Multi-Color: Book 1 -- Freaks

Chapter 5: Rewind the Clock

"Who are you?" Wave shouted.
I focused my vision towards the question, and could see Wave. I tried to get up, but was tied down with rope.
"I said, who are you?" She repeated again in a more frustrated tone.
She scoffed at me. She had a grumpy expression across her face, with what looked like coffee stains on her pajamas. Her eyes had dark circles around them, which made me believe she had just woken up. I looked to my right, and saw Axel, still fast asleep. My thoughts came back to me. We were taken out by darts, and then woke up here. I then realized that they were the ones who had hit us with the darts. She grumbled, pointing the spear closer.
"I'm not playing around, seriously! You better tell me who the heck you are!"
I began to speak angrily.
"Hey, why did you capture me?!"
She looked at me, then scoffed in an annoying tone.
"You idiot. I saw you as threat, and neutralized you and your friend here."
I looked closer at her, more intently.
"But we're not a threat! We were looking for you!"
She came closer to me, the spear practically touching me.
"Yeah, that's what all the hunters who came to kill us said."
I squinted a little, trying my best to get as far away from the weapon as possible.
"I'm not here to kill you! I'm here to--"
"Forget it. I've let you speak long enough."
She cut my sentence off, and swung the spear back in a battle position. Right as she neared it towards me, a yell was heard.
"Chill out sis, will ya?"
Wave suddenly grew shocked, and turned back to her sister. I was curious too, and I looked at Lia as well.
"Seriously, we finally have guests and your trying to kill them? I expected better from my older sister."
Wave stood there dumbfounded, and a bit embarrassed. She folded her arms.
"They're not guests. Definitely not."
Lia chuckled, coming to her sister's right side.
"Seriously, you're supposed to set a good example."
Wave angered at her sister, raising her voice.
"This is no time for your silly antics! We are facing a life and death situat--"
Lia poked her sister on the nose.
"Oh, cmon. Everyone else that's came here came loaded with guns and all sorts of fancy tech. Did you ever stop to think that there might be nice people in this world?"
Wave grew even more angry.
"Nonsense. There are no nice people in this world."
Lia laughed once again, showcasing her playful demeanor.
"Aw, cmon! You've got me!"
Wave used this opportunity to poke a little fun at Lia.
"Yeah, but you're annoying most of the time."
Lia became shocked just like her sister, nearly crying.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Ignoring their banter, Wave readied the spear again, but was interrupted by Lia coming near me. She suddenly peeled the leaf off my eye, and gasped. She froze, just like Axel had. She had finally noticed that I was a Multi-Color. Wave noticed this too, and had the same expression. Suprising me even, Lia suddenly had a smugger look than mine and looked at her sister.
"What were you saying about us being the only Multi-Color?"
Wave just looked at her sister, then back at me. She looked back at her sister again.
"But- Aren't you suprised?"
Lia shrugged.
"To be honest, I already sorta guessed other Multi-Color existed. I mean, if Wave and I both were Multi-Color, it couldn't be a coincidence. If two exists, then that's a possibility of more existing."
Wave moved over to me, inspecting me closely.
"How are you--What did you-"
I looked at her, then nervously laughed. She untied the ropes, and I breathed out, jumping off the bed.
"So, yeah. I'm a Multi-Color." I said.
She stood there, still inspecting. After a moment, she breathed out.
"Okay then. This is a game changer."
I laughed, but Lia came closer, suddenly pulling me into an embrace.
"Nice to meet you! I'm Lia! Sorry about my sister, Wave here, she's really rude sometimes."
I chuckled. I decided to not tell them I saw that wanted poster of them, which meant I already knew their names. It wasn't the best idea to make them worry even more than they already were with balancing life and avoiding those trying to hunt them.
She was really good at hugging. It was like heaven. She obviously had some experience with comfort, which made sense, given her sister. Wave shouted out in response,
"If anyone's the irresponsible one, it's you! You can't just be all touchy feely with people!"
Lia closed one eye, releasing me from the embrace and looking at her sister.
"Fine then, if you wanna be a jerk."
Wave chuckled, then looked back at me.1
"I'm still amazed that there are other Multi-Color besides Lia and I. But, I guess I should ask you something. How did you find us?"
I immediately had a response prepared.
"I was in the city, and found a wanted poster of you and Lia. I then went to your concert, and saw you performing. I went to that alleyway you guys were in, and then followed you to this snow... house."
Wave placed a hand on her hips.
"Oh, so that's the noise I heard."
I laughed at her joke, but focused my attention on Axel as he awoke. Immediately noticing were we where, he jumped up, his eye lighting. He released a dark shadow, and Lia zoomed Wave, herself and I out of the way. I widened my eyes, putting my hands in front of me.
"Whoa there... It's okay! It's okay!"
Axel caught his breath, looking at us.
"So then..." He said. "...Do they know that we're... you know..."
Ignoring his hand motions, I nodded my head.
"Yes. They've found out. You can take your leaf off now."
He removed it, then came towards us.
"What was their reaction?"
I made a hand motion behind me, pointing towards Lia.
"Well, Chuckles over here-"
"Hey!" She yelled at the nickname I had given her.
"--didn't have much of a reaction at all." I continued. Wave, was still suprised, but not as much as you."
He nodded, again just like me.
Lia suddenly paced around the room like she had a question to ask, and she did.
"But, if we all have different powers, how did the violet haired girl--"
"Just call me Hope." I said. I didn't know my name, but decided to come up with one.
"-- how did Hope keep up with my speed? None of us have the same power, and it seems like everyone has different powers anyways. No one can keep up with me that fast on foot. It would take at least 20 days to get this place. Unless..."
She came towards me,
"You have multiple powers."
I grew suprised, my question coming back from earlier. Axel came towards me as well, joining the now circle of people in front of me. He spoke once again.
"Now that you mention it, how do you have multiple powers? You've used power blasts, jumped high, and all sorts of things."
Wave now joined the circle as well. The pressure rose, as my body heated up. I suddenly pushed them away, cooling off.
"Look, I have as little idea what's going on as you do. But how about this; we finally have a chance to relax. Let's just enjoy it."
Everyone seemed to agree, and were now content with the new discoveries of us being Multi-Color. Lia came towards me, but this time with a handshake.
"Happy to meet you, Hope. I'm not a cook, but Wave thankfully is. She'll be cooking some food for us soon."
I reached out my hand, firmly grabbing her hand. She suddenly squeezed, but insanely hard. Once the handshake was done, I flinged my hand up and down, trying to get the pain to fade. She was only 14, but a lot stronger than I thought. She went over to Axel, and had a similar response, and he also looked pained from her definition of "handshake." Wave went over to me, offering her hand as well.
"Sorry I treated you so harshly. I'm still suprised that we've found more Multi-Color, but I'm happy we did."
I trembled at the thought of another handshake, but was pleasantly suprised by the comfort of it. It was a lot softer than the last one, and I actually appreciated it. Her interaction with Axel was different, however.
As she offered her hand, she smiled, looking a tad exhausted.
"You're edgy and cool. Just like me. I like that."
Axel had the same expression as her, accepting the handshake. I breathed in and out again. Three Multi-Color down.
It took about 45 minutes for the dinner to cook. During this time, I mostly chatted with Lia about her hobbies and other things she did, doing my best to get acquainted with her. She went on and on about how she loved to draw. I eventually brought up a question that had been in my mind for a bit, but I hadn't truly thought about until now.
"Hey, Lia." I began to say, "Lately I've felt like I know a good amount about the world, like I know what certain things are even though I've never even seen them or heard about them. Do you know why that might happen?"
Lia simply shrugged.
"I'm as confused as you, but yeah, I get that same feeling too. Wave does as well. If I had to guess, it's something with how our powers change our brains and bodies, but it's just a theory."
I nodded, a bit dissapointed. I wanted an answer right away. I decided to make some light conversation with Wave. I got up from my chair, and approached the room she was cooking in. It was made of ice, of course, but was otherwise nice. I began to walk towards her. She turned around swiftly, surprised that I was coming. Through this surprise, she threw her hands in the air, the cooking dish flying up. I jumped up with quick reflexes, and maybe a bit of my power, and managed to keep it fully intact. It was then that I stared at the food itself that I realized what she was making.
"...Ice Cream? Is that really the best dinner choice?"
She scoffed, not thanking me for my heroic efforts. It was clear that she wasn't much for conversation.
"Well, too bad. The North Pole is cold, so obviously I can't make anything else other than cold foods."
I grumbled.
"You could make frozen pizza!"
She frowned at my reply.
"I hate frozen pizza. I actually hate pizza in general."
I stood there, in complete and total shock. She doesn't like pizza? Who the heck doesn't like pizza? I mean, I haven't had it in like, 10 years, but when I did have it it was amazing!"
I formulated a reply, though it was hard too with my dumbfoundedness of her distaste of pizza.
"How-How can you not like pizza?"
She became invested suddenly, with a desire to prove me wrong.
"It's just... not good, to say the least. I dislike cheese, so it's not really a speciality of mine. Besides, it being frozen makes it so much worse. Meanwhile ice cream is soft, and incredibly delicious. Thankfully I get so much money from my fans that you-" she blushed out of embarrassment. I guessed that she had never had guests come over that also saw her perform. "--well, you followed us back here from that alleyway, so I'm assuming you also saw the concert. And, I guess, w-what did you think of it?
I was puzzled and charmed by the fact that she had a cold exterior, but was actually pretty timid on the inside.
I replied quickly, not wanting her to wait too long. She tapped her fingers, turning away and being insanely embarrassed.
"Well," I started. "you were an amazing singer! Actually, probably one of the best I've ever heard! I mean, your lyrics, your voice, it was like an angel!"
She stood there, blushing bright red, covering her face with her hands. She let out a few nervous mumbles. I couldn't hear most of them, but they were rather adorable. After a moment, she managed to contain herself a bit, but still stuttered.
"T-t-thank y-y-y-y-y- you..."
I smiled, walking closer. I did have a question for her, however.
"So... what's your power? I mean, with Axel he can basically send out any dark shadow he wants, or magnify it into a weapon, and then bla bla bla. I have a wide variety of powers, and I still don't understand why yet, but what's your power?"
She blushed once more, but finally calmed down.
"Um... ok. Can I give you a demonstration?"
I nodded, and she put her hands out. Immediately, all the worries and stress I had felt were gone, and I felt relaxed. I noticed after that Wave was singing to me, and her voice was once again, beautiful. She was singing a lullaby version of a song I thought was called "Silent Night", considering her lyrics mainly repeated that. I moved my head along to the music, smiling and almost growing sleepy.
She then stopped the music, and the feeling went away. She explained her power to me.
"I have the power of music. I can use my music to either heal or damage anyone, or anything. I was basically given the voice of an angel."
I smiled, embracing her in a hug.
"That's amazing! But why don't you use the angelic voice when you're talking? I mean, you sound rather harsh when speaking."
She pulled me away, and spoke again.
"Well, my power needs to recharge, and if I overuse it, I could lose my voice. Enough overuse and it could be gone forever, meaning my entire power would vanish. So, I only sing if I have too. The most I can sing is about 3 hours, but if I go past that limit, I eventually lose my voice for a while, sometimes even months. I speak in a quieter way so I don't overuse it."
I appreciated her giving me the info, so I smiled once again, satisfied. She went back to what she was saying earlier again.
"Anyways, I get so much money from my fans that I have more than enough to support me and Lia."
Her dialogue began to intrigue me.
"Hold on- you get tons of money but yet you live out here? Why don't you live in a nicer, warm home?"
Wave paused, looking on edge. She grew serious, then stared at me.
"Let's go somewhere else to talk."
She grabbed my hand, and pulled me to the next room besides the kitchen. It was once again made of ice, and was completely empty. She sat me down, and handed me a small filling of ice cream. It looked amazing. I took a bite, and loved it. I set it down a few bites later, because I knew she was about to need my attention.
She sighed.
"Where do I even begin? Okay..." She breathed in, then out, then back in.
"I guess I'll just start with the housing issue. Well..." She gripped her hands, beginning to cry.
"Lia- no, both of us- both of our hearts have been betrayed. They've been broken down into hollow shells."
I froze, completely on edge.
"See, you and Axel aren't the first people that have ever met us. We've had countless other people join us. But- they've always broken our hearts. So many of them." her tears began to increase.
"They've always said that they understood us, and loved us, and wanted to be friends, but that never, and I mean never lasted. They always betrayed us when we least expected it. They'd suddenly go full on rampage, with the sole intent to kill us. We call them Multi-Color hunters."
I felt a pulse echo across my body. My heartbeat increased rapidly in speed.
"Time and time again, they've left us wounded, unable to move. Our scars healed over time, but our mental ones have never vanished. I've tried to forget most of them, but there's one memory I can't ever forget. I was only 9, but I can remember it so fondly. Lia and I usually sleep in the same room, even the same bed at night. She's always relied on my comfort, probably because I'm the older sister. But that night, we slept in different rooms, trying something new. I wanted to boost her confidence. But I made the worst mistake of my life."
She suddenly banged her head against the ice wall, a large puddle of tears covering it.
"I heard a loud scream come from Lia's room. When I got there, in that moment, I felt powerless. Blood covered the walls of the room, with cracked glass and wall everywhere. I saw very clearly Lia there, being choked by the person I thought was my friend. He wounded her brutally that night, but it was the worst when he stabbed her in the chest about hundreds of times. I just stood there, watching my sister being murdered in front of my eyes. And I remember her expression so clearly. She looked at me in certain death, and waited for me to come. Waited for me to save her, and yet I didn't do anything. He ended her life by placing his hand out with a weapon I still haven't identified, stabbing her again. Somehow, even after all of that, she managed to survive, but was so close on the verge of death. That night, I ended up attacking him so badly that the entire building came down. I probably killed about 600 people from it. I was so consumed by rage that I didn't even bother to worry about the consequences. I survived because of my power, but everyone else, including the killer, were brutally destroyed. I got out, but she was unconcious for an entire year. I constantly have to heal her every so often, or she'll be destroyed again. I feel so racked with guilt from it. I did nothing to stop him. I had much, much more power than him, and yet I couldn't even lay a single scratch in that time. I don't understand her carefree spirit. She's so happy, and forgave me immediately when she came back. I can't forgive myself for what I did. I will never forgive myself for what happened. I... am the worst person in this world. I don't even deserve a place in it. I'm a failure. And that's... that's all I'll ever be."
She paused,taking a breather. Her voice then broke, as she screamed at the top of her lungs in sadness. She punched herself constantly, scrapes and scratches growing. I rushed over to prevent any more damage. She fell into my arms, screaming and crying throughout. I closed my eyes.

Lia POV
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I listened to the words of my sister. My heartbeat was rapid, my body tense, and my stomach in knots. I couldn't believe what she said. I didn't know she had felt so bad. And as I realized this, I began to cry. Tears poured down. It was my fault she felt this way. If I didn't exist, then maybe-- no. I put these thoughts aside. I would worry about them later. But even though I dismissed them, they still clouded my mind. I recollected myself and walked back to the table.

Hope POV
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We probably stayed like this for about 15 minutes. We said nothing during that time, in complete silence. I then heard calling from Lia from the kitchen, asking where we were. I yelled from far away that we needed just another minute, and she seemed to silence after that. I began to speak.
"We should probably get to dinner."
She looked at me, wiping away her tears one last time. She nodded, getting up. She looked back at me.
"I'll maybe tell you more later, but for now, I don't want to speak. Not for a while."
I followed her to the kitchen. We walked through the icey room, then we stood there once entering the main room, not moving. Lia stood there, with her signature smile across her face.
"Took you long enough."
The smile was just enough to cheer up Wave. She cried, but barely showed it. She nodded, then set the food down. Lia's warm smile was enough to cheer us up and lighten the mood. But it oddly felt fake, like it wasn't her true mood. Regardless, in that moment, the stress was gone... and peace had returned.