Differ

Chapter 3

​The girl on Artemis's right said smiling " Lookie what we have here." My hand instinctively went to my face. Shielding my scar from the world.
The girl smiled a small smirk. Artemis looked my face, and in her eyes for a split second I saw pure horror. Had she never seen the battles and scars of our everyday lives? But in the spilt second I saw it, the look of horror was gone.
​"Well you seem to wear battle scars." Artemis said indicating with her head to my cheek, arms, and legs. My entire body is more like it. I looked away. "Well lets show you the private gyms," she said with a smile, "Elite four to your gyms." When they all left us and it was just Artemis and me she looked at me from her throne.
​"What do you expect to gain by winning the war?"
​"Well," Artemis said with a smile, "I expect to be the ruler and put our nation back together."
​"So, you're a tyrant. Your just another form of the Invaders."
​"No, no. You have it all wrong," she looked at the door behind me, "your imagination is getting the better of you." But she said this with worry. Confirming my accusation.
​"You're no freedom. You're just another form of condiment. You'll kill who ever gets in your way."
​"Your right I would kill to get my way and right now guess who's in my way." She said this with a voice full of threat. Her eyes looked like venom in the blue light. She stood and walked over to me. When I went to make a move she grabbed my face with her hand. Her finger tracing my scar, "it would do you good not to mess with me, or you wont be part of a perfect nation. Siyra." My face was pure shock. She dug her long nail into my scar making me wince.
​"How, how do you know my name." she released my face and stepped back. Did anyone know her true nature? Or had she killed all who knew to keep her position? "I've never told anyone, no one knows me!" I said this with horror and fear in my voice.
​"I know everyone's name, and their past, and their future," she looked at me with interest, "I wont kill you, it'll be fun to have a pawn. That is unless you cross and tell anyone about our little chat."
​"Y . . . yes." I said defeated. We walked out into the hallway and Rendem was there waiting for me.
​"Hey everyone needs a tablet to help." He said holding out a 1 by 1 inch screen. "It expands."
​"Do you have something that wont get in my way?"
​"Um . . . yeah here you go. It's an earpiece." What he now had extended towards me was an earpiece that we used for phone calls. I picked it up and put it to my ear. Then small wire came out and grabbed my ear. Pulling the piece of metal they attached it to me. I poked the button on the side and an eyepiece came up. It was invisible to everyone but me. Even then I could see through it. When I focused on it I could see it clearly too.
​"Thanks." I mumbled towards Rendem.
​"No problem, only snipers use those though." I just shrugged. "Well anyway this is Onarr. He's our assassin. Or stealth specialist." I snorted my amusement.
Onarr looked back at me and sneered, "I would like to see you try and beat me little girl."
"Is that a challenge?"
"Try your best, first to lay a touch and put the other on the ground wins, deal?"
"Deal." I walked in to his private gym and grabbed a small knife. The light went out and the match began. This was the time to show what I was made of. I looked around, there I saw it a swirl of black fabric at the edge of my vision.
He was trying to get in my blind spot. I turned and ran into an alcove that had been built. He was still looking off into the distance where I had been seconds earlier. He had no idea I was right behind him.
​I silently climbed the alcove behind him, and with one big jump I hit him hard right, square in the back. He fell with a satisfying thud. I landed on top of him with the knife's flat edge of the throat of Onarr. I had won. I beat an Elite Four.
​"Okay, now get off of me." I quietly obeyed and stood to let him up. "That was a lucky shot and plus I wasn't trying."
​"Then do you call trying? You were to get in my blind spot to tackle me." Onarr just got up and walked away to start some training exercises. I walked out of the gym to find Rendem staring at me with an open mouth.
​I made a face, "What?" I asked irritated.
​"You just beat Onarr," he pointed to the gym, "no ones ever been close to touching him much less beating him."
​"If you ask me he needed a good beating"
​"We better move on before he wants a rematch." Rendem grabbed my sleeve and steered me away to the next gym.
Now you be thinking cement gyms, but your not even close. These gyms are made of glass and can be programed to do anything, to look like anything to feel like anything. It's amazing.
"This is Axel. He's our power house." I looked into the glass gym. The floor was littered with ammo strips. Axel looked at us and gave a nod, he came out to say hello and introduce himself.
I looked at him and said; "I'm guessing you carry sub terrain, mini machine and are the backup?"
He looked at me and gave a small smile, "How do you know so much about sub terrain guns girl?"
"My father before the invasion was a special ops military member. He was a sniper, but he worked with someone just like you."
"Your father you say."
"Yeah he died 12 years ago though, so I don't expect you to know him." I looked down as I said that, "anyway I'm guessing since you carry heavy, your movements must be slow and steady. You come from the back and blast anything is your way?"
"Yeah that's right." I just nodded.
"Well we have one more person to meet. Then I'll tell you about what I do and me. Jasmine is the last one before me." We walked up to a well-lit gym with racks of knives. All the knives were different in size, shape and sharpness.
Then Jasmine walked up, "I throw knives at enemies and always hit my target." The look in her eye was pure fire. This was a threat, directed at me, "now leave my gym. Go. Hurry. Move. NOW!" at that Rendem shoved me to the ground. I hit the ground headfirst, the pain was dizzying. I had only felt this way one other time. When my elderly neighbor was going to be hit for dropping something, I ran and threw myself in front of her and got hit in the face. I hit my head on a rock and it had the same affect on me as now.
A knife came hurtling towards my head. As I hit the floor I heard the ring of metal as something struck the wall. The knife came down and gave the end of my braid a trim. The knife was so close to my face, point down and stuck in the floor. I got on my knees and grabbed the knife by the handle. Right as I was about to hurl it back at her, a small voice in the back of my mind said keep your anger in check.
This was a very important lesson I learned while under the Giverest's surveillance. Instead I threw it by her foot. One more inch to the right and her foot would be impaled.
I stood up and walked away dizzy and not in control of my thoughts and actions. Rendem followed me out. When we were at the end of the long narrow hall I opened my mouth to speak and heard a scream. This scream was high pitched and shrill. I covered my ears and stared in shock.