The Ally

Chapter 8

I stood there in my invisible form, the world around me still cast in stark negatives. Despite this, the ship was barely visible in the distance, intensifying my sheer disappointment. This was supposed to be a good ending.

It felt like I was frozen in place for a while, my gaze fixed on the sky where the ship had long since vanished. In that moment, I was oblivious to everything around me. Could we have done anything differently to get Xynar to the ship faster? What happens now? Was there ever a real chance of success with all these agents swarming around us?

"We have to go." Xynar insisted, abruptly grabbing my hand and pulling me from my trance of disappointment. He swiftly led me out of the maze of tents, expertly navigating to avoid bumping into any agents. Careful to not draw suspicious attention, we moved silently in our invisible forms.

Through the same unattended gap in the fence, we quickly made our way out of the supposed temporary base. As soon as we were clear, I released Xynar's hand and caught my breath. Just as we did so, we became visible again - just in time.

We walked in silence, creating distance from the base and avoid accidentally drawing attention to ourselves. The silence was heavy, filled with mutual disbelief and disappointment that hung in the air like a dense fog.

The weight of our disappointment was almost too much to bear, pressing down on me with an intensity. Unable to go any further, I stopped abruptly and sat down on the sidewalk, my movements slow and heavy. Xynar quietly joined me, settling next to me with a soft sigh.

As we sat there, side by side, the stark reality of our situation began to truly sink in, the gravity of our failure weighing heavily on us.

"Wow." That was the only word I managed to utter, my voice barely a whisper. "That was... something."

Beside me, Xynar remained silent, his face an unreadable mask that hid his emotions. I glanced at him, searching for any sign of what he might be feeling, but he gave nothing away. His stoic demeanor made it even harder to gauge his state of mind or how deeply this setback had affected him.

"We have to go find it. I can still track it down," he stated, his voice calm but insistent.

"Track it down?" I replied, my voice tinged with uncertainty. "Xynar, I can't, I'm sorry..." The reality of the task was daunting. Who knows where they've taken the spaceship? It's likely far and heavily secured by now. Besides all that, I need to go home.

"But you said you'd help me." His voice wavered slightly, showing a crack in his usually composed demeanor.

"And I did. I did all I can, Xynar, you know that. It's out of my hands now..." I said, avoiding his gaze to escape the weight of his disappointed eyes.

"Amanda, you can't just—"

"I held up my end of the bargain. I helped. I can't do more... it will get me into trouble, Xynar. I was lucky enough not to be seen this time." My voice broke a little with the heavy sigh that followed. Guilt washed over me, yet there was a firm resolve behind my words; there really wasn't much more I could risk.

"I can turn us invisible again," he offered, desperation now clearly evident in his tone.

"It doesn't matter... I have to go. Xynar." Standing up from the pavement, I felt the weight of our failure more acutely than ever. The distance between what we had hoped to achieve and the stark reality was a chasm too wide to bridge. As I stepped away, the finality of the moment settled in, leaving a cold space where hope once lived.

The reality that we didn't recover the spaceship was crushing. But I'm just a teenager. I need to get back home, back to my life, back to my homework.

I slowly started to walk in the opposite direction from the base, away from Xynar. A part of me half-expected him to follow, but when I glanced back, I saw him still seated on the pavement, looking desolate in his isolation. There really wasn't more I could do. With a heavy heart, I continued walking until the familiar outlines of my neighborhood began to materialize in the distance.