The Truth Will Set You Free

Viva La Revolution

-Peter-

            We all crammed into the air-train for the second time that day, the third time in our adventures in this strange land. Meredith keeps calling it the Empire-whatever that means. I want to go home, more than anything, but it’s like we’ve gotten in too deep. As soon as we sat in that restaurant, ate their food, it’s like they’re not going to let us leave. And by they-I’m not sure if I mean the government, Hector and Meredith, or Bridgette.

            The air train skidded to a halt. We stepped out and we were in a completely different sector of the city-all of the buildings were a lime green color, the paint seeming slightly more tarnished and the emerald green walkways just a little less busy. When I looked behind us, if I wiped off my glasses and squinted a little, I could see the glimmer of navy blue in the background.

            We stopped at a doorway and Meredith looked down at the black paper, having been designated the official navigator for our (hopefully short-lived) adventure. “612AVY-right here.” The foreign address rolled naturally off her tongue, and I let Hector knock on the candy colored door. A boy, slightly older than us, stuck his head out of the doorway, his hair falling over his eyes. “Password?” he asked.

            “What?” Poppy stammered. “No one gave us any password. Sorry. Did we screw up?” She blushed. I tried to ignore it.

            The boy just laughed and shook his head. “I don’t have time for stuff like this.”

            “But we got a note-“ That girl just couldn’t control herself, could she? “I mean, we might’ve screwed up, but I’m pretty sure we’re supposed to be here-“

            Meredith pushed back my overeager twin. “We’re definitely supposed to be here. Now, if your parents are there, I could talk to them and we could sort this whole mess out.”

            The boy rolled his eyes. “You do realize that I’ve been trained to knock all trespassers unconscious.” Trained? I gulped, and I silently prayed that none of them would say anything stupid. I mean, I didn’t know whether the boy was lying or not, but why take the chance?

            Our relief came in the form of a famillar voice. “Wait-Patrick, I’m sorry. I forgot to tell you, we’ve got guests.” Bridgette poked her head out of the door and waved at us, like she hadn’t flipped Hector to the ground just yesterday. “Come on in guys,” she said, opening up the door. “They were the ones causing the security breach at Heavenhell today. The password’s recon, in case you guys need it.”

            “Heavenhell? Isn’t it reckon, not recon?” Hector asked in a stupor. I realized that he wasn’t used to not understanding terminology.

            “I’ll explain later.” Bridgette lead us in to a hallway just like the one in Meredith’s house, only with a lime motif. She turned her head to talk to someone behind a door. “Felicity?” she called. “They’re here! See, I told you they would make it, I figured it out from the start, you didn’t believe me but they didn’t get caught-“

            “Really?” the girl called back. She poked her head out from the doorway and smiled. My eyes grew wide.

            It was the girl with the red bandana-only now her hair was down, draped across her right shoulder in a messy ponytail, the usual piece of fabric nowhere to be seen. She wasn’t in her black t-shirt and leggings-instead, a purple tunic, jeans, and a black leather jacket.

            “Well, I’m impressed.” She smiled at us for the first time, a half-smile, one that made you feel proud but also left room for her to hide behind. “Welcome to the revolution.”