Rise and Fall- The Fight Inside

Several Years Ago

It was a long, long, walk back to the ship but the group had finally made it. Arielle and Ryland laid Ben across the sofa in the living room. 

"Few." Ryland sighed as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Tired?" Arielle asked.

"No, just relieved.... sort of," Ryland answered.

"Sort of?" Arielle questioned.

"It's a question for a later time." Ryland put off. 

Arielle nodded, understanding that is has been a rough day for the family. 

"I'm too tired to fly tonight and Bailey doesn't know how to get us home. Ryland, can you fly us back?" Reagan wondered.

"Come on." Ryland moaned as he trudged off to the cockpit. 

"I can do it." Arielle stated.

"What?" Reagan asked.

"I can fly the ship home, or back to Onli." Arielle mentioned.

"You can fly a ship." Ryland muttered, happy that he no longer had to fly. 

Arielle smiled and skipped into the cockpit. She sat down in the twirling chair and spun it around as Ryland entered. 

"Ready?" she asked.

"Sure." Ryland replied wearily.

It was clear Ryland was tired and probably not in the shape to fly a ship. Arielle began pushing buttons and sliding switches until the ship lifted off the ground. She watched as Ryland slumped down in the chair and his head fell to one side. He was asleep. Arielle hated flying but she figured she could put up with it for Ryland. 

"Why don't you like flying?" Ryland asked with his eyes still closed.

Arielle arched her back, startled by Ryland's question.

"What do you mean? I am fine with flying." Arielle lied.

"Liar. I can read your mind if you want." Ryland threatened playfully.

"No, don't." Arielle commanded.

"Then why are you afraid of flying?" Ryland reiterated. 

"I'm not afraid of flying, I hate flying." Arielle corrected him.

"For what reason?" Ryland demanded. 

"Nothing you need to know." Arielle snapped.

Ryland opened his eyes and sat up. He stared at Arielle with one eyebrow raised and a smug smirk on his face. 

"Okay, guess I'm going to have to find out myself." Ryland figured.

"I said no." Arielle growled.

"Geez, why are you so upset? I just wanted to know." Ryland stated.

"Fine, you really want to know don't you." Arielle gave in.

"It can't be that bad." Ryland told her.

"I wasn't always an only child, I had a younger sister and brother." Arielle began.

Quickly, Ryland realized that she had a traumatic past and he was in for a sad story.

"One night, my mother Amanda, my father Dean, my sister Lilith, and my little brother Castiel were flying to our castle. My father was flying and he saw another ship tailing us. My mother began firing at the ship once we realized that it was being piloted by an enemy. She ordered me to take Lilith and Castiel to the safe room in the ship. I locked them inside and returned to the cockpit with my parents. My mother had successfully shot the other ship down but what we didn't know was they had already infiltrated our ship. I still remember hearing Castiel and Lilith scream. They were in the safe room with the enemy. My father opened the window and told me he loved me and then he threw me out the window. I landed in a lake. I struggled to get to the surface but I was just in time to see the ship crash. It plummeted to the ground and I ran as fast as I could. My father had managed to escape but my mother, Lilith, and Castiel had all died and it was my fault. Later on, my father married Olivia and Peyton was born. I hated Olivia from the moment I met her. I watched as Peyton and Bailey called her 'mom' and asked me why I didn't. That is why I don't like flying- because it killed my family." Arielle explained.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know." Arielle stated.

"What did you say your brother's name was?" Bailey asked, appearing from around the corner. 

Arielle narrowed her eyes. She didn't like the fact that Bailey had eavesdropped for Ryland was supposed the only person who knew the story. 

"Castiel Carder." Arielle snarled.

"Uh oh." Bailey muttered.

"What's wrong?" Ryland asked, jumping up from his chair. 

"Castiel is the one who leads the Accords army!" Bailey shrieked.

"That's impossible, he died in the crash! I saw him die!" Arielle yelled.

"Did you actually find his body?" Bailey asked frantically. 

"No, I figured it-" Arielle was cut off by Bailey.

"Then he survived. He is the one that wears the armor, the silver and black armor." Bailey told Arielle.

"No." Ryland began to tear up. 

"What?" Arielle and Bailey questioned in unison.

 Ryland's memory flashed to several years ago before he went into the coma. He remembered a man in silver and black armor killing everyone and taking his father.

"We have been wrong the entire time! Olivia didn't take dad! I thought Olivia took him but there was a guy that wore silver and black armor there too!" Ryland cried.

"Crap!" Bailey yelled.

"That's not right! Castielle was only five when the ship crashed. There was no way he could have gotten help, he wouldn't have understood!" Arielle argued.

"No, he didn't get help. Help came to him in the form of Olivia." Bailey stated. 

"Why does this crap always happen to me?" Arielle muttered. 

"It runs in the family." Bailey snapped.

"You do realize that I'm not related to you right Bailey?" Arielle pointed out.

"I know but you are in love with my brother." Bailey mentioned.

Arielle rolled her eyes and smiled at Ryland. Ryland raised his eyebrows and locked his fingers, raising his arms behind his head. He leaned back in the chair, amused. 

"Don't go getting too comfy, we have work to do." Reagan interjected. 

Ryland lifted his head to see Reagan leaning in the door way beside Reagan.

"So, I suppose we need a plan." Bailey began sarcastically. 

"I say we give the Accords a little surprise visit and by that I mean drop the bomb, literally." Ryland stated.

"Ryland, we don't have near enough people for that and if we bomb the place, we could kill Castiel." Arielle remarked.

"Arielle is right, for once, but Castiel isn't Castiel anymore. If he didn't make it out of the plane before it crashed, he would have extensive injuries that would take a miracle to repair." Bailey expressed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Arielle argued.

"It means that Castiel is most likely not human anymore. He is most likely a cyborg."  Bailey theorized. 

"No matter what plan we are going for, we are still immensely out numbered. I'm going to give Luka and Mackenzie a ring." Reagan stated. 

"So we gain two? That isn't enough people." Ryland told her.

"Luka and Mackenzie have been married for a long time now, before you, Bailey, and Ben were born. Mackenzie and her husband had a daughter named Scarlett. She is a couple of years older than you but she is strong in the Kracht. Luka and his wife had two daughters- one named Violet who is the youngest, and one named Madelyn. With their help, we should be good to go." Reagan explained.

"So we have cousins." Bailey whispered to herself.