Emerald39

Listen, Aluna. If you won't listen to them, then listen to me. I know what you want: you want peace in your time, for your own people. But is massacring the entire Sun precinct really going to achieve your goal? Sure, I've killed before, striving for the same purpose, but that was only those who deserved it, those who abused and were corrupted by the cards' power. With you, you just want genocide; you only want to rid them from this kingdom, when there may be other ways to go about your people's safety. If you want, I could go and kill Solaris myself, but what I'd be doing is more moral and pure. I'm only targeting the source of the evil, not taking civilian casualties like you wish to. The choice is yours: either let me kill him to save your people, or I'll stop you. You know what I'm capable of; you know the 17 people I've killed because of these cards. Don't make your death the 18th. So, what's it going to be?

- Vincia (The Book of Tarot)

It was a few days after that meeting, and I was standing outside a government building in New York. I was waiting for Eileen and her father, who were finalizing her identity change. I had been kind of against this when she first suggested it; but it would make her happier than she currently was, so her father arranged this with a government friend of his and was told that he needed to sign the finalizing paperwork in person.

They were in there for about half an hour, until the front door finally opened and she jumped down in front of me. I asked, “Did they finalize it?”

Her response came quickly. “Yep. I’m now legally registered as a relative of yours.”

I exchanged glances with her father; we were both unimpressed, but had to accept it. I stared at the ground in reluctance.

This caught her attention. “What’s wrong? Is there something on your mind?”

I sighed and raised my head. “I just feel uncomfortable about this; I mean, you’ve now technically stolen her identity. How am I supposed to move on from this, knowing that the real one is dead?”

The new Emerina put her hand on my shoulder. “I know I’m not going to be the perfect sister that the real one was; but this is the best decision in this situation. Think about it; would you rather have a different identity attributed to her, or the same one?”

I placed my hand on her shoulder. “Honestly, I’d rather that there wasn’t another replica of my dead sister; but I guess it would be better for you to use her identity.”

She then shoved me back with her hand. “Then it’s settled; let’s return home.”

As Emerina ran on ahead, I sidled up next to General Gillespie. I muttered to him, “Are you sure this is a good idea? This could mean trouble later.”

His response came quick. “Trust me, I was just as insulted as you when she asked about it; I was gonna refuse it at first, and keep my word steadfast. However, she’s been through so much lately that I just couldn’t; besides, look at her.”

We both stared at Emerina, who was energetically strolling down the sidewalk with a massive grin on her face. She turned back to us. “Come on, guys, keep up! It’ll be sunset when we get there at this rate!”

I wiped away a stray tear from the side of my eye. “You’re right, Gillespie; perhaps it was for the best.”

He smiled back at me and slapped me on the back. “That’s the first time you’ve ever said that, eh? Come on, our home awaits.”

With that, he marched forward at a rapid pace, exaggerating his arm motions. Emerina laughed as she looked at him.

I grinned for what felt like an eternity as I took flight and followed them. “You’re pretty slow, old man; pick up the pace!”

*

It was now nighttime, and I was sitting on the roof of the apartment complex that the Gillespies lived in. It was fairly tall, with about 50 floors and a dazzling view of the city from above; their apartment was on the 43^rd floor, facing Central Park. I looked up into the night sky, amazed by the way the stars shone in the dark abyss; they were like sentient souls, refusing to die, illuminating the heavens with their determination.

I heard a door open behind me; Emerina was in front of it. I smirked. “Can’t sleep?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Dad’s sound asleep, but I can’t seem to drift off.”

I laughed. “I had a feeling. It was bound to take some time for some of the Gemstanian qualities to affect you.”

She raised her eyebrow and walked towards me. “You mean you know the reason for my insomnia?”

I gestured to sit alongside me. “Of course. You see, since we are essentially infinite sources of energy, sleep is not necessary for us; neither is any form of consumption.”

Emerina looked down at her stomach. “But I was feeling hungry when we walked back home.”

I placed my hands on my knees and looked up. “Like I said, it takes time; not all qualities will kick in at once.”

She sighed. “So what’s on your mind? I mean, after all that’s happened to you?”

I replied, “Not much; to be honest, I’m actually surprised at how well I’ve assimilated into your society. I was expecting a lot worse.”

She smiled. “Well, that’s humanity for you; we’ve come a long way since the olden days, and now we are more accepting of others. Or most of us, rather.”

I nodded. “I’ve also been thinking, this isn’t the best place for me to live; so I’ve decided I’m going to build one.”

Emerina looked back at me. “Why? What’s wrong with our apartment?”

I answered honestly. “For what I must achieve, and for my own knowledge acquisition, I require a base of operations that’s more technologically advanced and spacious.”

She looked up at the sky. “I can understand that; wanting to escape this small and noisy place. But where would it be located?”

I turned to look at her. “Well, I was thinking in the air.”

She turned to face me. “That sounds awesome; can I join you in that new base?”

I laughed. “Of course; you are now my own flesh and blood, after all.”

Emerina laughed. “And now your sister, too.”

We both laughed at that, and then I suggested, “Should we plan it now?”

She nodded. “There’s no better time like the present. I’ll get a pencil and paper.”

I waved my hand in front of me and formed them both out of thin air. “No need. I’ve got some right here.”

She was amazed. “Nice trick; wish I could do that.”

I smirked at that. “Oh please, you’ll be able to do that and more once I’ve taught you.”

She grinned at the thought. “Well then, let’s begin! This will be the ultimate base!”

*

Within a few days, the base was completely constructed and fully operational. It took some time, as Emerina and I had to manually build it; but we never had to worry about running out of materials. The interior was very intricate, and the propulsion mechanisms were powerful and durable. The central room would serve as a multi-purpose changeable room, with a glass-walled corridor surrounding it; in one corner was a communication tower, the opposite corner a direct escape hatch, and finally a viewing bay in between them.

The two biggest arguments to arise during the design and construction stages were related to its name and the propulsion mechanisms themselves. I originally wanted to call the base Emerald Palace 2.0, but Emerina said it was too militaristic; she preferred a name that would also be homely, considering it would serve as our accommodation, so we eventually decided on the name Emerald Cottage. As for propulsion, she wanted to use powerful jet engine rotors, but I was concerned that they would require constant maintenance, so I suggested to use Sappherisen gemstanite; we eventually compromised by using the jet engine rotors, with the gemstanite as a backup system in case something were to happen.

We moved in as soon as the final rivet was fired in, and powered up the engines. The metal behemoth ascended into the air and reached its resting altitude within minutes; the skybase now levitated in the air 50,000 feet above sea level.

Emerina and I immediately tested everything: the morphing room, the communications array, the escape hatch and the viewing bay. All were in perfect condition and at full functionality. I spent most of my time either in the viewing bay or on the roof of the base; it opened out onto the blue expanse of sky, a strong hue of empty air. Occasionally a cloud would pass by, like an airship on a gentle cruise, and I would feel the urge to circle it. I could then shape it to my own designs if I so choose, but not always. Sometimes, their natural beauty was perfection enough for me.

As I began to settle in to our new home, I remembered that I had to teach Emerina, so I searched the ship. She was already in the changeable room, which had been set to the laboratory; she had safety glasses on her head and a quarantine hood being decontaminated.

I said, “Can you refrain from that for the moment? We need to begin your training.”

She glared at me, but returned to her usual calm demeanor. “Sure.”

With that, I pressed my hand upon the panel. The room immediately began to morph: the lab benches became wooden columns, the marble floor became that of logs, and the roof adopted a thatch texture. Within seconds, the space had metamorphosed into a dojo sparring area.

I stood in position at one end and pointed to the other end. “Stand there.”

She walked to the other end and stood in position. “So what are we starting with?”

I hesitated. “Well, here’s the thing…I don’t know how to teach this. My best guess would be to link the elements to emotions, in order to start the process, so let’s start with fire.”

Emerina contemplated this, and then nodded. “I can understand that; emotion is quite a powerful entity.”

I nodded. “Well then, let’s begin. Try to conjure a flame in your hand using anger.”

Her forehead furrowed in thought, then flame appeared from her arm. “Nice; now how do I launch it?”

I was hesitant. “That we’ll have to figure out over time. First, I’d thought we assign an emotion to each element, and then figure out the rest from there.”

Her brow furrowed in thought again. “That makes sense. Well, sadness would be water, insanity would be toxins, and fear would be darkness, but what would be electricity or plants?”

I smiled. “Only one way to find out.”

She smiled back at me. “Indeed. Let’s start training!”

*

The sun had receded beyond the horizon. I had called the training for today, but not for the silent night. I was sitting on the roof of the Emerald Cottage, admiring the spectacle of the sky in front of and above me. The cosmos glinted in the dark abyss of space, and the constellations began to visualize themselves before my eyes: Aquarius, with its arms outstretched towards its non-existent water pot, Libra, its scales tipped on its side as usual, and Gemini, its curved shape shining bright.

Suddenly, I heard the escape hatch open up beneath me; it was no guess who it was. Emerina landed behind me and walked towards my hunched figure. “Long day, huh?”

I chuckled as she walked to the right of me and sat alongside. “No; lot on my mind right now.”

She looked at me with concern. “Still thinking about home?”

I sighed. “Yeah…I feel like it’s all my fault.”

She placed her hand on my back. “Why would you think that?”

I turned to her. “The timing of the attack, the protectiveness my family had of me during it, the use of excessive force to subdue me; all of these seem to point to me as the cause.”

She stared up in thought. “I can understand that, but there was surely a sound reason as to why they did all this.”

I looked towards the earth and thought it over. “It must have been a prophecy.”

Emerina looked back to me. “Did your people believe in them?”

I nodded. “They were not like the ones that humans mean by prophecies. These prophecies are discovered through advanced prediction across the universe using light patterns and soul resonances. Only the king would acquire that skill for the sake of the people.”

She comprehended this. “So you think a prophecy caused all this?”

I shrugged. “It’s the most likely answer.”

Her question was immediate. “But then how would Vitrolax have known this?”

I calmly replied. “Gemstanians aren’t the only species capable of this. The Vigras were well known for their prophecy readings. He probably heard about it from some other prophet.”

I lay down on my back and stared into the cosmos. “I feel so alone here; apart from you, there is nothing and no one left from my home planet.”

She lay down next to me. “Well, that’s to be expected. After all, you have been here for two weeks now.”

I sighed. “I wish I could go back; I wish I could return to the only home I’ve ever known, the only place that feels normal to me.”

A tear plinked off the roof, startling Emerina. “Well, maybe you could rebuild your home.”

I sighed. “It wouldn’t be the same; it would be empty, lifeless and uniform. All the other unique races are extinct; there’s no point to rebuilding a home for the dead.”

She picked up the diamond tear and spun it between her fingers. “Well, you could consider making Earth your home.”

I laughed. “I wish I could, but I don’t know anything about this more modern society. The earth I saw from back home was 10 million years in the past.”

She perked up suddenly. “You know, I majored in Biology and Geography at the University of Chicago. I could show you all about this world and tell you some of the more interesting biological and geographical stuff.”

I thought about it for a second. “Okay then; since we don’t need to sleep, how about I train you during the day, and then you teach me about Earth during the night?”

She jumped to her feet. “Sure; then let’s start now.”

Suddenly, Emerina grabbed my hand and pulled me down through the atmosphere into the oceans below. As we fell, I was warm with happiness; perhaps this lifestyle wouldn’t be so bad.