Pangaia: Agendas (Year One: Fall)

Chapter Twenty-Three - Anj

"I'm going to take Jewl back on Homecoming," Anj decided. "It's been long enough, and I think that'll be a great night to rekindle our relationship since it's also the day we first started dating. She'll think that's romantic."

"Does Jewl even like romance?" Zes asked.

"She does, to a point."

Zes let out a breath. "I'm glad you're finally ending her torture."

"Getting worried?"

"When am I not worried?" Zes countered.

He made a good point. If there was one thing Anj wished his brother did less of, it was worrying. From that one action stemmed so much of his other insecurities. Sometimes, Zes took the role of older brother far too seriously.

After a moment of silence, Zes added, "Jewl wasn't at lunch today. When she's missing, that's when things are the worst."

"We had a fight earlier in the morning," Anj confessed.

"I'm not surprised." The sourness in his brother's voice was potent.

"We always have one big blow up before we get back together," Anj said. "You know that."

"Mmmhmm."

"When she's happy, she'll leave Cheyenne alone," he continued.

"Finally. Why does she take it out on Cheyenne instead of you? I never thought Jewl would be that kind of girl."

"I think it has everything to do with her assumption that Cheyenne needs to be treated like the other girls in the school." Anj waved a hand dismissively. "They'll be friends soon. You'll see. One of the reasons Cheyenne fits in with us is because she's different. Jewl will realize she doesn't have to speak in mean girl anymore to get her point across. It's all part of the game of popularity."

"If you say so..."

Doubt. His brother was good at that too.

Anj flashed a smile in his twin's general direction. "I do! See, the other girls need obvious signals to back off. With Cheyenne it's a misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding you orchestrated."

"Honestly, if Jewl can't see that you're head over heels for Chey—"

"I'm not head over heels for Chey—"

"—then she's clearly blinder than I am."

Zes gulped. "Is it that obvious?"

"To me? Yes."

"Great..." He paused. "Do you think being Divine is going to change her? Right now, she's normal. Cool. What if the others sink their claws into her and she becomes different?"

"Then she's not the person we thought she was."

It really was as simple as that. Would it hurt? Yes. It would hurt a lot to go through the pain of losing her to the popularity and political machine that made up the Divine. Would they survive it? Also yes.

"I guess you're right. I was just..."

Zes continued to speak, and Anj was vaguely aware of what he was saying. Except it was hard to focus because color and light started appearing before his eyes.

Not now. Why do I have to have a vision now?

His twin's voice felt far away.

He was in a castle of dark stone. The air was hot. Zes stood next to him, and while he kept speaking, his mouth didn't actually move. His face was hard and focused—determined. On the other side of Zes was Cheyenne. They stood in a church—an evil one for some kind of dark creature, but a church all the same.

Is this a wedding?

No, there was no happiness present. No. Zes' wedding was going to be a day full of joy and love.

Then Anj realized he was standing in a pew. He was witnessing someone else's ceremony.

He took a few steps forward toward a woman in a white dress at the end of the aisle.

Everything around him shifted.

The castle felt light and full of love. All of the joy missing before returned, and he no longer felt the sweltering heat. Flowers bloomed around him. Mr. Thantos stood at the altar to officiate.

When Anj got close enough to the woman in the wedding gown, he saw Jewl.

She smiled at him.

He smiled back.

"Anyway... I'm clearly boring you," Zes said, snapping Anj back to reality.

His world was dark once more and he felt nothing but relief.

"No, you're not boring me," Anj said quickly. "It's a lot to think about."

Yes, that felt safe. He'd been talking about Cheyenne being Divine and her changing. It'd only been a few minutes at most. In truth, it was probably only seconds. Time moved differently when he had visions.

"It is." Zes's voice suggested he didn't believe Anj.

"Do you have more you want to talk out? I know that helps," Anj offered.

"No. I think I've got a good handle on the situation."

"All right."

"I have homework. See you in the morning."

Anj exhaled. Why am I seeing all of this? To reassure me?

Yes, that had to be it. Everything was going the way it was supposed to. He'd ignore the unsettling feeling he had about the dark castle and focus on the positives.

Jewl is the one.