I am Number Ten

CHAPTER 16

His eye goes completely blank and I let the shock sink in slowly. He shuffles back a few feet from me.

"What the hell are you talking about? I don't have a sister!" he says bewildered.

"Twin sister, and yes you do. My name is Aralia and you are Aruvun, my brother."

I decide to be a bit more subtle with the introduction.

"Number Five, I am Number Ten."

"T-That's impossible, there is no Number ten!" The tenth one was Ella and her.."

"Who is Ella?" I ask.

"She's the Tenth Garde, she escaped from Lorien on a separate ship! She's...she's Setrakus Ra's granddaughter!"

"Oh my God!" I gasp. The vision at Dulce makes sense now, the younger Garde with that blonde human the one that John Smith saved with his healing.

"Five you can trust me, you're my brother!"

"I AM NOT YOUR BROTHER! You're CRAZY!"

All of sudden, he turns silver.

"How'd you do that?!" I ask.

He doesn't respond.

"HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!" I insist.

"It's my legacy its called"

"Externa," we say at the same time.

        He looks at me in confusion. He squints in frustration, clearly upset at my sudden knowledge of his legacies.

"How...How do you know what it's called?"

"Because..." I say slowly. I pull the steel ball from my bracelet and I show him. His eye goes as wide as possible. "I'm just like you."

        I reach my steel hand out to him and he cowers away slightly. He is clearly distressed and also fascinated by me. So much is rushing through his mind at this moment and he still can't decide what to think of me. He's had a complicated past couple of days, he's been debating which side he's on and of course the remorse he has towards killing Number Eight. I knew he would feel pain, but he knows the other Garde will never trust him again. He tried to help Ella escape from Setrakus, but it all backfired having him end up in the street of New York. He and Nine had been fighting, trying to strangle each other and they ended up in this apartment building. I try to use my telepathy to connect with him.

Listen to me, I am like you. You and I are alike, and...

"Who the hell are you?" he says in a rather distressed voice

"I am your sister, I know you don't want to believe me, I didn't even know until a couple of days ago. A letter from my Cepan told me that you and I were separated at birth and you're older by two minutes. There were only supposed to be nine Elders, but I was considered the tenth because of the double birth and the fact that both of us survived. We had a baby sister that died during the invasion, Anali. It's really complicated, but there's an invasion going on and we need to help the others"

        He looks at me like I'm going crazy, but I decide to tend to Number Nine. He hasn't stirred since they crashed here. He's alive, which is a good thing. I roll him into my lap and take in his features. Tanned skin with long black hair and broad shoulders behind a dark shirt with his pendant moving up and down with his breathing.

"Number Nine," I say in a hushed voice. I give him a shake, he moans slightly but won't open his eyes. His head rolls slightly in my lap, he has a black eye coming and is battered on his arms, but I don't think he's seriously injured.