REVOLUTION: A Rebel Among Monsters ✔

Four••The Secret Plan

Melaynia gasped so loud she feared her parents might have heard her.

Valnia had the premonition?

She breathed in, her heart beating too fast for comfort.

And she was dragged into the Forbidden Side? This is too coincidental.

She forgot about needing to sleep and instead perused each page of Valnia's journal, glimpsing each sentence to find a connection between her experience and her sister's.

Valnia only had the visions once, but did extensive analysis on the Monsters. Yet whatever she found, she didn't show in her diary.

Why wouldn't she share it? Especially if she meant for me to have this.

She gave up, and it broke Melaynia's heart to read it, imagining the words in Valnia's low yet soothing tone.

"I have no choice but to submit to the decision if I am chosen. It'll be a punishment for my mistakes, and honor for my family. I have to wait for the Golden Envelope, if I receive it; and it'll announce me as the chosen Sacrifice."

Valnia described finding said Golden Envelope soon after. She detailed what it meant for the Roya family, and Melaynia had to move away for a moment, recalling it all so clearly. Valeyria's tears, Tomus' hardened appearance though he surely broke down too, behind his strong facade.

Melaynia had been confused; but now it all made sense.

She closed the book and stumbled to her window, checking the Sky Clock; it was early morning, and as if to confirm the time, she heard her parents downstairs, preparing for their day.

Which meant the geography exam awaited her.

The thought of being locked in a room taking a test seemed so pointless with everything she had learned; but blowing it off would be stupid.

If there's a chance my visions are hallucinations, and this is all a coincidence, I'll regret compromising my future.

She stared outside. "Fine, I'll take the test. But during my semi-vacation... I'll be productive and research. Like Val."

Glancing at a few drawings above her desk, she smiled. "The National Public Library! It'll have my answers, all those things Valnia didn't disclose in her diary... but I'll write them, to leave a trace. I'll share them. Because if I'm going to die... I'll make sure the Monsters go down with me."

The plot took form in her head as she prepared for school. She wouldn't tell her parents where she went; Valnia lied to them, so why couldn't she?

They left her the carriage today—aware of her tests—and she arrived early. During exams, school was out, meaning all other levels were resting, reading, studying.

She passed the deserted halls, the crystallized doors shimmering, the marble floors clacking beneath her sandals.

Once in the exam room, she sighed. "Time to prove my worth."

***

She expected to get a one hundred percent score on the quiz and grinned as she returned home. And her grin widened as she fished a large bag out of her closet and filled it up.

"Yes, guys, it's for a school project," she said, rehearsing her speech for her parents. She threw Valnia's journal into the rucksack. "You value education, and so I'd love to take this educational tour and visit the National Public Library. I have extensive research for my geography expose, and I'd appreciate it if you let me do this."