20 minutes later, Stratus Town
~Alex’s POV~
“Hi,” a small voice says.
I look down. A little girl pulls on my pant leg. She can’t be more than 7 years old.
“Hello,” I say kindly.
“Helena,” woman says, walking up to us. “Leave her alone.”
“Ok mommy,” the girl responds, taking her mother’s hand. The mother shoots me a nasty look as the two walk away.
I sigh. Many of the townspeople, the older ones especially, don’t trust us. And why would they? My face is on the bounty boards, and there’s no denying that I have broken the law, but at least we’re doing more than those government bastards.
I look to the sky. Castor’s on break, so I’m standing here, scanning the sky for Veridies’ plasma attacks.
Some people call me unnatural. And to them, I am. Sometimes I feel like a girl, sometimes I feel like a boy. It’s like I can’t decide, but I really don’t give a shit. Castor’s the only one who can tell how I feel, and even he makes mistakes sometimes.
I’ve never tried to correct 1st and 2nd Sea natives when they refer to me by my birth gender. If there’s one thing I learned, it’s that they are die-hard traditional and annoying as hell when you mention something they don’t agree with.
I see 2 trails of clouds moving towards the islands. That’s wierd. Why are Arianna and Avery coming here?
I get my answer the moment they land. With them are two boys, both about 18 years old.
“These two want to help you,” Avery says.
One of them is extremely pale. I’m surprised that he hasn’t shit his pants yet the way he looks at me.
The other one looks at me with curiosity. Weird. With our reputations both of them should be scared.
“Did you two threaten them?” I ask.
“Nah,” Avery responds. “I gave them some info after they agreed to keep a secret.”
I raise my eyebrows.
“Alright then,” I say. “I don’t see how two 18 year-olds can help but ok.”
“One of them’s from here and both of them helped take down Ramses,” Avery replies. I take another look at them. “You saw the commotion down there at Kairo? That was these two and Trigno. And Trigno was temporarily taken out too.”
“We’ll have to see their skills,” a voice says from behind. I turn around and see Castor leaning on a wall, his brown hair hanging in curls. “But we need all the help we can get, so they can stay.”
“One of them can use magic,” says Avery.
“Which one?”
“The one that doesn’t look like he’s going to shit his pants any minute.”
“Hey!” the blond hair kid yells.
“It’s true.”
FSSHRT!
“Oh shit,” Castor says. In the distance, pink plasma beams fly towards the town. I turn to my friends.
“Go back,” I say. “You two have done enough.”
Avery nods and the couple flies away, leaving us with the two kids.
I look at them.
“Alright,” I say. “Let’s see what you two can do.”
End of Chapter XIX