Shadowgirl

Chapter 6

"Quit screwing with me, And. I've had just about enough craziness today, and I really need someone to talk to right now." I walked over to where she remained bowed, grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet.

Andrea continued to avert her eyes, keeping them locked on the ground before her.

"WTF, Andrea? Enough already!" I seethed, exasperated at her odd behavior. I didn't have the patience for her antics right now. I seriously needed to talk through what had happened today. She always picked the worst times to mess around.

At the vehemence behind my words, Andrea's eyes darted to mine before quickly dropping to the floor again.

"It wouldn't be appropriate for me to converse casually with you any longer, now that you have taken your rightful place as our queen."

Okay, who was this person in front of me? She certainly wasn't acting like the Andrea I knew. She wasn't talking like the Andrea I knew either. So formal. Converse? Since when did Andrea use words like "converse"? Since when did anyone use words like "converse"?!

"I don't know what the heck you're talking about! I know I look a little different, but you don't have to keep calling me a queen! Now talk to me like you're my freaking sister, already. A lot of shit happened today, and you're the only one I can trust to talk to about it."

I really just wanted a safe person to confide in right now, but from her continued un-Andrea-like behavior, I could see that I would need to deal with... whatever this was... first.

I sighed, closing my eyes to gather my patience. "Okay, Andrea. You win. Now tell me what this queen business is all about."

Andrea sucked in a slow breath of her own as she considered my words carefully, eyes darting about as she thought. After a moment, she began to speak, her gaze still averted from mine.

"You have assumed your mantle as Queen of the Xyr. Now that you have both assimilated the power of and consummated a relationship with another Xyr, you have announced your presence as our rightful Queen."

What the hell was she talking about? Xyr? Was that what the aliens were called? How the heck was I their Queen? Just because my DNA had morphed from that Xymon guy's presence, and when I had, um, bumped uglies with him? That made no sense.

"Huh?" I replied like a dumbass, my confusion proving too great for my typical loquaciousness to overcome. I paused, then tried again to articulate any of my million questions.

"Okay, so... huh?"

Yeah, so my second attempt was just as lame as my first. I'm not proud of it, but you try communicating after a day in which you passed out, fucked earth's greatest-ever archenemy, had half your DNA replaced, turned completely gorgeous, became super-strong, and got into a one-sided dust-up with earth's most powerful superhero, only to find out from your goofball sister than you're some kind of alien queen. It's a lot to take in, alright?!

Andrea looked sheepish. "I'll start from the beginning..." she replied in a soft voice.

"Yes. That," I managed to get out, hoping that this explanation was a little more complete than her last.

"The Xyr Empire has been expanding throughout the galaxy for the last several million years. The Empire is over a thousand planets strong now, and Emperor Xoron is on a mission to conquer more planets during his rule than any of our previous leaders ever have. He is the strongest emperor we've had in generations, with a particularly effective combination of powers."

"You see, every Xyr is born with at least one power. Mine is invisibility. Emperor Xoron has three: immense strength, perfect invulnerability, and the power of flight. He also does not like to be challenged. He is a despot and has abused his power during his reign, putting down anyone that might rise as a rival. He has built an imperial security division loyal only to him and has countless operatives constantly scouring the Empire for dissidents."