Legend of Kataria (Draft Version)

Chapter 7

Greeny paced back and forth across the old, muddy carpet layering the gym floor. He kept his head down, his guilty gaze firmly locked on his hands. He could feel them shaking. In fact, he could feel his entire body still quivering. A million jumbled thoughts rushed through his head. What was going on? What had happened to Thomas? How long was he going to have to wait to get an explanation from Leah?

The first two questions he didn't even know how to ask, but the third he suspected he would have an answer for soon. He turned at a quiet knock and blinked as Leah stuck her head around the door. "Hey," she said quietly, nervously.

"Hey," he responded.

"Can I...um...come in?" She waved a hand toward the door.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah, sure," Greeny hastily stepped back, making room for her to enter. "Leah--"

"Greeny, before you begin," Leah interrupted him. "I just...wanted to tell you, I'm sorry." He frowned and she hastily went on. "I...I had hoped to explain this to you in a...different...way. When you were older. But I guess that's not much of an option anymore, huh?" She smiled ruefully as she took a seat and gestured for him to do the same. He was startled and confused by her sudden seriousness, but he obeyed nonetheless.

"Leah," he started to say again, shrugging off her apology. "What happened to Thomas back there? I didn't touch him! And yet...it's really hard to explain...but I think something made him...move...and I don't understand how or why, but--"

Leah nodded, seeming to understand. "It's called a nudge," she said unexpectedly. "It's a strength from one's cerebral cortex that creates such a strong force that it is thrown out of the body and reacts on the nearest object in proximity."

Greeny was not impressed with her definition. "So, it's telekinesis," he stated flatly.

Leah sighed deeply. "I know it's not going to make any sense to you, especially with your love of science and hard evidence, but, yes, a rough translation of it would be telekinesis. A more proper term, however, would be mental-levitation. Or Telek, for someone who is telekinetic."

Greeny's frown grew deeper. "But you're implying that such an occurrence can actually happen," he pointed out. "And, as science has proven, there is no such thing as magic. Not on Griffion. Not in thousands of years and...why are you looking at me like that?"

Leah had been gazing intently at him for some reason. He found it a bit unnerving to have her cold stare burning into him. It was an expression he had never seen from her before. It reminded him a bit of himself when he zoned out. But from Leah...he couldn't even imagine it.

"Greeny," she began again quietly. "I think there are some things you need to know. About me and about you."

"Me?" Greeny had no idea where she was going with this. "Leah, if this is what I think it is--"

"No," Leah cut him off abruptly. "No, no, no, you're not...understanding. Okay," she took a deep breath. "Look...there are some people who...don't like what Morto is doing. They think he's lying to everyone about the war with Tapush...and about Tapushians living among us."

Tapushians? Greeny blinked. Here? But they were just rumors, right? It was impossible! The king would have found them by now, for sure! From what he knew about them, little green men with superpowers would not exactly blend into the population well. Besides, the gateway between Griffion and its sister planet, Tapush, had been sealed for--

"Seventeen years," Leah finished his thought for him with a nod. "Exactly."

"How did you--"

"Know what you were thinking?" Leah interrupted again. "I'll explain that in a minute. Anyway, the gate's not really closed. That's just what Morto wants us to think. He wants us to believe that there aren't Tapushians on our planet...in our city. But there are. Greeny, there's a resistance. Against Morto." When he opened his mouth to protest, she went on hastily. "No, it's not here. It's up north. In the mountains. But that's not the point. The resistance is Griffionese and Tapushian. They don't look different than us and they don't act differently. They're...human...just like we are. Just...with special powers."