Future

Chapter 5: Discoveries

Soldiers swarmed us as I frantically tried to figure out what to do with my glowing hands. Thankfully, the rest of my team realized this, so they formed a circle around me. It wasn't the best defense, but it was good enough. My hands were glowing so brightly it was nearly blinding, and I quickly pressed them to my head. Before the vision took over, I found myself briefly wondering how long a vision took.

Two boys lay sleepily entangled on a couch. One had a shock of bright blue hair, the other pastel pink. Suddenly, the roof tore off the house they were in, ruining the cozy scene and sending the boys screaming and scrambling for weapons as the giant robot started shooting at them.

"SURRENDER OR DIE!" The robot boomed. The boys were shooting at the robot, trying everything to take it out. The shots bounced off the armored robot uselessly. And then one of the robot's shots hit its mark. The pink-haired boy fell to the ground, his strangled scream echoing through the room.

"NO!" The blue-haired boy screamed, his voice raw with heartbreak. He yelled up at the robot. "LET IT BE SAID THAT I, KAIL THE DESTROYER, COUNT THIS AS AN ACT OF WAR. WE WILL HIDE NO LONGER! THE CURSED WILL FIGHT BACK!" The robot sat still, computing for a moment, then flying off. Kail walked over to the dead body of his boyfriend, and started sobbing, pledging that he'd do anything to get him back. Anything at all.

As my eyes blinked open to the same situation I had just left (soldiers approaching, teammates readying their guns), I realized I had just received two very important pieces of information from the vision.

Kail had started this war, and more importantly,

Kail was into dudes, and he almost had me fooled into thinking he wasn't. 'Lil fricker.

I barely lost any time when I had a vision! RAD!

Wait, that was three. Shit.

I jumped to my feet after absorbing this, ready to like, fight or something, but was cut off by Kail booming "SIT THE FUCK DOWN!" I did so quickly. He was probably right to do that. I don't know how to fight, and would probably just have gotten myself killed. A dead prophet didn't get any visions. Aww, he cared about me. I snapped my attention to the battle just in time to realize that my friends were getting their asses kicked. there were too many soldiers for just six kids to handle.

"Gael! Ebony! Get us out of here!" Raine barked. The two girls looked to each other, clasping hands. They began glowing with blue light so bright I had to look away, and when I looked back, a massive fucking dragon stood in their place. The dragon had shining blue scales, the same color as Gael and Ebony's hair.

"Get on!" Raine shouted, and we quickly boarded Gael/Ebony/The dragon before the soldiers could recover from the shock of a mythical reptile appearing in their midst.

And then we were flying. It was freezing cold, high in the sky, and Gael/Ebony's sharp scales dug into my legs. There were now hopelessly hideous snags all over my nice skirt. Ugh.

The skirt was the least of my worries at this point. Gael/Ebony was flying as gently as possible, but every time the dragon took a turn, everyone went tilting terrifyingly to the side. We clung to each other, not caring about the social customs that made us usually uncomfortable to be clinging to someone we barely knew. In my case, it was Raine, who smelled rather pleasantly like lilacs and roses. A con of this situation was that Kail was sitting behind me, so every time he put his arms around me, my panicked rambling of oh god when was the last time I showered I don't remember because of this stupid memory loss but I am 90% sure I do not smell like lilacs and roses ran through my head.

Also, I didn't know where the fuck we were going. No one else did either. Holli had her head down and her eyes squeezed shut, desperately trying to find another safehouse through the sleep-communication network. I didn't understand how it worked exactly, but apparently it's like sleep Google. How she managed to even get to sleep on the back of a mythical reptile, thousands of feet in the air, I have no idea, but she eventually did.

Finally, she found a place, and began yelling instructions into Gael/Ebony's ear. Within a few more (excruciating) hours of flight, we touched down in an apartment complex surprisingly similar to the one we had left behind. Once we were off, the dragon began shrinking, then split apart into Gael and Ebony, who were wearing new clothes and makeup. We were all too tired to comment on this, choosing instead to march silently into the new safehouse. This one was bigger than the last, with three bedrooms, each bearing a bunk bed. We paired off to each room, Kail and I somehow ending up together. Wow! It's not like I dragged him into the room or anything, telling him that I needed him specifically to make sure I didn't die in my sleep! What a coincidence!

He took top bunk, of course, and fell asleep quickly while snoring loudly, of course. Soon, his aggressive bear sounds faded into the background and I finally fell asleep.

*

The next day, we permitted ourselves a day off to gather ourselves and bond with our new teammates. The day felt suspiciously like a party, and it felt good to just sit around and not be in a constant struggle for our lives.

Raine, Gael, and Ebony fit surprisingly easily into the team's dynamic. Raine was loud and giggly, laughing at everything, their strange-sounding laugh making every joke 90% better. Gael and Ebony actually differed from each other in personality, though they fought identically and merged into the same dragon. Gael was constantly making dirty jokes and either winking or raising a suggestive eyebrow. Gael however, was gentle compared to Ebony. If in a truth or dare game, Ebony would surely pick dare every single time. She slipped into the time stream and picked us up some alcohol, though not enough to make us vulnerable to attacks. We're not that stupid. Ebony made the most of this small buzz, wearing a lampshade on her head and singing loud showtunes. She and Raine were later discovered in a bedroom, kissing and talking about space. How risque.

I noticed that Kail was usually the center of the attention, the one who kept the conversation interesting and thought of new things for us to do every few seconds. Even while having fun, his role as a leader showed through. I didn't know whether to be bitter or attracted by this.

*

The next morning, everyone gathered in sleepy formation in the living room.

"What's our next move?" Raine asked no one in particular.

"Hang around here for a while, I guess," Holli answered.

"No, war-wise," Raine continued, "Isn't that why we joined together? So we could be a more organized team?"

"Yeah, but no one's getting anywhere right now."

"So? We can't just sit back while they exterminate more of us every day! That's not how to win a war!"

"We have to fight back!" Gael (or Ebony?) agreed. They were nearly identical in matching pajamas and no makeup. I'd noticed that Gael would always put a small pink heart by her right eye, while Ebony would always put a small gold star by her left eye.

"Running into trouble isn't going to get us anywhere either!" Pipe growled.

"So we'll make a plan! We have to show them that we're not going to sit back as they destroy us!" Raine shouted, their voice passionate. "Come on! Haven't you all seen someone die? Our brothers, sisters, and non-gendered siblings?! Are we going to be content little cows, sitting on our asses and waiting to be slaughtered?! Because that's what we are right now. And if you aren't ready to fight, Gael, Ebony, and I will escort ourselves right out of here." No one said anything for a long time. My head was spinning, trying to figure out what I was supposed to do. The fight had happened so quickly, I had no idea what was happening. Raine took some decisive steps towards the door, and I decided I had to do something if no one else was.

"Don't go. You're right. We've been too content sitting around, forgetting we're in a war. We have to do something. I'm not sure what, and we can't just go out killing wildly. We need a plan, we need to do something big. Something that will make them notice," I said.

"Like what?" Ebony (or Gael?) asked.

"I've got a really good idea," Kail piped up, a wide grin spreading across his face. Aw, he's so cute when he's plotting something.