The man continued to stare as he stood before me with his almighty stance and posture of authority. Oliver said his father, Thein, wouldn't let him kill me. Why? As if the man had read my mind, he began to speak with a simple and quite human sentence.
"Hello Acacia", he said as his smile radiated throughout the room. I noticed I was still cowering in the corner and so I stood up and walked into the light. "I am Thein. I am certain you have a lot of questions. I am here to provide the answers", he said. His white hair seemed to glisten in the light of the sun. I always thought this planet would seem dark but with such a bright source of light, it seemed rather safe.
He was right. I did have a lot of questions. "Kadar calls me Aveline. Why did you call me Acacia?"
"That is the name the Plutoniums gave you at birth. I thought it would be more prudent and respectful to call you by the name you grew up with", he said simply as he placed his hands on his stomach. I nodded in thanks.
"Why did you bring me to your planet?" I asked cautiously. He frowned in confusion and released his eyebrows from the frown as he realised something.
"They have most probably told you many stories. Some true and some not", he said and scratched his head before continuing. "I have tried to tell you the truth for some time but every time I did Kadar blocked my path. He is your brother, this is not a lie. However, Oliver is also your brother, this is also not a lie", he said. I was confused. How could they both be my brother? I wandered over to the window where the extremely hot sun beamed down on the planet. I contemplated this new knowledge. Thein did not seem like he wanted to hurt me at all. He just wanted to tell me the truth.
"If Oliver is my brother then, why did he steal that gold sword and try to kill me?" I challenged him. He seemed startled, startled at the idea of his son doing such a thing.
"He was not trying to kill you. He was trying to kill Katell", he reasoned. My brother, Oliver, was trying to kill the kindest soul imaginable. I was, without a doubt, absolutely confused about the facts, about who I was and how I should've proceeded from there.
"There better be a good explanation for him trying kill Katell. She is the nicest person I know and one of two people who has been by my side without a doubt", I told him sternly as I waited for him to answer. He was calm. I was expecting him to yell back and tell me how I should never speak to him like that again and that I should know my place. But he didn't. He just stood there and explained.
"Katell is immortal. All she cares about is power and having you at her side is the greatest power imaginable. She has been here since the beginning", he said. I staggered back into the dark corner and wrapped my arms around legs. I couldn't trust anyone.
"I suppose there is some deep, dark secret about my mother too", I said sarcastically. He crouched down to where I was sitting and put one arm on my shoulder.
"Not your earth mother. She has the most pure heart I have ever seen. She loves you very much", he reassured me. "A lot of people love you. That is the problem, Acacia. We all love you too much", he said before standing up and walking towards the door. He placed one hand on the white paint that covered the arch way. He stared at the carpet before proceeding.
"I know it doesn't seem like it, but it's late and you have some decisions to make in the morning. I will be a couple of doors down if you need anything. Goodnight", he said before making his way down the long, royal corridor.
He was right. I had some decisions to make, but I wouldn't be making them here. It was time to get back to Earth, no matter how good his intentions might've been. Right now I needed my mother and her unconditional support. Hopefully, she had more information and perspective on the topic.
I stood on my own two feet and prepared for the teleportation home. I closed my eyes and imagined my quaint little home and the green grass that could be found in front of the flower beds that mum continuously attended to. As I waited and waited for the transport to occur, it didn't. I continued to stand in the middle of the room until nothing happened again and again. I opened my eyes, looked into the sun and asked it why it wouldn't let me go. How was I supposed to get off this planet if I couldn't teleport? As I paced back and forth across the room I remembered what Katell had said about the way Oliver left after I had killed Miriam.
"Mercurynites have learnt to adapt to the pull of the sun on their planet. The gravity of the sun here is as if there is no gravity at all which allows them to defy it altogether", she had said. The way I was sucked into the sun when I was young was almost instant, but somehow, now, I wasn't moving at all. I had never been on Mercury since that awful battle that I remember more and more of each day. Maybe, just maybe, I had more power than I realised. If I could learn how to manipulate the gravity on this planet, it would be the first good thing that the sun had to offer me. But what if I was wrong about this giant ball of gas? Maybe it wasn't dooming me like I originally thought. What if it was saving me?
I never thought I would fall asleep with the thoughts of where I was, who I was with and what might've happened next, but I did. As I drifted away, a dream began to form as they usually do when my eye lids close for more than ten seconds. The dream began with me walking through that same field of rocks and stone. There were no edges to this field, giving it no end and yet I continued to walk, searching for something. I didn't know what I was looking for but I would know when I found it.
"Aveline! I haven't much time. Listen", Kai begged of me. I jumped at his appearance as I had not seen him coming. I was frightened. He reached out to me with his crippled hand. "You must stop this war. Trust Thein. He will provide the answers you so long for. I am truly sorry I cannot be there", he said quickly. He wanted to get a message to me and I believe he had finally done it. His expression turned from urgent to fear.
Though, I had to remember this was still a dream. He disappeared, my cloak became ripped and the golden sword escaped my sight. I was waiting for the sun to take me and it did but it was as if it was in slow motion. As I stared at it, waiting, a face appeared as if it were imprinted on the surface of the sun. The magma changed and moved until it formed a smile. I couldn't be sure if it was a reassuring smile or a smile meant to gloat about its near triumph. The benefit of the slow motion had stopped and I was pulled toward the sphere and away from the ashes, blood and swiping weapons found below.
"Acacia!" My eye lids opened as fast as they possibly could. I wanted to get out of the dream, even if it was the slightest bit less frightening. Oliver had woken me, just like old times. I pulled away from him as I realised we were in new times. "It's okay, I won't hurt you", he said. I laughed. I laughed and as the crease between his eyebrows became definite, the volume of my laugh only increased. What was he talking about?
"You won't hurt me but you'll happily kill my father. What sort of brother are you?" I asked him fiercely. He bowed his head down as my laugh began to cease.
"A brother who made a terrible mistake", he said. I waited for him to continue. "I thought he was trying to turn you against us. I thought you were a threat because Kai had already gotten to you", he rambled as he said Kai's name in disgust. "Father only told me the truth yesterday", he said with a lump in his throat. I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. I placed one hand on his shoulder for comfort. I thought I had been betrayed and had but not by Oliver. I was only just beginning to realise this. I had been betrayed by Katell.
