Arynthe's Story

Surprise

(continuation)

Splash!

I opened my eyes in confusion. Above me I saw the face of an Ashirian. He looked familiar, but I couldn't make out who it was. 

"Feast of Water," the man whispered.

Suddenly the realizations flooded into my mind. I had been sleeping here on the floor all night, this man had broke in somehow, he might've read my notes- and he was... 

"You're Tir!" I called out, and quickly got up. "And then to think I believed I'd never see you again! How did you get here?"
"Exiled," Tir replied with his hoarse voice. He pointed at me and asked: "Founder?"
I nodded. "I don't look the way I used to, do I? But I actually meant, how did you get in here?"

Tir pointed at something behind me. I turned around and followed his pointing finger with my eyes to the door. 

"Easy," he summarized his explanation.

I hadn't unlearned untangling his stories: he meant the code on the door was easy to crack. He probably had experience getting into places he wasn't allowed, too. Simple enough. 

Tir helped me stand up. He took a little screen from his pocket and used his finger to write in shining letters: "Should I take you to Zad?"
"That won't be necessary," I said. "I'm fine, really."
Tir erased the letters and then wrote: "People who are fine don't sleep and get nightmares on the floor of their office."
I laughed. "First, this is my lab, not my office. Second, sometimes people who are fine just get tired. You shouldn't worry about me too much. Tell me, are the others also here?"
"You used to deal differently with being tired."
I ignored this. "Are they?" I asked. 

Tir rolled his eyes and nodded. He guided me silently as ever though the lab section until we arrived at he central square. There on the edge of the water basin sat two women that looked like exact copies of each other, and a man that looked like a male version of them. 

"Arynthe! Eylire! Mitor!" I shouted out, and ran towards them. "It's been too long!"
"Way too long," Mitor confirmed as he wrapped his arms tightly around me. "We weren't even sure if you were still alive!"
Arynthe nodded. "Back on Ashiria some people even stopped believing you ever existed. The propaganda is insane."
"Well, that'll change," I said. "I have a plan for this planet."

I quickly explained my plan. Mitor and Arynthe nodded at every sentence, but Tir just stared at me. When I was done, he showed me his screen: "Are you going to be Mara again?"
I couldn't stop myself from mumbling "oops". The ghost was trying to take control again. I forced myself to look back up at Tir and said: "Maybe. Depends on the circumstances there after we broke the rebellion."

The silence was unbearable, but nobody answered me to end it. 

"Do you want to come to my hut?" I asked. 
Arynthe stood up. "Sure," she replied. "Still the same one?"
"Still the same one," I laughed. 
Eylire was now the only one still sitting. "I'm not coming," she said. "I don't feel so well. I get dizzy if I move too much."

Something wasn't right about it. The way she said that seemed suspicious. I felt she wasn't honest with me. I had to keep an eye on her. 

"Then we're all staying here," I decided. "I'm not just leaving you behind like you're worthless."
"Nah," Eylire sighed. "Just go. I don't know what I have, but I don't want to infect you."

She was tricking me. She was going to meet someone here as soon as I had left. I glanced around at the others. Did they see it too? Did they know? Were they part of the conspiracy?

"Just leave her," Arynthe said softly. "She's been like that since she woke up this morning. Let's just go to your hut."

She was part of it. They were all part of it. I decided to not show anything, but silently stay alert. 

"Let's go, then," I gave in.

They were visibly relieved. Poor acting. I pretended not to see it and walked with Arynthe, Mitor and Tir to my hut. It was too bad they knew the usual route. I would have rather taken a different one to make sure I wouldn't get ambushed. 

There we had it already: the moment I entered the outer ring some Torrayan grabbed me from behind. However, whoever it was made the mistake to not put a hand over my mouth.

"MURDER!" I roared. "SOMEBODY, HELP!"

I didn't get further than that. My attacker moved one of their hands to my mouth, but now my arm was free. My hand found a scaled wing and pulled it forward in one sharp movement. A male voice cursed behind me. The hands weakened for a split second, but just as I thought I could break away, eight metal hands tore me down to the floor. 

"I'm sorry, Founder," Mitor gasped as he pressed my left arm to the floor. "We have to do this. It's for your own good."

I inhaled sharply and forced my mind to clear and analyse the situation. Each of my limbs had an Ashirian keeping it down and a Torrayan hand made me unable to speak. I had been a fool, but it was not too late to make up for it. A plan of escape started to take shape in my head. 

Eylire, who was basically sitting on my right foot, made a failed attempt to get me to surrender: "You should stop exhausting yourself. It's pointless. It's five to one."
"My personal record is 27 to one, for your information," I mumbled from behind the hand. 

I turned my hands and bended them inwards to scratch Mitor and Tir, but I couldn't reach them. Maybe my toenails could scratch the girls? Last time I checked they were as long as my fingers. 

"Can you hurry up?" Arynthe hissed to the Torrayan behind my head. "I don't know if you noticed, but she's pretty strong."

She wasn't paying attention to my foot. I turned it upwards and planted my toenails right in her lower arm. She didn't react. I needed a new plan.

I heard the Torrayan mess with something next to my head. I listened intensely to figure out what he was doing. I focussed so hard I forgot to fight, but I couldn't make out what it was. 

Suddenly, he took his hand off my face for a split second. I gasped for air, getting ready to scream again, but I wouldn't get the chance. The Torrayan placed something over my nose and mouth. All alarm bells went off in my head. With a strength I didn't remember I had, I got up and threw my attackers off me all at once, but that one enemy on my face remained. It had to be attached to me in some way. I touched the edges to find a way to tear it off, but then I heard: "SSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH."

Are they kidding me? I held my breath. There were so many easier, faster and safer ways to knock me out, but they had to do it like this? This would take at least 20 minutes. 

The Ashirians weren't exactly reading the news while this happened. They dived back onto me and struggled to get me down again. Meanwhile the Torrayan's hands found their way to my chest and pressed it. He was trying to press the air out of me. I saw through that. 

The "SSSSSSSHHHHHHH" was driving me nuts. It stang through my ears like blade. My vision got blurred by desperate tears. My lungs started burning like a thousand stars, as my attackers brutally pushed my weakened body down to the floor. Still, I refused to accept my defeat. 

The Torrayan climbed upon my chest. "Come on, breathe!" he growled in frustration.

My comeback stayed out, because my distorted senses had recognized this Torrayan. I drew in a startled breath- and that's exactly the one thing I should not have done. I realized that instantly, but there was a fog appearing around my thoughts. 

"Finally," Zad sighed as he let himself slide off me. "I thought she was actually going for the 20 minutes threshold."

His voice sounded more and more distant. I could no longer control myself: I had to breathe. Whatever I was breathing in was working fast. I didn't even have the energy left to curse at my foolish mistake, or at the betrayers, or at the deaf people that hadn't heard me scream before it went this far. I couldn't even keep my eyes open. My body relaxed against my will. 

"If she'd been herself, she would've pushed it even past the 20 minutes," one of the girls replied from far, far away. 

They better had a damn good excuse for this.