Part 4
Riley had entered stage two around midnight, telekinesis flared up momentarily before she went still. Only for them to experience a psych scream so painful it caused them all to double over in pain from it. It was so intense and painful as if her legacies were crying out in agony. Like a vital piece of her was being ripped away. As if the only connection to her heritage was being severed.
The invisibility at three was quite possibly the least worrisome. Then the externa at four was interesting, to say the least. Then at five, she threw up more bile, Nine cleaned up all affected parties.
Shortly afterward her steady fever of one hundred spiked to one hundred and three.
By six Taylor had Riley hooked up to an IV to keep her hydrated. Nine got her to wake up long enough to eat a bite of toast and take some Tylenol before she fell back into her uneasy slumber. Her fever crested at seven with a whopping one hundred and four degrees Fahrenheit.
They decided to take turns replacing the cold cloth on her. It was finally at eight o'clock her fever went down two degrees and they all finally crashed for good.
Nine was sleeping on the floor in Riley's room, Lexa had promptly face planted on a couch, Malcolm flopped onto the second one and Taylor curled up in an armchair.
Sadly there was incessant pounding on Nine's door around ten o'clock. Malcolm and Lexa bolted upright at the sound.
"Who?" They both started before acknowledging the same panicked look on each other's faces.
Taylor groaned and opened her eyes.
"One of you gonna get that?" Taylor questioned.
"Rise and shine Taylor and help me clean up the debris from last night." Malcolm requested.
"Why do I have to open the door?" Lexa questioned.
Taylor giggled. "I'll go wake boss man."
Malcolm scrambled to the island and started hiding their work in the cabinets of the island.
"Because if you open the door it'll fit right in with the rumors about you and Nine." Malcolm quietly answered.
"Mention that again I'll end you." Lexa threatened. She straightened her clothes and ran a hand through her hair before getting the door.
It was Susan on the other side. She raised an eyebrow at Lexa's disheveled appearance.
"Yes, Susan?" Lexa questioned.
"Did Nine forget that he has a board meeting this morning? We're all waiting for him outside his office." Susan questioned.
"We'll be there in a few minutes Susan," Lexa answered, trying to sound more cheery than she was.
She shut the door just as Nine was emerging from Riley's room. He swore. "Saturday morning board meeting ten o'clock." He groaned.
"I got the coffee." Taylor offered.
Nine sighed and walked down the hall to his room.
"I call dibs on the bathroom!" Lexa exclaimed, before grabbing a bag by the couch and racing Malcolm to the bathroom. She beat him there and he pounded on the door in protest.
"Come on Lexa!" Malcolm demanded.
Taylor rolled her eyes at the pair of them. Both were in their fifties and sixties and yet they could act like teenagers. Nine came out of his room pulling on a shirt as Malcolm went past him into the room he'd just exited. "Taylor? Can you stay with Riley please?" He questioned.
"Of course I will Nine. What's your schedule for the day?" Taylor inquired.
"Board meeting, home, training sessions all afternoon, dinner, training sessions, home for another fun-filled night of vomit and legacy flare-ups." Nine groggily listed.
Taylor sighed and handed him a travel mug full of caffeinated coffee.
"Don't punch any of the board members. Remember beating them up will not help." Taylor smiled.
"But it'll make me feel better." Nine quipped.
Taylor laughed. Even sleep deprived his sarcasm was still sharp as ever. Lexa came out of the bathroom brushing her hair.
"Come on Malcolm we don't got all day!" Lexa called.
Malcolm came out pulling his pants up.
"Maybe if you hadn't claimed the bathroom." Malcolm started.
"Come on children. Finish putting yourselves together and let's go." Nine chuckled.
Lexa tied her hair back and grabbed her tablet.
"Malcolm your fly's down." She smirked.
He glared at her and finished dressing. Nine just smiled and shook his head. It was going to be a long day.
Once they arrived at his office they all took their normal places.
"So what's the first order of business?" Nine inquired. He took another sip of his coffee to help wake him up.
"Rough night professor?" Linda questioned.
"Rough is an understatement." Nine grumbled into his coffee. The young man from Earth Garde cleared his throat.
"My superiors would like to make sure we're all on the same page. They sent over a script for the press conference tomorrow afternoon." He spoke calmly. He handed Nine a folder.
"What press conference?" Nine huffed.
"They want to make sure your on the same page as them before we get in front of the cameras tomorrow. You're going to have to make a statement to the press about giving your daughter the cure." Nine tensed and dropped the folder on the floor. Lexa and Malcolm already knew that there was a high chance the guy wasn't leaving this room alive. Nine strained not to choke the little puke.
"Excuse me?" He spat.
"My superiors want you to tell the press why you gave the cure to your daughter and how much better her life will be now." The scrawny man answered coldly.
"You want me to go in front of a bunch of cameras and sing the praises of the very reason my daughter is bedridden currently? The same reason I was up every hour on the hour last night because she was either sick again, checking her fever, getting her more water, giving her meds for the fever, replacing the cold cloths on her forehead, or her legacies trying to destroy the house? You really want to test me right now?" Nine hissed at the man.
"Sir, we need to keep a positive image around the cure. We need the public to believe in the good it can do." He placated.
"Tell your advisors to bite me. Next?" Nine snapped.
"My daughter still remains at large," Arnold replied, his voice carrying a sharp edge.
"Good for her, on the run is better than here with you." Nine drawled, his disdain made obviously. Father of the year didn't deserve to have a daughter after all the crap he'd done to her.
"Nine are you sure you don't need to talk about something?" Linda cautiously questioned.
"Linda, I most definitely don't need my head examined right now. I need sleep and a healthy daughter." Nine argued.
Susan just kept quiet and looked at him with pity.
"Susan I don't need your pity or condolences. I need the neck of commander William Clark Kennedy." He glared.
"He followed protocol much like you should."'Arnold corrected.
"Can it Arnie." Nine hissed through clenched teeth.
"Okay how about we dismiss for now. Meet again next week?" Linda offered.
"Of course." Lexa nodded.
Nine huffed and stormed out of the room. The other board members filed out after him. Malcolm yawned while Lexa sighed and buried her face in her hands. "This is going to be one long week isn't it?"
"Oh, it's going to last forever." Malcolm groaned.
Gia skimmed down through an email just sent to her from her grandfather.
"Guys! She's okay!" She called. Everyone stopped what they were doing and crowded around her.
"Riley arrived at the academy yesterday, after being interrogated they gave her the cure." Gia read. "Riley is hanging in there but the prospects aren't good."
Casey cursed. "I knew I shouldn't have let her out. She wasn't ready."
"It's not your fault Casey it was mine. If Emma and I hadn't sent that message then you guys wouldn't have come to our aid. Then Riley wouldn't have sacrificed herself so we could escape." Cecilia sighed.
"It was a noble sacrifice. Riley knows you guys are more important than she is. But I think she was banking on EG fearing her father more." Kat suggested.
"Glad to know it doesn't matter who you are they still treat you like a common criminal." Gia retorted.
"Gia Malarie!" Kat scolded.
"What? It's the truth! The girl was a waste of legacies anyway." Gia scoffed.
Kat threw her arms up in exasperation and walked away. Adelina got up and went after her.
"So what can we do about it?" Casey questioned.
"Leave her in the academy. She's safer with her father at arm's length." Cecilia answered.
"Really? We're not breaking her out?" Sidney demanded.
"Ceci has a point, Sidney. Riley is safest at the academy currently. Her father will definitely keep a close eye on his daughter." Casey admitted. "You can count on him to do that." Cecilia agreed.
"Right now we need to worry about keeping ourselves outta danger," Gia replied callously.
She shooed them all away and went back to searching the internet for news. It seemed every day had some form of breaking news anymore. What would today's be? she silently mused. All the headlines that popped up shared one similarity and floored her. "Professor Nine cured his daughter" "Head of the Human Garde Academy demonstrates the good of the cure" "Nine stunned the world by curing his daughter" Gia clicked on a headline and leaned forward to read.
"Listen to this guys!" Gia called.
The room fell silent after that.
"Yesterday at one in the afternoon a groundbreaking event occurred in an EG facility. Riley Lexa Worthington was finally apprehended and at her father's decree was cured by EG agents. It shocked the world to find out that Professor Nine cured his one and only daughter of her legacies. Does this really mean that the cure is a good thing for the growing population of Human Garde? If the head of the Human Garde academy was willing to use it on his daughter then it must be safe for everyone. Professor Nine will be making a public statement about this event tomorrow afternoon at three. If you or someone you know is a Human Garde remember to always report it to Earth Garde for their well being." Gia read.
She heard many scoffs and noises of disapproval.
"That is a load of crap and we all know this. Nine would never in a thousand years even contemplate taking anyway someone's legacies. Especially his own daughter." Cecilia scoffed.
"Why would they lie about it then?" Adelina softly asked.
"It's all about appearances. They need the world to believe and trust the cure in order for it to work. Who better to instill the much-needed faith than Nine?" Sidney answered.
"Nine's gotta be absolutely murderous about all of this," Kat added.
"I certainly am. What happened to the land of the free and home of the brave crap we learn in school? This is cruel and unusual punishment. That's a right given to every American citizen in the constitution. The right to no cruel and unusual punishment." Casey demanded. All his muscles were strained as he threw his hands up in aggravation.
"Thank you for that unnecessary history lesson." Gia drawled.
"Why don't you just knock off the attitude for five seconds?" Casey snapped, glaring at her.
"Well, I'm sorry I don't imagine a perfect world where everyone loves everyone and everything is fair and just. It's never going to happen. The sooner you accept that this is the world we live in you can move on with your life." Gia seethed.
"Why don't you have a little faith that maybe the system can be fixed?" Casey hissed.
"What's the point? What's the point in fixing something that can never truly repair all the damage it's done!" Gia exclaimed, eyes glistening.
"Some things just can't be fixed. They're permanently broken." She muttered.
She turned back to her computers and sighed.
"Casey, Earth Garde is an awful organization and we just have to live with it for now. Rome wasn't built in a day and they certainly won't go away overnight." Cecilia reasoned.
Casey sighed and slumped in his seat.
"Until we hear word from our allies in the academy we need to focus on our safety. We need to work on finding a way to unite the camp again. Scattered to the breezes we have no chance against them. We need to find a way to unite camp again. Not like we were but we need to regroup so we might stand a chance against Earth Garde." Cecilia suggested.
"How do a bunch of untrained teenagers with legacies stand a chance against scramblers and this cure? We're vastly outnumbered and outgunned." Kat argued.
"We will always be outnumbered. That's just a given fact but we are not outgunned. If anything Earth Garde and all their technology and medicine are outgunned. Now some ideas?" Cecilia inquired.
"We obviously can't use any human means of communication. EG is watching them like a hawk." Emma replied dejectedly.
"Human means," Adelina mumbled. "Henri, our gift from our father." She blurted.
"Which one?" Henri teased.
Adelina rolled her blue eyes at him went to get her bag. She dug in her bag and pulled out a leather cord with a blue stone on it.
"This one." She reminded him holding it up.
"Our mother and father have those," Kat remarked.
"Yes, all the remaining original Garde and a few allies got one of those years ago. Our father gave us these when we left for the refugee camp. If we held the loralite and imagine the central meeting chamber we'd be able to go home." Adelina explained.
"So you've had a way to go home for the past three years and you never said a word about it?" Kat raised a suspicious eyebrow.
"They were told to not say a word about it. All people who get them from John are under strict orders to not say a word about it. Think of it a trap door a select group of people have." Cecilia casually explained.
"And you know this how?" Casey impatiently inquired.
"When we left the mountains years ago John made sure he made a way so that we'd be able to get outta trouble at a moment's notice," Cecilia answered.
"Probably because my sister has a knack for getting into trouble with EG." Emma quipped.
Casey and Kat stifled a laugh.
"So since we can't really use the academy for help we could go to the mountains and ask for help," Adelina suggested.
"Adelina and Henri will go to mountains to seek assistance from our parents while we sit here and train." Kat decided.
"Is it just a one person thing?" Cecilia asked.
"Why?" Henri questioned cautiously.
"Take some of the younger ones to there. It'd be much safer." Emma suggested.
"You could take Sidney as well," Casey added.
"No way. You guys aren't shipping me to Timbuktu while my best friend is in the clutches of EG." Sidney firmly replied.
"Let her stay. Riley is her friend too." Kat argued.
"Well, then I think I could take two." Adelina shrugged. She took her necklace and weaved it between her fingers until the loralite laid in the center of her palm. Emma handed her the small girl in her arms.
"You'll be safe with them April." She reassured. Adelina held the girl in one arm.
"Can you take a second piggyback style?" Cecilia questioned.
"Yeah."
A girl about ten was hoisted up onto her back. Adelina stumbled but maintained her stance.
"I can take a third if I understand how this works properly." She held out the hand with the pendant in it.
"Rachel take her hand," Cecilia suggested. A girl about twelve with dove brown hair and dark eyes grabbed Adelina's free hand. Henri had the same amount except three boys. One on each hand and one on the back. Ten, eleven and thirteen maybe?
"Don't forget a crystal." Kat reminded, stuffing something in Adelina's right pocket.
"See ya at home Hen," Adelina smiled.
"Not I if I get there first." Henri grinned.
"You're on." Adelina dared.
"Last one there is an evil Mogadorian." Henri laughed.
Adelina closed her eyes and imagined home. The big stone cavern and the big lanterns lit every night by her father. The giant loralite stone in the center and the huge wooden table on top of it. The warmth of the hearth they sat around each night for dinner and to listen to their father's stories of the war. The laughter and endless chatter of her siblings. The soothing presence of her mother wherever she went. The Spanish lullabies her mother sang every night. Her chest tightened with sorrow. How she missed how simple life was with her family. But then she heard it, the crackle of the lanterns, the echoes of children, the faint static from the radio, the voices of her parents. Was she imaging them? She felt a cool breeze blow across her, carrying the smell of the mountains with it. She slowly opened her eyes to make sure she was dreaming. Surrounding her were high stone walls of the meeting chamber. The breeze was coming from the open doorway leading outside. She did a full inventory of her surroundings to make sure she wasn't crazy. The giant meeting table was where it had always been with all its chairs haphazardly scattered. It looked like someone had been practicing telekinesis in here recently. The distant sounds echoed in from another doorway behind her. Adelina still couldn't exactly believe it. She was back home in the mountains where she grew up. She smiled when her brother appeared and wore the same look in awe. They were finally home.
