Jane


12•20•8993. 10:11.


     After a few hours in the chamber, the three of us have gotten restless, but have been able to stay quiet.

     "How much longer?" whispers Arcadia, now fully awake. With the help of Kieladire, we were able to keep her sane as she woke up a few minutes ago.

     "No idea," Magnuson replies.

     "Can we review the plan?" she asks.

     I stand and begin pacing through the dimly lit chamber.

     "I create the illusion that we are still here as you and Magnuson escape. Then," I add, "I escape with as much supplies as possible and we head straight for the Mancazi District in an all-terrain vehicle that we can use my illusions to steal."

     "Seems easy enough," Arcadia says sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "What if someone sees through your illusion?"

     "We kill them."

     Magnuson looks a bit shocked and Arcadia nods as if we were talking about the weather.

     "And if they kill us?" he asks.

     "We die, obviously."

     "Fantastic."

     "As soon as Kieladire comes down here we escape. We can't stay cooped up in here forev-"

     I hear screams from above.

     "Get ready," whispers Arcadia.

     Kieladire quickly opens the hatch, flinging it open.

     "He's here," she stumbles, "run."

     We all look at each other, nod, and decide not to trust Kieladire.

     With the wave of a hand I knock her out. She convulses on the ground as we take a few backpacks and fill them with what we can; one for water, one for food, two for supplies and weapons.

     We climb out of the hatch and Arcadia, still weak, receives help from Magnuson.

     I run to the front of the tent and pull back the curtain slightly, just enough to look outside. A scene of pure panic unfolds before me.

     Little children are warning their parents of the masked attackers entering the town. Shopkeepers shut down their booths and hide in fear. Citizens run for their  lives.

     The group of attackers, with Finnian's black eyes in the front, begin scrounging through each tent and home.

     I close the curtain and turn around.

     "Ready?" I ask them.

     They both nod. Magnuson shakes out his arms and Arcadia looks directly at me, ready to take on the pain.

     I look to Arcadia first. She clenches her teeth to keep the pain at Bay as I morph her body into something new.

     Her height decreases by a few inches, making her an average height. Unnoticeable. Her skin turns a deeper color and wrinkles, a bit darker than her original skin. Her brown eyes become darker as does her hair, and her ragged clothing turns into a smoothgrey dress. Arcadia, now a different person, let's out out a gasp of pain and a sigh of relief.

     "That didn't hurt," she says in a higher-than-normal and sarcastic voice.

     "How bad was it?" asks Magnuson.

     "I guess you'll see," she says, gesturing to me.

     He makes fists, digging his short nails into his pale skin. "Ready," he says, voice shaky.

     His height rapidly decreases, making him the size of a young teen. His hair fades almost entirely, turning into a dark buzz cut. He has a new scar along his collarbone and his blue eyes change to brown.

     "Yeah," he gasps, "that kind of hurt."

     "My turn," I say.

     I've dealt with then pain multiple times, so I'm used to it. I went slow so it didn't hurt them as much. Now, I can move faster.

     I quickly turn into a young woman, a bit tall for her age and a head filled with curls of black. Her dainty hands suggest work in clothing. She has a few small scars on her knees, and above them is a pair of grey shorts and a t-shirt.

     "Here we go," I murmur.

     "Wait-" Arcadia pipes, "why not just make us invisible?"

     "That takes more power than I have at the moment," I reply tiredly. I exit the tent, Arcadia and Magnuson following close behind.