-Worlds apart-

Aiden Whitlock- {Glashel} - 11:45AM

I felt my stomach drop to the ground when I heard that and I automatically tightened my grip on Cyrus's hand as I felt my own hands trembling. 'You've got to be shitting me..' I ask, barely above a whisper. The woman shakes her head 'im sorry deary... But glashel is next on their list.' I don't say anything, I don't know what to say. I feel myself trembling more 'this is bad.. really bad...really really really bad...' I keep repeating to myself. Cyrus notices my trembling and pulls me closer to himself as he also processes it. I can see he's also scared and panicked...but he's hiding it and it's hurting me to see him hide it. I stay close to him and I lean my head on his shoulder and speak up 'i'm....I'm so sorry' I say, my voice is no louder than a mutter. He shakes his head and runs his fingers through my hair 'you didn't do anything.. it's fine.' he says. The woman looks at us before standing up and leaving, I presume to give us space. I rest my chin on his shoulder and I look at him 'what are we meant to do?..' I ask. 'can we...fight back?' Cyrus pauses before shrugging his shoulders. 'i..I don't know, Aiden. I don't have a clue.' I can hear the heartbreak in his voice and it breaks my heart. I hug him tighter. 'we'll be fine.. honest.' I say, trying to convince myself more than him.

After we left the woman's house we walk back to haruko's house. When we walk in, Navie, Haruko, Andy and Amelia look over to us. 'did you figure it out?' Amelia asks as we walk over and sit down. I stay completely silent and fidget with my ring on my finger (NOT WEDDING RING Y'ALL 😭) and wait for Cyrus to speak. Cyrus takes a deep breath 'we um.. yeah we found out..' he says. Navie seems concerned but nods 'what world is next then?' she asks and I almost wince at the question. Cyrus sighs before speaking 'this world is next.' after he says that. No one speaks for a solid minute. They either didn't want to believe it or were processing it. 'What..?' Andy says after a while of silence. 'they..are destroying this place next?' he says, his tone carrying a mix of disbelief and concern. I just nod and continue to look at the ground in front of me. I speak up this time 'can we...I dunno stop them?' he asks. 'why would we?' Amelia asks and I spin my head to look at her 'what do you mean, Ame?' I ask. She looks at me 'why would we stop them?' she says, like it's a normal thing. I look at her in disbelief 'uh- cause we can't just let them destroy a world for their own pleasure.' I respond. 'but why should we be concerned? They won't hurt us, we are from Libertad. They can't hurt us.' she says. I freeze and look at her 'is this girl on something?' I think to myself. 'Amelia, we might be safe, but the population of this world isn't. We should try to help.' I say. Amelia scoffs 'oh please, it's not our problem.' she retorts. I see Andy, Haruko, Cyrus and Navie look at Amelia, confused but also slightly hurt. 'what, so you want to watch hundreds of people die?' I ask, trying to control my emotions. Amelia shrugs her shoulders 'i mean, don't you?' she asks. I widen my eyes and quickly shake my head "of course I don't! Why would I!?' I ask, half talking half shreking. Amelia shrugs her shoulders 'Aiden, it's not our business. If they die, they die.' she says. I stand up and look at her 'you can't just let hundreds of people die from the hands of our people Amelia!' I say. Amelia also stands up and stands in front of me 'why not, huh?!' she yells. I flinch at the yelling but continue to respond. 'CAUSE WE ARE STUCK HERE NOW!' I yell. Amelia seems taken aback from my yelling and what I said. All we can hear are my raged breaths and the wind blowing outside. 'did you not realize that?! Unless you have a way back, we are stuck here! They will see us as citizens of Glashel and kill us along with everyone else, Amelia!' I say. 'damn she definitely didn't think of that-' I think to myself. Amelia looks at me 'i still don't think we should help. They must be doing it for a reason.' she says, trying to defend the little pride she has left. I sigh 'Amelia... Stop defending them, they've destroyed so many worlds' I say. That seems to be the straw that breaks the camels back for her, she looks like she's seeing red 'i will continue to defend them until the day I die!' she says. 'Well you'll be dying soon if you don't help us come up with a plan!' I respond. 'AIDEN STOP TRYING TO PLAY THE HERO DAMNIT!' she yells. I flinch from her outburst and almost cover my ears from it. I've never liked loud noises, especially yelling. 'I'm just saying it's better than watching hundreds die!' I say. Amelia scoffs and mutters something I can't hear under her breath. 'I'm not helping with your little plan. That's my final call.' she says before she turns around and walks out of the house. I try to call out to her but I feel the words caught in my throat. 'did I just turn my own sister against me?..' I think to myself. I stand there completely still like a statue. 'Aiden.. Amelia has a point..' Andy says. 'we shouldn't get involved..' he says. I don't respond and just stand there. Andy sighs before walking out of the room. Leaving me with Navie, Haruko and Cyrus. Cyrus stands up and walks over to me and takes my hand and speaks softly. 'Aiden..' he says and puts his other hand on my chin and turns my face to look at him. He has a look of concern in his eyes but also a hint of hopefulness. 'Do you really want to go against your people and help us?..' he asks. I nod without hesitation. He cracks a small smile and pulls me into a hug and nuzzles his face into my shoulder. 'thank you..thank you, thank you.' he keeps repeating. Navie and Haruko smile and stand up and hug us both. 'maybe I'm going against my world, but I'm going with the people who make me feel cared for. So I'll be fine in the end.'

Word count: 1149