World of Advent

Chapter Nine

Cipher stood at the end of a line, accepting his ticket number. Z-340 shouldn't take too long, Cipher thought to himself just before A-20 was called.

Or not.

Cipher sighed, clutching his number, looking outside the window of the blood Testing Facility. Had he known it would take this long, he might have chosen differently than to take the test everyone had been telling him to take all his life. Oh well; better late than never.

Amidst the crowd were many Advents, accompanied by their state wardens. Cipher knew already what fate they would receive. In this day and age, where parents could find their child with a simple DNA referencing test, it was likely they were cast aside or worse yet, never had parents to begin with. Black hair marked several of them out as Umbrians.

One of them, a dark skinned girl, tugged at the sleeve of her warden. "I wanna go home," she sniffled. "Why doesn't anyone want me?"

"Quiet," her warden snarled. "You've already been claimed. You're an Umbrian, remember?" He smirked at the girl, who must have been no older than six. "That's why no one wants you."

"You're wrong," Cipher said to the wardens face. "Harley takes in any of his family. He treats them all the same."

"You don't understand," the warden said. "The girl's father is a monster, just like the rest of them."

"No," Cipher said coldly, "you don't understand. You take one look at the Umbrians and only see their father. They're more than the sum of their father's sins."

"You think you can see something in this," the warden said, holding the girl up by her hands. Cipher caught her before she fell, whining piteously. "Then here. Take her." He sneered. "Looks like Advent scum can't tell scum apart from each other."

Cipher stood over the girl protectively while the man left. "What's your name," he asked the girl, who was still sniffling.

"Kate," she chirped. "M'name's Kate."

"Well then, Kate," Cipher said, "why are you here? Hasn't Harley already claimed you?"

"No," she said miserably. "The mean girl at the hotel said he was busy."

This disturbed Cipher greatly. No matter how busy Harley got, he always made time for his family. What could be so important as to take away from that?

"Well," Cipher said, "I'll take you to the Hotel and speak to the mean girl. I'm sure this is all just a big misunderstanding."

"No!" Kate cried looking down, shuffling her feet. "I don't wanna be an Umbrian anymore."

Cipher gave the girl a sympathetic look. He leaned down, looking her in the eyes. "Listen," he said softly, "we can't always choose what we are. Sometimes we just have to make do with who we are. Can you promise me something?"

"What is it?" Kate's eyes grew big.

"Promise me you'll be brave while I get my own family test, OK? I'll make sure you're taken care of."

"Okay, mister," Kate said brightly. "I'll put on my 'brave' shoes."

At first Cipher thought she was being purely metaphorical until she reached out into her bright oink backpack, bringing out a well worn pair of shoes. Every single inch of it was covered in rhinestones.

"They're diamonds," Kate said brightly. "They're my princess shoes. Don't they look beautiful?"

Cipher smiled, thinking of Sophia, his foster sister from Tom's workhouse. "They sure do," he assured her. Now let's be patient while we wait our turn."

"Okay." Kate waited a solid two minutes before asking "When is it our turn? I'm bored."

"Just be patient," Cipher said calmly. "We'll get there when we get there."

"Okay. When do we get there?"

"I don't know."

"But you're a grown up! Grown ups know everything. Who's your family? Are you my brother? Are you an Umbrian too? Yay! That means we're siblings!"

Cipher scratched his head. "Um... I don't think we're related. That's what I'm trying to figure out though."

"Oh," Kate said. "Are you a prince?"

"Er, not that I know of, no," Cipher said awkwardly.

"Oh. Well, you look like one," Kate assured him. "You have nice yellow hair."

Cipher looked at his blonde hair in the window, now wishing with all his heart that it would turn brown. Purple. Orange. Anything.

"Did you know," Kate said, "if you kiss a frog they turn into a prince. Were you a frog, Mister Frog Prince?"

This continued for about three hours until Cipher could see the end of the line. Now with three brand new nervous twitches, Cipher made his way up to the front desk, where someone asked the two of them for names.

"Names?" The reception lady peered down at Kate. "Name?"

"It's Kate," the little girl said.

"Last name?"

"Sunflowers are very pretty."

The receptionist looked taken aback. "Yes, I suppose they are," she said slowly. She turned to Cipher. "Are you with her?"

"Yes," Cipher said quickly. He knealt down at Kate's eye level. "Do you know what your last name is?"

"Sunflowers are very pretty."

"It's Sunflower," Cipher deadpanned. "Kate Sunflower."

"Okay then, Miss Sunflower," the receptionist said. "Why don't you take a seat while the young man takes his test?"

"Noooo," Kate whined. "We're together. You promised, Mister Frog Prince, you said we were together."

Cipher took several deep, calming breaths. "Is there any way she can come with me? She won't cause any trouble, I promise."

"I guess," the receptionist said. "Just keep an eye on her."

"Will do."

Cipher led Kate by the hand to the waiting area, where a doctor in a sterile white lab coat appeared.

"Hello there young man," he said. "I take it you're here to see who your parents are?"

"I promise you," Cipher said while Kate stroked his hair, "I would not be here otherwise."

"Okay," the doctor said. "My name is Doctor Marco. This is my assistant, Miss Shelly."

A woman in her mid twenties appeared by the doctor's side. "Hello there," she cooed at Kate. "We're just going to take Cipher here for a few short tests, then he's all yours, okay?"

"Okay." Kate stared at the nurse with giant brown eyes.

As Cipher left with the doctor, he could hear Kate ask the nurse "Have you ever kissed a frog?"

"She's quite a handful," Marco said. "Is she yours?"

"Oh God no," Cipher said. "I'm just looking after her until my tests are over."

"I see," Marco said. "How very noble of you. Now, I just need you to sign this paperwork. I'll be back in five minutes."

"Got it," Cipher said, scanning through the various sheets of paper.

Deciding that he didn't want anyone to know whatever the result was of the blood test, Cipher checked the "private" box. Now, legally, his records were for him alone to keep. Not even the doctors were allowed to view the results of the DNA testing.

"Okay," Marco said, "Private it is. Here we go. This'll only hurt for a second."

Cipher had heard this lie before, but acquiesced to the needle regardless, wincing as he saw his blood fill up in the tube.

"Are you okay?" the doctor asked. "You look a little pale."

"I'm fine," Cipher said. "What's wrong with seeing your own blood being sucked out of the body? There's nothing wrong with that at all."

"You don't like this, do you," Marco said. "Well, the worst is over," he said, taking up the needle. "You will receive the results shortly."

Marco lead Cipher to the waiting room, where Kate was leading a heated debate on whether frogs metamorphosed into humans or not. By the looks of it, Kate was winning.

"Oh good," Miss Shelly said nervously. "You're here."

"Hi, Mister Frog Prince," Kate said cheerfully. "I was just talking about you."

"Why..." Shelly asked questioningly.

"It's a long story," Cipher said. "Whatever you do, don't start talking about the shoes."

"Look at my princess shoes! Aren't they pretty?"

It was a long ride back from the Blood Testing Facility. Seeing as the C-Slider was only designed to seat adults, Cipher couldn't responsibly take the little girl to Hotel Ruin in it. Taking out his beloved Slider, he paid the taxi driver, looking up at Hotel Ruin. The flowers on the windows were wilting, some of the windows remained cracked. Why had Harley stopped renovating?

Cipher walked up to the entrance, only to find no one there. "That's odd," Cipher mused out loud while Kate plucked a healthy flower from its vase.

"For you," she said. "I hereby knight you Sir Frogpants."

"Er, thanks," Cipher said. "I um, humbly accept your offer, your, er, majesty."

Kate beamed at him.

Cipher rummaged through his contacts until he found Harley's number. Quickly mashing it into his Comm. Link, he waited for his friend to pick up.

"Hey man," Harley said from the other side. Crashes could be heard from the other side, along with different voices shouting words of encouragement. "What's up?"

"What do you mean, what's up? When did you start turning away little kids?"

"Who told you that?" Harley asked, sounding genuinely confused. In the background, strangled cries could be heard.

"One of your sisters told me," Cipher growled. "And what is that in the background? Are you training your siblings for war or something?"

Harley was silent for a second before responding. "Where are you? I'll pick the girl up."

"We're here," Cipher said, aggrieved. "Where is everybody?"

"Listen," Harley said carefully. "Something big is about to happen. Something that's better for us Advents. I don't want you caught up in it. Stay away from Hotel Ruin."

"The Hell do you mean?" Cipher glanced back at Kate, who was still playing with the flowers. "The heck do you mean?" he said in a softer voice. "What's going on? I've known you forever. Something's up."

"I've made a deal," Harley said tersely. "Something that will benefit all Adventkind, especially those of us who are prosecuted for no reason. "If you aren't with us, you're against us."

"I still don't know what you're even talking about," Cipher said, pacing the red carpet flooring. "What's to be against?"

"I'll be right over," Harley promised. "Just stay out of our way, alright? I don't want to see you get hurt."

Harley hing up. Cipher was left staring at the screen. "Call Ended." was all that was left of the cryptic words of his closest friend.

Soon, Harley appeared, almost as if walking from out of the shadows. "Thanks for taking her this far, Cipher," Harley said. "I'll take her from here."

"No," Cipher said firmly. "I want to know what's going on first."

"Just trust me," Harley pleaded. "This is for the best."

"WHAT?" Cipher roared. "Explain yourself! What's going on here? What are you doing with all your brothers and sisters?"

"I've been training them," Harley said. "Soon, there will be a war. Nobody will be able to escape it, but we will be the ones to survive it. I've joined forces with the Children of Darkness. They will make this world a better place for us."

"For you. You. What about everyone else," Cipher snarled. "Since when did you start letting a terrorist organization tell you what to do?"

"I knew you wouldn't understand," Harley said. "You don't know how they treat us Umbrians. Dirt. Scum. Slime! They treat Advents like garbage, and us worst of all."

"Surely there are better ways than this," Cipher pleaded. "Come to the Resistance. They can help."

"They look after their own," Harley said. "As do I. I've made my decision. I will make this world a better place for my family, even if that means ripping the roots of the society that cast us aside. Just watch, Cipher. I'll make the world treat us with the respect we deserve."

"You're talking about fear," Cipher said. "Not respect. This will never earn you respect."

"They will respect us," Harley said. "This time, they will be the ones without a choice."

"I can't allow you to do this," Cipher said, drawing his oversol. "This is crazy."

"You have no choice," Harley said. Shadows enveloped the room, twisting Kate from out of sight. Soon, Cipher was left in complete darkness. "Watch the shadows," Harley said. "I'll be waiting."

Soon, everything disappeared, and the world went dark. Cipher called out to the world, only to be met with silence.

"Kate! Where are you? Kate!" Cipher grimaced. "HARLEY!"

"The war is coming, Cipher."The shadows seemed to whispered from all sides. "Figure out whose side you're on."