My Sister, The Chosen One

Twenty-Three

The Neighbourhood- Female Robbery

Ericson:

The new Airstorm Estate is astonishing. The property itself is exquisite. That's not the reason why she bought this place. Sure, it was an amazing investment but she doesn't care about the property itself. It's not for her. She could care less if she were here or back in that smaller Elite suite in the city. This place is the perfect hunting ground for our specific kind of fairies. Air fairies love to strike from above. Not very many of our kind know how to properly do that. However, the three inhabitants of this particular facility strive in all combat forms, especially this one. There is nothing to help anyone take cover below but the massive concrete habitats and towers surrounding the compound give those who come out of the house a massive advantage. It's right in the middle.

The right side of the property is completely covered in grass. There is one pathway down the center that leads to what looks like a hidden bunker. To give the bunker a bit more cover, it's surrounded by a garden. There's no specific theme to it, just pretty flowers to distract the blind eye from finding the hidden door in the protruding bump that looks like a simple maintenance hut. My guess is, that's where she put her sister's secret laboratory.

On the left, there's a stream right down the center that leads into the lake. Where the stream begins, is a beautiful waterfall. There are water lilies growing around it. The area around the waterfall is green but I don't think the grass is real, it smells artificial. There must be a reason why the waterfall is there. I don't think she wanted the ambient. It's just a fun coincidence.

The house itself is lowered about half a story. There are steps that lead down to the entrance. It's massive and I'm sure it leads underground. It's three stories high and is built in the shape of a triangle. Although it has a pyramid-like structure, the house is oddly homey. The soft yellow is elegant along with the white trim. The wrap-around porch on the outside is held up by white columns. The doors are mostly glass but they're reinforced with gold-plated steel into some kind of design. It looks like a crest, not one traditional to any of their families. She made a fortress and somehow still managed to make it look like home so it doesn't feel like a prison. She's insane and paranoid. How does she manage to hide it so well?

"Did you know the council wants to overlook what you did in High Rise?" I asked her. She tossed her blazer on a bench along with her vest leaving her in the fitted black slacks and the button-up she's wearing. She pulled on her tie and took a seat. From here, we have a view of the entire compound.

"I spent two weeks trying to find the perfect vantage point. I had to make it," she smiled. I gathered her things and placed them on the backrest before taking a seat next to her. "It doesn't surprise me. You're going to see a lot of that as we move forward. They let me do whatever I want because I give them exactly what they're looking for. We keep each other happy. Both Breeze and I do our jobs to the point,"

"I know how this works. I used to be where you are,"

I meant this is going to be difficult for me to help her get out of the position she's in. Once her wings establish the proper connection with the essence of her being, she's going to start feeling more than she's going to be prepared for. Emotionally, she might not be able to handle the military part of being a Guardian. I don't think that's the case but I want her to have another option. I want her to know that she has other options.

"Was it like this for you?"

"It was, more or less. I would have liked for someone to tell me that this isn't all there is to it,"

"You're not the first person to say that to me tonight," she sat back looking up at the darkening sky. The dark blue is starting to overwhelm the fading oranges and purples. Her eyes are pitch black. She doesn't like change. At least not the kind of change she can't control.

"What happened tonight?" I asked.

"Do you think I settle for second?" she asked suddenly.

"I'm sorry? Settle for second?"

"Yeah, you know like I'm the guardian of the realm, not the Queen. I became the Spade instead of the Diamond. Do you think I am holding myself back from that something more?"

"Who told you that?" I laughed.

"Aurora Airheart," she shook her head.

"Aurora Airheart has never had to start from scratch. Dice inherit their power from the previous generation. Old bitter families that refuse the inevitable change of our world. Do you even want to be the Queen or the Diamond? Do you really want to be caged by all that paperwork?" I laughed. She looked over at me and smiled. She sat up scooting closer to me.

"No, I don't but it makes sense. Why wouldn't I want the top seat?" she asked. I tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"The top seat is boring. I think being a knight is better than being the King. Can you imagine waking up and to tell someone to make you breakfast knowing damn well that only you can make exactly what you're craving?"

"A food analogy? You're becoming one of my favorite people. I swear you live in my head sometimes," she giggled. Her legs are crossed at her ankles.

"I'd pay you what you want to lease the entire space there," I smirked. She laughed. "What else did the Dice Queen say?"

"She called Breeze the w***e of Babylon," she lowered the tone of her voice. It's almost gentle but the hostility behind it is prominent.

"What?" I laughed. "One look at that girl and you can tell she's a virgin. Her little dresses with the cartoons on them, the tights, the braids, the glasses, and she has the anxiety of a tiny chihuahua,"

"Oh, my sweet fireflies. She is a nerd," she laughed. "I think she meant it as a metaphor. She thinks that all the bad s**t that is happening is tied to what she's doing. She called her a plague and said I was the one who infected everyone with it or some s**t like that,"

"Sasha, no one can make you feel inferior without your permission. This isn't the first time you're going to come across someone who has a negative opinion about what you and your sister do,"

"I know that," she nodded. "Everyone is a villain in someone else's story. I get that. I always have. It just never dawned on me that my little blueberry was going to grow up and cause the impact that she has. I didn't stop to think about the negativity this was going to bring down on her. To me, she's always going to be my baby sister. The same little girl that was able to build her computers out of spare parts. The little girl that would fall asleep in her rocking chair after gaming all night or studying all night. She set herself on fire at least once a week for a whole year when she turned fourteen. That's what I see. What am I going to say to her when activists come and tell her she's some kind of monster? I can't kill them but a part of me thinks I just might,"

"Do you know who Malik Stream is?" I asked her. She sat up looking me over and nodded.

"Yeah, that kid that was crushed by a chandelier at Aldrich Academy during prom. Elias and Breeze were there,"

"Yeah, well. I was the one who killed him,"

"What?" she snorted. "What did he do?"

"Rain was a freshman that year. He cornered her and tried to have his way with her. Rize was trying to convince her to tell me when I overheard them talking about it. She had bruising on her wrists, her neck where he tried to choke her, scratches all over her belly where he tried to remove her uniform by force. When I brought it up with the headmaster he said he would look into it. All he did was change Rain's classes. Rize did some investigating and she found that Rain wasn't the only girl he tried that on.

"Kids like that, they're raised that way. They learn it from their family. I learned to do what I did to that boy in my family. To eliminate the problem indefinitely and get rid of any liabilities. However, so many wanted this kid dead that they never even knew who it was that ended him. That's the thing about bullies, Sasha. They have all these ideas and opinions about who they are. They forget that there are bigger predators out there. They get used to getting away with things they forget that we're basically standing in the middle of an open field surrounded by live land mines. Did you know that Rain is the only officer her age with a two-fifteen mission success rate?"

"Yes, she knocked me out of that top spot last year," she grinned. "I have two incomplete missions, solo. I couldn't kill those two pregnant ladies before they gave birth. I let them spawn their tiny evils before I got to them and it shows in my test scores,"

"I know. That is who she's become even after what happened. That kid spread rumors about having slept with her and you want to know what she did?"

"What?" she asked interested.

"Nothing. She didn't care that people were calling her names. She didn't even deny the rumors. Sage, we can go to hell and back trying to protect them. We'll do unspeakable things to ensure they're good. But they have a say in it as well. While you were gone, Falcon took Breeze out of her little cave and introduced her to the real world. There was an uproar, both negative and positive.

"Breeze handled it perfectly. She held her head up high and she laughed at those negative comments because she knows that not just anyone can do what she does. She's see the effort you've put into her dreams and knows that the least she can do is value the two of you through that. Don't worry about what they're going to say. The rants of nobodies don't mean s**t to people like us. Dice is sitting in a club hidden away from the world. A world she's never even seen. Look around you, this place is so open, half the army is here and I haven't spotted a single guard yet,"

"Yeah, they're really good at their job," she smiled.

"Thank you, Lady Airstrom," someone called from behind us.

"How is the baby, Hugh?" she turned back.

"He's perfect, my lady," he answered fondly.

"That's Hugh Airman. He's a new father," she explained.

"Congratulations," I laughed.

"Thank you, Elder Redwood. It's an honor to meet you,"

"Likewise," I looked back to see nothing. She tapped me with her elbow and pointed at the tree at the far end. There he is, standing next to it but he completely blends in. I laughed.

"You're right. They're amazing at their job,"

"How was your day?" she asked.

"I had to fire and bench a bunch of people today. When I took this job I thought it was going to be more cleaning up after you but it's not. I mean sure, you have some messes needing to be cleaned up but Rey is ten times worse than you are,"

"Oh, yeah. Rey is a nightmare. Trying to stop him is like trying to stop Sess from becoming the Ace. Never going to happen,"

"You have a type," I laughed. "You like messes,"

"You're not a mess,"

"I am the ultimate mess. We just haven't gotten to that yet," I sat back putting my arm on the backrest.

She sat back settling into my side. Whatever the void inside of her is, it makes her warm. I can feel the heat coming off of her along the right side of my body. The sky is completely dark now. The stars are starting to appear. She reached for her coat and produced a pack of cigarettes. The end of the cigarette lit itself or rather she lit it. She doesn't have fire abilities. She smiled looking at me like she knows exactly what I'm thinking. She let out a puff of smoke before offering me one. I shook my head and she quickly put it away.

"If I can store it in the void, I can use it," she explained. "I still have some flames left from Emblem. If I release it, I can start a really bad fire. I've been using it here and there but it's a lot. We took in a lot of explosions,"

"I see. What can be stored in the void?" I asked. She took a deep breath and shrugged.

"So far, I've only used it during combat. I haven't tried organic material. You know like people and animals. Just solid things. Bullets," she took my hand after putting the cigarette to her mouth and dropped bullets in my hand. I cupped my hands together and she filled them.

"What the hell?"

"I've been meaning to drops those. I just haven't had the chance to get into the weapons vault downstairs,"

"You have a weapons vault?"

"We have four," she laughed.

"Of course you do,"

"Why do you think I was chosen to have this power?" she asked. "I don't feel like I should be any different than others,"

"Do you really think you're like other people? You don't get out much do you? I mean outside of the military and the Aces,"

"No, everything I know is there," she shrugged.

"People aren't like you, Sage. They can't calculate complex physics instinctually. They can't move people around to prevent casualties the way you do in the middle of battle. They sure as hell can't see someone fall dead at their feet and keep going without breaking. Not even me, we seem so alike yet, I would never have been able to break a loop spell. You're not like other people. Or rather, I doubt there are other people like you out there. Maybe Breeze but she strives in different areas. Have you ever seen her type code and sing Je Vaux Vivre under her breath?"

"Yes," she laughed. "I hate that song. I hate that I know the name or that I hum to it when she plays it. It even made it into the loop. I'm kind of pissed about that still. I had to hear it from start to finish all the time,"

"That's because it's her comfort song. She listens to it when she feels down. She hums it when she's nervous,"

"I never thanked you for watching over her while I was gone. It means a lot to me," she ashed her cigarette. It smells sweet, I don't think that's tobacco.

"I wasn't the only one. Ace seems like a piece of s**t but deep down he kind of cares about you still," I'm not exactly sure why I said that. Maybe I need to know where I stand. Whatever it was, I feel like the weight was lifted.

"Mm, yeah. He can be sweet sometimes. Sess has been through a lot even before I came along. He's not the problem. I've always had to be something I'm not for his benefit. I'm really good at lying and for some reason, it bothers me now," she sighed, leaning forward to prop her elbow upon her thigh to hold her head up on the left side so she could blow the smoke away from me.

"Do you not know how we work?" I asked. She looked up at me skeptically.

"What do you mean?"

"Fairies. Fae in general. The first fae were born because of the Elder Trees, right?"

"Right, I know that. The Tree picks and grants the power each vessel can handle,"

"Exactly, but there is more to that,"

"You mean how we earn our wings and become what the Tree wants us to?"

"Yes, and after that,"

"There is an after that?"

"Of course. Things seem easier before our wings because our emotions aren't as heightened. Emotionally, we move forward without any bias interference from things like guilt and jealousy. We feel attachment but we don't feel the extent of the actual emotion until our wings reach maturity,"

"That doesn't sound right. I feel guilt and jealousy. I always have and like the void, I've always had trouble controlling them,"

"That's what I mean when I say your emotions aren't heightened yet. You feel a small fraction of those feelings because they're part of who you are. However, the process you go through to earn your specific kind of wings is unique to you. You are a void fairy. Lying, killing, becoming what you are through that, means you can adapt to anything. It means you will always see your way out of the darkness. It means you can use it to your advantage. Essentially, you're becoming the void itself.

"Now that you have mastered the gifts the Elder Tree has granted you. You're moving out of that youngling mentality you needed to adapt to your specific brand of fairy. You're a Sage which means your intellect and magic use is superior to most fairies. It means you can bend the magic that is granted to you without the limitations normal fairies have.

"In order for you to be able to use that power without abusing it, the magic activates several dormant areas in your brain," I pulled my puck out to show her my scans. She sat up and moved closer to me. "I started off like this. Like you, I was able to use things like lying and killing to get to where I am now. However, after my wings sprouted, these areas were activated. The more I lied, the more I killed, the more it began to take its toll on my powers. It dampened my electrical abilities. My body was fighting them and it was painful to use them for a while. It got to the point when I would be out on a mission and I would hesitate,"

"The night we met," she whispered looking up at me. I nodded showing her my scans now.

"Yes. I hesitated and I got my King killed. Without Elder Airstorm, I didn't know these changes were coming. Our Elder wasn't replaced and the others have their jobs cut out for them. I didn't know what was happening to me and I was forced to step down in order to make way for a newer generation to replace the losses of my mistakes.

"These changes will be obvious at first. You'll be as impulsive as you were before you got your wings. Your anger will reach high levels, along with your stress and desperation. Things like jealousy and pain will feel suffocating. When you like something or someone it will feel all-consuming and it will never go away. These emotions are just going to grow stronger as your wings expand. You're already making changes. What happened to you in the void is triggering all of this prematurely. You're starting to feel the backlash of having to sacrifice yourself for others despite the darkness you already live with. This why the Royal Select is set up the way it is. To accommodate those chosen,"

"So, what? I have to get therapy?" she grinned.

"No, it wouldn't be safe for you to talk to an outsider or a civilian. You would be putting them in danger as well as military assets. That's why I'm here,"

"Wow, I've professionally f****d up," she snorted and sat back without meeting me gaze.

"In a sense, but the fact that we're attracted to one another can only deepen our bond. Have you ever felt what you do now, aside from the way you feel about Breeze?"

"Never. Breeze and Elias have always held my life in their tiny little glue-covered hands," we both laughed. "This is fairly new to me. When I was infatuated with Airrington, it was about the danger and his hair. He had long beautiful hair. But it was never enough to keep me in place. We reached a certain point in our relationship where we would both challenge one another for no reason. He didn't want me to be the Spade and I became the Spade out of spite.

"After that, I knew I didn't want to be with him. Things got worse when being the Spade was a lot more fun than being Diamond's girlfriend. I started taking deals without consulting him. I started investing in things outside of the business we were supposed to be building together. I started walking my own path and he gave me an ultimatum. I almost chose him and there's always going to be a small part of me that asks, what if I had taken it? It's just that. The need to know what would have happened if I had chosen that path.

"I didn't choose him because I chose Breeze. In the end, Breeze has still been on her own. Moving in her own direction. I chose this path because he brought out a side of me that I didn't like. I tried to make him understand something he's never going to have the heart to. The ice in him is too cold and I'm not very fond of the cold. My darkness is warm, inviting. Two things he lacks,"

"There's nothing wrong with that, Sasha. Your guilt and your pain are real. You're allowed to feel bad about making a decision that only benefits you. It's part of growing up. It means your wings are growing at the proper rate even at your age. These changes will be bothersome at first but you get used to them. They will make you stronger. You're already insanely strong. Can you imagine how strong you will be when your wings are my wing size?"

"No," she smiled. "I can imagine the recklessness though,"

"I can too," I laughed.

"Would you like to come inside for dinner? I am starving. Unless you have something to do,"

"No, I don't. I would love to have dinner with you,"

"Good," she stood up, disintegrating what's left of her cigarette, and grabbed her things. "Because I am not ready for you to leave,"