𝓞𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝓗𝐮𝗺𝐚𝐧

Chapter #5 - Talia

Chapter #5 - Talia

"So, what exactly are we gonna do?"

Amy led Talia up the spiral staircase inside the HRP building. They wound around and around for an amount of time that probably wasn't that long, but with her newfound worries, it felt like forever.

But it all made sense.

The reason the people had necklaces like Joley's. The reason she had known Talia's dad was killed. The reason they disappeared in a haze of light— they were light leaping.

Was one of those elves transmitting thoughts into her head just now? Is that what she had been hearing?

She gulped the wonderings down.

"Basically," Amy explained, "you just answer a couple of questions that'll go in the system. Depending on how you answer, it'll help them decide if you're worthy of being a part of the HRP— and keeping your knowledge of everything. " Her tone of voice was friendly, but the words still seemed daunting. "There'll also be a Telepath to make sure you're not hiding anything."

Talia nodded. "But what was Joley saying about deciding what to tell my mom?"

"Oh, yeah, some of the questions will help them decide if they should look into telling your mom too— or if you'll have to keep it secret from her." Amy's face fell at the last words, like she was really hoping Talia wouldn't have to do the latter.

There was something strange about everything she was hearing about the HRP. All of a sudden, Talia figured out what it was.

"Why is this so complicated? Didn't the elves find out that the humans only tried to betray them because of the nightfall stuff? I don't get why they still seem so reluctant to trust us." It was weird to talk about being human like it wasn't what everyone was, but what wasn't weird about that day?

Amy considered that as they reached the top of the staircase. "You're pretty smart, you know that?"

Talia froze. She had never been called smart before.

"I guess the reason is: it's hard to change people's minds," concluded Amy. "Even though the elves' image of us has obviously changed, no one can completely erase the old picture."

The Foster woman leaned towards a small strip on the door in front of them and licked it— Talia cringed— and it opened up to a circular room with four plush chairs.

An empty circular room.

"Didn't you say a Telepath would be here?"

"I did. I'm not sure why he's not here."

They looked back at the clearly unoccupied room.

"Well..." Amy pulled out a device, an imparter, and said, "Show me Tiergan." She explained, "He's the Telepath who's supposed to be here." Talia's brain immediately went to Mr. Alenefar. Had he ever read her mind? She hoped she hadn't thought anything too embarrassing at school.

The device read: 'Out of range.'

Evidently, this wasn't good.

She tried calling a couple other people, but all of them had no idea why Tiergan wouldn't be there. Though what seemed to startle Amy most was when she called her sister.

Sophie was out of range too.

"Should I... do something?" Talia felt slightly awkward, standing next to the distressed Amy.

She shook her head. "Sorry, I'm just worried. I guess... we'll have to do the test later. Here— we can get out of Atlantis and I'll leap you back home. Tell your mom... well, tell her whatever you decide to tell her. I know we didn't officially do the test, but I can already tell you're a trustworthy fellow human."

They smiled, but Talia couldn't help but feel like this was the beginning of a disaster.