After speaking with my people and after two more days of intense training with both my powers and in normal combat fighting, I was exhausted. I wanted to crawl into a ball and go to sleep for eternity but I knew I never could. It wasn’t safe. I wanted to sleep but my body wouldn’t allow me to rest with such a threat in our universe.
I hadn’t seen Kadar since speaking to my people. Katell was very helpful in the combat training but I had to find the trigger for my powers on my own. I wasn’t offended by Kadar’s absence any more, I was annoyed and angry. Was he really going to never speak to me again?
“He’ll come around. He just needs some time”, Katell had said to me when I expressed concern about Kadar’s disappearance. There was something going on between Kadar and Katell. They thought I was oblivious to their relationship and perhaps they are too but I could tell something was brewing between them. It was only a matter of time before they realised it too.
When they finally did I would be happy for them. They both deserved to be happy and with their lives, it seems like each other was their only option. Kadar couldn’t be with anyone except Katell or another Plutonium. Katell couldn’t be with anyone except Kadar because of her very own destiny. Was I in the same position as them? Was it my fate to be alone? How can I be with someone when my life was full of danger and chaos? At least Kadar and Katell could go through the mayhem together.
After a long rest I walked to the library as I was looking to speak to Katell about what the next step might be. The library had changed. It had warped all the furniture into a confusing design.
“Do you like it?” Katell asked me from behind my left shoulder. So it might not have been the library that warped the cosy room into what seemed like another world but more like someone named Katell. The room used to look small and crowded but she had shifted the furniture so there was more space.
The book shelves were in rows which were categorised into genres of books. There were comics, romance, mystery, sci-fi, religion, biographies and there was even an individual area for cook books. There were new bean bags in the middle of the room for readers to sit and indulge in a story of their choice. There was a corner for the new computers that Katell had been waiting for. She told me about the order when I was at her house, before Oliver struck.
There was one thing that hadn’t changed and that was our table. The table was where I received the first real piece of information about my heritage. It was where I came back for help. It was where I was heading now.
I made my way over there and motioned for Katell to follow. I needed to speak to her about my idea for how to win the war.
I was no soldier. I had never been to a war in my life and before I turned eighteen I was hoping I would never have to. Now I was being drafted as their leader and surprisingly I took the role as naturally as if I was born for it.
“I love it”, I said. A smile stretched across her face as if she needed my approval. “I have an idea about some tactics we could use. I’ve got a pretty good handle on my plutonium abilities and combat skills”, I paused before continuing.
I wasn’t sure if she would approve but I couldn’t think of any other way to win this ancient war. There was so much hatred and anger on both sides and it had been brewing for eleven thousand years. Now I was the one that I had to deal with it. This was hardly fair on me, yet I still felt responsible for the outcome. If it was my choices that determined the outcome then I would accomplish the outcome I wanted in ways I saw fit.
“I was thinking if I got a handle on my abilities I received from the sun, we could destroy them with their own poison”, I told her. She didn’t move or blink. She was a statue trying to figure out how to respond and what her reaction might be. I waited patiently. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she answered.
“I think that is a very smart idea but I don’t think Kadar would approve”, she said with a neutral tone. She wanted to side with Kadar but she knew it was the only way in comparison to losing half the population of Pluto.
“I’m beyond caring about my brother’s approval”, I told her harshly. “Sorry”, I muttered for my rudeness. This made me wonder what Kadar was. “Where does Kadar go when he’s not with us?” I asked suspiciously.
“He’s with the other Plutoniums”, she replied. I nodded vaguely in response as I was trying to make the decision to whether or not tell Kadar about my plan. “Acacia?”
“Yeah, I was think I might go and start training”, I said. I began walking away slowly as my words swirled around in my head attempting to confuse my thoughts.
“Okay, be careful where you train though. If a plutonium sees you, they will lose their faith in you”, she called after me and once again heads turned and faces creased in concern. She sat down so she could look smaller until people went back to their reading. I turned and nodded still lost in my labyrinth of thoughts.
I was beginning to question my trust in Kadar. It seemed like he was holding something back and, keeping in mind how Katell deflected the subject every time I brought it up, it seemed like she was hiding something too. Maybe it was that she wouldn’t say or maybe it was that she honestly didn’t know. Maybe she deflected the subject because she couldn’t give any real answers except for reassurance and comfort.
I was going to teleport to that same oval but then I remembered how the Plutoniums could make them seem invisible to the naked eye. I changed paths in the middle of teleporting and when I finally arrived it wasn’t where I imagined myself to be. I imagined my home.
Instead I was surrounded by tall slopping buildings that seemed marvellous in comparison to my actual home. Though, why would I end up here? Where was here? It was an enormous city. From the rocky and warm earth where I stood, there was no end in sight of these buildings that seemed to have a structure of pure iron. At least it looked like iron. Where would one find so much of this material to build an entire city out of it? My shoes immediately began to burn. They sizzled and wasted away into nothing as it dissolved into the steamy dirt.
My bare feet lay flat upon the ground and I waited for my feet to burn too but they didn’t. They began to feel comfortable warmth. As I was beginning to feel safe in this strange land a man grabbed me from behind and placed a metal ring around my neck which also happened to be made from iron.
“Hello, sorry for the restraint but we have to be cautious”, the man said rather kindly. He wasn’t rough but rather gentle as if he truly didn’t want to hurt me. Either way I was scared and when I’m scared I panic. I stomped on his toe as hard as I could and attempted to run. This did nothing. He pressed a button and everything went black.
There was only one explanation for being in such a land as this, I was having another vision.
When I awoke from my frightening slumber, it wasn’t over. Everything was blurry and everything about this situation seemed familiar. I willed myself to open my eyes and as the elegant room I was in came into focus, so did Oliver. Oliver was standing on the other side of the room. I stood up immediately prepared to defend myself if needed. But he just stood there with his back to me.
“Father told me not to kill you”, he said in a shameful tone. “I didn’t understand at first but then he told me why”, he said as he turned around and allowed me to see the crease between his eyebrows. He looked concerned and even sorrowful.
“Why?” I asked as my voice shook with confusion and fear.
“I tried to block out how much I cared for you for the mission”, he avoided my question. He shook his head and as he advanced towards me I took a few steps back still on my guard.
“Oliver!” A deep and husky voice called with such authority I scampered into the darkest corner of the room, which was hard as the light was so bright. The man who called an emotional Oliver away was wearing a gold robe that draped around his waist in an even and uncomplicated way. Oliver walked swiftly past the old man with his head down who did not speak until Oliver was out of sight.
As I looked around at the old man, at the environment and at the bright light raining down on me, I realised something. I realised I wasn’t having another vision. I had in fact teleported to Mercury.
