Umærium: A Parallel World | ✔

Chapter Nine

Wild Child - Enya

~Laera~

The metallic ship hovered merely above the ground . The engines hummed as they patiently waited to placed into gear. Orion was busy barking commands to the radio while he prepared our flight path. It was nothing more than a tap on the interface screen, but Orion was determined to make it look more complicated than it was. Ramona fixed her olive off shoulder top and stepped in, a huge bag on her back. We were required to blend in with the fashion of Earth, but I opted with just wearing a plain black shirt thing and an annoying bottom material called 'jeans'. Several guards followed in after Ramona, carrying her numerous bags (six) and placed them inside the ship. They then swiftly exited.

"What's in those?" I asked, poking at one of them. She swatted my hand away.

"I'm a woman and I needed to carry all my necessities along," she announced proudly. I glanced at her stuff and then at my mini side bag. What did that make me? I thought. The doors closed and the engine softly purred as we prepared for takeoff. I pulled my seatbelt over my chest, watching as Ramona carefully removed the huge bag from her back and cradled it. She caught me staring and smirked. "Luxury perfumes." I nodded. 

Once Orion took his seat opposite us, the ship wasted no time in getting in the air.

"Everyone remembers the plan?" Orion asked as he rested his head against the window. Ramona nodded, her eyes filled with determination. She tightly clutched the huge sac she previously carried on her back. Silence crept on us as the ship was cruised out of Umærium's atmosphere. 

We felt a bit of a bumpy ride once we passed the invisible border in the sky. The camouflage panels were activated, and the speed increased drastically. Once on the other side, we decelerated. I peered outside my window as we sailed over the green grass of a vast field. It reminded me of another dimension I visited not too long ago. It took some time until we started to see people moving around on the streets below. 

I stared at how tiny they looked from such a height. Was their life any better than ours? They simply it completely clueless of what was going on in other parts of the universe. Maybe that was why Asaíra had run off to hide here... Ignorance was bliss at times.

Soon buildings began to pop up and more developed streets ran perpendicular. There was a large rectangular space with a rather huge building and a sign perched in front of it that read, 'Oak River High-school'. Orion got up from his seat and came to look over my shoulder. A beeping sound from the ship commenced.

"I guess we're here," he commented. 

Soon, we approached what seemed to be a residential neighbourhood. The ship came to a stop in front of a mustard coloured house with a brown roof. Every now and then, a car drove by indicating we needed to get out of the ship and into the house without being seen. It would seem odd to see three persons stepping out of thin air. 

Orion proceeded to gather his stuff, Ramona following queue. The ship's door opened with a flight of stairs emitted to the ground with a low hiss. He was the first to step out. My hair picked up in the sudden cold breeze which carried white tiny droplets. The ground was covered in a soft, white looking substance. I assumed it was the first snow. We all hurried to the house and shut the door behind us.

The house was vacant. The floor was tiled with pale grey squares and the walls were painted in a muddy brown colour. Ramona rushed to a window, hastily throwing her stuff on a single sofa. It tipped over, and out fell a pacifier. Orion's brows furrowed together.

"Why'd you bring this?" he asked. Ramona turned in confusion, not having seen the item fall out of the bag yet. She followed his gaze and quickly ran to retrieve it. Orion still stared at her questioningly. My eyes narrowed as I played several scenarios in my head, each questioning the logic behind Ramona bringing a pacifier with her. None of them made sense.

"I plan to use it to lure her to us," she replied. Orion was too absorbed with getting the equipment to work to fall for that dumb lie. Or maybe it was his ears that had fooled him. I saw the deception in her eyes. Without another word, she gathered her possessions and marched off to one of the rooms in the back to set up. I thought about following her later. Right now, I needed to focus on the task at hand.

"Time to set up," Orion stated. He wasted no time in unpacking their quirky looking devices while I strayed to a corner of the room with my arms crossed over my chest. I feared the outcome of this mission, even though I tried not to care. I knew that Asaíra would never succumb willingly and someone would get hurt. All this over a child, who wouldn't even live to see a month if the King found her.

The child was lost, an opportunity gone. Couldn't the king and queen just deal with their loses? 

Orion began programming his toys while I watched. He ever so often brushed away a strand of his brown hair as the screen of the devices barely reflected in his eyes. He seemed nice from as long as I could remember. But Royauz were never any good in the end. They always seemed to try, but it always backfired. 

Standing alone in the corner soon got boring, so I went off to find Ramona as I had planned. I opened the door to the adjacent room without knocking and was surprised by what I saw. Ramona sat on the edge of the bed with her hair tied into a messy bun and a bundle of cloth in her hands. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was in that cloth. 

I just stood there whilst a wave of joy passed over me. But at the back of my mind, I wondered what would come from all of this. 

"Close the door," she demanded, and I did just that. I took cautious steps towards her and peered into the soft pink blanket. A pair of glimmering cerulean eyes stared back. My breath caught in my throat. Why was I second guessing this before? How could someone want to harm such a precious being? I placed a hand over my mouth to stop a sob.

"How did you manage to do this?" I asked, pushing the blanket further to reveal curly strands of orchid hair. She was such a beauty. She didn't deserve this. She needed a life completely free of Umærium and its people. Ramona sighed.

"How could I not," she retorted. "Could you imagine what they had planned for her?" I shook my head. I didn't want to. "She's a one of a kind baby. King Cadmus had all sorts of theories he wanted to test out to help prolong the our life length." I sat next to her, as my eyes locked with Sabaire. "But I had to save my niece."

"How are you going to protect her on Earth?" I asked. Sabaire yawned a bit and her eyes began to droop. Ramona shrugged. She tried to play calm, but I knew she was frightened. She had no clue what to do and was desperate. "Once Asaíra sees her, we'll be fine." Ramona paused for a bit. "You must not tell the others." I thought about how I betrayed them from the day Sabaire was born. It was one of my greatest regrets.

"I won't."

Two words, I thought. Just two words. She seemed determined to make this work. I ran a hand across my face.  This was far more complicated than it ought to be.

***

Hey guys. Sorry for the long wait. I've finally managed to squeeze some stuff through. Hope you like it.

Taja D'amore ♡