Gemini of Emreiana (9 page)

I picked up a gray tabby. My hand glided over her rough and patchy fur. She felt afraid and fought against me at first.

"Shh, don't be afraid," I said in a soothing voice. I felt myself calm, and I pushed the feeling into her. Soon, the gray tabby began to purr.

"Good girl." I lightly rubbed my finger over the bridge of her nose. Her lips began to lift themselves into a smile.

After I had checked on each animal, I started to clean out their cages. It wasn't the most enjoyable work, but I knew it was necessary, and the animals felt better about staying there.

I wasn’t there more than three hours, before I finished. I took a deep breath. I felt better being out of the house.

Although I felt normal during my shift at the center, I started to get pulled back into the reality of my life. I, Carson Emral, was an alien princess. I could either accept it or fight it. Either way, my life was never going to be normal again.

I asked Philocualundra if we could stop by the Burger Joint so I could get earth food. He kindly said yes, and I ordered four cheese burgers. I figured if Trish was home by now, she had probably already started cooking her alien food. It wasn’t that I minded. I knew it was her native food, and I understood she had to give up a lot to come here to Earth. She was so excited that Aaronmon had brought a trunk load of food with him. My taste buds just hadn’t adjusted to the taste.

Sure enough, when we got back to the house everyone was at the dinner table eating some type of Emréian dish. I didn't want to ask what it was.

I smiled, realizing that Aaronmon was sitting there with them. It made me happy that he was able to get out of bed.

"Did you enjoy being at the shelter?" Aunt Trish asked with a hesitant smile.

"Yeah, it was nice," I said to Trish, then turned to Aaronmon. "How are you feeling?"

"Better. The wound is healing fine. It doesn't hurt anymore," Aaronmon said.

"Good, because I’d like to start learning more about my duties."

"Does that mean that you are going to take the throne?" Aaronmon asked.

Aunt Trish postured herself and looked at me. Everyone looked at me.

"No," I said hesitantly, taking a breath. "I haven't made a decision yet, but I would like to know more about it. It's a part of my family, and in order for me to truly know my family, I have to know what they do."

"Okay," was all he said. I noticed the slightest bit of a smile form on Aunt Trish's lips.

"Okay." I smiled, and headed up to the room to wait for Aaronmon to finish his dinner.

During the whole twenty minutes that I waited, I didn't hear much from downstairs, perhaps besides Aaronmon and Trish. I couldn't make much out because they were speaking in Emréian. But it was the Garnix that were
really
quiet. I never heard much of anything from them. Philocalundra was the only one that had even spoke directly to me. Of course, he may have been the only Ominus able to speak to me in English.

I heard a knock on my door. "Come in," I said.

Aaronmon entered and shut the door behind him.

"Hey," he said, almost in a whisper.

"Hey." I pulled a pillow up to my chest. "I'm ready to know about my life."

"Before I tell you," Aaronmon said, clearing his throat slightly. "I just want you to know that nobody is going to force you to take the throne. It would be a hard time for Emréiana to try and gain a new leader during the war, and we will still do everything in our power to protect you."

"It's just a lot to decide." I shook my head slightly.

"You have time. Your mother is still in power, and as long as she is, you have time to decide."

"Thanks." I smiled slightly. "I don't know how to feel about everything. At first, I thought I wanted to be normal and go back to my old life. It's hard to think that Aunt Trish lied to me all these years; she was the closest thing I had to a mother."

"She was just trying to…"

"I know," I cut him off. I sat up more on the bed. "It's just that I can't truly talk to her now. I know what she did was to protect me, but now I'm struggling to understand it all. It's only been a week, and already my world has changed. I haven't made a decision yet. I can't be around my friends anymore knowing everything I know now. They don't know what is out there in the universe. Things are out there that want to hurt this world, and I can't even warn them." I choked slightly on my last words.

"Sometimes it's better if they don't know. Many races like the humans have mixed emotions. Fear can consume a being. A lot of bad things happened to some good races just because they were fearful."

I looked into Aaronmon's soft eyes. At first, I thought he was crazy, and I blamed him for the new chaos in my life, but he was only the messenger. I could now tell him things. I couldn’t tell Kyle or my friends these things. I still had a hard time talking to Trish. Aaronmon was there for me. After everything, I was glad he came into my life.

"So where do you want to start?" Aaronmon pulled out his abula.

He told me as much as he could about the duties my father had set for himself to rule the planet. My father did not tax anyone, in fact the majority of the kingdom's income came from the land that the citizens paid for. He made sure that everyone had a home, even if they could not afford it. If a citizen could not afford to pay for land, he made sure they were given community living, basically apartments. I still didn't quite understand how the system worked, especially for those who did drugs, if there were any on Emréiana, or for those who were just plain lazy. According to Aaronmon, my grandfather had an entire system for that, but he skipped over the details.

It was interesting to hear about my grandparents too. Trish was always so quiet about my family that I wondered if they even existed.

Paws jumped up on the bed and rubbed her soft cheek and whiskers on the palm of my hand. I flattened my palm out for her to get a better reach. Her mood was calming to me, and her purr was loud and happy.

"You know you are exactly like your mother," Aaronmon said.

I looked up to his deep eyes and smiled.

"How do you know so much about my mother?" I asked.

"Believe it or not, I am good friends with the Elaeye."

"Great, you know my mother better than me," I joked.

Aaronmon cleared his throat slightly, and his eyes took a quick glance at the floor.

"What?" I asked with suspicion.

"It's nothing." He rubbed his slight peachy gruff. Of course, my empathy knew he had something to say.

"Empath here, you can't hide stuff from the princess." I crossed my arms.

"You know, unless you’re planning on taking the throne, I really don't have to listen to you." His grin was sly. I raised my eyebrow.

"Well, we will just see about that. Spill!" I said. I reacted quickly, grabbing a pillow from the bed and throwing it at his head. Bad aim! I barely missed.

"Did you just throw a pillow at me?"

"Perhaps." Then I picked up another. This time I kept my grip on it and swung it at his head, and I didn't miss. Aaronmon looked shocked. Coyly, he started to smile at me.
Uh-Oh
. Aaronmon grabbed the pillow I’d thrown and swung it at me.

The pillow struck the side of my head, whipping it harshly to the side. I
quickly recovered, and swung the pillow full throttle at his head. He fell on the bed, and that's when I made my move. I just kept swinging the pillow at him.

"Stop," Aaronmon laughed.

"Nope, tell me."

"Stop."

"Tell me."

"Okay! Okay! Weapons dropped!" Aaronmon held his hands up
.

"Now, what aren’t you telling me?" I asked trying to sound serious. My smile grew wider, and a small giggle tried to escape.

"Carsona, it's not my place to tell you, but you need to know before you have any more surprises. I'll go get Trish to tell you," Aaronmon said standing up. He smoothed out his shirt and quietly left the room.

I didn't know if I should be angry that they were keeping something else from me, but I figured there wasn’t too much else that could ruin my life. They already wanted me to leave Kyle and my friends behind.

Instead, I focused on all the possibilities of what was going on. There was one that crossed my mind, but I didn’t want to go down that path; the one that said we’re leaving a lot sooner than they had said before. I pushed that out of my mind.

I waited in silence and patted on the bed for Paws to jump up. When she did, I scooped her up and nuzzled her furry head into my face.

Finally, Aunt Trish walked through the door.

"How are you doing?" She
said.

"Pretty good, only I hear you have some more news for me?"

"It's good news." She smiled.

"I don't have to leave Earth?"

"Sorry Carson."

"Okay, then what is it?"

"Carson, for the first time in years I have been able to talk to your mother. And, well, I found out something that I think you might be pleased to hear?"

I just stood there waiting for her to finish.

"Your mother, against the advice of many of the council, has decided to come to Earth so she can be with you."

"When?" I asked. My surprise channeled into Paws and startled her. She jumped out of my arm, her nails barely scratching my skin. I jumped slightly and watched Paws crawl quickly underneath the bed.
Silly cat.

"Soon. Maybe in a few weeks. She can't wait to see how much you have grown."

"Isn't it dangerous for her?"

Aunt Trish touched her hand to my shoulder. I started to calm myself, but I couldn't ignore the silly putty feeling that twisted my stomach.

"Yes, it is. She has a fleet bringing her. The fleet was on their way to pick you up and keep you safe, but your mother wanted to come."

"I don't know what to say or how to feel," I admitted.
Should I be happy?
I had missed having parents since I was a little girl, but at the same time, once I realized the truth, I felt angry. Now, I had to really face her.

"You don't have to feel anything. You have been through a lot the past week. That is mostly my fault for not telling you sooner."

I didn't say anything. We sat in silence for a few minutes. Aunt Trish stood up slowly and walked to the door.

"I'll let you be." A hint of guilt lingered in her voice. I started to feel sorry for the guilt I caused. As much as I wanted to be angry with her, I just couldn’t be angry anymore. It was exhausting, and in the end she was only trying to protect me.

"Trish." I stopped her before she left. "You did the right thing." I eased her feelings. "You were right, if I would have known sooner, then I would have thought you were crazy, or I would have been living in fear all these years."

“I’m sure you probably figured this out already, but I’m sorry I messed with your college enrollments.”

I knew it.

“Don’t worry about it.”

She nodded with a sweet smile. I could feel a huge strain relieve itself from Trish's soul. She turned and left the room.

With Aunt Trish's relief also came my own. I was glad that I no longer had to be angry with her. I was glad that, within all this crazy mess, something was starting to go right. But now that had been replaced with a new obstacle. The mother that sent me here to Earth was coming for me.

"So, are you nervous?" Aaronmon asked me as his car smoothly rounded a curve. It had become a routine of his to take me to school every day. Surprisingly, it didn’t bother me.

It was nice having someone to talk to about everything going on in my life, especially since I couldn’t talk to Kyle about it.

"About what? I go to school every day. Nothing new," I joked. I didn't know what he was talking about, but I knew it wasn't that.

Aaronmon shot me a look.

"About your mother?" He sighed.

"Oh that." I turned and looked out the window. "How long does it take, anyway?"

"A few weeks. She should be arriving any day now," Aaronmon said. Something in him felt nervous to me, though I didn't know why he would be nervous about her arrival.

"There isn't anything wrong with her spaceflight is there?" I asked, almost afraid of his answer.

"No." He sounded surprised by my question, but I could tell he was being truthful.

"I'm a little nervous, because I don't know anything about her," I said. I really didn't know what to expect. My entire life, I thought she was dead. I smiled. "Don't worry, though. I am just as eager."

As we got further into the small town, I saw a blue Volkswagon beetle. I seized my moment. I quickly clutched my hand into a fist and punched it hard in Aaronmon's arm.

"Blue punch buggy, don't punch back!" I yelled.

"Jows!" Aaronmon yelled and followed with it by cursing something Emréian. They hadn't taught me curses yet, but I remembered hearing Trish say them accidently when something bad happened.

"What was that for?" Aaronmon
asked me.

"It's a game."

"You realize that I am driving."

"Sorry." I smiled coyly.

"Yeah, I bet you are."

"How is it that you have been here on Earth for about five years, but have never heard of that?"

"Wrong. I was at taeu annonun on Amara for two years, and then Earth for three years."

"Still, three years and you have never heard of punch buggy? They are everywhere in bigger cities."

"I didn't come here to learn games. I came to learn the language and history. I was here to understand the environment that you grew up in."

"And what do you think about it?"

Aaronmon's eyebrow raised slightly. "Do you really want to know?"

I nodded.

"Well it does seem like Earth is on its way to discovering space travel and learning beyond their solar system. However, they still have a hundred years or so. That depends on how quick it takes them to figure out antimatter."

"Why don’t other planets help?"

"It is important that species develop on their own in order to survive. If not, then things can go bad. That’s why we are at war with Helentania."

"Why is that?" I asked.

Aaronmon handed me the abula. "Why don't you just read it for yourself?"

I looked at the silver abula, confused.

"It's all in Emréian." I shoved the abula back in his face.

"What?"

"Fix it in English."

Aaronmon groaned and took back the abula. I watched him as he went through the menus until the holographic read in English. He then gave it back to me.

I searched Emréiana/Helentania under History. The first heading read, "
The Judona War”.
I ran my hand over the heading. The holographic screen rose showing the two planets. Then a voice over started with the graphics.

"The Bremoir were in the early stages of learning advanced technologies. That's when Emréiana came into the picture. It has been nearly a thousand years, but still it is a big part of the history between our two planets. We had learned advanced space travel and traveled to all kinds of different planets within our galaxy. We found that there were many other planets that were already traveling before us. They welcomed us, and we learned from them. Then we came upon Helentania. Within our own solar system was Helentania still learning the ways of advanced technologies. We watched them from afar, but the king during that time wanted us to show ourselves to them and teach them. They weren't exactly enthusiastic about our arrival. They allowed us to teach them advanced space travel and other technologies. They started to develop their own weapons based on their new found intellect. They traveled the galaxy and slowly started to take over planets based on their beliefs that they have the natural right to the universe. "

The video stopped and the hologram closed.

"What kind of weapons?" I asked with
curiosity. Aaronmon pulled into a spot at school.

"There are some weapons out there that are more frightening than Earth's atomic bombs," Aaronmon said, leaning over to me. There was a bit of fear in his eyes. "Luckily for us, they have not used them yet."

I looked out the driver's window and saw Kyle staring at us. My stomach started to drop.
Was that sensation from me or him?
I opened the door slowly and slid off the black leather seat, pulling my school books to my chest.

"Hey," I said with a weak smile.

"Hey." Kyle walked over to me and took the books from my arms. He nodded to Aaronmon.

"I'll see you in class." I smiled at Aaronmon, and I intertwined my arm with Kyle's as we walked towards the school.

"Sorry I didn't call you last night,” I began, “I had a lot of studying to do and went straight to bed after."

“Don't worry about it." Kyle smiled and hooked his arm around my neck, pulling me into his chest. His cologne tickled my nose.
Oh, how I have missed that scent.

We stepped up onto the side walk like we have every day for the past few years. It hadn’t felt the same the past few weeks. This was where we always parted ways for our first class and typically swapped a quick kiss.

"I'll see you later." He smiled and squeezed my hand.

"I love you."

"I love you, too." He let go and turned to the door. There was a feeling burning within him that I couldn’t understand. It was similar to worry or possibly anxiety.

A small lump formed in my throat. I swallowed hard.
It's nothing. I'm just paranoid. It has nothing to do with us.

"Hey? You okay?" Aaronmon asked from behind me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's get to class." I tried not to press my empathy on him, although I was still exposed to his feelings. I could tell that he knew something was going on. I thought he would be happy that Kyle and I were having problems. Instead, Aaronmon felt worried for me
.
In some way, he was almost sad.

I held my breath as we walked through the half empty hallway. I was no longer being pounded by everyone’s emotions, which meant I was getting the hang of my empathy. I was focusing a lot on Aaronmon's feelings.
Why does he care?

We moved through the hallway without me having any problems. Even as I entered the class room, I kept my empathy in check. I smiled at Aaronmon and pushed how proud I felt onto him. He knew why, and he didn't need me to give him any of my own feelings, because he felt just as happy for me.

By the time lunch rolled around, I was ecstatic to walk in and not be bombed with emotions. I could almost block out the entire student body in the lunch room.

"Aaron you need to eat something." I laughed at him.

He gave me an uneasy look and stared at the meatloaf.

"You know, I think I'll just eat the salad."

"You eat like a girl," Kyle said, picking up Aaronmon's meatloaf with a fork.

"We just don't eat this in Canada," Aaronmon said.

"You must have lived under a rock," Kyle joked.

"Yeah, who's never eaten meatloaf?" I snickered at Aaronmon.

"Don't worry, Aaron, I wouldn't touch that meat if it was the last thing here on Earth," Meagan said, taking a bite of her salad.

"Says the vegetarian," I said.

"You look at a dog or cat and of course you won't eat it, because it is cute. But just because a cow isn't cute it's okay? Nope, not in my eyes," Meagan said.

"Who said cows aren't cute?" I asked, smiling at Meagan.

"Speaking of cows, did you hear about Hunts Farm?" Karlie asked.

"Oh yeah! About the cows being mutilated and eaten." Meagan shivered.

"What do you mean?" I asked. Aaronmon and I swapped wary glances.

"I heard some boys talking about it this morning.  Apparently three cows were found dead this morning. They said it sounded like a wild animal. Could have been whatever got those deer, or Ty." Karlie picked at her food. I could feel a bit of fear coming from her.

"That's not all, though. Apparently Mr. Hunt is missing, too," Meagan said in a low voice.

I felt even more concerned when Aaronmon started to feel afraid; Aaronmon never got scared.

"I think I left something in my locker. I'll be back." I stood up, pushing the chair behind me.

"Do you want me to walk with you?" Kyle stood up.

"No, I'm fine." I smiled.

I wandered quietly into the hallway. I was putting my friends in danger. The Bremoir knew I was somewhere in Alice. Because they hadn't found me yet, the Borian Warriors were eating the livestock and possibly even people. I started to feel sick. I clutched my churning stomach and pressed my back against the lockers.

"You okay?" Aaronmon was at my side.

"They are going to find me, aren't they? And if they don't, more people will keep dying." I looked up at Aaronmon. He was stiff and silent.

"He's dead isn't he? Mr. Hunt?" My voice shook.

"We don't know, but it doesn't look good." Aaronmon's voice came out like stone.

"Will they come for my friends?"

"Not if they don't know who you are, but don't worry. We will make a quick and clean escape from Earth before that happens."

"When my mother arrives?" I asked. I toned it down to a whisper as some students walked past.

Aaronmon nodded.

"Good. I don't want anything to happen to them." One tear rolled down my cheek. Aaronmon reached one hand out and cupped his palm around my face, using his thumb to wipe it away.

"I'm sorry." I sniffled, then regained composure. "I didn't mean to become so emotional. I hope none of that emotion spilled on to you."

"No, but that doesn't mean I don't know how you feel. It’s natural to worry about others close to you.”

"Carson!" Meagan yelled. Karlie and Kyle followed behind her. "We are going to be late for P.E."

"I'll be right there," I called out to her.

"Hurry up!"

"I'll see you later." I nodded at Aaronmon and turned on my heel.

After changing in the locker room, I walked on the track with Karlie and Meagan.

"You girls better get in some running time," Coach Petrelli yelled.

"We’re just warming up." Karlie waved with a smile.

"So, how is it living with a foreign exchange student?" Meagan nudged me.

"The same as I told you the first week. Annoying sometimes, but others it's okay."

"Yeah, but you guys seem to be pretty close." Karlie gave me a quick glance.

"He’s become a good friend," I admitted.

"Yeah, but Carson, you seem to have started neglecting your boyfriend." Meagan pointed out.
Why did she have to go there? I didn’t want to go there.

"It's not like that. You know I love Kyle, but he seems to be distant lately. Aaron is just someone I can talk to," I sighed. Not a complete lie. I couldn’t talk about being an alien to Kyle or even them. It was nice having someone to talk to.

"You can talk to us." Meagan, linked her left arm with my right and her right arm with Karlie's left.

"That's what I am doing right now." I smiled. "Don't worry. Me and Kyle are great." Of course, I didn't even believe it.

"If you say so. You guys just don't look the same towards each other like you used to." Karlie looked down at the track.

"How so?" I stopped.

"You have been busy a lot lately and a bit secretive. Kyle, well sometimes he stares at you like he wants to say something, but he never does. And no offense, please don't take this the wrong way..." Karlie trailed.

"What?" I asked.

She and Meagan gave each other a glance.

"Anytime you are upset about something you run to Aaron. Kyle looked hurt today when you wouldn't allow him to walk with you to the locker, but there you were with Aaron," Karlie finished.

"That was nothing! I-"

"It's not just that Carson.” Meagan cut me off. “It's how Kyle doesn't even get upset about it. He just sits there and takes it. He watches as some other guy takes you to school, and lives in your house. You even spend evenings with Aaron, but you won't spare a little time for Kyle. And what's this I hear about you not going to college? I mean who are you these days?" Meagan's words pierced my chest. I balled my hand and held back the tears that stung my eyes.