A Broken Truth

20: War Disease

"What? 'Broke his mind?' What does that mean? Who's 'they'?" I asked in confusion.

Isaac sighed, "Well, it happened sometime after the war started. By that point, we had been fighting for a year in our time. On Earth, six years would have passed. Anyway, Arthur was taken hostage by our enemies at some point. It took us awhile to finally get him back. When we did...he changed."

"What did the enemies do to him?" Serena asked with a scared expression.

"I-I don't know...but when we started that war, we didn't expect anything outside our planet to get involved. Come to think of it, Arthur regretted starting the war as soon as others were involved. It was absolute chaos. I knew something was wrong when he came back to us because he suggested that we destroy other planets and win the war, even though that wasn't the goal. Every time I asked Arthur what happened to him, he went silent."

When I processed everything Isaac said, I realized it was familiar. I knew I read something like that in a book. I stood up and walked toward the bookshelf. I grabbed the book and sat back down at the table.

Isaac looked at me with a confused expression.

I opened the book to a certain page and read it out loud, "The War Disease is a fatal manufactured poison in which the victim gets brainwashed into thinking violence and dominance are the only solutions to be successful in all situations. This poison can be a solid, liquid, or a gas. This brainwashing effect is only temporary and wears off over the course of years ranging from 10-50 years. However, once it wears off, the victim's body begins to deteriorate, resulting in death."

Once I finished reading, I looked up at Isaac, who was pale.

I frowned, "Isaac? Are you ok?"

"I remember...there was a spy getting information from us. We had no idea and she wasn't human either, but she looked like one. I honestly still don't know what she is, but she's definitely good at lying. She must've used the information to help our enemies make the poison. When they took Arthur, they probably tried it out on him to see what would happen...then after we got him back, that little spy spread the poison throughout our planet, destroying it and infecting us. Luckily, we all recovered after we made it to Earth because we made an antidote."

He paused and looked down, "But, Arthur refused to drink it. He insisted that he was fine. I knew that wasn't true, so I tried to convince him, but it didn't work. He eventually threw the antidote away after everyone else recovered."

I was silent. I closed the book with shaky hands. 

Isaac read the title and author of the book, "Downfall by Peri Nixsio..." His eyes widened, "Finley, where did you get this?"

I replied, "Um, this book is from a store in the city. The store owner sells books and charms. She's the only one who works there. Why do you ask?"

He stood up, "We're going to that store right now. Take the book with us. Let's go!"

I stood up and grabbed a bag from my room. I placed the book inside the bag and put on my disguise. Serena put the dishes in the sink. She put her shoes on and wore a lavender colored sweater.

I blinked in confusion, "Serena, are you sure about going with us? What if things go badly?"

Serena laughed, "Did you forget I'm technically your elder and I'm more powerful than you? I can defend you and myself just fine. Now, let's get going."

"Serena's right, we can't waste time." Isaac said as he opened the door.

We followed him and closed the door behind us. It was snowing outside. We entered the city and Isaac looked around.

"Do either of you know the name of the store?" He asked.

"I think it's called 'Dimension'. Oh! It's over there!" Serena pointed at the store and ran to it. We ran after her and stopped at the entrance.

Isaac opened the door and we walked in. The door closed behind us as we walked up to the front counter. The store owner was laying on the counter with an open book on her face. It was clear she was in a deep sleep.

Isaac slammed his fist on the table and shouted, "Wake up!"

The store owner darted up as she screamed and fell off the counter.

She slowly stood up. She had yellow eyes, black hair that was tied up in messy pigtail buns, pale skin, and she wore a black sweater with a green scarf around her neck. The scarf had blue stars on it.

"Jeez, didn't the sign say 'closed'? Anyway, welcome to my store. Feel free to look around-" she paused when she looked at Isaac, "Uh...you know, I'm actually out of stock! Come back later, ok?" She tried to push us out of the store and she looked panicked.

Isaac grabbed her wrist and threw her against the wall, "You're that war spy who poisoned our planet! How could you?"

Tears formed in her eyes, "I-I'm sorry, I was just-"

"Following orders? You could've been on our side! We trusted you!" Isaac was fuming with anger.

I glared at him, "Isaac! That's enough."

Isaac looked at me with tears in his eyes and let the store owner go. He looked away in silence.

I took out the book showed it to the store owner, "You seem to know about the poison described in this book. Do you know Peri Nixsio?"

"Oh, you bought one of my books, huh? No wonder why you look familiar." She replied as she wiped her tears away.

My eyes widened, "Y-You're Peri Nixsio? I'm a fan of your work. But..." I paused and looked down at the book, "You poisoned the Entities? You were involved in the war? Why?"

Peri looked down, "I didn't want to..."

Isaac looked at her and frowned, "I know you didn't want to but you did it anyway and I refuse to believe that you poisoned us only because you were told to. There has to be another reason. What happened, Peri?"

She sighed, "I'm sorry for what I've done...I really am. My bosses disappeared after the war, so I don't know where they are now. They watched me all the time and I couldn't get away from them. There are strings attached to me. Wherever the strings were pulled, that's where I went. Even if I wanted to go back to my dimension, I couldn't. I still can't."

Serena looked surprised, "Wait, did I hear that right? You're from another dimension?"

Peri nodded, "Yes, I was dragged out of it because my bosses needed help. I was assigned as a spy to investigate the planet of Entities. Since then, I haven't been able to go back home."

All of us looked at Peri as if she was crazy. I didn't know what to think.

She laughed, "None of you believe me, do you? That's ok, I get it. I'll tell you something more believable: I'm not a human."

I nodded, "Yeah, that is more believable. You do look like one."

"I think that's enough answers for today. We'll be back, Peri." Isaac said as he walked out of the store.

Peri responded with a smile, "See you around."

Serena and I followed Isaac out of the store. While we were walking home, there was a smell. It was a rotten smell. I looked at the ground. The snow was soaked in blood.