Rise and Fall- The Fight Inside

16 Years Ago

It was nearly 3 AM and Arielle was still as awake as ever. She sat with her legs crossed, contemplating what to tell Ryland about his father. Would it make me a bad person if I waited to tell him? Oh shoot, I haven't even told Bailey yet. Eh, maybe that's a good thing. If I tell Ryland it becomes his secret to tell or to keep, not mine. No, I can't do that to him. How does one go about telling their boyfriend that their evil stepmother kidnapped and killed his father?  The questions haunted Arielle's thoughts forcing her to stay awake. Not only that but she needed to make certain that Ryland was okay. All of the sudden, she heard a someone moan. She looked to her side to see Ryland's eyes flicker open.

"Ryland, are you okay? Don't move, Bailey said you broke your back. Uh... stay here while I go get them." Arielle instructed as she moved for the door.

"Wait, Arielle." Ryland wearily stated.

"You know, I owe you big time for this. Thanks for saving me but now I am going to save you. Sit tight." Arielle insisted.

"Arielle," Ryland whispered, grabbing her wrist.

"What?" Arielle questioned concurringly.

"Ben,  Find Ben," Ryland ordered.

"Who's Ben?" Arielle asked.

"My brother.... you have to promise me you'll find him," Ryland demanded.

"I'll do what I can." Arielle insured as she pulled out of his hold and opened the door. 

Arielle sprinted down the hall, nearly hitting the wall around the sharp turn. She ignored her near miss and kept running until she reached Bailey's door. Instantly, Bailey opened the door.

"What's going on?" Bailey asked, tiredly.

"Ryland's awake," Arielle whispered.

"Why are you whispering? There is no one asleep but Reagan and we are waking her up next." Bailey pointed out.

"Shut up or I'll put you back asleep." Arielle threatened.

"Whatever," Bailey muttered as she yawned and trudged down the long hall to Ryland's room.

Arielle kept up a slow but steady jog up the two flights of stair to Reagan's door. She steadied her hand and gave a rapid knock. She heard Reagan sit up when the bed creaked.

"What's up?" Reagan asked, answering the door.

"Ryland's awake but it's clear you aren't." Arielle pointed out as Reagan closed her eyes and leaned on the door. 

Arielle turned behind her and saw the nightstand with a glass of water.

"Sorry." she stated as she turned around and splashed the water on Reagan's face.

"I'm awake, I'm awake!" Reagan yelled, being startled by the sudden wetness.

"I bet. Come on, we need to go." Arielle instructed, taking hold of Reagan's wet hand and practically dragging her down the hallway. 

She opened the door and forced Reagan through first.

"How's he looking?" Arielle asked.

"What's going on?" Ryland questioned.

"I'm talking about your condition, Ryland," Arielle explained as she stood next to him.

"Everything is looking good but his back is still broken," Reagan revealed.

"Well, that sucks." Ryland and Arielle muttered at the same time.

They both exchanged looks.

"Stop saying everything I say! Are you reading my mind? Ryland? Come on." Arielle stated as Ryland read her mind and said it with her.

"I forgot how much fun that was." Ryland laughed. 

"Uh huh. I hate to put a damper on things but Ryland this is no laughing matter. You might never walk again." Reagan mentioned.

"Nonsense, give me a second," Ryland remarked.

"Ryland, you are in denial. You need to lay back down before you make things worse!" Bailey yelled as Ryland tried to stand up. 

"I'm fine," Ryland reassured as he got to his feet. 

He stood up with no problem and turned to hug Arielle.

"I don't understand. how...." Bailey began.

"I learned a thing or two when I was in that coma a while back," Ryland explained.

"From who?" Reagan asked frantically.

"Relax. No one bad, it was actually my mom. She taught me a lot of things, like how to read minds." Ryland told everyone.

"Oh, that's cool. Can you teach me to do that?" Reagan asked.

"Sure, but later on. Okay?" Ryland planned. 

"Sounds good." Reagan accepted his answer.

"Hey, what happened to Olivia?" Ryland brought up.

No one answered but instead, they all looked over at Arielle. Ryland stood there, puzzled.

"Arielle? Did you kill her? How you don't have powers?" Ryland questioned.

"Go on, show him," Bailey instructed, looking over to Arielle.

Arielle crossed her arms and bit her lip, tilting her head down at the floor.

"Am I missing something?" Ryland asked again.

Arielle motioned for him to watch out. She stepped forward and stuck one arm under his entire bed. She pulled her arm out and held up her index finger. Arielle stuck her finger under the bed and stood up. The entire bed- mattress, frame, and all- came off the ground. She sat it back down and dusted off her hands.  Ryland's mouth hung open.

"So she is super strong." he concluded, still surprised.

"Oh, wait. There is more." Reagan chimed in.

"More?" Ryland wondered.

Arielle cracked her knuckles and stepped over to the black bookshelves. She looked at them. Ryland, Reagan, and Bailey watched as the bookshelves moved across the room and back without Arielle lifting a finger.

"Telekinesis too. Dang, impressive girl. I didn't peg you as the super-powered kind but I have to say, I dig it." Ryland stated.

Arielle walked back to  Ryland and smiled as she laughed.  

"Now to a more serious talk." Arielle began.

"Ben Cross. We need to find him and bring him back, Reagan." Ryland finished.

"We can't do that," Reagan admitted. 

"Why not?" Ryland and Arielle stated in unison.

"I have told this story many times to your father over the years and now I'm passing it down to you. Sixteen years ago, Luka and I took both you and Ben to a planet far away from here, called Earth. Luka decided it would be best if we left one there and took the other back with us. The baby we left just happened to be Ben." Reagan explained.

"So what? That doesn't have anything to do with why we can't bring him back!"  Ryland exclaimd.

"Ryland, he was raised on Earth with no knowledge of anything. Not who his parents are, not that he has a family, and certainly not of Ragnarok or any of the powers he could have. That isn't the only thing though." Reagan continued.

"What?" Bailey questioned.

"Time passes faster on Earth than on any other planet. So for us, he is only sixteen but on Earth he is much older and most likely has a family of his  own." Reagan finished.

"What do you mean family of his own?" Ryland demanded.

"A wife, kids.... a family." Reagan answered.

"He is my brother!" Ryland argued.