20. P O W E R : Sisterhood

CHAPTER I

2022

Arthrogonian Paragon Alexis Marnozal was born and bred to be a soldier. A hardened warrior. A coldblooded killer and indomitable fighter.

And much to the relief of her brother Zillion, she was an excellent babysitter.

Alexis smiled at her nephew Zeon as she carried him around and bounced him in her arms. "Ka kren'te ek'te mek'te la," she sang quietly, "ka lek're tek're an'ke ka..."

Zillion shook his head in wonder, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. "How the heck are you putting him to sleep with that?" he asked.

"It's an old Arthrogonian lullaby called 'Ka La'," Alexis replied, shooting him a look. "It was made to put children to sleep." She frowned and added, "I'm surprised Auntie C never taught it to you. Mom says it's one of the oldest songs in our people's history."

"Yeah, well, Auntie C never sang me to sleep," Zill said wryly. "If she had, I'd be worried."

Alexis rolled her eyes and continued to rock Zeon. "I can't sense her anymore," she told Zill softly. "Can you?"

Zill worked his jaw. "No," he responded, worry gnawing at his heart. "I think she—or someone else—might've taken out her antennae."

Alexis sighed. "That's a painful process—and a scarring one, too," she murmured. "Losing your antennae dulls your senses exponentially, and the pain sticks around for months. Then there's the phantom senses and hallucinations..."

Zill frowned. "Wait, how do you know about all that?" he asked. "Did Mom tell you?"

Alexis shook her head. "No. When we were trying to keep up appearances, Dad told Mom to take out mine so they could grow back stronger. It's a forbidden practice, even among the Wing Warriors, but Dad wouldn't take no for an answer."

Zill grimaced. "Ouch. That must've been crazy hard."

Alexis gave him a bitter smile. "You think it'd be hard now? Try going through it at seven years old."

Zill's mouth fell open, and after a moment of hesitation, he began to respond—but was interrupted by a series of knocks on the front door.

"I'll get that," Alexis offered, handing Zeon to his father.

"Hold on! Since when do you answer my door?" Zill protested as Zeon began to wake up and whimper.

Alexis ignored Zill and peeked the door's distorted window. "Uh... Zill?" she called over her shoulder. "Do you know any small, fuzzy, dark-reddish floating dog things?"

Zill let out a loud groan.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," Alexis decided, opening the door.

The small, fuzzy, dark-reddish floating dog thing—a.k.a. Damian Beelzly—didn't seem to notice as he lifted the welcome mat, muttering something about idiots never leaving keys under their mats anymore.

Alexis cleared her throat.

"Huh?" Damian looked up.

Then he slowly floated upward, both eyebrows rising far higher than they should've been able to. "Hel-lo, mama!" he exclaimed.

Alexis scowled. "Can I help you?" she asked curtly.

"Sure can, baby," Damian replied, grinning. "You can give me your number, your Snapchat, and send me some—"