Beings: Dawn

Mirror image

Elian helps me into the car. Hera and the twins are already inside.
"Are you both alright?" "I'm gonna kill that stupid...I'm fine, sunshine. Anai isn't. Three freaks showed up and raised hell."
Their conversation fades into the background as I contemplate the memories that are now stubbornly replaying in my head mixed with the events that just went down.
One memory in particular sticks out.
I'm bent over a faceless figure, grasping their hand. A blue stain is spreading across their shirt.
It's blood.
I don't know how I know that.
I turn and stare at the attacker. They're faceless as well.
Everyone around me is faceless.
I don't know who any of these people are and yet...
Something about them is familiar.
Why is everything except the blood black and white?
I look down at the injured person yet again.
This time, he has features.
His red hair is long and pulled into a tight ponytail. His golden eyes are open wide. They've gone dull, the life inside them gone.
He looks like Elian, but older. Wiser. Crueler.
I turn back to his assassin once again, ready to scream at them. Ready to attack and rip them to shreds.
But my heart drops as I recognize the person standing in front of me.
Natalie

"Anai? Are you alright back there?" I open my eyes, the memory recededing. I must've fallen asleep at some point. "Huh?" I grumble, still in the clutches of sleep.
"We're back at the hotel. Let's get you up to bed." "I need to talk to Natalie." I state, still drowsy but now determined. "Now why would you..."
Maybe it's the look in my eyes.
Maybe it's my suddenly straight posture.
But the look on Elian's face changes, stained with a dark realization.
"You remembered Starfall... didn't you?"
The word Starfall shakes loose yet another memory.
I'm standing near a great tree.
And there are  corpses everywhere.
"Part of it, yeah." I say. My voice sounds older. Like I've aged a year in less than a minute.
"Just... don't do anything stupid."

I climb out of the car, searching for her blue hair.
"Anai!" Natalie shouts. I rush over to her, forcing a grin. "Where did you come up with that? Cutlery? You're the first person I've met whose been able to resist puppeteering." "Puppeteering?" "That's what I call the command ability.... Are you ok? You look like you have something on your mind."
Now's my chance.
"Yeah, I do actually. I had a memory. About Eligio. I think that was his name, at least."
Natalie freezes. I think she stops breathing.
"He was my father, wasn't he. And you..." "He was going to kill DJ. Do you remember that? Or did you only see my shocked face and the icicle embedded in that bastard's chest?"
In my recent memory, I've never heard Natalie cuss.
And I never want to again.
There is more venom in her voice than I've ever heard. Just speaking about my father fills her with rage, that's not hard to tell.
"You need to remember more about that man before you get angry at me. And know this: I don't regret what I did. Never have, never will."
With that, Natalie leaves me more confused than ever about my identity.

Elian, Hera, the twins and I all get into bed around midnight. I try to not let the carnage of the gala mess with my head.
But it does anyway.
I lay in bed, eyes wide open.
Everyone else is fast asleep in the other room.
Would they notice if I just...
Snuck out?
I slip on a beat up old pair of tennis shoes DJ gave me and tip toe out the hotel room door.
"I need some fresh air." I whisper to myself, slipping into the elevator and then out of the hotel door and into the parking lot.
It's a bit chilly.
That's what I get for wearing a tank top and loose sweats to sleep in.
"Anai?"
I nearly jump out of my skin. Hade chuckles. They have a cigarette dangling between their fingers.
"Don't tell Gabe and Maxine I'm doing this. I told them I'd quit." There's a strange look in Hade's eyes.
I think they're still tipsy from drinking tonight.
"I know they're worried about me. They keep saying I'll end up killing myself if I keep smoking... like I'll actually live long enough to actually screw myself over." They laugh dryly.
"Are you alright, Hade?" "Just peachy... you want one?" They say, shaking the pack.
"I'm good, thanks. I don't think I'd enjoy it much." Hade shrugs and stuffs the pack of cigarettes back into their pocket.
I realize they're still in their suit.
At least part of it.
Who knows where their tie and their jacket went.
"You know, if you'd of told me I would make it to 19 back when I was in London, I would have told you that you were fucking nuts. Hell, if anyone would have told me I'd ever talk to you like this I'd probably assume they were insane..."
I raise an eyebrow. "You're 19?" "Yep. Happy birthday to me, I guess."
They take a drag on their cigarette and then rub their chest absentmindedly.
"Good gods..." I mumble. "You'll get used to shit being like this, eventually." "Is it always like this?" At first, Hade just chuckles.
Then they break out into full blown hysterical laughter.
"Yes! It is! Every single goddamn day it's pure chaos! The war ended I was stupid enough to think that maybe, just maybe, we could have some peace! But no. Three idiots just had to show up and ruin everything." Their cigarette bursts into flames and burns to ashes in Hade's hand.
They angrily pull the pack back out, lighting a new cigarette with their finger.
"Damn it all to hell."
For a few minutes, we sit in silence. Just Hade smoking and me staring at the road.
"God, my parents would be so disappointed in me." Their lips curl into a grin.
"I'm proud of that."