The Omega Bond (Book Five in the Omega Game series)

Chapter 10

Fair

City of Leukos, The Dark Desert

Present day…

It was going to be night soon.

From my place, hidden between some beer barrels at the gray Harbors I could see the ship that will take me to the Yellow Islands. Its name was Ile Opana Me. I had no idea what the hell that meant in their dialect. I only knew it was one of the biggest ships I’d ever seen and judging by the amount of sails I’ve counted it ought to be fast. Ang had mentioned once that the best navy system in the world came from the Yellow Islands and it made sense. They had perfected the art of sailing out of need, since the islands were separated by miles and miles of distance. I only hoped the ship would make it safely back to the Main Island and that our whole plan marched as well as we had intended.

We had taken special precautions on keeping me hidden from all eyes for two days. I’d almost grown crazy, caged like a bird inside of my chambers, but Nira had kept me company and Ang had made his best to bring me all my favorite food before I had to leave. He had sniffed the air the first time we had met after I’d concealed my scent and his face darkened in anger.

“I hate this,” he stated, taking my braid and pulling gently at it. His eyes darkened while he inspected my face, “Please grow up fast and come back to me.”

“I will try to grow up as fast as I can,” I assured him with a smile and then took the bag full of sweets from his hand, “Come on, let’s eat as much as we can before Nira finds you here.”

So we did. We ate all the sweets and spent our last afternoon together reading books and checking maps so we could mark all the places we would visit together once the war against Mourna was over. Neither of us brought the subject of the Neutralizer, or the fact that for the war to be over I would be the one to transform Mourna into something else. We just ate, and laughed, and enjoyed being kids for one last time.

In the morning all the plans we had so carefully crafted started to unfold slowly. First, Katala and Nira joined a royal commitive guarded by general Talon himself to take Lira, Lora and a maid dressed like me to Naccanash. It needed to look real so Nira said her goodbyes to me by dawn, before parting to see off her presumptuous adoptive daughter. She didn’t cry when she said goodbye. Instead she gave me a coin bag, filled all the way to the brim with the Yellow Island currency.

“Don’t gamble it all if the Goddess of Luck isn’t by your side,” she said with a wicked smile, “Use money wisely and it will multiply. I need to go now. You know what you need to do and remember…”

“ Don’t turn yourself into a victim. Be your own defender. Be your own hero,” I said without skipping a beat and she smiled at me.

“That’s my girl.”

Didoka and Katala came fast to say their goodbyes. They didn’t stay long but Didoka made me repeat how important it was for me to drink the potion to conceal my scent in time. Katala had to hush her away to stop her from giving me more cues on how to perfect my accent. Aros and Kun visited me after, followed by Noctis, who almost scared me out of my mind when he gave me his best version of an encouraging smile. Zeke and Killuna escorted me all the way to the gray Harbor and then hugged me one last time before leaving me alone. All along I waited secretly for Ang to come, but he didn’t. I’ve made him promise to not come to set me off. It would have been too sad to see him one last time before leaving. And still I waited until the sunset gave space to the night and I had to make my way to the Ile Opana Me.

It was for the best if I didn’t see Ang. I would end up crying if I saw him and he would have a hard time letting me go. This was for the best. Still, I couldn’t shake the strange sensation that my friendship with Ang will be forever impacted after I left. For a moment I paused, looking back at the City of Leukos. I thought about all the moments I’ve spent with my childhood friend and all the hugs and caresses we had shared while growing up. This was the moment when I decided to say goodbye to Ang. This was it. I’ve tried to pull it off as long as I could, but the truth was that even if we would always be the best friends, we could never go back to they way we had been.

We were not the same people.

Gods...I wasn’t even considered a person anymore. I was a weapon. A weapon that had been created to judge and transform Gods like Ang. Our friendship, however strong it was, needed to give room to my new identity.

From there on I was Zenny, from the Yellow Islands.

Fair was dead.

Fair was dead.

I felt a little sick and my stomach hurt when I made my way to the ship that would take me away. Nobody stopped me on my way to the deck. Alpha sailors didn’t even blink in my direction and for the first time I really understood what freedom Didoka had been talking about. As an Omega my every move had always been watched closely by all the Alphas and Betas around me. As a human without any dynamic I was as good as invisible and invisibility made people powerful. Invisibility meant freedom. I made it to the main deck, where a group of Betas were reunited, dressed in the red robes from the Yellow Islands. I took a moment to admire the golden embroidery of their robes, which depicted the nine islands of their nation. They walked on wood sandals that made them all look a couple of inches taller than they were.

The tallest Beta who seemed to be the leader of the group met me halfway, stopping me with a gesture of his hand. His hair was styled in a patterned cornbraid style, half of it was braided and pushed up in a short ponytail, the lower part had been shaved. His golden eyes studied my face and then narrowed them in suspicion.

“I am Alkodila, first diplomat and Beta in charge,” he said in the dialect and tilted his chin up, “State your name and business.”

I was trembling underneath the traveling robes I was wearing. This was it. This was the moment I consciously made the decision to grow up and move on. I smiled. Nira had mentioned that everyone would trust a pretty girl if she smiled. Nobody that smiles can be scared. Her words helped me move a little more graciously and extend the royal letter from Didoka.

“I’m Zenny, a human from Ty Island,” I said slowly, making my words as monotone as I could to conceal my accent, “I’m supposed to see his royal highness King Alkotanila, so I can give him a message from princess Aldidokala.”

A moment passed in silence.

And then…

“You are welcome aboard, Zenny from Ty Island,” said Alkodila with a smile, letting me pass through, “Come, I will present you to the others diplomats from our commitive.”

I nodded and followed him quietly. I was so nervous that I barely paid any attention to the names and the trades titles of the other Betas. I only nodded and smiled, trying to say as little as I could. All along I could feel the Alpha sailors yelling orders to start sailing soon. The sails were raised, the Alphas started rowing and suddenly we were moving. Destination: The Yellow Islands. I felt myself smile for real. This was really happening. I was really going away.

My enthusiasm was short lived. From the corner of my eye I saw the fast movement of an Alpha running as fast as the wind. He was making his way through the piers, followed close by Zeke and Killuna, who were screaming at him. I froze, turning around slowly so the others couldn’t see my worried face. Nobody seemed to care for the boy that was running, but I did. I recognized the strong shoulders, the black hair shining under the moonlight, those blue eyes that looked half crazy while they watched me go. He had come to watch me one last time. Even if I’d asked him not to. Even if I knew it was killing us to say goodbye like this.

“Ang…”I whispered sadly, watching his imposing body look smaller and smaller as the ship took me away.

He didn’t say anything. He didn’t scream my name or plunged into the water to come after me. Ang knew he couldn’t blow my cover like that. His blue eyes followed me intently when he couldn’t run after me anymore and for the longest time we looked at each other in silence. I knew without a doubt that the next time we would see each other I wouldn’t recognize in him the boy I had just left.

I searched for Ang in the horizon even as the night turned into dawn and another day started.