The Secret of Eleven

Chapter 15

My eyes are closed, and I don't hear anything. It's as if I've been shut off from the world. I can't move, it doesn't feel like I'm breathing. What happened? What's happening?

An onslaught of sound hits me again. My eyes open, ridden with tears. The Mogs are gone, but I feel weak. Ashes are floating through the air.  Twelve and Thirteen are looking at me in shock. The alarm has stopped, but I still hear Mog footsteps, marching into place, prepared to attack. 

I grab Twelve's hand, in her other hand is Thirteen. I teleport us up, and thirteen does the rest, flying us through the roof. His flight is unstable, and he keeps dipping suddenly. His back is drenched in sweat, while it dots his forehead as well.

Once we're a sufficient distance away, I tell him to put us down. We land in a forest of litter, and he collapses, falling asleep within seconds. Twelve looks close enough, but keeps herself awake, blinking constantly.

"Eleven! What the hell was that?" She screams at me.

"I...I don't know. What happened?" I feel drained. 

"One second, the Mogs were there, barrel up against us. The next...ashes."

"I don't know Twelve. Maybe it was a miracle. Thank the Elders that it happened."

She nods, and lies down herself. 

I don't go to sleep with them. Our Chests were still on the ship where we were captured in Miami. Olivia, who I still haven't told them about, is still in my pocket. I let her out, and she transforms into her regular dog form, stretching her legs. I feel guilty, like I kept her in the too long, but there was really nothing I could do. 

She goes over to Twelve and Thirteen, sniffing at them. He tail thumps against the ground, stirring up leaves. I curl up with her, lying down myself. I promised the others I'd meet them in Mexico. But there's still so much to fill Thirteen on, and I still have to introduce them to Olivia. I'm not even sure why I kept her a secret. 

It's only been an hour, but I wake the three of them. Twelve and Thirteen seem shocked at Olivia's appearance, but I tell them of her true identity, a beast of Lorien. They smile and pet her. 

I fill Thirteen up with details of our trip, and he nods, but then I pester him with questions. 

"Are you ok? What happened? That new legacy..."

At the mention of the darkness I saw earlier, his mood darkens. 

"That is not a legacy. After I woke up...Setrakus Ra he came to me. I was sedated. He took my pendant, and injected me with a black substance. He cast a charm on me, like the Elders did they day Lorien died. It made the black substance writhe inside me. Even now, I can feel it, trying to get out. When I let it out, it's like a part of me is missing, like I'm dead again. And if I leave it out for too much it does feel like I'm dying. But when it's inside me, it's so much worse."

"Oh...Thirteen..."

I hug him, as tight as I can, sniffling and rubbing the tears out of my eyes. It takes him a moment to hug me back. He sighs deeply, and Twelve waits respectively by. I kiss him, long, realizing how much I love him. 

He seems happy, for a second. But this his face changes, and he says, "We have to go. Now. They're coming."

I'm about to question his conclusion when I hear the unmistakable drum of a Mogadorian ship, except is seems different, somehow larger. I see them fly over the sky, not one ship but hundreds all aiming their guns towards us. 

I teleport Thirteen, Twelve, and Olivia and I farther away, and he jumps up, taking all of us with him in his flight. This time it's his normal stability, although much weaker than the original flight I took with him. 

It's peaceful up here, tranquil. I feel like I could stay here forever.

It's only seconds before the peace is ruined. One of the ships shoots at us, and Thirteen veers dangerously to the left. He drops me. He tries to get down to me but more ships show up, them shooting as well. They have him trapped. With one final, painful, parting look at me, I nod at him, yelling at him to go over the wind, and he leaves. 

My eyelids shutdown, but I can see the sun still, I can hear the Mog ships droning on, but most of all, I can feel the wind rushing up past me. 

No. This is not how I will die, rushing ridiculously helpless towards the ground. I open my eyes and they have a fiery blaze. I think about Cara's words, or the person that looked like Cara in the dream library. 

She told me to remember how it feels. Flying. Maybe my telekinesis would kick in, maybe it's more powerful than I previously thought. 

My eyes open, my descent slows. Suddenly it's like gravity has switched, now I'm falling upwards, now I'm shooting towards the sky faster than any of the Mog ships. I close my eyes, focusing, imagining that I'm still in control of my movements, calm and unworried, even though I'm more scared than ever.

Again, I slow. I slowly tilt my body left, and I move in that direction. I lean towards where I saw Thirteen and Twelve go, and I shoot forward, my surroundings barely a blur. It's hard to control. Sometimes I randomly float up and fall, my heart rate increases but I manage to level myself out. 

I see a speck in the distance, flying far ahead of me. The ships are following, and I use my teleportation legacy. But is it really mine? I saw and felt Thirteen's teleportation before I developed my own. Same with flight. And in my vision I saw Pittacus Lore use a legacy to take away the older Elder's, the same one Setrákus Ra had used on him so many years ago, and right after he found out about the machine.

I don't know how I know, but it's like I can somehow sense it. Pittacus could copy legacies. And so can I. As soon as I think it I realize this is true. I can copy legacies. 

I look at the ships behind me, somehow gaining even as I gain on Thirteen. I felt Twelve's legacy firsthand numerous times. Maybe I should try it?

I scream at the ships, pouring my every worry and hope, my dreams and goals, my sorrows and tears, but it's just a regular scream. No sound stops the ships. I teleport downward, and while they're confused I wreak havoc with my Elecomun, glitching out there engines. 

I shoot towards Thirteen, giddy to see him again and show off my newfound ability. I teleport closer and closer, and he becomes larger, no longer a speck. I close my eyes and teleport right next to him, opening them with a smile. 

My eyes open. My mouth drops, and so do I with surprise. It's not what I expected, no it's something that breaks my heart. It's Twelve. Kissing Thirteen, and with that my sadness and heartbreak increases tenfold, and I drop, far. I can't control my flight, or my telekinesis. I'm not even sure I want to.

After all the trouble I've gone through to get him back. After all I've done to stop the Mogs so we could be together. After all that time I spent waiting, searching for him. After all that time I spent mourning his death. After all that, he's abandoned me. 

I hit the ground but I don't care. I can't feel anything. I hear footsteps, no boots marching. They reach me. They pick me up and bring me to a ship. They inject me with something, and I descend into peace.