Prologue
Justin was just about finished with the Yeerk resistance. He was afraid he might yield to Sub-Visser Forty-Eight. The Animorphs were over, for all he cared. He wanted nothing more than to be done with this whole war. He was too young. I mean, there is a limit to what a teen guy is capable of, he thought. But, what would the others think? The Sub-Visser was a powerful mastermind who could rise to the position of Visser Five if it were not for them. They were what would lead to his demise.
Justin looked over at Rachel, then at Jake and Melissa. Rachel had been almost a sister to him, even though she had a ver strong will. Jake? He'd be disappointed in Justin. Justin had been the strong male in the group. He kept them up when they were all down. He had always been cheerful, but the truth was, he was breaking down inside until finally, he snapped.
He couldn't take it anymore. The war could just do without him. What could he do? He couldn't just give himself up to the Yeerks. So, he thought, Is it really the end? Should I just end it? End my life? No more suffering…NO MORE SUFFERING…that was something to think about…but, Melissa…she had been his support, as a friend, and as more than a friend. Rachel had been a sister because she had an essence, an aura that made him trust her, but Melissa was different. She was calm, and beautiful.
Her cousin, Marco, who was Jake's closest friend besides Justin, always made wisecracks and kept the group laughing, but Justin kept the group together—he encouraged them. Jake also kept the group together, but he was more distant.
Well, Justin would just have to find another way.
The next morning, he mournfully took out his favorite shirt, a white T-shirt with a picture of surf waves on the back, with a surfer and a surf board, posing. Sadly, he tore up his favorite shirt and sprayed red paint and spilled tomato sauce and red wine and left the stains as different degrees of cuts and bruises and left the shirt by the roadside. He wrote a note of his confession at taking his own life and, as a coward, jumped off the bridge into the bay, where he swam and swam and swam until his arms got tired. Then, he let himself float for awhile before swimming to the island…in the middle of nowhere…
Chapter One RACHELI woke up at a constant tapping at my window. I opened my eyes unwillingly. There was Tobias, flapping his arms and pecking at my window, looking like some psycho bird ready to burst right in.
I opened the window and let him in.
I checked the clock.
The red digital numbers read 4:08 a.m.
"This had better be good. You're disturbing my beauty rest."
Ha, like you need any. Well, Jake has called an emergency meeting.
"Another one?"
Yep. Sorry.
"All right, I'll be there in a sec. Just let me change."
I stripped off my nightgown and shivered. Not so much because the night was cold, but because we never had any middle-of-the-night meetings unless something was up. Something bad. Although I was used to the wake-up calls in the middle of the night, I still wasn't quite used to the chill that always ran up my spine.
I quickly morphed to horned owl, since it was still dark enough out and rushed right over to Jake's house.
When I got there, I saw Marco, Melissa, and Jake. Ax was there. Where was Justin? I got worried.
I got even more worried when I saw the looks on their faces.
"Where's Justin?"
"Tobias said he had been out flying, when he spotted a very familiar shirt, except with red streaks all over it, near the edge of the bay at the beginning of the bridge."
I took a deep breath and was suddenly short of breath.
"Keep…going…" I managed to gasp out.
He got closer and upon inspection, identified it as the same artificial skin of Justin's.
It was all I could do to keep from screaming.
No. This couldn't be. Justin was not dead. It couldn't be possible. He was like my brother. I loved him too much—more than Jake or Tobias or Melissa.
FLASH!I saw Justin, laughing as usual…
FLASH!…when we first entered that construction site…
FLASH!Prince Elfangor, in battle…
THIS IS NOT THE CORRECT LIFE.
Who was that?
Suddenly, a blue guy appeared.
He looked sort of like those old Chinese philosophers except his robes were more like a priest's and his face was Caucasian-like. He was illuminated with and completely blue.
I AM THE ELLIMIST. YOU DO NOT RECOGNIZE ME. THIS IS A DIFFERENT LIFE.
FLASH!Then, all of a sudden, I was in a barn, surrounded by some people I didn't know. Well, some person, but then, I remembered. Her name was Cassie; there was no Melissa OR Justin. Who was Justin? Who was Melissa? This was my life as I had known it since I was born.
Huh?
THIS IS THE CORRECT LIFE. YOU ARE EXPERIENCING LIFE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ANOTHER BEING BESIDES THE CRAYAK AND I. HIS NAME IS ANOTH. HE IS A CELESTIAL BEING. HE IS BORED. I MUST STRAIGHTEN THINGS OUT. FAREWELL.
"What was that all about?" Marco, as usual.
"I dunno. Ax?"
Unfortunately, I am clueless of the moment, Prince Jake.
"Don't call me Prince."
Yes, Prince Jake.
That was the ongoing joke between Jake and Ax.
Ax is an Andalite. His full name is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. His brother, Elfangor, was the greatest Andalite warrior in all of history. But, when he was on his deathbed, he broke a severe Andalite law, called the Law of Seerow's Kindness, to save the human race from Yeerk destruction and infestation. We were the army he chose. Five kids who happened to walk through an abandoned construction site as a shortcut home from the mall.