My name is Ania
My name is Ania...it wasn't long ago since I was just a normal kid living a normal life. Heck, my whole household was normal, perfect. My twin, Jake was normal, my older brother, Tom was normal and my parents were normal. We were well off, not rich, but comfortable. I think it's amazing how quickly things can change. I was a normal kid, one moment, then in the next moment my friends and I had been put in charge of saving the world, and no one was allowed to know except us. We can't trust anyone... not even our family, which is one thing I will regret. I wish our stupid dog hadn't have been attracted to that light in the sky... then none of this would have happened. Now, here I am, writing down my story for all to hear. Everyone I love has died and now...now it is my turn. I am waiting for them to come back and take me. Maybe they won't, they know I want to die, and they want me to suffer. They want me to suffer because of who I am. Maybe they will make me live to see earth destroyed. What they don't know is that I am writing this for the world to see before everyone is infested...this is my story.
September 15th, 2001
"Jake! Ania! Get up you two dweebs! You're going to be late for your first day of school!" Tom called up from the kitchen downstairs. He had just finished school and was having great fun teasing us about still having to go.
"Tom! Stop being mean to your brother and sister please." My mother said from her room.
"Yes, Tom, we didn't tease you when you had to go to school now did we?" asked my father. I got up out of bed and padded over to Jake on the other side of the room. He was still asleep. Jake and I share a room. We're twins so it's not so bad. We enjoy the same things and dislike the same things. We both think Tom can be a jerk sometimes and share a best friend. Marco. If we were both the same sex, Jake and I would be identical. We both have dirty-blonde, wavy hair and ice blue eyes. We have to same button nose and the same 'don't mess with me' look on our faces 24/7. We don't mean to look that way, we just do. Our personalities are actually fairly different. I use my 'don't mess with me' face and he doesn't...I'm not saying I'm a bully. I'm simply saying that I stand my ground when I need to...and trust me I need to a lot. My dad thinks it's an attitude problem but my mom thinks it's cute. Tom thinks that...wait, Tom doesn't think at all. I shook Jake lightly. He stirred a little and went to slap me. I tried to shake him again but he grabbed me and tackled me. I fought back and ended up pinning him to the floor. I giggled. "Pinned ya!" I said happily. He smiled and wriggled around. He shook his head.
"Not next time, Xena."
"You just wait, Galactic Warrior." We both smiled and I let him go. When we were ready, we headed off to Marco's house.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"The lockers for underclassmen are downstairs, and yes, that would be you. Would you like a closer look?" Gerald shoved another boy into a locker and held a piece of paper up to his face, a locker assignment. Gerald is a mean dude, a senior. He's asked me out once...I declined, of course. I don't have time for jerks like him. I came up behind him and plucked the assignment out of his hand.
"Hey, just as I thought, we're locker neighbours!" I said cheerfully to the boy. I took his hand. "Uh. I need your help with something." I dragged him away from Gerald, who winked at the boy as we walked away. The boy was silent, so when we reached the stairs, I spoke up. "Don't let Gerald get to you. Besides, he's been a senior for five years." The boy shot a glance at me. He was cute.
"Really?" he asked.
"Mmmhmm" I replied.
"Uh. Thanks." he said
"No problem. By the way, I'm Ania."
"Tobias." We reached the bottom of the stairs and stopped in front of the lockers. I pointed to the locker next to mine.
"That should be yours there." I opened my locker and stuffed my books in as Tobias struggled to open his. I figured he was new. He frowned a little.
"It must be welded shut." He said softly. I smiled.
"These lockers are so ancient. You just gotta have the touch." I played around with the handle, looking at Tobias. I didn't mean to be staring, but when his eyes caught mine, I looked back to the locker, gave it a thump, and opened it easily. "There you go."
"Thanks again, Ania" I looked Tobias up and down again.
"So... feeling welcome on your first day of school?"
"Oh yeah...I'm fitting right in." I smiled at him and he looked at his feet. The bell rang.
"Maybe I'll catch you later."
"Yeah." As I walked away, I felt his eyes on me, but when I turned around he was gone.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Hi Aunty Katina!"
"Hi Ania...Paula's in the barn."
"Thank you very much."
"Bye, Ania." Katina is Paula's mom. She's really cool and they all live on a preserve, which makes their lives even cooler. Paula is always around animals. She's a save the whales, hug the trees kind of person. She's not a hippie but she comes close to it. Paula is a close friend of mine, Jake insists that she is my best friend but I still hold the case that Marco is. Jake likes Paula, he won't admit it, but I know...I'm his twin for crying out loud! We've spent that extra nine months together that no one else has. It kinda makes me feel special; being a twin, but I guess it's just like having a really close sibling...I continued on my way to the barn. Paula was tending to a bald eagle when I arrived. I think the eagle had been shot because it had a hole in its wing. Poor thing. It really gets to me when I see an injured animal, especially when the cause of the injury was a human. We humans are so cruel to nature and we wonder why its just wearing away...I know I sorta sound like a hippie myself when I say these things but why destroy what has always been around just because we've advanced? I don't get it...
"Paula, we're late. We were supposed to meet the guys ten minutes ago."
"How long will it take to get there?"
"About five minutes." I said. Paula never cares if she's late, as long as her animals are okay.
"Then we'd better go...if we're more than twenty minutes late, we are no longer fashionably late. Right, Ania?" she asked. I raised an eyebrow at her.
"How am I supposed to know?"
"You're the fashion freak." She replied. I rolled my eyes. She thinks I'm some kind of a fashion freak just because I shop at places like 'The Gap' and 'Macys'.
"Just because I wear clothes that actually fit me, does not mean that I am a fashion freak." I shot back.
"Let's go...Jake's gonna-"
"Yeah, Yeah...I know he'll miss you if you're away too long." I said as we hopped on our bikes and rode down the street. Paula shot me a death look.
"I DON'T like him that way!" she said, all flustered. I grinned.
"I didn't say that, did I? I was implying that he liked you in a more than platonic way...I never said anything about you liking him..." I explained curtly. Paula drew in a breath, her face all red. She really was cute when she was all annoyed like that.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
We parked our bikes outside my house and walked the rest of the way to the mall. As we walked into Cyberia, Tobias bumped into me. He seemed to be in a hurry because when I said 'hi' he didn't reply. We walked over to where Jake and Marco were. Homer, our dog, was there too. Marco was playing and Jake was watching with Homer.
"Where have you guys been?" asked Jake. Before I could answer, Marco cut in.
"One word...sale" he said, grinning. They both shot smart ass looks at me. I threw Marco my 'don't mess with me' look.
"Excuse me...I happen to have a friend with no sense of time...I had to pick your girlfriend up, Jake," I said. Marco laughed and slapped me a high five. Jake and Paula both blushed.
"Shut-up, Titania. The fairy queen."
"Mmmhmm...whatcha doing...Galactic Warriors?" I asked
"Shh, Shh" replied Marco. Paula and I laughed. The screen blurred and Marco watched in shock, slapping the computer. The rest of us laughed and he looked to us. "What happened?" he asked.
"You just got blown away!" Jake said in amusement. Paula and I grinned at him. Suddenly, Homer decided to go for a little run...Stupid dog. ...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sometimes weird things happen to people. Ask Jake. He may tell you about how that night we saw a strange light in the sky. He may even tell you about what happened when we realized the light was only a plane -- from another planet. Here's where the story gets a little weird. It's when we're told that the human race is under attack...but we have a chance to fight back. Elfangor, the Andalite Prince who fought the evil Yeerks had crash-landed on earth. He landed in an abandoned construction site and met us. We happened to be walking through. With his life fading away, he gave us the Andalite power that was forbidden to give. The power to morph. We learned more than we ever wanted to know that night. The Yeerks, who are grayish slugs that control other species by attaching themselves to their brains, were coming. Coming to enslave Earth and destroy it. Elfangor told us to run and hide giving them important information even as Visser Three, one of the leaders in the Earth invasion and the only Yeerk to capture an Andalite body giving him the power to morph prepared to kill him. But just before Elfangor was to be eaten by Visser Three, he looked at Tobias one last time.... As if he had seen him before.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
September 16th, 2001
"You know, the strangest thing happened to me last night, Tobias. This blue dude-"
"Don't start Marco." I said. He shot me a look of frustration.
"Listen, you may not want to talk about this, but I do...anyways, as I was saying. This blue dude, with four legs, put me and another four idiots in charge of saving the world." He finished, smirking at me. Tobias half-smiled, which is a rarity...the poor guy has no family and is constantly picked on at school. I guess he thinks there's really nothing to smile about.
"Marco? Are you nuts? Anyone can hear us right now...and anyone could be one of them." Paula shot in a loud whisper. I felt a hand come down on my shoulder and I practically jumped ten feet into the air. Marco sneered, Paula grinned, Tobias stared, and I turned to see Jake smirking at me.
"Hey there, little sister!"
"Only by an hour." I replied, looking down at my plate.
"What's the matter? Scared of the big, bad Yeerks?"
"Aren't you?" I asked, studying his face, he lost his smile.
"Aren't all of us?" he asked back. I searched every face on the table. I found fear in all pairs of eyes but one. Tobias'. His eyes were full of hate and anger
."Are you okay, Tobias?" I asked, against my will...I had just provided Jake with material to tease with. It was approximately two seconds later that he batted his eyes and asked in a mock, girly voice.
"Are you okay, Tobias?"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"I don't think it's a good idea..."
"Why not?" I asked. We were all at my house and Jake and I were arguing about me being the first to try the whole 'changing' thing. "Look, we've all been given a power and I don't know about you, but I intend to use it and use it well. Now, I'm going to try it...here goes."
"Ania, wait." Tobias said as he lightly touched my arm. I had to bite my inner lip to stop myself from doing anything I wanted to do at that time. Everyone waited for him to argue.
"You need to touch an animal first." I smiled at him and called over my cat, Chick. I petted her and she seemed to go into a trance as I felt something strange in my arm. I concentrated hard on what Chick looked like and soon my bones were crunching, my internal organs were rearranging, I was becoming very hairy and I was shrinking. Oh God, I feel sick. I said, no, I thought but everyone must have heard it because they were nodding in agreement. Suddenly, I felt very, very cool. I was the queen! Nobody could tell me what to do! I licked my paw and cleaned behind my ears.
"Ania? Hey Ania? Are you okay?"
Jake, don't bother me...you're not worth the effort of talking.
"Wha?"
"She's a cat!" Paula said, "She thinks she is the Supreme Being..." She shook her head in amazement.
"Oh yeah, that's exactly what she needs" mumbled Marco. I slowly and casually walked up to him, extended my claws, and studied them.
Do you want to say that again Mon ami?
"Nope" I began to concentrate on me again and soon I was standing right in front of Marco, who was in shock, Tobias, who turned away swallowing hard, Jake, who was laughing, and Paula, who bit her lip and turned away...I was completely naked. I drew in a breath and jumped behind a door.
"Oh jeez, Ania, there's a sight I..." Marco started.
"Do you want to live to see another day?"
"Ok, ok...shutting up." Everyone laughed.
"Jake? Clothes? Please?" I said, my voice shaking.
"Can I turn around yet?" asked Paula.
"Mmmhmm" replied Jake. Paula turned around and looked at Tobias, who was still facing the other way. She nudged him and he turned around.
"Remind me never to do that again..." I said.
"Never do that again," said Tobias automatically.
"Ok...why didn't Elfangor warn us about this?"
"Elfangor didn't wear clothes..."
"Oh...Ri-ight." Jake handed me my clothes and I put them on straight away. When I stepped out from behind the door everyone stared again except Jake... he was smirking. I looked down and realized what I was wearing. A really tiny skirt and a Singlet top...I gasped.
"Do I actually own this?"
"Yup, this is the kind of thing I'm talking about when I say you have to wear different kinds of clothes."
"Mmmhmm, ok I'm getting changed now."
"You don't like it?" asked Paula "Because you look good." I raised my eyebrows at her.
"I agree." Said Tobias, looking at his feet and blushing. Marco shot me a look that said 'what are you gonna do now? Sucked in!'
"I'm not wearing it...I'm sorry but I'm not gonna wear something so revealing..." I grabbed a pair of shorts that would go with the top I was wearing, told everyone to turn around, and changed from the skirt to the shorts. When was done, I broke the silence. "We really have to figure out how to morph clothes," we all laughed. At least that felt good, something normal, since our lives had become way beyond normal in less than half an hour.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
September 23rd, 2005
"Run, run, run, run, run!" I cried. The Yeerks had attacked us...again. We had thought that it was all over, but boy, were we ever wrong. Dracon beams were being shot randomly and we were dodging then as we ran for our lives. "Ahhhhhh!" I screamed in pain as a Dracon beam seared my arm. We were all in our human forms. Even Tobias was running with us. Although the Yeerks knew that we were the 'Andalite Bandits' and that we were human, we didn't want to risk it. This had to be a completely different group of Yeerks. We were positive we had wiped out the whole of the Earth Yeerk Empire. We soon lost them and it was up to us to being the walk. We had to get out of the state completely.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Unknown date, 2001
"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! Wake up! Please! Jake! Please!" I begged, shaking him violently. The other watched with sympathetic eyes.
"Ania...Ania, he's gone." Tobias said softly, placing his hand on my shoulder. I didn't say anything; I just wept for my twin brother. I let myself sink to the ground and wrap my arms around Jake. At that point in time, Paula broke down. Marco hugged her tight and whispered words of reassurance in her ears. He was crying too. Tobias knelt down beside me and wiped the hair from my face. "He's gone." He repeated. "It's going to be okay, Ania. I know it hurts but we have to keep fighting... Please don't give up. We need you...I need you." He said, soothingly. He must have been reading my mind because giving up was exactly what I was planning to do. Flashes of Jake ran through my head, from when we were small, playing together, to when we were nine and we freaked about the 'birds and bees' in Tom's bedroom, looking through his magazines. When we were ten, playing with Marco. When we met Elfangor. Our many, long-fought, battles. Jake smiling, laughing, shouting, crying, running, playing, fighting...dying. Dying to save me. Throwing himself in front of a Dracon Beam to save his twin sister...He was gone. Tobias pulled me into his arms and stroked my hair softly as I sobbed. I buried my face into his chest and drew in a deep breath. When I calmed down I moved over to Paula and Marco, who were sitting together, arms around each other. Tobias was talking with Ax, grief in both their eyes', so I lay my head down on Marco's knee. I felt his hand on my cheek and I shut my eyes...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I woke to find I was being carried on Ax's back. I rubbed my eyes, leaned over, and kissed his cheek, or what would be his cheek. I saw his eyes smile the way that they do.
Prince Jake, your sister is awake. He said casually. I rubbed my eyes once more and pinched myself. It hurt so I wasn't dreaming.
"Welcome back to the world of consciousness, Ania," said Jake.
"Jake!" I yelped. I jumped off Ax's back and onto Jake. "Y-You're alive!" I cried through tears of joy.
"Um...yes, I am." He replied, laughing. I thought for a moment.
"Jake? How long have I been sleeping?"
"Well, let me see...judging by the number of sunrises and sunsets we've been through without your voice...five days." Marco concluded.
"Five days?" I cried. "Hey wait...did I even ask you, Marco?"
"No but-"
"Then shut up!"
"OK, ok..." I scanned the group. Paula, Jake, Marco, Ax...
"Where's Tobias?" I asked, worried. They all shot me confused looks. Why wasn't Tobias with us? What had happened to him?
Where I usually am, Ania...Up. I looked up. A red-tailed hawk. I felt tears welling up in my eyes. Tobias couldn't still be a hawk! He was human! Something wasn't right. Something had gone wrong whilst I was unconscious. This wasn't how it was supposed to be!
"Tobias, no! You're human! Demorph! Demorph, Tobias!"
Ania, I...
"NO! You can't be a hawk! Please! Please demorph! Come on, Tobias! Stop it!" Tobias landed in front of me and demorphed. Within a couple of minutes, he was human again. I felt a wide grin spread across my face. I wrapped my arms around him and let everything else in the world disappear. Tobias pulled away.
"Ania, I'm still. I mean, this isn't what..." his voice trailed off as my eyes welled up again. He looked away, annoyed. "Just leave me alone, okay?" he said harshly. I bit my lip; I hadn't meant to make him mad.
"Sorry." I said softly.
"Guys?" asked Jake, "don't you think we should get moving?" Paula and Marco nodded.
"Let's go." I mumbled. I walked behind everyone else. I didn't want to face them. I felt too ashamed to have to talk to them after what I had done. I had felt their eyes burning into me as I had my arms around Tobias, and now it was as if I was carrying my tail between my legs.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
We soon reached what seemed to be a road and stopped to rest and wait, hoping for someone to drive by. We had been walking for about a week non-stop, each of us taking turns to rest on someone's morph back. At that moment, Jake was on my elephant back, Paula was on Ax's back, and Marco was on Tobias' Andalite back. They had been sleeping for three hour already, a record since we had the Yeerks off of our tails. Within another few hours, we thought he had died and gone to heaven; a car, not just any car, a minibus was heading our way! I didn't look as if they would stop for us, so I hauled Jake and I in front of the bus and trumpeted. "HURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAH!" The bus came to a stop right in front of me and a young man stepped out. He was kinda cute, but the red sunnies just had to go. Hi eyes darted from me, to Jake, to me again, to Tobias, to Marco, to Ax, to Paula, and back to me once more. "Jean?" he said, "you have to see this. There are two others, they're all carrying humans." Another person stepped out, a female, Jean obviously. Her face showed complete and utter shock. I woke Jake; the others woke as well.
"Children?" Jean asked, "Are you harmed?"
"No." a unison response from Jake, Paula and Marco.
"Can you all climb down?" I felt Jake climbing down my back and my elephant instincts told me to swat it with my tail, I ignored the instinct. Jean looked relieved. "What are these?" she asked, gesturing to Ax and Tobias.
"Andalites." Said Jake
"Blue dudes." Said Marco
We are aliens. Said Ax.
"Telepathy" Jean said, it was as if she were awestruck. "Like me..." she added.
You might also call us 'shape-shifters' I said. Jean looked at Tobias.
"Was that you? Are you female?"
It was I. Tobias is the other alien...I'm the elephant.
"What?" I began to morph and so did Tobias and Ax. The faces of both Jean and the sunnies guy twisted into looks of horror. Soon, three kids, a vicious looking guy and a kind looking woman with white hair emerged from the bus. They all looked amazed. When Tobias finished morphing, he almost collapsed. A helped him onto the bus, where we were introduced.
"My name is Jean. This is my fiancé, Scott or Cyclops. Our combat teacher, Logan or Wolverine, and our history and natural science teacher, Ororo or Storm. These are a few of our students." The students introduced themselves.
"I'm Emma or Kallacyndra. I'm Scott's sister. My powers are telepathy and telekinesis."
"I'm Rosemarie or Zelda. I'm a gelfling, I can fly, and I think that boy there is cute." Rosemarie pointed to Marco. I couldn't help but laugh.
"I'm Christopher. I haven't chosen a mutant name yet but I can shoot fireballs from my hands, so maybe you guys could help me?" Christopher had a striking resemblance to Tobias, who was making zees on my shoulder.
"I'm Ania or Ania. This is my brother Jake or Jake, his best friend Marco, or Marco, Jake or Jake's girlfriend, Paula or Paula, my boyfriend Tobias or Tobias and his uncle Ax or Aximilli Esgarrouth Isthril. "
"Ok..." said Emma or Kallacyndra. We came to a stop.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"You and Tobias can share this room since you two seem close." Scott said, then "Listen, I know you may have come from somewhere very different but here - in this academy - we do not approve of very serious relations. It should only ever happen in marriage or when you're both eighteen, okay?" Tobias and I shared confused glances.
"Ok." We said in unison. Scott left and we out our very little amount of stuff away.
"You know what? I'm gonna check this place out...It's really big."
"Oh.... Okay." And with that, Tobias left. I sprawled myself on the bed and then...
"Hello!" A head popped down from the ceiling. I jumped ten feet into the air.
"Holy shit!" I cried. "Who the...what the...Hell! How did you get up there! And why are you in my room?" The girl jumped down and stared at me. She left via...the wall???? That place was really weird. There was a knock at the door. I groaned and it opened.
"You're Ania?" I nodded.
"You're Rogue?"
"Yes."
"Thank god for someone normal has arrived!" Rogue rolled her eyes.
"I take it you've experienced Cassandra?"
"Is that what you call the thing that walks on ceilings and through walls?" I asked. Rogue laughed.
"Yup! That's our Cassie!" A boy stepped in from behind her and kissed her gloved hand several times then very quickly on the lips.
"Jake!" I cried, "What are you doing?" Jake raised an eyebrow.
"My name is Bobby or Iceman, I don't know who Jake is but I'm sorry if I scared you. He said.
"Oh hi, Bobby. I'm Ania or Ania...Jake is my brother and I'm sorry if I made you think I was a psychopath." Bobby laughed.
"No, that would be Cassie."
"She's popular around here isn't she?"
"She's psycho."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Ok, Ania, if you would just hold out your arm please, I'd like to take some blood." My eyes went wide.
"Um...you know what? I'd rather not give blood."
"It's okay...everyone else gave me the same problem and they all ended up giving blood...Jake needed a hell of a lot of convincing, though." I held out my arm and sighed. I was finally safe.
"What are you testing for?"
"Genetic Mutations...Is your blood like the others'?"
"What?"
"Does it have animal DNA in it?" Jean asked. I nodded. She studied my blood under a strange looking microscope thingy. Her brow furrowed. "That's strange," murmured Jean.
"What's strange?" I asked.
"Hmm? Oh you uhhh..." Jean took a breath.
"Get that needle over there. I started to get up. "No," Jean said, "with your mind...get the needle with your mind." I pictured the needle flying to my hand and it did. It landed right in the palm of my hand. I gasped.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It turned out that I had just about every mutation ever recorded. I could fly, control weather, had telepathy and telekinesis. I could absorb other's powers; shoot pyrotechnics from my hands along with fire, water, and ice. I could walk through and on anything, had uncharted regenerative physical strength and best of all...I was an Animorph. After many long weeks of training and testing, I was finally told what was going on. About fifty years earlier, some guy - a kind of prophet - said that one day a young child would come along and stop the war between mankind and mutants. The child was to have many superhuman abilities...far more than needed and with those abilities, the mutants would win. That child? It was I. I was gonna, single handedly stop a war.
"Ohh so she's the one?" said Cassandra, who had been hanging from the ceiling as I was told the story. "Yes Cassandra." Said Jean, exasperated. Cassie grinned. "Now it's time for anther blood test."
"Noooooooooooooo!" screamed Cassie, running towards the window. She landed with a thud - she had rebounded instead of going through - she let out a whimper.
"See? You're not getting away this time." Said Jean. Cassie groaned and held her arm out, which I noticed, was invisible. I looked up at her and smiled with amusement as the vial filled with multicoloured blood. "Oh Cassandra! How many times do I have to tell you to make your blood red?" I then left for my combat class. I shifted my dress into gym clothes with my powers and started immediately.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow...OW!" I was lying on the bed when I heard that coming from Tobias. He walked to the bed with the first six 'ow' 's and threw himself on the bed with the final loud 'OW'. I turned to him.
"Bad combat training?" I asked coyly. He did the lizard eye thing that I love, looking at me without even turning his head. I laughed and sat up. "Are you okay?"
"No." he grumbled, "I think I need stitches."
"What?" I cried. "Where?"
"My shoulder. Logan got me good."
"Logan? Why did-"
"Accident." He whispered, closing his eyes.
"Let me see." I said. Tobias threw me a clear look that said 'as if!' and I threw him my best puppy-dog face. He sat up next to me. I straddled him and knelt between his legs. I un-buttoned his shirt and as I slid it down his shoulders, he winced. I ran my fingers against the cut and it healed instantly. I climbed off the bed, shifted into my bedclothes, and hopped back in. I shut off the light with my powers.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"This can't be right," Jake, said, "we haven't won yet. There are still millions of them out there. They didn't just disappear." He was talking about the Yeerks.
"Can we not talk about this?" I asked, shoving a piece of toast into my mouth. They waited for me to finish. "I mean, personally, right now I think we're safe. Besides, I have other wars to deal with. One's that aren't interstellar." It was then that Jake decided to explode.
"Ania you can't just quit on us because you're some fancy pants mutant, okay? This war is the one you're fighting!"
"Well maybe I don't wanna fight my father anymore!" I yelled back and, plucking up all my courage, I left the room.
Ania? asked the professor, I believe something has come up, make your way to the office please.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Ania Trent?" asked a man. He looked like some kind of security guard.
"Excuse me?"
"Are you Ania Trent?"
"My first name is Ania, yes."
"Is your last name Trent?"
"I don't give out my last name, sorry." I turned to leave the room. The man's hand came down hard on my shoulder.
"Remove your hand from my shoulder, please." I said slowly and steadily.
"Your father wishes a word with you, Ania."
"My father is dead, sir, what is alive is a monster inside his head." I explained. "Now please take your hands off me."
The man tightened his grip and I sent him flying across the room. A sly smile spread across my face. "Thank you sir."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
When I got to my room, I rummaged through what little possessions I had. I found exactly what I had been looking for. It was a picture of me, my father and my 'uncle' Alan Fangor. All smiling like fools. Loren Fangor took it when they took me to Disneyland. I was seven at the time and two of my teeth were missing. Alan was holding an ice cream and my father had his arms around me. I stared at the photo and I almost cried when I saw the other child in the picture. It was clearly Tobias, leaning his chin on my shoulder, grinning with one of his teeth missing, too. Soon after that we found out that I was in terrible trouble. My father had a Yeerk in his head. Enter Ellemist. Tobias was living with his parents, without a single memory of me and a new history was created with me as the twin sister of Jake Sutherland. I was Ania. I lay there on my bed just thinking of what could have happened if the Ellemist hadn't stepped in. I was grateful. Tobias walked in, all smiles.
"Hey Ania!" he said, planting a kiss on my forehead.
"Hi," I replied, "Good day?" Tobias flashed me his perfect smile. That obviously meant yes. When he asked me how I was, I forced a smile and told him I was good. That night, when we were in bed, I crawled into his arms and laid my head on his chest. As he held me, I drifted off to sleep.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I woke up that morning to a soft humming. I groaned.
"Cassandra, go away."
"Who's Cassandra?" asked a girl. She was short and pretty and absolutely not Cassandra.
"You'll know when you meet her."
"What does she look like?"
"Not like you, not like me."
"In the middle?"
"I guess." I sat up, making sure I was covered. "What are you doing here?" I asked her, harsher than I had intended.
"This is my room now..."
"What number did the professor give you?"
"Seventy-eight."
"This is Seventy-six, you're next door."
"Oh thanks....Um?"
"Ania."
"I'm Ayanami."
"Hi." The girl left, waving. I heard something stirring. I looked beside me, Tobias wasn't moving so I looked over him onto the floor where I saw Marco and Rosie...snuggling. I could have puked right there and then. Macro? Snuggling? Give me a break!
"Marco!" I whispered loudly. "Get the hell outta my room!"
"Aw shit! How did we get here?"
"I don't want to know..."
"Alright, alright. I'm gone, I'm gone..."
"And Rosie!"
"Yeah, yeah." He picked the Gelfling up and carried her out. I grabbed a couple of pillows and propped myself up to read a book. About halfway through it, I looked over at Tobias. He had the tiniest hint of a frown on his face. I smiled. He looked so cute, so vulnerable. I moved a stray piece of hair from his forehead, and with lightning speed and strength, he reached up and grabbed my hand. At first his touch was rough, it even hurt a little, but when he registered whose hand it was his touch was gentle. He didn't open his eyes. He rubbed my hand with his thumb and kissed it.
"Sleeping beauty awakes with a kiss." I said, smiling.
"Not just any kiss, Miss Ania, the kiss of true love."
"That was 'The Little Mermaid', dopey."
"It was all of those Disney movies, besides you're supposed to kiss me." He murmured. I leaned over and kissed him.
"Happy?"
"Not as happy as-" someone burst through the door. It was Jake.
"Aw shit! I knew it, I just knew it!" he cried. I looked at the floor in embarrassment. Jake stood there in silence for a few moments. "...Aw shit!" and he left.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Were, well, well, where, when, well." I stuttered
"Oh spit it out!" Jake exclaimed.
"Fuck off!" I screamed.
"Ania..." Tobias put his hand on my shoulder.
"Well where is she?" I cried.
"Finally!" Jake threw his hands in the air. "I don't know, do you think I would be asking you guys to help look for her if I knew where she was?"
"No..."
"Jeez, Ania."
"Well I'm sorry Jake, but it's not as if I lost her! If anyone lost her it would be you!"
"Oh right, so its all my fault because I'm the leader of our little band of misfits, is that it?" he asked. "Cause if that's what you're saying then you sound a lot like Crayak. Besides...I QUIT!"
"Oh, okay, so it's okay for you to quit but heaven forbid me to fulfil my destiny!" I felt my face grow hot. "You go find your girlfriend... I'm through doing things for you." I said, my voice low and deadly. I flew out to the waterfall to calm down.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
As I sat on top of the beautiful waterfall, I heard a soft whimpering from below me. I floated down and parted the water. There I saw something that still holds a scar in my heart. Paula, leaning against a wall in the cave weeping. She had been beaten, obviously and her clothes were ripped. She looked up and her eyes went wide, she mouthed for me to go and run. I hesitated, but ran to her, despite the fact that she was shaking her head violent whispering "No." I took a knife from my pocket and cut her free. She jumped up and tried to pull me out of the cave.
"Paula stop! What are you doing? Calm down and tell me what happened." I said. Paula gasped; she was looking at something behind me. I swirled around to see him. Evil incarnate. Victor Trent. My father. I bluffed by starting to run with Paula, then stopping to confront the Visser. I moved closer to him, my legs slightly apart. I was on my toes, using my training of agility, you move faster on your toes.
"What are you doing here, dad?" I asked.
"You know exactly why I'm here." He replied, smirking.
"Forget it, Visser, there is no way I am going to tell you." I said. Dad motioned with his hands and his henchmen grabbed me. I didn't struggle. "If I tell you, will you tell you, will you hurt them?"
"Who, my dear?"
"You know very well who!"
"Oh them...the Animorphs. No dear, I won't hurt them. I will just bathe in their screams of protests as they become the galaxy's most powerful controllers." I lunged at dad. He laughed. "Ania, dearest, there is no way you can stop me now."
"Go to hell, Visser."
"Oh come on, the least you could do is call me dad or something."
"I'd rather die." I hissed. The Visser smiled.
"As you wish...daughter." He sneered, as everything turned black.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I woke to the inaudible screams of my friends. My head was in Tobias' lap, he was weeping and screaming. I sat up too see Ax hanging in front of us. He had been hung! They killed him! I felt my body beginning to shake. I wasn't scared, I wasn't sad; I was way beyond all that. I sat up and took Tobias' head in my hands, I could hear myself telling him it was okay and not to look, but my mind was gone. We had lost and it was my entire fault. The doors flew open and dad strolled in.
"Well, well." He said, "How do you like the artwork I made out of your friend... Ax was it?" he grinned.
"Charming." I replied. His two loyal henchmen found their places by his side. "You're going to keep me alive, aren't you?"
"Why would I keep you alive, after everyone you love has gone that would be just want you want...besides, you're my daughter." Dad said, Jake started at him but was held back by the henchmen. "Now, who's next?" he said, sneering.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Seeing Paula go has really driven Jake to the edge, especially the way it was done. My father tied her to a chair and blindfolded her, then he infested her with ENS117. When she began to gain control he took a knife and cut her from navel to ribcage, spilling her insides. Marco keeled over. I suppose if I weren't so worried about how Jake was and who was going to be next, I would have done the same thing. Jake bolted to the corner when one of the henchmen walked back in. In the corner, Jake was white; withdrawn. His eyes were wide and he was curled up, shaking violently. The henchman had cleaned up the blood and was about to take Paula's body away when Jake leapt at him.
"No!" he cried, "You can't! Just leave her alone! Don't touch her, let her sleep, she'll wake up soon!" he was hysterical. I walked up to him and wrapped my arms around him; he shook himself free and slapped me. Tobias started for Jake but I pinned him down with my powers.
"Jake," I said softly, "she's not going to-"
"She'll wake up soon," he repeated, taking the blindfold off Paula's face and wiping her hair away. Marco wept.
"Okay, I said in my talking to loonies voice. "Let's wait for Paula to wake up over in the corner." Jake nodded. I took his hand, he began hitting me hard. He was screaming and crying and yelling nonsense about only ever letting Paula hold his hand. I let him go, if it made him feel better, it was well worth the cuts, bruises and broken nose I ended up with.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
No one talked. I don't think that there was really anything to say, but the silence was driving me mad; it was getting way too loud. The air was thick with angst and thoughts of death. I tried to think of a poem to pass the time but I didn't succeed. Jake was sleeping with his head in my lap, his eyes fluttered open. He looked around and just as I realised that the henchmen had taken Paula away - she was beginning to rot - he said, "Where is she?"
"She woke up. They let her go have a shower... but the shower is a long way away so she won't be back for a while, okay?"
"But she'll be back?"
"Yes" I lied.
"Okay."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Two months later.
"Ania?"
"What?" I didn't mean to sound so bitter with Tobias; I guess I was just tired and worried. He leaned in close and for a moment I thought that he was going to kiss me. I was wrong. He whispered, "We've been in here for about three months, right?" I nodded. "Well, it hasn't really occurred to me until now but, you're a girl and doesn't a certain something happen to you each month?"
"Yeah..."
"Well it hasn't happened."
"I know."
"Why?" he asked. I knew the answer but I didn't want to tell him.
"Maybe um, malnutrition?" I replied. Marco spoke up.
"It can't be malnutrition; we're fed here. Besides, it looks like you've gained weight." He said, gesturing to the small protrusion of my stomach. I covered it.
"Shut up." I said, defensively. Tobias walked away. I don't think he knew what I would tell Marco. "Jesus Marco, are you stupid or something? I'm not fat... I'm pregnant."
"Are you serious?"
"No Marco." I said bluntly, "I thought I'd make it up for kicks." I sighed. I knew I couldn't tell Tobias, it wouldn't be right. He was going to die...and probably the baby, too. Jake was still shaking over in the corner. He probably realised that Paula wasn't going to come back. It was like one of those movies that people cry over. I would have, if I was watching on film and I do NOT cry over films.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
That night, when the pillows and blankets were thrown in, and the lights were out; I curled up close to Tobias. There was still a little light coming through to our cell, so he knew it was me and he still pushed me away and asked "What do you want?" he stared at me straight in the eye and all I saw was anger. I felt a sharp stab of pain in my heart and I shrank about eleven inches. With all the pain I was in, I was surprised that I even managed to tell him that I was cold. "Yeah well, that's what the blanket's for."
"Sorry", I murmured as I turned the other way, Marco was staring at me with cold eyes so I decided to face the ceiling. I spent what seemed like half the night with my hand resting on my little belly, trying not to let any tears escape my firm grasp. I thought about my life, from before the Sutherland's to then, and I realised just how much I would appreciate life if I got the chance to. Then it hit me that I would never have that chance, with a baby on the way, and I couldn't stop crying. No one heard, even if they did, they wouldn't have cared in the slightest. I can understand why they were mad. They were going to die and it was my entire fault, but maybe they could have tried to see from my perspective, I was hurting too.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
That morning would have had to be the worst of them all. My father came in with a gang of men and with three words Marco was gone. He had pointed at Marco and said plainly, "It's his turn." The gang pulled out wrenches and literally beat him to death. It made me think of Hitler, you know? He waltzed into Germany, took over and murdered half of the population. What a great way to see your own father. Jake is freaked really badly. I guess he knows that he will be next. All he does is sit in the corner, muttering to himself. When the meals come, I take his over and help him eat, sometimes I give him my share, too. I lay his head down on his pillow, cover him with a blanket and stay with him till he sleeps. I don't sleep, ever, in fear that I will wake and someone else will be gone. After our meal that night - hot water, cabbage and onion - Visser One strolled in. Jake tried to hide behind me and I hugged him tight. The henchmen walked right over and before I knew it, Tobias was being dragged out of the room. I ran after him, the door slammed in my face. I kicked and screamed and bawled and punched for hours, but nothing helped. They just sedated me in the end. For weeks all I could hear were Tobias' screams, and all I could do was cry silently, feeling my belly grow. The baby would be the only memory left of him, and it probably wouldn't even be born.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Please?"
"No."
"You have to..." Jake shook his head as I offered him a spoonful of mush. That's what it looked and tasted like...mush. I put the spoon down. "Fine." I said, "I'll just leave it here, but eat a little, okay?" Jake didn't respond. By then I guessed I was about five months but I wore baggy clothes to cover my fairly large stomach. I hadn't heard Tobias screaming for a long time, so I figured that either he was dead, or he had given up on screaming. I hoped it was the latter. The doors slid open and a wave of dread coursed through my body as the henchmen strode in. Not long after, Tobias was shoved in and he collapsed. I gathered him up in me arms and Jake splashed a little bit of water in his face. I shook him for a few minutes, then finally gave up and slapped him. He woke up, shaking.
"Please no..." he murmured, "no more, please, please..."
"Tobias?"
"No more, no more..." I took his hand and he pulled away. "Get away from me!" he cried, thrashing about in my arms.
"Hey, hey, hey. Wait! Stop! Tobias! Hey!" I slapped him again. He drew back and studied my face, he was crying. He opened his mouth to say something, but decided otherwise. I didn't know what he had gone through, I still don't and I don't think I ever will.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I don't know how long it had been, exactly, but for the first time in a while, Tobias touched me. One day, out of the blue he leaned over and hugged me. He told me that everything was going to be okay... That was the last thing that I ever heard him say because right then, at that very second, my father came along to play. Tobias was strapped to a chair, like Paula was, and was tortured very slowly in front of us for days. By day I wept and tried not to watch, by night I stayed by his side holding his hand.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I remember the last time I saw Tobias very clearly; it wasn't all that long ago - about a month - and I consider it to be the worst day of my life. My father came in for the daily torture routine and did the normal - asking if he wanted more - if he answered no, he was beaten. If he answered yes, he was cut and if he didn't answer, he got both. However, after his sick games, dad came to me with a knife and placed it in my hand.
"Finish him." He said slowly.
"No." I replied. Dad took the knife from my hand and held it at my stomach. "Do it, dad... I don't care." He sighed and put the knife at my feet.
"You really amaze me, my child." He said, then added "I want him dead by the time I return." He left and as soon as the door shut I heard Tobias croak out my name. I ran straight to him.
"Ania, do it." He said.
"No!" I cried, "I won't do it!" Tears were streaming down my face.
"Ania please, just do it, please..." I took the knife and pointed it at his heart, and just as I was going to do it. I broke down. The doors opened and dad strode in with about ten other men. "Oh well... he isn't dead yet. I guess I'll just have to gas him. A rather slow and painful death, my dear." His henchmen edged towards Tobias.
"No!" I screamed, plunging the knife deep into Tobias' heart. Father let out a victorious laugh as Tobias coughed and sputtered. He threw me to the other end of the cell and circled Tobias.
"You pitiful, pitiful boy." He said, sneering. "You begged for her to let you die and all the while you were oblivious to the creature growing inside of her..." Tobias' eyes met mine for the very last time and after a moment; they were that of a dolls...lifeless.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
For the next week or so, my whole life seemed like a dream. Everything was blurred, there was no colour and I could hear muffled voices. I thought I was going insane when I heard Paula's voice in my head. She spoke so clearly, unlike all of the other voices I could hear. She said "One of John Marsden's, oh, he's an Aussie writer. Anyway, one of his books is about a bunch of teens stuck in the middle of a war. One of the characters writes everything down. Maybe we should do that..." It was then that I woke up to reality. If we - the Animorphs - the only line of defence against the Yeerks, were gone, the whole world would quickly become infested. So what did I do? I asked for paper, a pencil, a rubber and a sharpener to write 'poems'. And here I am... Oh, did I mention that when I 'woke up to reality' I also realised Jake was gone? That was painful. I think the two worst things that could ever possibly happen are being made to kill someone that you love and never getting to say goodbye. I hope whoever reads this learns something... I really do. Oh gosh, I'll have to write later. I've heard gunshots...Dracon shot, rather. What the...? It's Uncle Alan!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I know it seems unbelievable, but I'm sitting right here in the spare room of the Fangor house. All of my father's henchmen fought Elfangor and lost. My father was gone at the time but I'm sure the by now he's realised I'm not coming back... ever. Alan's a doctor and he said he'd help me out with the baby. I didn't need to tell him who the father was. He said he already knew. A few days later I went into labour. You know all the times I thought I had been in physical pain? None of them compared to the feelings I was getting from the labour contractions. I thought she was ripping me apart from the inside. And yes, I know it's a she because all 16 ultrasounds said so. It was just as I was about to start pushing that the Ellemist decided to pay me a visit.
"Oh joy." I said, "What do you want now?"
"Why so bitter? I've come to give you what you want!"
"Mmhmm...and what would I have to give you?"
"Well-
"Hah! That is just so typical of you! Why can't you just give unconditionally, you know? Give someone what they need?"
"That's not how we operate. We barter." Ellemist explained.
"Okay fine, what do you want?"
"The baby."
"What? Why? Is she something special?" I asked, panicking.
"She is evil." Ellemist replied.
"How can that be?"
"When pure good and born-evil mix, there comes an ultimate evil. I cannot explain it any better, but you must know that while you are saving worlds she will be destroying them." I thought for a while. My daughter, evil, destroyer of worlds. I can stop that.
"So what exactly do I get in return for this baby?"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I couldn't help but scream and carry no the everyone came back. I literally leapt onto Tobias. I hugged and kissed everyone else, of course, but the whole time I had Tobias' hand in mine. After everything had settled, and all stories had been told, Tobias crouched down and planted a small kiss on my stomach - he thought I was still pregnant.
"What the fuck?" asked Paula.
"Yes...the fuck..." muttered Marco, a series of death glares were shot at him. Paula stood there looking confused and Alan looked as if he had been slapped.
"What's wrong, um... dad?" asked Tobias. Alan shook his head in disbelief.
"You swore... both of you swore." He said in amazement.
"It's not a rare occurrence, Uncle Alan." I said.
"Uncle?!" a chorus from Paula, Marco, Jake and Tobias. Ax just smiled.
"Oh man... Tobias, you did it with your cousin!" cried Marco.
"Oh he did not!" I exclaimed, "I've been calling him Uncle Alan ever since I could talk. Do you actually think I would do such a thing with my cousin?"
"Well..." Jake started.
"Rhetorical question, Jake."
"Wait on... Tobias was the father?" asked Alan.
"Yeah..." I said, like I was talking to a dummy.
"You mean, I was going to be a grandfather?"
"Yeah..." I repeated.
"What do you mean by was? Where's the baby? What happened?" Tobias asked, touching my cheek. Paula frowned.
"What baby?" she asked, "Did I miss something here?"
"I'll fill you in later." Said Jake.
"Yeah, I'll bet you'll really fill her-"
"Shut up, Marco!"
"Ohh, the old days." I sighed.
"Ania!" Tobias yelled, I jumped.
"What?"
"What do you mean by was?" he asked. The look in his eyes made mine well up. I guess he must have really wanted the baby.
"It was..." I started, my voice shaky, "It was the Ellemist. As I was in labour he froze time and told me that she - the baby that is - would be evil and would be a destroyer of worlds. He told me that I could stop it from happening, that if I gave him the baby he would bring you all back and get rid of the Yeerks for good. Everything would be normal again." Tobias looked hurt. "I'm sorry!" I cried, "I couldn't say no! I couldn't let her be born if she would be evil and if I had the chance... Well if I had the chance to end this. I can see that you wanted the baby but frankly we're too young and as time goes by, maybe we can try again...when we're old enough. I'm sorry." Before Tobias could say anything, Alan dragged me out of the room.
"You promised." He said, sounding like a child who couldn't go to the park.
"I'm sorry."
"No, it's not good enough! You know very well about the forces of good and evil mixing!" he exclaimed.
"Well, it's too late now isn't it?"
"Leave him."
"No!" I cried, "Don't you understand? Alan, it's too late."
"What do you mean?" he asked, slightly annoyed.
"Well, what you're asking me to do... It's like me asking you to leave Loren, you love her don't you? And that means that it's too late to just leave." I explained to the best of my ability. Alan massaged his temples with his fingers.
"Look, this is simple. He is good, you are evil. Montague and Capulet, Rich and Poor, Prince and Pauper-"
"Ghandi and Cruella DeVille?" I asked, helping him out.
"Yes!"
"Oh for crying out loud, Alan."
"What?"
"I'm not my father!" I cried, "I would have thought that you'd be a little more mature than this. You're just about fifty years old. Look, I'm sorry for what he did to you but that doesn't change who I am! I'm not evil like you say I am. Those who are evil can't feel love... I love Tobias and I'm not going to leave him." I finished, walking away.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"You okay?" I asked Tobias, who was frowning at an animal book, propped up by several pillows. He looked up a t me and shook his head. I sat down next to him and put my hand on his knee.
"They say that a hawk has a short life span."
"You're not a hawk, Tobias, you have nothing to worry about."
"I know, but" he said with a grin, "I'll have to go and say goodbye to all of my hawk lovers."
"Oh, that's amusing Tobias..." I said, dryly.
"Thankyou!" he said with a happy smile. "Are you okay?"
"Of course I am." I replied, kissing his cheek softly. He reached up and touched the place where I had kissed him.
"Your lips are so cold..." he commented.
"So is my heart, according to your dad." I said, a hint of resentment in my voice. Tobias put his book down and studied my face, and then he pulled me into what would be the warmest and most loving hug I have ever received.
"My dad is wrong. You loved us so much that you gave up your own child to be with us." He said, soothingly.
"I do love you all...especially you Tobias, but your father is right. I was born evil, and I will die that way too. I'm so sorry..."
"Don't think like that... Dad can't come between us..."
"Yeah but mine can."
"No, he can't either." That night, as I fell asleep in Tobias' arms and the next day, as I laughed with the Animorphs, I knew that everything was going to be okay.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Are you ready yet?"
"No."
"Bloody hell, hurry up!" I called up to Paula, "You're worse than me!"
"Aw, gee, thanks..." she muttered, meeting me at the bottom of the staircase. There she was, all dressed up and ready for the awards ceremony. We met the guys outside, they were in suits and they were beaming.
"Finally.... Some bloody credit for all this work!" cried Marco.
"You're sounding more Aussie each day, Marco, I'm proud of you!" Paula said as the limo rolled up. We climbed in, laughing.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls. Please meet the six children that saved the lives of every person in this world... Please show your appreciation to Marco, Jake, Paula, Tobias, Aximilli and Ania. Put your hands together for the Animorphs!" I have never seen a crowd go so wild... We were up there, being watched by the whole world for about five minuted just listening to them cheer. I looked around the crowd and wondered whom had previously been Yeerked and if they were the ones cheering loudest, or if it was the ones who had their loved ones returned to them after being Yeerked. Ax got the medal of 'honour and intelligence'; Jake got 'honour and great leadership'; Tobias got 'honour and loyalty'; Marco got 'honour and bravery'; Paula got 'honour, loyalty and strength'; I got 'honour, wit, intelligence, loyalty, bravery, and strength'. They heard our stories, shared our pain and couldn't help but praise us constantly. We loved it, as anyone would, but I'm pretty sure that talking about it bought the pain back. At the end, we all received special war medals before the limo picked us up and drove us home.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Well that was no less than amazing." Stated Jake.
"Yeah, we are so loved now." Marco replied.
"Is that all you care about?" asked Paula.
"Where is Elfangor?" asked Ax.
"Is that all you care about?" I asked.
"Why the hell did the think I was loyal?" asked Tobias. A chuckle was heard behind us. We turned to see Elfangor and Loren, smiling.
"They sound like-" Loren started.
"Like us, I know." Finished Elfangor, putting his arm around her shoulder.
"No we don't!" the Animorphs said together. We all laughed. It was the best feeling.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Flash!
"Ania Trent?"
"My first name is Ania, yes."
"Is your last name Trent?"
Flash!
"I'd rather die!"
"As you wish...daughter."
Flash!
"No sir, my father is dead, what's alive is a monster in his head."
Flash!
"What are you doing here, dad?"
"You know exactly why I'm here."
Flash!
Inaudible screams of protest, disgust, and horror. A dull, four walled cell with a toilet in the corner with a tap and basin.
Flash!
"No! You can't just leave her alone, don't touch her! She'll wake up soon!"
"Let's wait for her over in the corner..."
The feeling of hands touching. Pain! Pain! Jake's hysterical screams. Pain! Agony!
Flash!
"Doesn't a certain something happen each month?"
"Yeah."
"Well it hasn't."
"I know."
Flash!
"What do you want?"
"I'm cold..."
"Yeah well, that's what the blanket's for..."
"Sorry."
Flash!
"It's his turn."
Screaming! Screaming! Stop! Make it stop! The manic mutters of Jake gone crazy over in the corner. A pair of cold, blue eyes. Tobias' angry face.
Flash!
Tobias' screams of pain. Over and over. Make it stop! No more! Please! Stop!
"No more, please, please..." The feeling of a shaking hand. "Get away from me!!!"
Flash!
"Finish him." Screams, scries, pain and agony. Stop! Stop!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"NO!" I woke up crying, shaking and screaming. I was bound to turn out like a crazy old war survivor. I felt Tobias' lips on my cheek.
"It's okay, baby. I'm right here." He said. I hugged him and drew in a deep breath.
"Thanks." I whispered, "I'm gonna go outside for a while, don't wait up. I'll be back. I promise."
"Okay. I love you."
"I love you too." I said, getting up.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Jeez, how freaky. Are you okay?" asked Paula, who had been outside 'thinking' when I arrived.
"Mmhmm, just spooked." I replied, hugging myself. "My great-grandpa was in WW2 or something. He gets al oogy when I ask him about it. Do you think we'll end up that way?"
"I hope not. I want to talk about it freely, share my experiences, you know?" she said, "Not many people know what it's like to die... I do." She looked freaked out.
"You're going to have a constant case of paranoia from now on, aren't you?"
"Probably." She replied with a laugh. "You've had quite an experience, yourself Ania. You watched us die, you wen through childbirth, saw your father at his most evil and we all fought a war and won. The six of us against a whole race of aliens. Who would have thought?"
"Yeah... Stupid Homer, why'd he have to be attracted by the light in the sky?"
My name is Ania...it wasn't long ago since I was just a normal kid living a normal life. Heck, my whole household was normal, perfect. My twin, Jake was normal, my older brother, Tom was normal and my parents were normal. We were well off, not rich, but comfortable. I think it's amazing how quickly things can change. I was a normal kid, one moment, then in the next moment my friends and I had been put in charge of saving the world, and no one was allowed to know except us. We can't trust anyone... not even our family, which is one thing I will regret. I wish our stupid dog hadn't have been attracted to that light in the sky... then none of this would have happened. Now, here I am, writing down my story for all to hear. Everyone I love has died and now...now it is my turn. I am waiting for them to come back and take me. Maybe they won't, they know I want to die, and they want me to suffer. They want me to suffer because of who I am. Maybe they will make me live to see earth destroyed. What they don't know is that I am writing this for the world to see before everyone is infested...this is my story.
September 15th, 2001
"Jake! Ania! Get up you two dweebs! You're going to be late for your first day of school!" Tom called up from the kitchen downstairs. He had just finished school and was having great fun teasing us about still having to go.
"Tom! Stop being mean to your brother and sister please." My mother said from her room.
"Yes, Tom, we didn't tease you when you had to go to school now did we?" asked my father. I got up out of bed and padded over to Jake on the other side of the room. He was still asleep. Jake and I share a room. We're twins so it's not so bad. We enjoy the same things and dislike the same things. We both think Tom can be a jerk sometimes and share a best friend. Marco. If we were both the same sex, Jake and I would be identical. We both have dirty-blonde, wavy hair and ice blue eyes. We have to same button nose and the same 'don't mess with me' look on our faces 24/7. We don't mean to look that way, we just do. Our personalities are actually fairly different. I use my 'don't mess with me' face and he doesn't...I'm not saying I'm a bully. I'm simply saying that I stand my ground when I need to...and trust me I need to a lot. My dad thinks it's an attitude problem but my mom thinks it's cute. Tom thinks that...wait, Tom doesn't think at all. I shook Jake lightly. He stirred a little and went to slap me. I tried to shake him again but he grabbed me and tackled me. I fought back and ended up pinning him to the floor. I giggled. "Pinned ya!" I said happily. He smiled and wriggled around. He shook his head.
"Not next time, Xena."
"You just wait, Galactic Warrior." We both smiled and I let him go. When we were ready, we headed off to Marco's house.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"The lockers for underclassmen are downstairs, and yes, that would be you. Would you like a closer look?" Gerald shoved another boy into a locker and held a piece of paper up to his face, a locker assignment. Gerald is a mean dude, a senior. He's asked me out once...I declined, of course. I don't have time for jerks like him. I came up behind him and plucked the assignment out of his hand.
"Hey, just as I thought, we're locker neighbours!" I said cheerfully to the boy. I took his hand. "Uh. I need your help with something." I dragged him away from Gerald, who winked at the boy as we walked away. The boy was silent, so when we reached the stairs, I spoke up. "Don't let Gerald get to you. Besides, he's been a senior for five years." The boy shot a glance at me. He was cute.
"Really?" he asked.
"Mmmhmm" I replied.
"Uh. Thanks." he said
"No problem. By the way, I'm Ania."
"Tobias." We reached the bottom of the stairs and stopped in front of the lockers. I pointed to the locker next to mine.
"That should be yours there." I opened my locker and stuffed my books in as Tobias struggled to open his. I figured he was new. He frowned a little.
"It must be welded shut." He said softly. I smiled.
"These lockers are so ancient. You just gotta have the touch." I played around with the handle, looking at Tobias. I didn't mean to be staring, but when his eyes caught mine, I looked back to the locker, gave it a thump, and opened it easily. "There you go."
"Thanks again, Ania" I looked Tobias up and down again.
"So... feeling welcome on your first day of school?"
"Oh yeah...I'm fitting right in." I smiled at him and he looked at his feet. The bell rang.
"Maybe I'll catch you later."
"Yeah." As I walked away, I felt his eyes on me, but when I turned around he was gone.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Hi Aunty Katina!"
"Hi Ania...Paula's in the barn."
"Thank you very much."
"Bye, Ania." Katina is Paula's mom. She's really cool and they all live on a preserve, which makes their lives even cooler. Paula is always around animals. She's a save the whales, hug the trees kind of person. She's not a hippie but she comes close to it. Paula is a close friend of mine, Jake insists that she is my best friend but I still hold the case that Marco is. Jake likes Paula, he won't admit it, but I know...I'm his twin for crying out loud! We've spent that extra nine months together that no one else has. It kinda makes me feel special; being a twin, but I guess it's just like having a really close sibling...I continued on my way to the barn. Paula was tending to a bald eagle when I arrived. I think the eagle had been shot because it had a hole in its wing. Poor thing. It really gets to me when I see an injured animal, especially when the cause of the injury was a human. We humans are so cruel to nature and we wonder why its just wearing away...I know I sorta sound like a hippie myself when I say these things but why destroy what has always been around just because we've advanced? I don't get it...
"Paula, we're late. We were supposed to meet the guys ten minutes ago."
"How long will it take to get there?"
"About five minutes." I said. Paula never cares if she's late, as long as her animals are okay.
"Then we'd better go...if we're more than twenty minutes late, we are no longer fashionably late. Right, Ania?" she asked. I raised an eyebrow at her.
"How am I supposed to know?"
"You're the fashion freak." She replied. I rolled my eyes. She thinks I'm some kind of a fashion freak just because I shop at places like 'The Gap' and 'Macys'.
"Just because I wear clothes that actually fit me, does not mean that I am a fashion freak." I shot back.
"Let's go...Jake's gonna-"
"Yeah, Yeah...I know he'll miss you if you're away too long." I said as we hopped on our bikes and rode down the street. Paula shot me a death look.
"I DON'T like him that way!" she said, all flustered. I grinned.
"I didn't say that, did I? I was implying that he liked you in a more than platonic way...I never said anything about you liking him..." I explained curtly. Paula drew in a breath, her face all red. She really was cute when she was all annoyed like that.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
We parked our bikes outside my house and walked the rest of the way to the mall. As we walked into Cyberia, Tobias bumped into me. He seemed to be in a hurry because when I said 'hi' he didn't reply. We walked over to where Jake and Marco were. Homer, our dog, was there too. Marco was playing and Jake was watching with Homer.
"Where have you guys been?" asked Jake. Before I could answer, Marco cut in.
"One word...sale" he said, grinning. They both shot smart ass looks at me. I threw Marco my 'don't mess with me' look.
"Excuse me...I happen to have a friend with no sense of time...I had to pick your girlfriend up, Jake," I said. Marco laughed and slapped me a high five. Jake and Paula both blushed.
"Shut-up, Titania. The fairy queen."
"Mmmhmm...whatcha doing...Galactic Warriors?" I asked
"Shh, Shh" replied Marco. Paula and I laughed. The screen blurred and Marco watched in shock, slapping the computer. The rest of us laughed and he looked to us. "What happened?" he asked.
"You just got blown away!" Jake said in amusement. Paula and I grinned at him. Suddenly, Homer decided to go for a little run...Stupid dog. ...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sometimes weird things happen to people. Ask Jake. He may tell you about how that night we saw a strange light in the sky. He may even tell you about what happened when we realized the light was only a plane -- from another planet. Here's where the story gets a little weird. It's when we're told that the human race is under attack...but we have a chance to fight back. Elfangor, the Andalite Prince who fought the evil Yeerks had crash-landed on earth. He landed in an abandoned construction site and met us. We happened to be walking through. With his life fading away, he gave us the Andalite power that was forbidden to give. The power to morph. We learned more than we ever wanted to know that night. The Yeerks, who are grayish slugs that control other species by attaching themselves to their brains, were coming. Coming to enslave Earth and destroy it. Elfangor told us to run and hide giving them important information even as Visser Three, one of the leaders in the Earth invasion and the only Yeerk to capture an Andalite body giving him the power to morph prepared to kill him. But just before Elfangor was to be eaten by Visser Three, he looked at Tobias one last time.... As if he had seen him before.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
September 16th, 2001
"You know, the strangest thing happened to me last night, Tobias. This blue dude-"
"Don't start Marco." I said. He shot me a look of frustration.
"Listen, you may not want to talk about this, but I do...anyways, as I was saying. This blue dude, with four legs, put me and another four idiots in charge of saving the world." He finished, smirking at me. Tobias half-smiled, which is a rarity...the poor guy has no family and is constantly picked on at school. I guess he thinks there's really nothing to smile about.
"Marco? Are you nuts? Anyone can hear us right now...and anyone could be one of them." Paula shot in a loud whisper. I felt a hand come down on my shoulder and I practically jumped ten feet into the air. Marco sneered, Paula grinned, Tobias stared, and I turned to see Jake smirking at me.
"Hey there, little sister!"
"Only by an hour." I replied, looking down at my plate.
"What's the matter? Scared of the big, bad Yeerks?"
"Aren't you?" I asked, studying his face, he lost his smile.
"Aren't all of us?" he asked back. I searched every face on the table. I found fear in all pairs of eyes but one. Tobias'. His eyes were full of hate and anger
."Are you okay, Tobias?" I asked, against my will...I had just provided Jake with material to tease with. It was approximately two seconds later that he batted his eyes and asked in a mock, girly voice.
"Are you okay, Tobias?"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"I don't think it's a good idea..."
"Why not?" I asked. We were all at my house and Jake and I were arguing about me being the first to try the whole 'changing' thing. "Look, we've all been given a power and I don't know about you, but I intend to use it and use it well. Now, I'm going to try it...here goes."
"Ania, wait." Tobias said as he lightly touched my arm. I had to bite my inner lip to stop myself from doing anything I wanted to do at that time. Everyone waited for him to argue.
"You need to touch an animal first." I smiled at him and called over my cat, Chick. I petted her and she seemed to go into a trance as I felt something strange in my arm. I concentrated hard on what Chick looked like and soon my bones were crunching, my internal organs were rearranging, I was becoming very hairy and I was shrinking. Oh God, I feel sick. I said, no, I thought but everyone must have heard it because they were nodding in agreement. Suddenly, I felt very, very cool. I was the queen! Nobody could tell me what to do! I licked my paw and cleaned behind my ears.
"Ania? Hey Ania? Are you okay?"
Jake, don't bother me...you're not worth the effort of talking.
"Wha?"
"She's a cat!" Paula said, "She thinks she is the Supreme Being..." She shook her head in amazement.
"Oh yeah, that's exactly what she needs" mumbled Marco. I slowly and casually walked up to him, extended my claws, and studied them.
Do you want to say that again Mon ami?
"Nope" I began to concentrate on me again and soon I was standing right in front of Marco, who was in shock, Tobias, who turned away swallowing hard, Jake, who was laughing, and Paula, who bit her lip and turned away...I was completely naked. I drew in a breath and jumped behind a door.
"Oh jeez, Ania, there's a sight I..." Marco started.
"Do you want to live to see another day?"
"Ok, ok...shutting up." Everyone laughed.
"Jake? Clothes? Please?" I said, my voice shaking.
"Can I turn around yet?" asked Paula.
"Mmmhmm" replied Jake. Paula turned around and looked at Tobias, who was still facing the other way. She nudged him and he turned around.
"Remind me never to do that again..." I said.
"Never do that again," said Tobias automatically.
"Ok...why didn't Elfangor warn us about this?"
"Elfangor didn't wear clothes..."
"Oh...Ri-ight." Jake handed me my clothes and I put them on straight away. When I stepped out from behind the door everyone stared again except Jake... he was smirking. I looked down and realized what I was wearing. A really tiny skirt and a Singlet top...I gasped.
"Do I actually own this?"
"Yup, this is the kind of thing I'm talking about when I say you have to wear different kinds of clothes."
"Mmmhmm, ok I'm getting changed now."
"You don't like it?" asked Paula "Because you look good." I raised my eyebrows at her.
"I agree." Said Tobias, looking at his feet and blushing. Marco shot me a look that said 'what are you gonna do now? Sucked in!'
"I'm not wearing it...I'm sorry but I'm not gonna wear something so revealing..." I grabbed a pair of shorts that would go with the top I was wearing, told everyone to turn around, and changed from the skirt to the shorts. When was done, I broke the silence. "We really have to figure out how to morph clothes," we all laughed. At least that felt good, something normal, since our lives had become way beyond normal in less than half an hour.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
September 23rd, 2005
"Run, run, run, run, run!" I cried. The Yeerks had attacked us...again. We had thought that it was all over, but boy, were we ever wrong. Dracon beams were being shot randomly and we were dodging then as we ran for our lives. "Ahhhhhh!" I screamed in pain as a Dracon beam seared my arm. We were all in our human forms. Even Tobias was running with us. Although the Yeerks knew that we were the 'Andalite Bandits' and that we were human, we didn't want to risk it. This had to be a completely different group of Yeerks. We were positive we had wiped out the whole of the Earth Yeerk Empire. We soon lost them and it was up to us to being the walk. We had to get out of the state completely.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Unknown date, 2001
"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! Wake up! Please! Jake! Please!" I begged, shaking him violently. The other watched with sympathetic eyes.
"Ania...Ania, he's gone." Tobias said softly, placing his hand on my shoulder. I didn't say anything; I just wept for my twin brother. I let myself sink to the ground and wrap my arms around Jake. At that point in time, Paula broke down. Marco hugged her tight and whispered words of reassurance in her ears. He was crying too. Tobias knelt down beside me and wiped the hair from my face. "He's gone." He repeated. "It's going to be okay, Ania. I know it hurts but we have to keep fighting... Please don't give up. We need you...I need you." He said, soothingly. He must have been reading my mind because giving up was exactly what I was planning to do. Flashes of Jake ran through my head, from when we were small, playing together, to when we were nine and we freaked about the 'birds and bees' in Tom's bedroom, looking through his magazines. When we were ten, playing with Marco. When we met Elfangor. Our many, long-fought, battles. Jake smiling, laughing, shouting, crying, running, playing, fighting...dying. Dying to save me. Throwing himself in front of a Dracon Beam to save his twin sister...He was gone. Tobias pulled me into his arms and stroked my hair softly as I sobbed. I buried my face into his chest and drew in a deep breath. When I calmed down I moved over to Paula and Marco, who were sitting together, arms around each other. Tobias was talking with Ax, grief in both their eyes', so I lay my head down on Marco's knee. I felt his hand on my cheek and I shut my eyes...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I woke to find I was being carried on Ax's back. I rubbed my eyes, leaned over, and kissed his cheek, or what would be his cheek. I saw his eyes smile the way that they do.
Prince Jake, your sister is awake. He said casually. I rubbed my eyes once more and pinched myself. It hurt so I wasn't dreaming.
"Welcome back to the world of consciousness, Ania," said Jake.
"Jake!" I yelped. I jumped off Ax's back and onto Jake. "Y-You're alive!" I cried through tears of joy.
"Um...yes, I am." He replied, laughing. I thought for a moment.
"Jake? How long have I been sleeping?"
"Well, let me see...judging by the number of sunrises and sunsets we've been through without your voice...five days." Marco concluded.
"Five days?" I cried. "Hey wait...did I even ask you, Marco?"
"No but-"
"Then shut up!"
"OK, ok..." I scanned the group. Paula, Jake, Marco, Ax...
"Where's Tobias?" I asked, worried. They all shot me confused looks. Why wasn't Tobias with us? What had happened to him?
Where I usually am, Ania...Up. I looked up. A red-tailed hawk. I felt tears welling up in my eyes. Tobias couldn't still be a hawk! He was human! Something wasn't right. Something had gone wrong whilst I was unconscious. This wasn't how it was supposed to be!
"Tobias, no! You're human! Demorph! Demorph, Tobias!"
Ania, I...
"NO! You can't be a hawk! Please! Please demorph! Come on, Tobias! Stop it!" Tobias landed in front of me and demorphed. Within a couple of minutes, he was human again. I felt a wide grin spread across my face. I wrapped my arms around him and let everything else in the world disappear. Tobias pulled away.
"Ania, I'm still. I mean, this isn't what..." his voice trailed off as my eyes welled up again. He looked away, annoyed. "Just leave me alone, okay?" he said harshly. I bit my lip; I hadn't meant to make him mad.
"Sorry." I said softly.
"Guys?" asked Jake, "don't you think we should get moving?" Paula and Marco nodded.
"Let's go." I mumbled. I walked behind everyone else. I didn't want to face them. I felt too ashamed to have to talk to them after what I had done. I had felt their eyes burning into me as I had my arms around Tobias, and now it was as if I was carrying my tail between my legs.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
We soon reached what seemed to be a road and stopped to rest and wait, hoping for someone to drive by. We had been walking for about a week non-stop, each of us taking turns to rest on someone's morph back. At that moment, Jake was on my elephant back, Paula was on Ax's back, and Marco was on Tobias' Andalite back. They had been sleeping for three hour already, a record since we had the Yeerks off of our tails. Within another few hours, we thought he had died and gone to heaven; a car, not just any car, a minibus was heading our way! I didn't look as if they would stop for us, so I hauled Jake and I in front of the bus and trumpeted. "HURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAH!" The bus came to a stop right in front of me and a young man stepped out. He was kinda cute, but the red sunnies just had to go. Hi eyes darted from me, to Jake, to me again, to Tobias, to Marco, to Ax, to Paula, and back to me once more. "Jean?" he said, "you have to see this. There are two others, they're all carrying humans." Another person stepped out, a female, Jean obviously. Her face showed complete and utter shock. I woke Jake; the others woke as well.
"Children?" Jean asked, "Are you harmed?"
"No." a unison response from Jake, Paula and Marco.
"Can you all climb down?" I felt Jake climbing down my back and my elephant instincts told me to swat it with my tail, I ignored the instinct. Jean looked relieved. "What are these?" she asked, gesturing to Ax and Tobias.
"Andalites." Said Jake
"Blue dudes." Said Marco
We are aliens. Said Ax.
"Telepathy" Jean said, it was as if she were awestruck. "Like me..." she added.
You might also call us 'shape-shifters' I said. Jean looked at Tobias.
"Was that you? Are you female?"
It was I. Tobias is the other alien...I'm the elephant.
"What?" I began to morph and so did Tobias and Ax. The faces of both Jean and the sunnies guy twisted into looks of horror. Soon, three kids, a vicious looking guy and a kind looking woman with white hair emerged from the bus. They all looked amazed. When Tobias finished morphing, he almost collapsed. A helped him onto the bus, where we were introduced.
"My name is Jean. This is my fiancé, Scott or Cyclops. Our combat teacher, Logan or Wolverine, and our history and natural science teacher, Ororo or Storm. These are a few of our students." The students introduced themselves.
"I'm Emma or Kallacyndra. I'm Scott's sister. My powers are telepathy and telekinesis."
"I'm Rosemarie or Zelda. I'm a gelfling, I can fly, and I think that boy there is cute." Rosemarie pointed to Marco. I couldn't help but laugh.
"I'm Christopher. I haven't chosen a mutant name yet but I can shoot fireballs from my hands, so maybe you guys could help me?" Christopher had a striking resemblance to Tobias, who was making zees on my shoulder.
"I'm Ania or Ania. This is my brother Jake or Jake, his best friend Marco, or Marco, Jake or Jake's girlfriend, Paula or Paula, my boyfriend Tobias or Tobias and his uncle Ax or Aximilli Esgarrouth Isthril. "
"Ok..." said Emma or Kallacyndra. We came to a stop.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"You and Tobias can share this room since you two seem close." Scott said, then "Listen, I know you may have come from somewhere very different but here - in this academy - we do not approve of very serious relations. It should only ever happen in marriage or when you're both eighteen, okay?" Tobias and I shared confused glances.
"Ok." We said in unison. Scott left and we out our very little amount of stuff away.
"You know what? I'm gonna check this place out...It's really big."
"Oh.... Okay." And with that, Tobias left. I sprawled myself on the bed and then...
"Hello!" A head popped down from the ceiling. I jumped ten feet into the air.
"Holy shit!" I cried. "Who the...what the...Hell! How did you get up there! And why are you in my room?" The girl jumped down and stared at me. She left via...the wall???? That place was really weird. There was a knock at the door. I groaned and it opened.
"You're Ania?" I nodded.
"You're Rogue?"
"Yes."
"Thank god for someone normal has arrived!" Rogue rolled her eyes.
"I take it you've experienced Cassandra?"
"Is that what you call the thing that walks on ceilings and through walls?" I asked. Rogue laughed.
"Yup! That's our Cassie!" A boy stepped in from behind her and kissed her gloved hand several times then very quickly on the lips.
"Jake!" I cried, "What are you doing?" Jake raised an eyebrow.
"My name is Bobby or Iceman, I don't know who Jake is but I'm sorry if I scared you. He said.
"Oh hi, Bobby. I'm Ania or Ania...Jake is my brother and I'm sorry if I made you think I was a psychopath." Bobby laughed.
"No, that would be Cassie."
"She's popular around here isn't she?"
"She's psycho."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Ok, Ania, if you would just hold out your arm please, I'd like to take some blood." My eyes went wide.
"Um...you know what? I'd rather not give blood."
"It's okay...everyone else gave me the same problem and they all ended up giving blood...Jake needed a hell of a lot of convincing, though." I held out my arm and sighed. I was finally safe.
"What are you testing for?"
"Genetic Mutations...Is your blood like the others'?"
"What?"
"Does it have animal DNA in it?" Jean asked. I nodded. She studied my blood under a strange looking microscope thingy. Her brow furrowed. "That's strange," murmured Jean.
"What's strange?" I asked.
"Hmm? Oh you uhhh..." Jean took a breath.
"Get that needle over there. I started to get up. "No," Jean said, "with your mind...get the needle with your mind." I pictured the needle flying to my hand and it did. It landed right in the palm of my hand. I gasped.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It turned out that I had just about every mutation ever recorded. I could fly, control weather, had telepathy and telekinesis. I could absorb other's powers; shoot pyrotechnics from my hands along with fire, water, and ice. I could walk through and on anything, had uncharted regenerative physical strength and best of all...I was an Animorph. After many long weeks of training and testing, I was finally told what was going on. About fifty years earlier, some guy - a kind of prophet - said that one day a young child would come along and stop the war between mankind and mutants. The child was to have many superhuman abilities...far more than needed and with those abilities, the mutants would win. That child? It was I. I was gonna, single handedly stop a war.
"Ohh so she's the one?" said Cassandra, who had been hanging from the ceiling as I was told the story. "Yes Cassandra." Said Jean, exasperated. Cassie grinned. "Now it's time for anther blood test."
"Noooooooooooooo!" screamed Cassie, running towards the window. She landed with a thud - she had rebounded instead of going through - she let out a whimper.
"See? You're not getting away this time." Said Jean. Cassie groaned and held her arm out, which I noticed, was invisible. I looked up at her and smiled with amusement as the vial filled with multicoloured blood. "Oh Cassandra! How many times do I have to tell you to make your blood red?" I then left for my combat class. I shifted my dress into gym clothes with my powers and started immediately.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow...OW!" I was lying on the bed when I heard that coming from Tobias. He walked to the bed with the first six 'ow' 's and threw himself on the bed with the final loud 'OW'. I turned to him.
"Bad combat training?" I asked coyly. He did the lizard eye thing that I love, looking at me without even turning his head. I laughed and sat up. "Are you okay?"
"No." he grumbled, "I think I need stitches."
"What?" I cried. "Where?"
"My shoulder. Logan got me good."
"Logan? Why did-"
"Accident." He whispered, closing his eyes.
"Let me see." I said. Tobias threw me a clear look that said 'as if!' and I threw him my best puppy-dog face. He sat up next to me. I straddled him and knelt between his legs. I un-buttoned his shirt and as I slid it down his shoulders, he winced. I ran my fingers against the cut and it healed instantly. I climbed off the bed, shifted into my bedclothes, and hopped back in. I shut off the light with my powers.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"This can't be right," Jake, said, "we haven't won yet. There are still millions of them out there. They didn't just disappear." He was talking about the Yeerks.
"Can we not talk about this?" I asked, shoving a piece of toast into my mouth. They waited for me to finish. "I mean, personally, right now I think we're safe. Besides, I have other wars to deal with. One's that aren't interstellar." It was then that Jake decided to explode.
"Ania you can't just quit on us because you're some fancy pants mutant, okay? This war is the one you're fighting!"
"Well maybe I don't wanna fight my father anymore!" I yelled back and, plucking up all my courage, I left the room.
Ania? asked the professor, I believe something has come up, make your way to the office please.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Ania Trent?" asked a man. He looked like some kind of security guard.
"Excuse me?"
"Are you Ania Trent?"
"My first name is Ania, yes."
"Is your last name Trent?"
"I don't give out my last name, sorry." I turned to leave the room. The man's hand came down hard on my shoulder.
"Remove your hand from my shoulder, please." I said slowly and steadily.
"Your father wishes a word with you, Ania."
"My father is dead, sir, what is alive is a monster inside his head." I explained. "Now please take your hands off me."
The man tightened his grip and I sent him flying across the room. A sly smile spread across my face. "Thank you sir."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
When I got to my room, I rummaged through what little possessions I had. I found exactly what I had been looking for. It was a picture of me, my father and my 'uncle' Alan Fangor. All smiling like fools. Loren Fangor took it when they took me to Disneyland. I was seven at the time and two of my teeth were missing. Alan was holding an ice cream and my father had his arms around me. I stared at the photo and I almost cried when I saw the other child in the picture. It was clearly Tobias, leaning his chin on my shoulder, grinning with one of his teeth missing, too. Soon after that we found out that I was in terrible trouble. My father had a Yeerk in his head. Enter Ellemist. Tobias was living with his parents, without a single memory of me and a new history was created with me as the twin sister of Jake Sutherland. I was Ania. I lay there on my bed just thinking of what could have happened if the Ellemist hadn't stepped in. I was grateful. Tobias walked in, all smiles.
"Hey Ania!" he said, planting a kiss on my forehead.
"Hi," I replied, "Good day?" Tobias flashed me his perfect smile. That obviously meant yes. When he asked me how I was, I forced a smile and told him I was good. That night, when we were in bed, I crawled into his arms and laid my head on his chest. As he held me, I drifted off to sleep.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I woke up that morning to a soft humming. I groaned.
"Cassandra, go away."
"Who's Cassandra?" asked a girl. She was short and pretty and absolutely not Cassandra.
"You'll know when you meet her."
"What does she look like?"
"Not like you, not like me."
"In the middle?"
"I guess." I sat up, making sure I was covered. "What are you doing here?" I asked her, harsher than I had intended.
"This is my room now..."
"What number did the professor give you?"
"Seventy-eight."
"This is Seventy-six, you're next door."
"Oh thanks....Um?"
"Ania."
"I'm Ayanami."
"Hi." The girl left, waving. I heard something stirring. I looked beside me, Tobias wasn't moving so I looked over him onto the floor where I saw Marco and Rosie...snuggling. I could have puked right there and then. Macro? Snuggling? Give me a break!
"Marco!" I whispered loudly. "Get the hell outta my room!"
"Aw shit! How did we get here?"
"I don't want to know..."
"Alright, alright. I'm gone, I'm gone..."
"And Rosie!"
"Yeah, yeah." He picked the Gelfling up and carried her out. I grabbed a couple of pillows and propped myself up to read a book. About halfway through it, I looked over at Tobias. He had the tiniest hint of a frown on his face. I smiled. He looked so cute, so vulnerable. I moved a stray piece of hair from his forehead, and with lightning speed and strength, he reached up and grabbed my hand. At first his touch was rough, it even hurt a little, but when he registered whose hand it was his touch was gentle. He didn't open his eyes. He rubbed my hand with his thumb and kissed it.
"Sleeping beauty awakes with a kiss." I said, smiling.
"Not just any kiss, Miss Ania, the kiss of true love."
"That was 'The Little Mermaid', dopey."
"It was all of those Disney movies, besides you're supposed to kiss me." He murmured. I leaned over and kissed him.
"Happy?"
"Not as happy as-" someone burst through the door. It was Jake.
"Aw shit! I knew it, I just knew it!" he cried. I looked at the floor in embarrassment. Jake stood there in silence for a few moments. "...Aw shit!" and he left.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Were, well, well, where, when, well." I stuttered
"Oh spit it out!" Jake exclaimed.
"Fuck off!" I screamed.
"Ania..." Tobias put his hand on my shoulder.
"Well where is she?" I cried.
"Finally!" Jake threw his hands in the air. "I don't know, do you think I would be asking you guys to help look for her if I knew where she was?"
"No..."
"Jeez, Ania."
"Well I'm sorry Jake, but it's not as if I lost her! If anyone lost her it would be you!"
"Oh right, so its all my fault because I'm the leader of our little band of misfits, is that it?" he asked. "Cause if that's what you're saying then you sound a lot like Crayak. Besides...I QUIT!"
"Oh, okay, so it's okay for you to quit but heaven forbid me to fulfil my destiny!" I felt my face grow hot. "You go find your girlfriend... I'm through doing things for you." I said, my voice low and deadly. I flew out to the waterfall to calm down.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
As I sat on top of the beautiful waterfall, I heard a soft whimpering from below me. I floated down and parted the water. There I saw something that still holds a scar in my heart. Paula, leaning against a wall in the cave weeping. She had been beaten, obviously and her clothes were ripped. She looked up and her eyes went wide, she mouthed for me to go and run. I hesitated, but ran to her, despite the fact that she was shaking her head violent whispering "No." I took a knife from my pocket and cut her free. She jumped up and tried to pull me out of the cave.
"Paula stop! What are you doing? Calm down and tell me what happened." I said. Paula gasped; she was looking at something behind me. I swirled around to see him. Evil incarnate. Victor Trent. My father. I bluffed by starting to run with Paula, then stopping to confront the Visser. I moved closer to him, my legs slightly apart. I was on my toes, using my training of agility, you move faster on your toes.
"What are you doing here, dad?" I asked.
"You know exactly why I'm here." He replied, smirking.
"Forget it, Visser, there is no way I am going to tell you." I said. Dad motioned with his hands and his henchmen grabbed me. I didn't struggle. "If I tell you, will you tell you, will you hurt them?"
"Who, my dear?"
"You know very well who!"
"Oh them...the Animorphs. No dear, I won't hurt them. I will just bathe in their screams of protests as they become the galaxy's most powerful controllers." I lunged at dad. He laughed. "Ania, dearest, there is no way you can stop me now."
"Go to hell, Visser."
"Oh come on, the least you could do is call me dad or something."
"I'd rather die." I hissed. The Visser smiled.
"As you wish...daughter." He sneered, as everything turned black.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I woke to the inaudible screams of my friends. My head was in Tobias' lap, he was weeping and screaming. I sat up too see Ax hanging in front of us. He had been hung! They killed him! I felt my body beginning to shake. I wasn't scared, I wasn't sad; I was way beyond all that. I sat up and took Tobias' head in my hands, I could hear myself telling him it was okay and not to look, but my mind was gone. We had lost and it was my entire fault. The doors flew open and dad strolled in.
"Well, well." He said, "How do you like the artwork I made out of your friend... Ax was it?" he grinned.
"Charming." I replied. His two loyal henchmen found their places by his side. "You're going to keep me alive, aren't you?"
"Why would I keep you alive, after everyone you love has gone that would be just want you want...besides, you're my daughter." Dad said, Jake started at him but was held back by the henchmen. "Now, who's next?" he said, sneering.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Seeing Paula go has really driven Jake to the edge, especially the way it was done. My father tied her to a chair and blindfolded her, then he infested her with ENS117. When she began to gain control he took a knife and cut her from navel to ribcage, spilling her insides. Marco keeled over. I suppose if I weren't so worried about how Jake was and who was going to be next, I would have done the same thing. Jake bolted to the corner when one of the henchmen walked back in. In the corner, Jake was white; withdrawn. His eyes were wide and he was curled up, shaking violently. The henchman had cleaned up the blood and was about to take Paula's body away when Jake leapt at him.
"No!" he cried, "You can't! Just leave her alone! Don't touch her, let her sleep, she'll wake up soon!" he was hysterical. I walked up to him and wrapped my arms around him; he shook himself free and slapped me. Tobias started for Jake but I pinned him down with my powers.
"Jake," I said softly, "she's not going to-"
"She'll wake up soon," he repeated, taking the blindfold off Paula's face and wiping her hair away. Marco wept.
"Okay, I said in my talking to loonies voice. "Let's wait for Paula to wake up over in the corner." Jake nodded. I took his hand, he began hitting me hard. He was screaming and crying and yelling nonsense about only ever letting Paula hold his hand. I let him go, if it made him feel better, it was well worth the cuts, bruises and broken nose I ended up with.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
No one talked. I don't think that there was really anything to say, but the silence was driving me mad; it was getting way too loud. The air was thick with angst and thoughts of death. I tried to think of a poem to pass the time but I didn't succeed. Jake was sleeping with his head in my lap, his eyes fluttered open. He looked around and just as I realised that the henchmen had taken Paula away - she was beginning to rot - he said, "Where is she?"
"She woke up. They let her go have a shower... but the shower is a long way away so she won't be back for a while, okay?"
"But she'll be back?"
"Yes" I lied.
"Okay."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Two months later.
"Ania?"
"What?" I didn't mean to sound so bitter with Tobias; I guess I was just tired and worried. He leaned in close and for a moment I thought that he was going to kiss me. I was wrong. He whispered, "We've been in here for about three months, right?" I nodded. "Well, it hasn't really occurred to me until now but, you're a girl and doesn't a certain something happen to you each month?"
"Yeah..."
"Well it hasn't happened."
"I know."
"Why?" he asked. I knew the answer but I didn't want to tell him.
"Maybe um, malnutrition?" I replied. Marco spoke up.
"It can't be malnutrition; we're fed here. Besides, it looks like you've gained weight." He said, gesturing to the small protrusion of my stomach. I covered it.
"Shut up." I said, defensively. Tobias walked away. I don't think he knew what I would tell Marco. "Jesus Marco, are you stupid or something? I'm not fat... I'm pregnant."
"Are you serious?"
"No Marco." I said bluntly, "I thought I'd make it up for kicks." I sighed. I knew I couldn't tell Tobias, it wouldn't be right. He was going to die...and probably the baby, too. Jake was still shaking over in the corner. He probably realised that Paula wasn't going to come back. It was like one of those movies that people cry over. I would have, if I was watching on film and I do NOT cry over films.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
That night, when the pillows and blankets were thrown in, and the lights were out; I curled up close to Tobias. There was still a little light coming through to our cell, so he knew it was me and he still pushed me away and asked "What do you want?" he stared at me straight in the eye and all I saw was anger. I felt a sharp stab of pain in my heart and I shrank about eleven inches. With all the pain I was in, I was surprised that I even managed to tell him that I was cold. "Yeah well, that's what the blanket's for."
"Sorry", I murmured as I turned the other way, Marco was staring at me with cold eyes so I decided to face the ceiling. I spent what seemed like half the night with my hand resting on my little belly, trying not to let any tears escape my firm grasp. I thought about my life, from before the Sutherland's to then, and I realised just how much I would appreciate life if I got the chance to. Then it hit me that I would never have that chance, with a baby on the way, and I couldn't stop crying. No one heard, even if they did, they wouldn't have cared in the slightest. I can understand why they were mad. They were going to die and it was my entire fault, but maybe they could have tried to see from my perspective, I was hurting too.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
That morning would have had to be the worst of them all. My father came in with a gang of men and with three words Marco was gone. He had pointed at Marco and said plainly, "It's his turn." The gang pulled out wrenches and literally beat him to death. It made me think of Hitler, you know? He waltzed into Germany, took over and murdered half of the population. What a great way to see your own father. Jake is freaked really badly. I guess he knows that he will be next. All he does is sit in the corner, muttering to himself. When the meals come, I take his over and help him eat, sometimes I give him my share, too. I lay his head down on his pillow, cover him with a blanket and stay with him till he sleeps. I don't sleep, ever, in fear that I will wake and someone else will be gone. After our meal that night - hot water, cabbage and onion - Visser One strolled in. Jake tried to hide behind me and I hugged him tight. The henchmen walked right over and before I knew it, Tobias was being dragged out of the room. I ran after him, the door slammed in my face. I kicked and screamed and bawled and punched for hours, but nothing helped. They just sedated me in the end. For weeks all I could hear were Tobias' screams, and all I could do was cry silently, feeling my belly grow. The baby would be the only memory left of him, and it probably wouldn't even be born.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Please?"
"No."
"You have to..." Jake shook his head as I offered him a spoonful of mush. That's what it looked and tasted like...mush. I put the spoon down. "Fine." I said, "I'll just leave it here, but eat a little, okay?" Jake didn't respond. By then I guessed I was about five months but I wore baggy clothes to cover my fairly large stomach. I hadn't heard Tobias screaming for a long time, so I figured that either he was dead, or he had given up on screaming. I hoped it was the latter. The doors slid open and a wave of dread coursed through my body as the henchmen strode in. Not long after, Tobias was shoved in and he collapsed. I gathered him up in me arms and Jake splashed a little bit of water in his face. I shook him for a few minutes, then finally gave up and slapped him. He woke up, shaking.
"Please no..." he murmured, "no more, please, please..."
"Tobias?"
"No more, no more..." I took his hand and he pulled away. "Get away from me!" he cried, thrashing about in my arms.
"Hey, hey, hey. Wait! Stop! Tobias! Hey!" I slapped him again. He drew back and studied my face, he was crying. He opened his mouth to say something, but decided otherwise. I didn't know what he had gone through, I still don't and I don't think I ever will.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I don't know how long it had been, exactly, but for the first time in a while, Tobias touched me. One day, out of the blue he leaned over and hugged me. He told me that everything was going to be okay... That was the last thing that I ever heard him say because right then, at that very second, my father came along to play. Tobias was strapped to a chair, like Paula was, and was tortured very slowly in front of us for days. By day I wept and tried not to watch, by night I stayed by his side holding his hand.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I remember the last time I saw Tobias very clearly; it wasn't all that long ago - about a month - and I consider it to be the worst day of my life. My father came in for the daily torture routine and did the normal - asking if he wanted more - if he answered no, he was beaten. If he answered yes, he was cut and if he didn't answer, he got both. However, after his sick games, dad came to me with a knife and placed it in my hand.
"Finish him." He said slowly.
"No." I replied. Dad took the knife from my hand and held it at my stomach. "Do it, dad... I don't care." He sighed and put the knife at my feet.
"You really amaze me, my child." He said, then added "I want him dead by the time I return." He left and as soon as the door shut I heard Tobias croak out my name. I ran straight to him.
"Ania, do it." He said.
"No!" I cried, "I won't do it!" Tears were streaming down my face.
"Ania please, just do it, please..." I took the knife and pointed it at his heart, and just as I was going to do it. I broke down. The doors opened and dad strode in with about ten other men. "Oh well... he isn't dead yet. I guess I'll just have to gas him. A rather slow and painful death, my dear." His henchmen edged towards Tobias.
"No!" I screamed, plunging the knife deep into Tobias' heart. Father let out a victorious laugh as Tobias coughed and sputtered. He threw me to the other end of the cell and circled Tobias.
"You pitiful, pitiful boy." He said, sneering. "You begged for her to let you die and all the while you were oblivious to the creature growing inside of her..." Tobias' eyes met mine for the very last time and after a moment; they were that of a dolls...lifeless.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
For the next week or so, my whole life seemed like a dream. Everything was blurred, there was no colour and I could hear muffled voices. I thought I was going insane when I heard Paula's voice in my head. She spoke so clearly, unlike all of the other voices I could hear. She said "One of John Marsden's, oh, he's an Aussie writer. Anyway, one of his books is about a bunch of teens stuck in the middle of a war. One of the characters writes everything down. Maybe we should do that..." It was then that I woke up to reality. If we - the Animorphs - the only line of defence against the Yeerks, were gone, the whole world would quickly become infested. So what did I do? I asked for paper, a pencil, a rubber and a sharpener to write 'poems'. And here I am... Oh, did I mention that when I 'woke up to reality' I also realised Jake was gone? That was painful. I think the two worst things that could ever possibly happen are being made to kill someone that you love and never getting to say goodbye. I hope whoever reads this learns something... I really do. Oh gosh, I'll have to write later. I've heard gunshots...Dracon shot, rather. What the...? It's Uncle Alan!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I know it seems unbelievable, but I'm sitting right here in the spare room of the Fangor house. All of my father's henchmen fought Elfangor and lost. My father was gone at the time but I'm sure the by now he's realised I'm not coming back... ever. Alan's a doctor and he said he'd help me out with the baby. I didn't need to tell him who the father was. He said he already knew. A few days later I went into labour. You know all the times I thought I had been in physical pain? None of them compared to the feelings I was getting from the labour contractions. I thought she was ripping me apart from the inside. And yes, I know it's a she because all 16 ultrasounds said so. It was just as I was about to start pushing that the Ellemist decided to pay me a visit.
"Oh joy." I said, "What do you want now?"
"Why so bitter? I've come to give you what you want!"
"Mmhmm...and what would I have to give you?"
"Well-
"Hah! That is just so typical of you! Why can't you just give unconditionally, you know? Give someone what they need?"
"That's not how we operate. We barter." Ellemist explained.
"Okay fine, what do you want?"
"The baby."
"What? Why? Is she something special?" I asked, panicking.
"She is evil." Ellemist replied.
"How can that be?"
"When pure good and born-evil mix, there comes an ultimate evil. I cannot explain it any better, but you must know that while you are saving worlds she will be destroying them." I thought for a while. My daughter, evil, destroyer of worlds. I can stop that.
"So what exactly do I get in return for this baby?"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I couldn't help but scream and carry no the everyone came back. I literally leapt onto Tobias. I hugged and kissed everyone else, of course, but the whole time I had Tobias' hand in mine. After everything had settled, and all stories had been told, Tobias crouched down and planted a small kiss on my stomach - he thought I was still pregnant.
"What the fuck?" asked Paula.
"Yes...the fuck..." muttered Marco, a series of death glares were shot at him. Paula stood there looking confused and Alan looked as if he had been slapped.
"What's wrong, um... dad?" asked Tobias. Alan shook his head in disbelief.
"You swore... both of you swore." He said in amazement.
"It's not a rare occurrence, Uncle Alan." I said.
"Uncle?!" a chorus from Paula, Marco, Jake and Tobias. Ax just smiled.
"Oh man... Tobias, you did it with your cousin!" cried Marco.
"Oh he did not!" I exclaimed, "I've been calling him Uncle Alan ever since I could talk. Do you actually think I would do such a thing with my cousin?"
"Well..." Jake started.
"Rhetorical question, Jake."
"Wait on... Tobias was the father?" asked Alan.
"Yeah..." I said, like I was talking to a dummy.
"You mean, I was going to be a grandfather?"
"Yeah..." I repeated.
"What do you mean by was? Where's the baby? What happened?" Tobias asked, touching my cheek. Paula frowned.
"What baby?" she asked, "Did I miss something here?"
"I'll fill you in later." Said Jake.
"Yeah, I'll bet you'll really fill her-"
"Shut up, Marco!"
"Ohh, the old days." I sighed.
"Ania!" Tobias yelled, I jumped.
"What?"
"What do you mean by was?" he asked. The look in his eyes made mine well up. I guess he must have really wanted the baby.
"It was..." I started, my voice shaky, "It was the Ellemist. As I was in labour he froze time and told me that she - the baby that is - would be evil and would be a destroyer of worlds. He told me that I could stop it from happening, that if I gave him the baby he would bring you all back and get rid of the Yeerks for good. Everything would be normal again." Tobias looked hurt. "I'm sorry!" I cried, "I couldn't say no! I couldn't let her be born if she would be evil and if I had the chance... Well if I had the chance to end this. I can see that you wanted the baby but frankly we're too young and as time goes by, maybe we can try again...when we're old enough. I'm sorry." Before Tobias could say anything, Alan dragged me out of the room.
"You promised." He said, sounding like a child who couldn't go to the park.
"I'm sorry."
"No, it's not good enough! You know very well about the forces of good and evil mixing!" he exclaimed.
"Well, it's too late now isn't it?"
"Leave him."
"No!" I cried, "Don't you understand? Alan, it's too late."
"What do you mean?" he asked, slightly annoyed.
"Well, what you're asking me to do... It's like me asking you to leave Loren, you love her don't you? And that means that it's too late to just leave." I explained to the best of my ability. Alan massaged his temples with his fingers.
"Look, this is simple. He is good, you are evil. Montague and Capulet, Rich and Poor, Prince and Pauper-"
"Ghandi and Cruella DeVille?" I asked, helping him out.
"Yes!"
"Oh for crying out loud, Alan."
"What?"
"I'm not my father!" I cried, "I would have thought that you'd be a little more mature than this. You're just about fifty years old. Look, I'm sorry for what he did to you but that doesn't change who I am! I'm not evil like you say I am. Those who are evil can't feel love... I love Tobias and I'm not going to leave him." I finished, walking away.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"You okay?" I asked Tobias, who was frowning at an animal book, propped up by several pillows. He looked up a t me and shook his head. I sat down next to him and put my hand on his knee.
"They say that a hawk has a short life span."
"You're not a hawk, Tobias, you have nothing to worry about."
"I know, but" he said with a grin, "I'll have to go and say goodbye to all of my hawk lovers."
"Oh, that's amusing Tobias..." I said, dryly.
"Thankyou!" he said with a happy smile. "Are you okay?"
"Of course I am." I replied, kissing his cheek softly. He reached up and touched the place where I had kissed him.
"Your lips are so cold..." he commented.
"So is my heart, according to your dad." I said, a hint of resentment in my voice. Tobias put his book down and studied my face, and then he pulled me into what would be the warmest and most loving hug I have ever received.
"My dad is wrong. You loved us so much that you gave up your own child to be with us." He said, soothingly.
"I do love you all...especially you Tobias, but your father is right. I was born evil, and I will die that way too. I'm so sorry..."
"Don't think like that... Dad can't come between us..."
"Yeah but mine can."
"No, he can't either." That night, as I fell asleep in Tobias' arms and the next day, as I laughed with the Animorphs, I knew that everything was going to be okay.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Are you ready yet?"
"No."
"Bloody hell, hurry up!" I called up to Paula, "You're worse than me!"
"Aw, gee, thanks..." she muttered, meeting me at the bottom of the staircase. There she was, all dressed up and ready for the awards ceremony. We met the guys outside, they were in suits and they were beaming.
"Finally.... Some bloody credit for all this work!" cried Marco.
"You're sounding more Aussie each day, Marco, I'm proud of you!" Paula said as the limo rolled up. We climbed in, laughing.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls. Please meet the six children that saved the lives of every person in this world... Please show your appreciation to Marco, Jake, Paula, Tobias, Aximilli and Ania. Put your hands together for the Animorphs!" I have never seen a crowd go so wild... We were up there, being watched by the whole world for about five minuted just listening to them cheer. I looked around the crowd and wondered whom had previously been Yeerked and if they were the ones cheering loudest, or if it was the ones who had their loved ones returned to them after being Yeerked. Ax got the medal of 'honour and intelligence'; Jake got 'honour and great leadership'; Tobias got 'honour and loyalty'; Marco got 'honour and bravery'; Paula got 'honour, loyalty and strength'; I got 'honour, wit, intelligence, loyalty, bravery, and strength'. They heard our stories, shared our pain and couldn't help but praise us constantly. We loved it, as anyone would, but I'm pretty sure that talking about it bought the pain back. At the end, we all received special war medals before the limo picked us up and drove us home.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Well that was no less than amazing." Stated Jake.
"Yeah, we are so loved now." Marco replied.
"Is that all you care about?" asked Paula.
"Where is Elfangor?" asked Ax.
"Is that all you care about?" I asked.
"Why the hell did the think I was loyal?" asked Tobias. A chuckle was heard behind us. We turned to see Elfangor and Loren, smiling.
"They sound like-" Loren started.
"Like us, I know." Finished Elfangor, putting his arm around her shoulder.
"No we don't!" the Animorphs said together. We all laughed. It was the best feeling.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Flash!
"Ania Trent?"
"My first name is Ania, yes."
"Is your last name Trent?"
Flash!
"I'd rather die!"
"As you wish...daughter."
Flash!
"No sir, my father is dead, what's alive is a monster in his head."
Flash!
"What are you doing here, dad?"
"You know exactly why I'm here."
Flash!
Inaudible screams of protest, disgust, and horror. A dull, four walled cell with a toilet in the corner with a tap and basin.
Flash!
"No! You can't just leave her alone, don't touch her! She'll wake up soon!"
"Let's wait for her over in the corner..."
The feeling of hands touching. Pain! Pain! Jake's hysterical screams. Pain! Agony!
Flash!
"Doesn't a certain something happen each month?"
"Yeah."
"Well it hasn't."
"I know."
Flash!
"What do you want?"
"I'm cold..."
"Yeah well, that's what the blanket's for..."
"Sorry."
Flash!
"It's his turn."
Screaming! Screaming! Stop! Make it stop! The manic mutters of Jake gone crazy over in the corner. A pair of cold, blue eyes. Tobias' angry face.
Flash!
Tobias' screams of pain. Over and over. Make it stop! No more! Please! Stop!
"No more, please, please..." The feeling of a shaking hand. "Get away from me!!!"
Flash!
"Finish him." Screams, scries, pain and agony. Stop! Stop!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"NO!" I woke up crying, shaking and screaming. I was bound to turn out like a crazy old war survivor. I felt Tobias' lips on my cheek.
"It's okay, baby. I'm right here." He said. I hugged him and drew in a deep breath.
"Thanks." I whispered, "I'm gonna go outside for a while, don't wait up. I'll be back. I promise."
"Okay. I love you."
"I love you too." I said, getting up.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Jeez, how freaky. Are you okay?" asked Paula, who had been outside 'thinking' when I arrived.
"Mmhmm, just spooked." I replied, hugging myself. "My great-grandpa was in WW2 or something. He gets al oogy when I ask him about it. Do you think we'll end up that way?"
"I hope not. I want to talk about it freely, share my experiences, you know?" she said, "Not many people know what it's like to die... I do." She looked freaked out.
"You're going to have a constant case of paranoia from now on, aren't you?"
"Probably." She replied with a laugh. "You've had quite an experience, yourself Ania. You watched us die, you wen through childbirth, saw your father at his most evil and we all fought a war and won. The six of us against a whole race of aliens. Who would have thought?"
"Yeah... Stupid Homer, why'd he have to be attracted by the light in the sky?"