Argenian

-7-

My arm muscles burn from having to carry so many people.

Marcus must see how exhausted I am. "Hey," he grabs my arm and I pause, hovering in the air. "Let's take a break for a bit. I'll round everyone up, you fly down and relax." His eyes are kind and I take in his flushed face for a second, the little drops of sweat running down it, and the dark bags underneath his eyes.

I stare for a moment before flying down to the ground, setting the small girl that was curled up in my arms on a pile of leaves. My arms twitch from exhaustion and I flop down on the ground myself, letting my wings fold in.

The sun shines down into my face and I cringe away from the bright light, scooching underneath a tree. I relax into the ground and close my eyes, not even thinking about the nasty bugs that must be crawling around me.

A twig snaps somewhere around me and I jump to my feet. I turn around and nearly scream for help before realizing that it's just one of the groupies.

"Oh, Gods. I feel so stupid right now," I shake my head, rubbing my eyes. "Sorry about that, I'm exhausted." I yawn, the exhaustion coursing its way back through my veins. I look up to smile at her, but I scream instead.

I don't recognize the girl in front of me at all, she was never a part of our group. I didn't see the uniform before, either. She's one of the government's little trolls. I expect her to pull out a gun or a shocker and kill me, but she just stands there, a cruel sneer on her face.

Then a tidal wave of pain crashes over me. I scream louder as the pain increases, falling to the ground and curling up in fetal position. The officer watches as I scream and cry.

"Please," I choke. "Make it stop." 

"That's right little Argenian, beg. Beg for mercy you won't receive," she taunts. The manic expression on her face shows just how psycho she is.

White-hot pain shoots like fire through my veins. It hurts, it hurts so much. My arms and legs begin to tingle, going numb. I hear screams of agony and it pierces my ears, making them ring. Then, through all of the pain, I realize that it's me screaming. My whole body is numb and I can't feel the pain anymore. I can only feel the froth coming from my mouth, dripping onto the ground. My vision begins to fade and soon all I can see is the black dots bouncing around in front of my face. 

Then it stops.

Just like that, the spasms of unbearable agony ceases. The feeling begins returning to my limbs, tingling and itching. My vision starts to clear and those awful black spots fade. When my sight is completely back, I see why it's stopped. 

Jenna has the strange Aeris pinned to the ground. The government worker thrashes against Jenna but my roommate refuses to let go, even as the girl's fist catches her in the jaw.

I manage to pull myself to my feet, then, without thinking, I shove Jenna off of the officer. She rolls away and I yank the government official to her feet, moving back a few feet. I position my body into the fighting stance my sensei taught me.

"Y'know, it's quite rude to attack someone without telling them who you are, so I'm going to introduce myself. Hi, I'm Eve, go to Hell."

I swing my leg into her jaw and her head spins back, followed by the rest of her body. There's a dull thump as she hits the ground and I immediately turn to Jenna. 

Forcing me to take self-defense classes for twelve years was the best decision Mom ever made.

"Quick, Jenna, she's not going to be out for long. I'm pretty sure I packed some rope in your backpack, can you check?" As Jenna searches through her bag, I drag the official over to a large tree and put her into a sitting position.