"So, Mahad, how does it feel to finally be an adult? Think you're ready to start taking on some responsibility in your life?" Lena giggled and darted out of the way of her older brother's playful hand swipe, sticking her tongue out when she was a safe distance away.
"Oh, little sister, you just wish you even had an idea what responsibility was," he replied, trying to get close enough to do something besides bat at the air. "Don't worry, big brother will teach you."
"As if!" She let out another laugh followed by a small scream as Mahad's hand nearly made contact with her arm, stumbling slightly in her attempt to get further away. "As if you could teach me anything about responsibility, big brother." She stuck her tongue out again and ran away, calling something over her shoulder that Mahad couldn't quite catch over the noise in the pavilion.
He waved his hand dismissively in the air while watching his younger sister stop at the bench Cheng was sitting at and join him, smiling for a moment at whatever game the two of them started to play. It was sweet, for lack of a better word, how much like siblings they had become since they'd moved to Puerto Angel just over a year back. It had come to feel like home, almost as much as Babylonia did, though Mahad would never admit that to himself, and he was happy that Lena had made friends so quickly with everyone. He supposed it helped to keep the homesickness away if thoughts of home rarely entered the mind.
Dark bangs fell in equally dark eyes as he softly shook his head, shifting his gaze to look around at his surroundings. The main pavilion in Peurto Angel had been redecorated in his honor; banners of red and white bearing different birthday phrases hung from the fronts of houses, music played loudly from a sound system he still hadn't managed to locate, food had been placed on tables that were scattered all around, and the residents had long since come out of their homes to dance, eat, socialize, and just party. All for him and his birthday. The "Big One-Eight!" as Wayan had called it. A soft, contented sigh left his lips at the thought.
"So, birthday boy, how about you tell me how it feels to finally be an adult?"
Mahad turned to find Dahlia standing just a few paces behind him, arms crossed over her chest and smile on her lips, and he felt a small flush rise up in his cheeks. He played it off, though, like he always did – arms behind his head and a big grin on his face. "Ah, you know, it doesn't really feel that different. It's just the principle of it." He stepped back until he was standing next to her, looking her in the eye. "You know, eighteen, that magical number where I become a man, rite of passage and all that."
Dahlia stifled a laugh. "A man? Please, being a man means you have the maturity of one, and I don't think you'd know maturity if it bit you in the ass."
"Hey!" Mahad attempted to land a playful punch on her arm, but she jumped out of the way, laughing when he fumbled and nearly fell to the ground. "You and Lena, I swear!" He straightened up, dusting off his pants and stuffing his hands in the pockets, grin back in place.
Dahlia laughed, arms crossed once again as she stood beside him, looking out at the party. "Hate to break it to you, Mahad, but your sister and I only speak the truth."
"Yeah, yeah, immature, irresponsible – heard it all and more from Cortes already."
She laughed softly. "Sorry." They fell silent for several long moments before Dahlia spoke up again. "So, it doesn't feel any different at all? You don't feel eighteen, all grown up and, as you put it, a man?" A small smirk played across her lips and sarcasm laced her voice, but he could see the true curiosity hidden behind her eyes.
He thought about her question for a few moments, watching the residents of Puerto Angel, people that had become something like his family, dance. Did he feel different? Life had changed so dramatically in the last year – being forced to move from his home, losing their mother and trying to find her, worrying about her every waking moment, wondering when things would become normal again. His concern for his sister had grown exponentially since she started discovering exactly how powerful she had become. And there was Wayan and Cortes, the closest he'd come to having a brother and father figure; Cheng, a little brother and friend; The Vector had become something of a mentor to not only his sister, but to him as well. And then, of course, there was Dahlia.
His relationships with everyone had changed so much; he'd made new friends, family, enemies, discovered new things about himself he never thought he would have before, and discovered how much he could care about someone. True, his playfulness won out more often than his serious side, but inside, he felt as if the last year had really brought him a long way.
"I guess I don't feel different so much as I feel like I've really earned this last year." He chewed the inside of his lip for a moment, thinking about his words before laughing out loud. "That doesn't even make any sense."
"Yes it does," she snapped as though she were berating him. "It makes a lot of sense."
"I guess." He stuffed his hands further in his pockets, tracing lines in the dirt with the tip of his shoe. "But come on, we can get all philosophical later. It's my birthday, let's go dance, drink, party!" He started to walk away, attempting to pull her along with him, but she resisted, pulling him back.
"Mahad-"
"Oh, I get it," he grinned, grabbing her hand in his. "Birthday kiss for the birthday boy? Okay, ready when you are!" He said it in jest, of course, but he could still feel his collar getting hot as he said it, and the secret wish that maybe this time she'd agree was still as present as ever, but he wasn't disappointed when she pushed his hand away and laughed.
"Dream on, lover boy! Come on, let's go!" She walked away from him, looking back over her shoulder and waving when he didn't follow right away.
Mahad smiled as he caught up to her, forgetting for now the conversation they'd had, and allowing his carefree nature to take over. It was his party, and he was going to enjoy it.
It was never difficult to pretend that leaving work was something Alice looked forward to every day. Ever since Diwan had sent her out to the dank office building on a remote edge of Skyland she wasn't even sure the Sphere had control over, work had become even duller than she thought it ever could be. Filing papers for court cases that were more boring than her new life, organizing files that looked as though they hadn't been touched in thirty years – and judging by the dates, she wasn't very far off – and just in general spending her time in a tiny room in a tiny building that felt far too much like a prison than a job had not become something Alice found very appealing about her current situation.
So, when the time came for everyone to go home each day, Alice didn't complain. At least the little house she'd managed to get at a reasonable price was something nice to come home to. The small sofa was worn and soft, the carpet was plush under her feet, the kitchen was small, but she didn't need a lot of room to cook meals for one every night, and her bed was warm and inviting. She was even thinking of adopting a kitten.
No, she had nothing to complain about when getting off work, especially when she was meeting her friends from Guardian school. It gave her a certain kind of satisfaction to know that, even though no one from the school was supposed to make any kind of contact with her, her friends, who were also some of the few people she'd managed to convince that the Sphere was wrong before she left, did everything they could to keep in contact with her. The visits were sporadic, and the messages she got giving a time, date, and place to meet were cryptic at best, but still, they came to see her. It was small consolation, but she liked to think of these meetings as the beginnings of the Guardian rebellion against the Sphere.
Tonight was one of the nights they'd chosen to meet.
Two of her closest friends, Tian and Bada, had managed to make it, each of them dressed in their uniforms – black pants and black tunic-esque tops with colored bands around their waists indicating their ranks. Blue. Nearly full-fledged Guardians, almost ready to use their abilities to protect the Sphere on their own instead of under the watchful eye of the older, more experienced Guardians. She herself had only made red, two colors below blue, showing everyone that she was one step above being just out of school. She was envious that they still wore their Guardian uniforms when hers had been taken from her and incinerated, but she just kept reminding herself that in the end, if all their plans went through, the Guardians would no longer exist. The Sphere would no longer exist.
"Alice!" Tian exclaimed happily, pulling the smaller girl into his arms and hugging her tightly. Tian had been something of a mentor to Alice in school, the two of them often spending time together in the library discussing political matters and other topics that Alice had been overly opinionated about back then. Now, though, they were simply good friends. "It's so good to see you! Oh, Alice," he let her go and held her by the shoulders at arms length, trying to be surprised. "You've let yourself go!"
He was referring, of course, to her black pants and dark green tank top, something her old self would have deemed too casual to wear, and her hair that had now grown several inches past her ears. "Well, what do you expect being thrown in the backwater slums of Skyland? Name brands?" She laughed, then looked over at Bada, breaking free of Tian to give her a hug. They hadn't started becoming close until just before Alice was forced to leave, but she still loved to see her. "How have you been?"
"Just fine, Ali, just fine." She smiled back, shaking her bangs out of her eyes and squeezing Alice's hand. "Things seem to be going pretty well back at the school, too. We've managed to talk to a few more people, and now it seems like everyone is talking about it." Her smile grew as she talked. "We haven't confronted a lot of the students, but I think a lot of them believe it!"
"Of course," Tian cut in, ever the voice of reason, "there are people that are getting angry because of it. They don't want to hear that everything they grew up knowing to be true is a lie. We're just lucky none of the instructors or, Heaven forbid, Oslo has found out yet."
"Although with Acasia's big mouth, it'll only be a matter of time before one of them does," Bada said with something like irritation in her voice.
"Yes, well, we all know Acasia's the biggest brown-noser at the academy on top of everything else. I'm surprised she can breathe with how far her nose is shoved up Oslo's-"
"Is there news on anything else?" Alice cut in, trying not to grin at the implications of her friend's words. "Anything at all? I'm ready to send a message as soon as there's anything to be said."
"Well, obviously nothing can happen any time soon because the number of people who are willing to listen to us are few and far between, but we're trying. It's not like we can just jump out there and start talking to everyone we come across. It's been difficult enough trying to avoid suspicion in the people we have managed to talk to."
"Well, slow and steady won the turtle the race, did it not? At least you've been able to talk to people without too much consequence so far, right?"
Bada crossed her arms over her chest and nodded. They all knew the truth in that statement. It was only a matter of time before Oslo did catch wind of this rebellion in the works, and when that happened they could only imagine what he would do to them. "Right. Well. We're doing everything we can. But don't worry Alice, when there's anything at all, we'll send you a message. We just have to be patient, okay?"
Alice had decided long ago that patience was not her strong suit, but she knew she had no other option. With a sight of defeat, she nodded. "Yes, alright. But the second you hear something-"
"Yes, Alice, we promise." Bada smiled and pulled her friend into another hug. "We have to get going, though. They'll start wondering what's going on if they notice that our patroller's stopped for too long. Just hang in there, alright?" She landed a soft kiss on Alice's cheek before allowing Tian to hug her as well.
"And take care of yourself. We know how lonely it must be all alone out here." He squeezed her tightly before letting her go, smiling apologetically. "Kyle sends his regards. He's going to try to come out here next, so look forward to that." He winked and laughed as he walked back towards the patroller that had docked on the edge of this abandoned block.
"T-tell him that…I'm waiting. Alright?"
Bada laughed and nodded back. "Of course. Bye, Alice." She waved and ran to catch up with Tian, leaving Alice alone with nothing but the ship that would take her back home. She always felt empty after these meetings, having only glimpses of what it was like to have friends that truly cared about her, and she couldn't help the few tears that slid slowly down her cheeks.
"Bada – it's Korean," the dark haired woman explained to fifteen-year-old Alice while she adjusted the collar of her tunic. Alice didn't know what Korean was, and her expression must have showed her confusion. "Korean. Well, it's a dead language now, but back when the Earth was whole, there was a little country called Korea. I'm descended from them, though somewhere along the lines, my genes got mixed in with other nationalities. I think I'm…a quarter Korean."
Alice found her interest piqued – a dead language? Earth when it was whole? She'd only heard a few stories off and on throughout school – the Sphere didn't talk of Earth as a whole except when it came to the prophecy – and she always yearned to know more.
"Bada, in Korean, means 'sea.' You've heard of seas, right Alice?"
She nodded, though the word held very little meaning to her.
"Back when Earth was whole, there was water everywhere! Seventy percent of the Earth was covered in water! Oceans, seas, lakes, rivers – just everywhere! Can you imagine it, Alice?" She turned dreamy eyes on the younger girl, wide with dreams and excitement. "It's such a scarce commodity now, it's hard to imagine not having to forage for water. But they didn't. It was always there, always around them, always there for the taking."
"But the prophecy. When it's fulfilled, we'll have that again, right?"
Bada rolled her eyes. "The prophecy will never come true. Earth reunited? It's never going to happen, Alice. Seas, oceans, lakes? We can only dream about those. Best to keep our heads in the real world and leave thoughts of endless amounts of water for talks in the library." She smiled and stood up, hefting her bag over her shoulder and smiling at Alice. "Don't be late for your next class, alright?"
Alice smiled at the memory from her school days as she turned on her side and pulled the blankets up to her neck. It felt like it had been so much longer than just four years since that conversation had taken place, and remembering it made her nostalgic for the days when she could just sit and talk to her friends like that. Even though she was against everything the Sphere stood for, she really missed the days when she was at the school. Perhaps things would be better once all their plans went through. She would just have to wait and see.
"Soon," she said to herself. "I just have to be patient."