The Enemy in Love

Chapter 5: Iwans are Powerful

"Sigrid?", Leah called me out of my deep thought. I looked at her without blinking.

"Where's the room?", I asked.

"That one", she said, pointing to a room two doors later.

"Let's go", I breathed.

The room had men seated at the table in the middle. These small rooms were used for meetings.

"Welcome Sigrid. We were just talking to your colleague, Rob", one of the two men greeted me with a polite and friendly smile.

"One of Iwans?", I asked the man.

"Ofcourse", he smiled, squinting his eyes. "Call me Viren", he said. He had whitish hair like Reynold, with soft and friendly facial features. All of the Iwans I met until now were physically fit. It might be a normal thing for them too. I have loads of questions.

"We would like you to ask us questions first", the other man said. His name tag read Rowen, perfectly suitable for his red hair. He was charming yet expressionless and, for some reason, I felt a sense of comfort with him. It's weird. Especially because he looks beery non-chalant, unfriendly and professional.

"We will answer about everything you're curious about first and then we will give you a handbook about Iwans and our culture we made for you. You can start training for going to Iwan tomorrow, and your work too. What you're expected to do, meaning roles, will be given at the end of today's briefing", he explained.

"Okay", I replied, acknowledging him.

"So shoot", Viren smiled, invitingly.

I didn't know where to start so I asked him the question I asked Leah.

"Are you made out of carbon? What is the constitution like?", I asked.

"We are made out of carbon, yes", Viren answered. "Our exact constitution is given in the handbook. He pushed a colorful book that looked like a scientific magazine to me. It was fancy with demonstrations inside, making it more readable and understandable.

I looked inside the book to see that they have a similar body to ours, with slight tweaks, almost unnoticable. I was shocked. Then how can these people transform?

"Our planet's beings are similar to Earth. This is also because earthlings are our descendants. Long story short, people who look like us exist on many planets of the multiverse. But you guys had pretty little of a life span, around 20 years maximum. When Iwans discovered Earth for the first time, you guys did have a civilization, a lost one no one knows about. It was quite developed, similar to how ours was. We discovered that love was a common theme on both our planets, more in Iwan than on Earth, and reproduction is actually possible between both beings. And surprisingly, when that happened, human life span increased from 20 to 200. Our average life span is 1000 years. Humans, being humans, got greedy. Misused our technology right against us, and caused a lot of damage to our planet. All we wanted to do was civilize and make a good friendship. We don't encourage violence, unless it's needed", Rowen explained.

It was believable. For now, this could work for me. And what they're saying about humans makes total sense. But that doesn't mean I am not going to look out for my planet. I am really desperate for the truth. But I will let it be story time these few days.

"History is also in the handbook", Viren added.

"He made that one, that's why he's mentioning it again and again", Leah chuckled, teasingly.

"That's interesting", I commented, of course, with a dead and serious expression.

"What do you want from us now? Revenge?", I asked.

"Something like that, but not really", Rowen smirked, for the first time showing a noticeable expression in his face.

"You must know the incident where your people discovered our vehicle we abandoned here hundreds of thousands of years ago", he said. "They had evil intentions, very bad ones", he got serious, sending chills down my spine. "So we decided we will stop them and actually carry out a mission where we can all be friends again. But for that, your political system has to be gone. You need new and nice human leaders. We aren't fools to negotiate with the current ones. They are a million times worse than the ones before", he explained again.

I kind of agree on that part.

"You seem to be a utopian civilization. What's your political system like?", I asked.

"We are utopian, based on science, a very advanced one where everything, including intuition, has an explanation and is believed in. We believe in energy, magic and more stuff on similar lines", he said. "Our leader position has candidates every 500 years. The leader is then decided by the Iwan magic tree, which always shows the best. It doesn't mean we have to follow it, but it just shows the best future, for everything including with whom you will have the best marriage life. People go against and are still together. The best path is not what you would always want to take. Though most people do and live happily", Viren explained.

"What if the person who Iwan's magic tree shows is not interested", I asked.

"Not a problem. We have three candidates picked.", Leah answered.

"What if the person chosen by Iwan's magic tree is someone that the people don't want to accept?", I asked.

Leah chuckled. "We all trust the tree, and respect it. No one says no, they don't usually feel like it. The tree is the way our planet communicates with us", she smiled.

I didn’t quite much get it but I nodded.

"Everything you can ever ask is in the handbook. If you still have questions, you can contact me tonight. Just inform your guard", Rowen said.

"Okay", I said.

"Anything else?", Viren asked.

"I will read the handbook and ask you. I'll probably have a lot", I said.

"I doubt it", Rowen said.

"Are we done?", I asked.

"Yes", Viren said, handing me the book and a few documents.

"Go through all these", he said, as I nodded back.

I went out of the room with Leah.

"Go to your room", she said. "I'll have to pick your next staff", she said.

"My parents?", I asked.

"Oh! I already informed your guard. She will help you with it", she smiled, walking away from me.

I walked back to my room quietly, carrying the material I was given. I need to talk to my family first.