REVOLUTION: A Rebel Among Monsters ✔

Thirty-Nine••The Sibling's Story

Within an hour, recruits from above ground piled into the room. Some heaved in rebels and hybrids. Some carried wounded soldiers. And a few crawled in, but filling with relief at the scene before them.

With some swaying of the captured Impians, the hybrids helped the Eldian's army to clean the hall, extinguish the fires, tend to the injured. Attendants patrolled the tunnel, saving whatever crystals they could, paving the way for everyone to return home once it was safe to do so.

Melaynia recalled Lexa's smile. Valnia's worry, followed by her embrace and her cries and her yells for taking such risks. Wylan's laughter as he claimed he knew both sisters would brave the barrier to witness the Impians' arrest.

The Eldians interrogated their evil siblings. Their energy ball morphed into magical shackles that chained the Impians together, containing their powers. Valnia and Wylan watched with Melaynia as the Monsters hounded the lighter-skinned creatures with questions... but in their language.

She nudged Valnia. "You think we'll ever find out what they're saying?"

The slimy siblings, resembling the Eldians in their shape and size, had an outer shell of a creamier color. But their eyes were identical, shiny like crystals and impossible to read.

Before Valnia had a chance to reply, Lexa slipped over to them. "The Eldians will make an announcement about it later," she said, then winked, "but I can give you a few snippets. A preview."

Wylan excused himself to go offer aid to the Assistants.

Valnia cocked her head side to side. "There's no need, Lexa."

Melaynia rolled her eyes. "Yes there is! Tell us, Lexa."

"They started by asking the Impians why they acted with such immaturity." Lexa frowned. "Why they didn't ask for permission to work on a space project, instead of threatening the entire planet to do so. Those savages... they replied that they knew the Eldians would refuse. Because they've never had an interest in what's out there, never wanted or needed exterior help."

Valnia, despite having been opposed to Lexa's eavesdropping, scoffed. "So they justify their actions with fear of rejection?"

"I guess so." Lexa shrugged. "But also... they wanted permanent access to the night sky for their research. Because their studies would advance quicker if no daylight interrupted. And they didn't wish for their siblings to understand what they were up to... so the Rotation Halt was also a distraction."

"And we thought I was the immature one," said Melaynia, playfully shoving Valnia.

"You were," Lexa's gaze narrowed, "but they were worse, for sure. And when the Eldians asked them how they acquired so much power, how they developed such advanced technology... they claimed they'd been planning for a while. They withheld crystals on their side of the planet... for years before the Rotation Halt. And the inhabitants on that side—like myself—never suspected it. The Impians ate those crystals, absorbed their energy, and shut their minds off from the Eldians."

Valnia gasped, and Melaynia's eyebrows lurched upward. "You... lived over there?"

"Yes," Lexa retrieved her glasses from a pocket and cleansed their surface before sliding them on. "Our side... the Forbidden Side... wasn't perfect, even before. But I never anticipated my own leaders were plotting against us. That... was hard to listen to." Her gray eyes shimmered as she gulped. "Hundreds of years of serving them... and they betrayed us."

I understand why she's so fierce about working for the Eldians, now. She... wanted revenge.

"They also admitted to extensive spell-work to craft the barricade. They combined their bodies, drew from crystals and soil, and sunlight, to fuse the bubble. To strengthen it. Once it was perfect, and they were strong enough... they caused the Halt. They lifted their wall... and the energy it emitted weakened the Eldians, since it fed on soil and sunlight. Their barrier was killing us."