Alone - a Lorien Legacies fanfiction

The New Legacy

One

Madeleine

The power had been out for days now. My dad didn't seem to mind the darkness and the stuffy heat that came from life in Georgia without air conditioning. He said it should make me and my mom tougher, that we had grown too accustomed to a pampered life. Mom had been cooking meals outside on a charcoal grill, trying to cook as much food as she could before it all spoiled. She said that we would get the money to pay the bills soon, that everything was going to be okay. Of course, that was the answer. "It's going to be okay" is her answer for everything.

"Mom, I skinned my knee, and it's bleeding."

"It's going to be okay."

 "Mom, I failed my chemistry assignment because you and Dad kept me up all night with your fighting."

"It's going to be okay."

"Mom, my councilor saw the bruises on my arms and is considering calling Child Protective Services."

"It's going to be okay."

However, as much as her response to my problems annoys me, I know that she doesn't have much of a choice as to what to say. If she tells me that she's going to get a job, Dad freaks out. If she uses her healing legacy, Dad freaks out. If she says she's going to get us help... You get the point.

Almost my whole life, it's been like this. My mom, Anna, used to talk about a time when her and my father, Wes, were actually in love. She told me stories when I was a child about them living on a planet named Lorien and training as Garde's to go on special missions for their people. She spoke almost as if she were describing a beautiful daydream, her eyes looking far away as she talked about the gorgeous nature and lovely beaches and fireworks they used to watch together, watching as the two Loric moons came into view. She talked about how her friends used to tease her because her main Legacy – or power – was healing, and that it came so late that many people thought she was a Cepan – a trainer with no powers. She could do other things, she said, but that healing was the one she was the most gifted at.

Mom said Dad was a gifted archer and very talented with his legacies. See, there was tons of controversy about their love because he was the son of one of the planet's Elders, Pittacus Lore. Apparently, his mother wanted him to marry the daughter of another Elder instead of a normal barely-qualified Garde. Pittacus didn't seem to mind. He actually seemed to like that his son had found someone he liked that didn't want him just because of his heritage. They ended up marrying without his mother's blessing, and, because of it, it made relations strain on their home planet. When a mission came about looking for a Garde to scout out Earth during our bad Mogadorian relations, my parents volunteered immediately. They packed up all of their belongings and ran to the spaceship as fast as their feet could carry them.

Here's where things got complicated. Wes enjoyed the sex and the flirting with his wife all the time. He mainly married her so that they could move in and do whatever without interruption. The game plan was to move to Earth for a month, come back, and report their findings.

That didn't work. When they arrived, Mom found out she was three months pregnant with me, Madeleine, and doctor's they spoke to back on Lorien suggested they wait until after I was born to return home. No one was sure how space travel could affect a fetus, so they agreed reluctantly and rented an apartment in New York City. Months passed and I arrived extremely small and sick.

Turns out, space travel does hurt babies! Shocker! One of my lungs had collapsed while being birthed, and I was forced to spend over a month in the hospital while they fixed me up. No one was sure I'd even survive the first forty-eight hours, but I miraculously did. Mom tried her best to use her healing legacy on me, but either she was too shaken up or too tired from giving birth for it to work. They waited for my health to improve for a year, nursing me at home and keeping a close eye on me at all times. Then, after I was able to sit up and giggle, Wes called my grandmother to request a ship home for him and his family.