|Mianite| The Missing Woman

[Chapter 17] Frenemies

[Alva's Perspective]

"Hey you guys," Sonja said from the first floor. "Come look at this armor, it's way better than the stuff we have on."

We all went downstairs to see what she was talking about. She was standing in front of a large cabinet labeled 'Riot Gear.' It contained numerous suits of fierce looking green armor and much better swords than we had been provided with earlier. One by one we took off our armor and traded it out for the better equipment.

"We need to find Andor," Jordan said anxiously when everyone had finished changing armor. He played nervously with the hilt of his new sword.

"He'll be in the secret prison at the bottom of the main air vents," Steve said. "Follow me." He lead the way out the door, further away from the direction we'd come.

"Why wasn't he with you?" Sonja asked Steve.

"Ianitees are treated as more of a danger than anyone else." He replied solemnly. "Their god might've gone missing, but She's still alive. That ultimately gives them more power and makes them more of a threat to Mianite."

How much of a threat did that make me then?

We entered a new building; possibly the tallest in the whole compound. Behind it towered a statue of Miante, overlooking the abomination he had created.

Inside the building Steve lead us through the labyrinth of hallways. How he knew his way around so well I had no idea, but he had clearly done a good job scouting, sparing the part where he was captured.

"It should be just down there," Steve gestured towards a hallway coming up on our left as he stopped to retie one of his shoes.

As I had been walking directly behind Steve, I was the first one around the corner. Jordan was close behind me and when he saw who was standing there he tried pulling me back. But it was too late; I had seen him and he me.

I felt dizzy as the memories flooded my mind and blurred my vision. Although it wasn't as bad as it had been when Aunt Martha first restored my memories of her, I've spent a lot more time around Alister than either Steve or Martha.

I saw the world move in slow motion as my memories returned to me at warp speed. In a blur I saw a woman introducing two young boys, one of them being Al. I stood behind her, about eight years old.

"Andor," she told one of the boys, "this is Al. He and his father just moved to Dagrun."

"Hi Al!" the other boy said excitedly. Alister stood in front of him timidly, his hands clasped behind his back. "Come on, let's go play!" He took one of Al's hands and they ran off together.

The image shifted. We were standing in front of the gates of the castle. Alister had a grumpy expression and a new messenger bag.

"Bye Al!" The boy waved to Al. My mother and I stood next to him and smiled. "Have fun at school!"

"Why don't you have to go to school?" Alister grumbled.

"I do," the boy replied cheerfully. "I just go to school here, my mom teaches me the things I need to know, and technically I've been going to school since I was four!" he held up four of his fingers for emphasis. Alister didn't look very convinced.

The image disappeared and the two boys reappeared a few years older. A younger me stood behind them, looking over to make sure they were okay off on their own.

"Al," the other boy said, "look at this!" He held up a new, hand-made boomerang. "My Uncle Steve made it for me!" he looked excitedly at his friend, hoping Alister would share his enthusiasm.

"Oh," Alister said and shrugged his shoulders. "That's cool."

"Come on," he said, undeterred. "Let's go throw it out over the ocean, that way we can't be yelled at for breaking anything."

Alister shrugged, smiling and looking perhaps a bit more interested now that the activities involved him. "Alright."

They ran off until it was later that day. Andor came up to the younger me, crying.

"A-Al t-took my b-b-boomerang!" he wailed.

"Where is he?" I asked calmly, crossing my arms. As if on cue, Alister wandered over to us. "Al!" I called over to him. He looked over to me, eyes wide and back rigidly tall. "Did you take Andor's new toy?" I was shocked at how much I reminded myself of my Aunt.

"I..." he stammered.

"Honestly you two," I said. "You seem like such good friends, why do you do this to each other?" I walked over to Alister, palm outstretched. "Boomerang Al."

He slowly opened and reached into his bag, pulling out the boomerang.

The images faded completely as the real world around me sped back up.

Over the guards' communication system a crackly voice rang out. "We've just found a weapon amongst the merchants' equipment named 'Andor's Revenge.' The merchants are now considered enemies of the Lord Mianite and are to be killed on sight."

I felt nauseous from the overload of memories, and this new information didn't help my situation. I didn't notice how weak my knees were until I realized that Tom was holding me up. He looked at me, his eyes filled with concern.

Steve stepped out from around the corner.

"You!" Alister shouted, shocked.

"Stop this Al," Steve said, trying to reason with him. "We aren't here to hurt anyone."

"That doesn't mean much coming from a Dianitee," Alister spat back. "Especially you! You lot are always working some other angle, I don't trust any of you." I heard him draw his sword. Steve backed up slightly.

"I don't want to fight you!" I could tell by Steve's tone of voice that he was getting frustrated.

"Even after what I did to you and your little friend?" Alister taunted. Steve grit his teeth and hesitated as he reached for his weapon. I could see Alister step closer to Steve, into the view of everyone who had yet to emerge from behind the corner. "Even after you heard his screams? Don't act like you can just forgive and forget, that was Spark's deal. You can't pull it off very well."

Steve yelled something I couldn't make out and lunged at Alister, weapon suddenly drawn.