(Mira Oka)
I opened my eyes. What?...I suddenly noticed that I was on Ace’s chest. I felt a sense of heat in my cheeks. His eyes were still closed. I got off and gently shook him by the shoulder. His eyes opened and he sat up immediately. After a moment of silence he said, “Sorry about yesterday, what I did-I didn’t mean-”
“It’s alright,” I told him. “I offered it anyway. You needed it.”
His cheeks turned red. “Right, right.” Then he reached his hand to the back of his neck to scratch it.
“Huh?”
“I’m…I made everything awkward yesterday. And it’s going to be even more awkward with Anita and Vera.”
I held his hand and he flinched. “Let’s go through this together then.”
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When we left the bedroom, I let go of Ace’s hand to avoid any awkwardness. Lena and Laura were already there.
“You guys are up late,” Laura started. “Wanna eat before we go?”
Ace turned to her with furrowed brows. “G-Go?”
“We got some money back,” Lena answered. “We’re moving out.”
I noticed a paper bag in her hand. “Then let’s eat first.”
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We sat across from each other again. The paper bag contained a container of several french toasts. Lena placed some water bottles from the fridge.
“Another rush at the food place.”
I offered a shrug and took a bite of french toast. It was room temperature, but it wasn’t so bad. Ace was looking at me. What’s on his mind? “I have a question.”
His face looked a little anxious before asking, “What is it?”
“You said that whatever happened at Allurix during the explosions and whatnot was your ‘full form’.”
He nodded, eating a piece of french toast.
“Then what was the other form you had back when you were fighting that guard? Like the one where your irises are red and your wings are more red.”
He paused and then seemed to recall. “Oh-that,” He shook his head. “That’s just a weaker form of that. That’s what I call a primary form. It does less damage than the full form.
I nodded. “Interesting.”
He shifted uncomfortably.
I caught that. “Oh-was that wrong to say? I’m sorry-”
“No, it’s not that,” He began, cutting me off. His voice was incredibly soft ever since he told me everything last night. “I’m just…overwhelmed, and was thinking about last night. I…I wasn’t thinking straight-”
“Ace, I told you, it’s fine,” I assured him. “It’s like I said. I offered it. I wanted you to feel cared for, and just… relaxed.”
He nodded, continuing to eat slowly. He then asked after a brief pause. “It was called a ‘hug’, right?”
I paused, then nodded.
“What a weird word.”
“You…never had one, did you?” I asked him in a softer voice.
He didn’t say anything. Just took a bite.
“Well, I’m glad I was your first hug.”
“Huh?”
I gave a small smile. “Because, we’re friends…right?”
“I…uh…”
“We have to hurry because the car is out of gas,” Laura started. It seemed she didn’t hear our conversation, which was a huge relief. “Also, the others are meeting us there. Let me grab those suitcases.”
Ace swallowed his last bite of french toast. I tried doing the same, though I nearly choked. I drank a mouthful of water before swallowing it down. An ice cold feeling slid down my throat. Laura came back with the suitcases. “Alright buddies, get in.”
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I immediately sat in the car the moment I was released from the suitcase. It was suffocating to be in there. Plus, my pits got all sweaty, it was disgusting. Ace was sitting next to me again, although we had an empty space between us. I stared out the window again, waiting for the engine to start.
“Mira.”
I turned, startled. Ace’s eyebrows creased in concern.
“What is it?” I asked him, confused.
“That last car ride…” His voice trailed off. “Was… it my fault that you cried?”
His face converted into an embarrassed expression. In reflex, I pointed at myself, resisting the urge to laugh. “You made me cry? Don’t be stupid.” I playfully elbowled before looking back out the window, smiling
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“Alright, we’re here.” I heard Laura say once we parked by a local clinic. The majority of it was beige added on with teal letters spelling: Local Clinic and blue tiles by the entrance.
“Let’s wait for the others.” Laura explained. Just then, we noticed a car in a deep shade of blue, roll by. It parked next to ours. The driver’s door opened. It was Anita. Although, she was trembling. “D-Driving is a whole other adventure.” The others followed. I noticed Akari’s hand placed on Anita’s shoulder. “You did great. No worries.”
“Let’s get in already!” Ren yelled.
Lena held up a key and inserted it into the lock. She turned it and opened the door. We stepped in and what greeted us-or at least me, was an uncomfortable smell. I couldn’t help but cringe, covering my nose. “It smells like rubbing alcohol.”
“I’m sure it will wear off soon,” Laura said, totally unaffected. “Lena and I could rearrange this and make a separate room for that kind of stuff.”
I looked around. It appeared to be some kind of lobby. The walls were white, and there were patient chairs and a front desk with a computer. There was a glass table in the center with files. Next to the lobby was a far hallway. We followed that direction and there were patient rooms near there. At the end, there were two split directions, facing opposite sides.The hallways were stretched far, but we could tell that one side had four extra patient rooms, and on the other side, there were bathrooms, and a storage room. We met back at the lobby after that.
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“Well,” Laura began. “If we all have one room, there would be four extra patient rooms.”
“There are four at the front,” Ren explained. “We can just take the remaining eight in the back hallway.”
“And, there’s leftover medicine near the front desk!” Lena exclaimed.
I nodded. “Sounds good. But, how are we supposed to customize our rooms so we know which one is ours?”
“Oh yeah,” Vera agreed. “We have no money.”
Laura placed her hands on her hips. “Shopping obviously. Lena and I were medicine workers. We’re rich, and we could sell more with the leftover people here.” She handed out two-hundred dollar bills in cash to each of us.
My eyes widened. “Wha-”
Lena laughed. “It’s nothing. Have fun.”73Please respect copyright.PENANAXTI86bKTkT
My face fell. “Wait what?”
“Laura will take you shopping,” She explained, before walking behind the main desk. “Someone has to run this place. Plus, Kasumi doesn’t know where we are so there’s no need to stress for now.”
It sounds like a dream, I thought, Is this many advantages allowed? I couldn’t help but feel as though something bad was about to happen.
“But you still need disguises,” Laura said, gesturing at Ace and I. “So go slip those on.”
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We drove to a clothing store nearby. The building was quite tall, in a deep blue color. We stepped inside, and people were shopping in the aisles. Teens, adults, even kids were there. The place itself was quite busy, obviously. Every once in a while, we’d get passed by people. Vera whispered in my ear. “They’re not fazed by us.”
I pushed up my sunglasses, as part of my disguise. “That’s because they knew you as council members. They didn’t know you betrayed them.”
“We can place the items in the suitcases.” I heard Ace say, before moving aisles.
“A-” I froze. I was about to say his name. “Er…Arin, wait!” I hurried over to the aisle he was going in. There were bed sheets hanging from the shelves.
“Ace!” I whispered. “Don’t just ditch off like that.”
He wasn’t even looking at me. Just steadying the sheets. “They’re going to destroy Forah. We need to fight them.”
I shook my head. “That’s probably not a good idea. They’re powerful. It’s like going against the council again.” A silence passed, until he finally whispered. “She’s powerful, in a unique way.”
I cocked my head to the side.
“She didn’t even touch me. Yet, she made me lose my mind.”
I nodded in consideration. “At least we know what she’s capable of. We need to figure out how to stop her without getting affected by her-”
A loud sound occurred. It sounded like a rumble and a crash mixed together. Instantly, I witnessed tons of people speed to the exit and leave the building. Ace and I remained to see what was wrong. More rumbling came. I saw the windows and doors being covered by pieces of rocks, broken off the building. As a result, we were trapped.
“Ace and Mira, what a surprise,” That Hungarian accent. I turned around. Trixie was there with a smirk on her face. “Ugh. Your disguises aren’t even good.” Ignoring her, I scanned the room around me. More aisles…storage…bathroom! I shot tornado air out of my hand which resulted in Trixie slamming her back against the wall. Her eyes squeezed shut in pain. I held Ace’s hand and rushed over to the girl’s bathroom as fast as I could. I slammed the door close, panting.
Ace crossed his arms. “What are you doing? We’re going to get caught!-”
“Shh!” I place my index finger to his lips. My voice went down to a whisper. “Disguise time is over. Take it off.”
He did as he was told and I did the same. We ended up tossing the clothes aside. I turned to him. “I have an idea. Do you know what all bathrooms have in common?” He never looked more confused. I was beginning to have concerns for what his reply is going to be.
“Uh…toilets?”
I facepalmed. “Not that. Vents! They have vents.”
He nodded. “Oh. So what, are you expecting to climb through one?”
I shot a sly smile, before motioning him to follow me. I headed to one of the light pink stalls. “Look up there.” He raised his head up at the ceiling.. There was a silver vent on the ceiling.
“If we can pick at it there,” I started. “We may find an escape.”
“You’re right,” He agreed. “But it’s too high.”
“We’ll need a boost. Stand on the toilet.”
He glanced at it then shrugged before climbing on top of the lid. I followed. “Um…can you squat?”
“Er…okay?” He bent his knees down all the way. I held onto his head for support, before trying to step onto his shoulders.
“H-Hey! You’re covering my eyes, I can’t see! And you’re messing up my hair.”
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“Sorry,” I reached my arms up while he held onto my ankles. I finally got my fingers to clench the edges of the vent. “I got it.”
He sighed in relief. I held tighter and pried it off. With the vent’s lid in one hand, I pushed myself up with my other arm, and climbed the rest of the way. “Come up.”
He stuck out his wings and flew up. I placed the lid back in its place. Ace’s face twisted in pain. I could see his huge wings pressing against the metal walls, causing them to bend significantly. He reverted back to his human form. He groaned. “Argh, that hurt. My wings are too big to fly here.” I glanced forward. There was a pathway going straight ahead and then upwards. “We’ll have to use that shoulder method again.” Even in this darkness, I could see him roll his eyes.
We made it at the pathway that was vertical. I turned to him. “Alright, get on my shoulders.” I squatted before he could change his mind. I felt his long legs around me. I let out a breath and tried forcing out a tornado with my feet this time. We were making ourselves move up until a sudden bent in the wall knocked us back down. My back slammed the metal floor. Ace crashed onto me. We both groaned. Then the metal floor collapsed. Then I heard the crashing of wood. The walls were white. Wait…this is the bathroom. Then I heard the sound of ceramics breaking.
I opened my eyes. I was in the bathroom. My back was throbbing in pain. Ace was lying on his stomach, head to the side. I sat up and crawled toward him. I nudged his shoulder. “Ace, are you okay?”
He sat up, rubbing his head. “Ugh, what happened?” His face suddenly went alert. “Weren’t we in the vent just now?”
“Who knew you two would be here?” A voice asked. We turned. It was Trixie. Blocking the entrance. She shot a gust of wind, slamming me against the wall again.
Keep it together, Mira. I ordered myself. Struggling to ignore the pain in my back, I I turned to see the broken pieces of the toilet on the floor.I picked up a handful and threw them at Trixie’s face. She stuck her arm out to blow them away. During that time, Ace slid down across the floor, between her legs. He was back in the store. I was still in the bathroom. Trixie turned around to get Ace. I forced a sharp icicle and it shot through Trixie’s back. She screamed, while I pushed her to the side and left the bathroom to follow him. I looked around the room again. In the corner of the store, there appeared to be a staircase. I grabbed Ace’s wrist and pulled him toward there. We dashed up the stairs.
“We’re upstairs?” Ace asked, panting.73Please respect copyright.PENANAAfCcWPwk0H
I nodded. “The vents would've taken us there too. Hm…there’s no windows on this floor.”
“Then I will make an exit,” He said before raising his arm up. A bright red beam shot out of his hand and busted the ceiling above us. We stepped away from the falling pieces. “Hurry, get on my shoulders.” No time to waste, I thought, before stepping on top of his shoulders again. He stood up again and I reached the ceiling. I climbed up. I was on the roof. Thank god it’s flat. “Ace, let me pull you up here!” He held onto my hands, climbing up. Just then he was pulled back down. “Ah!”
“Ace!”
“Let go of me!” He screamed, kicking at the opposing force. It must be Trixie. I pulled him harder. I then felt a rush of wind shot at me and I nearly lost my grip. Hold on, you got this. I gripped harder on his hands. Ace flinched, his eyebrows creasing in pain. I raised my eyebrows. “Ace, what’s happening over there?”
A low growl escaped his mouth before his eyes turned red and his jaw extended, he was looking down behind him.
“Ace…”
He loosened his grip, slipping off my hands. I yanked him higher.”Ace!” He turned back to me.
“Don’t attack her,” I told him. “Not yet, okay?”
Another silence. He reverted back, gasping. “Hurry, she’s making my ankles bleed!”
That’s why he was about to attack, I thought. I need to do something. “Just hold onto the edge, okay? I’ll end this.” I moved his hands to the edge of the broken roof before I jumped down the broken hole Ace created.. Trixie and I made eye contact. I shot out icicle shards at her. Trixie swerved her body, dodging them, and reached Ace to pull him again.
“Mira!” He screamed.
“Sorry, sorry,” I said quickly. “Just hold on a little longer.” Think, think, think! I thought in panic. What to do, what to do? I examined the scene once more. The ceiling was above Trixie. She wasn’t under the hole. I see! I notice Ace holding tighter to the edge. I shot wind at the part of the ceiling that Trixie was under. Bingo. A crumble sound passed by. Trixie looked up. Chunks of the ceiling fell on top of her, which made her let go of Ace’s legs. I pushed Ace’s legs up, as he climbed away from the hole. I used my tornado air to make it to the roof with him. We were well far away from it, panting.
“Finally.” He breathed.
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I nodded. “Yeah. Now we can go back-” The part I was standing on crumbled off. I began to fall back.
Ace reached his arm out. “Mira!”
It was too late. I was falling two stories down.
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I felt something catch me. Huge dark blue arms. Laura?
“You’re safe, Mira.” She told me.
I sighed in relief and got off.
“How did you escape?” I asked her.
She shrugged. “We thought you guys left after the rumbling so we rushed out, but when we figured you weren’t, it was too late. I swear, I tried moving parts of the building to get inside but it wouldn’t budge.”
“It’s fine,” I told her with a lopsided smile. “We’re safe now.”
“Took care of Trixie, huh?”
“For the time being.”
I saw Ace fly down and the wings immediately disappeared. Once he made it, his legs wobbled and he fell. Laura caught him before his face could hit the ground. She then peered over his bloody ankles. “We’ll need to bandage those again.”
“We should head back then.” Ren said, with a shrug.
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I was extremely exhausted by the time we headed back. My back was still hurting, so I immediately hit the bed, and found myself in total darkness.
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