The cold floor of the cell jarred Irma awake. Her eyes fluttered open, meeting the dark grey of cobblestone walls that surrounded her. The smell of mildew and old wood greeted her like a kick in the head. I survived that fall? She reached towards her stomach, feeling each of her ribs, marveling at how they were all intact. Pain still radiated through her body, but less then expected for falling several stories on to stone.
Had they healed her? Again, she found herself marveling at how powerful they seemed to be. It almost overshadowed her fear of them.
"Hey, you awake?"
Refusing to acknowledge the voice speaking to her, she remained in a defensive fetal position and shut her eyes tight. It was bad enough they had her jailed, now came the interrogations? She needed feign sleep as long as possible.
Saddened, Hay Lin could only watch as her former best friend ignored her words. She sat in front of the cell, while the other three hung back and conversed at the guard's table. Why are you shutting us out? The thought repeated in the usually jovial girl's head as she watched Irma tightened herself into a ball. She was definitely awake, but for some reason, did not want to appear so.
"Can't we hurry this thing up? Its been like, four hours. Don't know about you guys, but I have a couple tests that I do not want my altemere taking for me." The pretentious yet grandiose voice of the Earth Guardian cut in. They had all agreed to wait for the Water Guardian to wake, but the lack of sleep from the night before wore each one of them down. Taranee had already succumbed to dozing off, but Cornelia's whining brought her back from the edge of sleep.
"I think I do have a final in sociology today..." She groaned, groggily.
With a sigh, Will conceded. "I guess we all don't need to stay and wait here. Taranee, Cornelia, it might help if you two find Caleb and find out what he knows about this. Hay Lin and I can handle things at the moment."
Shivering, Irma found it harder and harder to play dead. There was no way she was still on earth, she suspected that she was back in Metamoor. Maybe even inside of the kingdom of Elyon, but it was hard to tell. She would have to investigate later. The mention of Caleb introduced a whole new feeling of anxiety, the realization that everything would become unraveled very soon.
One thing she did like about Will, was the way she gave orders. Her orders were authoritative, but without malice, a stark difference from Kleos. She seemed to govern her team with the appearance of friendship. Or maybe, they really trusted her as a friend, but the idea was strange to her.
The cell that kept her suddenly glowed a bright blue. Warmth of an open portal washed against her back. Curious, Irma finally lifted her head to face her captors, only to be blinded by the hot light of the rift. She can open them at will. She noted. Good to know...
"And hurry. She's awake." Will waved them off, closing the portal quickly behind them. Knowing the jig is up, Irma dropped her head again and buried them in her hands. Her body still ached. The idea of having to weave all of her lies together gave her a sudden headache.
A hand touched her shoulder, surprising her, and she turned to face the Air Guardian. The friendly face with soft features leaned in close. The bars still kept them separated, thankfully, Irma had the feeling if she could have, the girl would've pulled her into a hug. Her voice was comforting and familiar, a weird mix of emotions that the assassin had learned to live without.
"Irma? It's us, do you remember? We're your friends." She pleaded, reaching her hand out again, to Irma's confusion. It was ironic to hear those words when they were separated by literal prison bars. Ignoring the good-will gesture, Irma scooted backwards until her back hit the damp cell wall.
"You can't keep me in here." She defended, looking accusingly at the both of them. Will stood, not giving any semblance of emotion as she walked up to the cell. "I haven't done anything to you."
The Air Guardian now sat cross-legged, almost pressed into the bars as she looked worried over their hostage. "We're not detaining you because of that, -" Will looked down and shook her head, giving a subtle hand wave to Hay Lin indicating silence.
"We just want to talk." Will continued. "Why were you following me?"
"You looked familiar." Irma contended, deciding honesty was the best policy here. No need to weave more lies, Will was no rebel idiot like Caleb, and from the way she approached she knew way more about the situation then she let on. "I'd tell you everything I know, but I don't know anything. I barely know who the hell you guys are."
"Well, what do you know?" Will dangled her belt within reach. Irma was tempted to grab it, but the leader probably knew that. She pressed on, her voice more stern then friendly. "Its a lot of weaponry for an exchange student. "
Irma rolled her aqua eyes. "It may be, but its all the protection I've had since I left Metamoor. So let's cut the crap." She responded. "I'm not an exchange student. I was forced to come here because of the war. I was told that I lived here before..."
"Before what?" Hay Lin ventured, her voice low and shaky.
"Before she tried to kill me." Irma answered, meeting Will's gaze with vengeful eye contact. "But you should already know that."
"Will?" Hay Lin now piped up, incredulously looking back and forth from Will to Irma. "We would never hurt you, you're one of us. None of us would ever hurt you, especially not Will."
"I find that hard to believe." Irma pulled her knees close, wrapping them in her arms. She was making herself as small as possible, because honestly, she expected Will to figure this out and try to kill her once again.
"Is that what they told you in Firekan?" Will fired back, not taking the calm explanation for an answer. She dropped the belt to the ground, in her hand she held back the knife that Irma wished she had not hesitated to use. "This knife you had, has the emblem of Firekan on it. Its a village of thieves and murderers, do you know that?"
"Firekan is my home." The former Water Guardian smoldered under her breath. "It's all I know. They might be your enemy, but they saved me."
Now, she was talking more to herself then the others. Will was right about the meaning of Firekan. To hear Will say what she always thought about the residents of Firekan disabled her will to fight back.
Thieves and murderers are exactly what we are.
Kleos always promised that it was for a reason. That when he finally took over, everyone would thrive. But after five years, all she saw was death, misery, and the starvation of the citizens that choose to follow him. In her heart, she did everything for the people – for the fact that maybe one day, Firekan could reach normality and peace like so many other cities in Metamoor. She didn't approve of killing either – it made her feel like an outcast, but she worked hard under Kleos to make up for that discrepancy. It would be worth it, he promised, when victory arrived.
"So what is it then? Do you have another building to toss me off of? I don't have anymore information to give." Irma hissed, eyes burning at Will.
"It was an accident. We did our best to heal your wounds." Hay Lin, who originally decided to stay quiet, spoke up to cut the tension."We don't want to hurt you Irma... but Heatherfield is your home."
Something about her... She couldn't hold on to her anger, nor her fear when the Air Guardian spoke to her.
The young Asian picked up her belt and handed it over to her. Cautious, Irma didn't approach. Will still looked on venomously, but she didn't step in. Hay Lin encouraged her to take it. She smiled softly at the brunette as the girl reattached the belt to her waist.
"I don't know what to think anymore." She admitted, a rare admission of truth that came out all too easily. "Caleb showed me that I had powers." Her eyes met Will's, this time without the animosity. "He told me what happened. Why I have this scar. He told me that you all left me because you had no choice."
"Thats not true!" Hay Lin interjected, getting to her feet. "We – I, looked for you for months after it happened."
"You went back?" Will asked, placing the knife on the table and spinning the Air Guardian to face her. "Why didn't you tell us? What if something happened to you?"
"It didn't matter what happened to me." She responded, looking away from the leader and to Irma. "We shouldn't have left her there!"
"We had no choice!"
I should be happy to see the enemy quarreling amongst themselves. Her thoughts tried to reason, but she felt the need to interject.
"I just want to be where I belong." Irma finished the argument, both of the guardians turned towards her in stunned silence. "I thought Firekan was my home. But when I came here, old memories resurfaced. It's all so confusing."
Another lie, but it had truth in its blueprint. She truly didn't know if where her loyalty should belong anymore. Her powers over water convinced her that the Guardian's weren't the enemy, but allies like the Air Guardian had told her.
But she only knew Firekan to be her home, and she would do anything to prevent harm befalling it. Even if it meant deceiving her true heritage... Kleos had saved her life, and she owed him that. It was more then Will ever did.
Will sighed. "You don't remember anything? How did you meet up with Caleb?" She crouched next to Hay Lin, who looked relieved to see her leader soften up.
Irma shrugged. "Some things I remember once I see it. I know my old home, my old parents. But it's all very distant."
Will stood. "Listen, this is whats going to happen from here." Both girls listened closely, Hay Lin nervously, as the leader made her conclusion. "You're going to stay here at least a day. We need to know what they told you exactly over there." Irma felt her heart drop. Trapped.
"But after we will see if you can really use your powers. You might not trust us now, but I believe you will after we show you the truth. You're one of us, and not one of them."
Them? The word cut deeper then Irma thought it could. All this time, Irma thought of the Guardians as them, a foe unworthy of a name, something that always stood in the way of victory. However, it was hard to draw a line separating the two ends of war. Having a personal connection to both sides, she felt trapped in more ways then one.
Hay Lin noticed her old friend's deep thought. Will had resolved to going back to the table, inspecting the knife and its many meanings. She remembered something, she fished a small item from her pocket and pushed it beyond the gates that kept them apart.
"You're probably hungry." She said, standing up and joining her leader at the table. Finally left on her own, she enviously stared at the neatly wrapped package. Hungry was a understatement. She felt like she was starving, recalling that she hadn't eaten since the altermere took to a fast food restaurant. It had to be at least two days ago, if she counted the time she spent knocked out from the fall.
It's not like they would poison her now, right? She didn't fully trust it, but she took it, her stomach reasoning louder then her brain. It was tightly wrapped with care, but Irma tore it open like a starving raccoon.
A heavy piece of bread almost fell out, but she caught it before it hit the disgusting floor of the cell. Without a second thought, Irma shoved it into her mouth, hoping not to taste the bitter bite of poison. Instead, it was a melody of taste, something better then she'd ever had in Firekan. It was gone before she knew it, and she wanted more. But she bit her tongue. The other two Guardians spoke amongst themselves, mainly discussing the knife. Left to her own devices in the cell, she pondered how she would be getting out. Not to escape, but to explore the location they've trapped her in.
On cue, the rift opened, and Caleb emerged, a small green goblin at his side.
God. She thought with annoyance. A passling, as if this place didn't stink enough.
"We need to go to school now, Caleb." Will spoke, Hay Lin joined at her side. "Please, watch her until we get back."
Disgusted, Irma regretted the small space she was trapped within as the passling approached her.
"Funny girl!" He spoke, in broken english. "Blunk thought he would never see you again." She had a tight clamp around her nose, insulted by his body odor and the fact that they let him subtly torture her with his presence.
"Here I am Blunk, now go away." She growled, her voice nasally as she struggled not to take in his stench.
The little green monster smiled, as if the insult were a joke. But instead of hanging around, he returned to Caleb, who stood confused at the orders Will had given him.
"Wait, why are you guys jailing her?" He ventured. "She's no threat."
"Well you should've told us that earlier." The Guardian leader bit back, outlining his betrayal without saying it outright. Her eyes told him a deeper story, but he didn't have the time to ask. She continued. "We'll be back. Hopefully you can get more information out of her. I don't believe that she came from Firekan willingly."
With that, she disappeared into the rift, Hay Lin following after shooting him a sympathetic look.
Now, it was just him, time, and Irma to keep him company. Also, a passling. It wasn't a promising situation. Swallowing his doubt, he turned to Irma, who sat patiently but vehemently, her rage scantily held back by a poker face.
"So." She started, her baby blue eyes managed to beam through both Blunk and Caleb. "Are you going to let me out, or do I have to break out of here?"
Last one for the week. See ya Tuesday!