1
Seven Years Later
"Lithia! Stop running around the house like you are an untrained K-9. Come sit and have breakfast, before I send you to school on an empty stomach." Auntie Quinn couldn't understand why I would run laps around the house in the morning before I went to school. I laugh because I can't understand why she drinks two cups of coffee before she takes me to school. Then on the way she goes and buys another one for work. So, in my mind, we are even.
"Lithia, now! I'm not playing with you." I could hear Auntie getting mad, but I only needed one more lap to be fully awake.
"Gotcha!" I screamed, as Ronald came out of Auntie's and his bedroom. He scooped me up and carried me to the kitchen table.
"No more running, Quinn has made eggs, bacon and sausage for everyone."
"Eww, I hate bacon." I said but Ronald Mimicked. I punched him lightly in the arm.
"It tastes nasty, and why is it crispy." Ronald made the overdramatic shocked face.
"The crispiness is the best part." Ronald put his hand on his heart. "If nana heard you, she would take you for 2 weeks and feed you every kind of meat there is to eat, and then she would say… say something about Bacon again, child." I laughed because of his impression on Nana.
Ronald has been around for as long as I can remember, He and Auntie Quinn have been dating for 6 years, and he wants to start a family with her. Ronald treats me like his kid even though Auntie Quinn tells me to just call him Ronald. But he is fun to be around, and he makes Auntie Quinn stress less than she does at work.
"Eat your breakfast. Babe, are you picking up lithia or am I?" Auntie rummaged around the kitchen trying to get the place clean before she sat down herself and ate out of her to go container.
"I'm unfortunately not sure. There are somethings going on in Piri that is worrying the Higher ups, and they want me at close examination." Auntie finally sat down with her coffee cup that says "World's biggest Bitch but Most Popular Aunt" that her best friend made for her birthday two years ago. She hesitated with eating, which was not like her.
"Babe?" Ronald asked, waving bacon under Aunties' nose.
"They are worried, and I don't mean a sickness going around worried." Ronald seemed to understand more than me.
"Well, if anything, Auntie, you can fix it. You know that place inside and out. Nothing can stop you." Auntie smiled at me.
"Thanks, but you need to hurry up and eat your sausage. You save them for last all the time, I will not let you eat those things in my car again. So, when that timer goes off, I'm giving them to Ronald."
"Never!" I started biting into the three-sausage links that were left on the plate.
"Not too fast, I don't want a call saying, Lithia was throwing up because she eats too fast." I nodded and chewed the food that was already in my mouth. I saw Auntie shake her head at me. However this was a normal morning, Auntie stressed out before work, takes some of it out on me, Ronald is the cool, calm, comic relief of the day and then there is me.
(Timer and Auntie Quinns Phone went off at the same time.)
"Quinn Watt's speaking." Ronald got up and went to turn off the timer, while I cleaned up the table. I don't usually do this, but Auntie looks overly stressed today, almost like it is the end of the year review and it is only February.
"It's that Urgent that I can't drop off Lithia first?" I could hear the person on the phone gradually getting louder. I was just putting the dishes in the sink when Ronald whispered to Auntie Quinn.
"I'll take her it's not a problem." Auntie Quinn nodded kissed him on his cheek, grabbed her briefcase. Turned and kissed me on top of my head and headed out without another word.
"Do you think it's serious?" Ronald stared into the abyss as he heard the front door slam, and the car start a minute later.
"Yes, but let's hope it's not too serious… I am making both of your favorites for dinner. Chicken teriyaki with noodles and General Tso's Chicken with steamed broccoli. I thought it would be a good day." I smiled at him and nodded.
I got to school about 20 minutes later. I was the last kid to get into the classroom. I ran over to my seat where my best and most annoying friend was. Dawn Crown, she is a few months older than I am. She has long beautiful blonde hair and pretty Hazel eyes; she is what is called an AmongI. Which means she has more than 5 creatures forms inside her. AmongI are like the seventh son of the seventh son prophecy, the only difference is that this hits almost every generation of mixed races. When a child's parents come from two different back rounds. Their children can come out like one or the other parent. Most of the time both, Problem is if they are not the first mixed couple in their family line; Sometimes one out of 3 will become 7 or more creatures inside one body.
"Lithia, please tell me?" I didn't get into my seat before Dawn started her daydream talk. "If the world was made of foods, which ones would your part of the world be?" I stared at her in confusion.
"I don't know. I like soup but having hot soup around everywhere would be like our game of don't touch the lava." Dawn turned to me and laughed.
"I was thinking the same thing, but with ice cream. You know we could go skiing and eat it after word." We both laughed until Millie Anderson came up to us. Millie finds every type a way to ruin our fun, she does not like us because she is pure blood, and we are not.
"I wouldn't eat ice cream if it was part of the world. I mean think about it, you see how the boys in the back drag in the mud on their shoes and who knows what else from outside. What would you think is in that ice cream?" Dawn was getting mad; she was only talking to me, and she hates Millie.
"Not if the world is all food." Dawn said, confidently. Then she looked at me and smiled. I gave her a nod for good job.
"Eww, that is even worse. You of all people should know how disgusting that is."
"What? Why is that disgusting?" Dawn stood out of her seat. I looked around for the teacher before this got out of hand for the third time in 2 weeks, but she was nowhere in sight.
"Because your dragging foods on other foods that don't make sense of being together. You know kind of like light and dark creatures having kids." Millie scuffed.
"What did you say! You're not so special Millie, the only thing good about you is your grades. Your attitude sucks." I yelled at her. She knows better about saying things about other kids race.
"I am special, it's you who shouldn't have been put in this school. You live with your aunt, even your mom didn't want to take care of you." Tears started hitting my eyes, how could she say something so mean?
"You're a meanie!" Dawn pushed Millie down to the floor, then Dawn climbed over the chair and jumped on top of Millie. Dawn started to pull her hair and Millie was hitting dawn. I tried getting Dawn off of Millie while not crying too much.
2
(EIAR Alarm starts ringing everywhere) (Earth Invasion Air Raid)
Everyone jumped, the Raid alarm was only to go off when other planets in other dimensions that we know of are invading the Earth. Millie and Dawn were still on the ground fighting like they couldn't hear the alarm. The other kids screamed and scrambled out of the classroom door.
"Dawn! Enough, if the world is actually ending do you want the last minutes punching an idiot?"
"Idiot? Who is…" I was right, their rage was deafening, and they couldn't hear the alarm. We have to get out. I got Millie and Dawn from each other, and we ran to the front door. It seemed like there were a bit of stragglers, mostly kids crying because they think we're going to die. Millie ran the fastest, making it out the door before both of us.
"Lithia, can you call your aunt?" My aunt? I almost forgot she was told to come to the office early this morning. She must know already, won't she? I might call Ronald.
"Lithia, watch where you are going." I hit the wall that was inches next to the door. I didn't fall but my head started to hurt. Dawn pulled me out of the door and into the crowd of people. Some people were yelling, most of the people on the street were crying, but everyone was confused.
The air alarms went silent. Three minutes of silence waved through the earth. No one moved, no one spoke, we just stood awaiting our death or safety.
A blaring horn came from the air alarms. It was for an announcement.
"All Portals to Piri are to shut down immediately. All Portals to Piri shut down Immediately. Permanent Shut down to Piri, Di-Nix, and Merchant Pass portals, until further Notice."
People started whispering throughout the streets. I heard some of the gossip.
What did the people from Piri do to have our biggest off earth importing portals shut down instantly?
Are the People of Piri okay? Piri is one of the safest places in the world. Sometimes it's safer than Earth itself.
There is no way that Piri is doing something wrong, this must be the other planets doing.
My stomach hurt; something was very wrong. Even with the people talking, the EIAR alarm is not off yet. There would have been an announcement coming from the System, just like the one that told us the portals were to shut down. My aunt would have been that voice to calm everyone down. She would say that "You may go home and gather yourselves, collect your families and know that you are safe. There will be an announcement later in the day to explain what has happened."
"Lithia are you okay? Is something bad happening?"
"I, I don't know." I turned to Dawn with tears in my eyes, suddenly screams came from all directions.
"Look up there." People shouted and pointed to the sky.
An energy ball looking like the size of a plane started growing in the middle of the sky. It was very hard to miss, it was gold in aura but didn't shine as bright as the sun. It was expanding quickly.
"Lithia?"
"I don't know what it is, but I don't think it will hurt us." Dawn gripped my arm, but I had nothing to hold on to, but myself. I was just as scared as her.
The Ball grew so big it took up a portion of the sky.
"Dawn? Does that look like a TV to you?"
"Like those big screens on the Time square buildings, right. You saw that too?" Will there be some kind of announcement again? This is not part of our government. An image appeared on the large energy ball. The imaged showed a huge castle balcony with soldiers who looked like Reapers and Elves. A woman of elven descent came in front of the screen and spoke.
"The Queen of Piri is very disappointed in the people of Earth! You have closed the Portals to your world, so we couldn't introduce you to her. Now, we must do it in a way that is informal and disrespectful to all. Introducing, Queen Xenia Nix, of the lands of Death and Blood! With her right-hand, Ambassador Emris Hyde, of the Imperial Lands!" The woman walked off. As everyone watched in terror, I thought about the names I heard. They were very familiar, wasn't my mother named Xenia Nix? There is no way that this can be…
People gasped through the streets; I found myself looking at the ground as I thought to myself. As I looked back at the energy ball, I see a woman who looked a lot like my aunt, with Long black hair and gorgeous brown skin. Her eyes were fierce but different, she wore a long black dress that flowed well behind her. Everyone was scared but when I looked at her, I felt warmth and I didn't know why. Then behind her came a 13-foot Fox Demon, it sat directly beside her with a grin of evil.
"People of Earth! Is this the way to treat your new queen?" Queen? "You all are so misguided. The people of Piri who live amongst you have become corrupted by your stupidity, your egos, your arrogance, you are all so much like children that have not been spanked to know what is correct. My sister and the many different governments you have, has blinded you. Letting you think that your way of selfishness and fear of change, is a good way of life."
"I will see to this that when I become your Queen, that the People who thought you could manage on your own accord, will be severely punished. I will start with my own Sister, Merletta Nix, who you all would know as Quinn Munson. I will also be taking back my daughter, don't worry Lithia, I will make sure that you are what you need to be. Not what they want you to be." I fell into cold sweats, that is my mother.
"Lithia Munson, you will be a princess soon and I will reign over the 7 dimensions. The longer the portals stay closed the harsher the punishment is. I hope we can see eye to eye soon. Have the day you deserve." Her smile was sinister, but her eyes did not give that off. However, I could not move because fear has taken over me. That was my mother, and she is a tyrant. She just told the world I am just like her. And I am in the crowded streets with all the people she has just threatened.
3
"This is your fault!" Someone screamed and punched me in the head.
"What the heck is wrong with you!" I could hear Dawn yelling at someone, but my eyesight was becoming fuzzy. Someone hit me again, but I don't think anyone saw it. I tried to call out to Dawn, but I couldn't even hear myself talk, all I heard was ringing in my ears.
"Lithia!"
6 Weeks Later
My eyes opened to bright lights. There were beeping sounds and monitors everywhere. I tried to move but my head hurt so badly.
"Lithia?" I heard Auntie Quinn's voice. I moved my hand to her, but all I felt was air.
"A... Quinn. Auntie Quinn." I felt someone grab my hand.
"Doctor, doc she is awake." That was Ronald's voice.
"Damn, baby girl, you had us scared there for a bit."
"Ron, what's going on?"
"It's okay, your aunt and I are here, were not going anywhere I promise." I nodded my head.
"Lithia stay with us for a little bit longer." I started to fall back asleep.
It felt like not even 20 minutes; did I wake up yet again. Ronald and Aunt Quinn were fast asleep in a large chair next to my bed. I was in a hospital bed; I looked around and tried to sit up but there was tremendous pain that went up my arm. I looked down at my left hand and saw some weird markings.
"Don't touch it, your body is still healing itself." Auntie Quinn's voice scared me. I looked over to see her stretching from her nap.
I sat up and stared at her, I could tell she had been crying. I wanted to ask what was going on, but Auntie would say that would be a loaded question. Auntie looked at me with a sad look.
"I want you to get better before I discuss what is going on in the world right now."
"I remember a lot of what happened. The energy ball in the sky, the people becoming sad and scared. Then my… My mom threatening the world, then she said some really untrue things about you. Then the people started to riot around me, and a lot of people started to turn on me. Then people started to hit me, and I think that is why I ended up here." Auntie Quinn took a deep breath in. She shook her head; I must have missed something.
"Yes, in what you can remember, you are correct. However, that is not all that happened. I'm not very sure where to start." Auntie Quinn looked at Ronald, almost like she wanted to lean in to kiss him first. She does this when it feels like the world is hitting her from every direction. I think it's because he has never left her, when things got hard.
"When the people were… hurting you. Dawn couldn't help, she got pushed out of the crowd and couldn't get back to you. People started to be very cruel to you, even though they could tell you were passing out. Your body had a… different reaction." Auntie paused, like she was trying to find the words to say exactly what happened.
"Your body decided it would fight back; your powers came in." That doesn't make sense.
"How? I'm not eleven yet. My powers shouldn't be even prepping to show." Auntie sighed.
"What the doctors explained was that our bodies, just like humans, can have a fight or flight response. It was shown in older times when famine was around. You know what famine is right, Lithia?"
"When there is little to no food or resources around. People had to improvise with how they ate, and they would have to move to places they think would have better water or more food." Auntie laughed.
"Sometimes I wonder why you didn't skip grades. You are too smart for your own good."
"Because of math. I don't understand it." Auntie looked genuinely happy.
"Well, when famine was around, creatures decided other creatures would feed their hunger better then scrapping for food all the time. So many children were becoming paranoid about being attacked or eaten. So those children would come into their powers at a much younger age. When the famine seemed to fade, the creatures became friendlier to each other. The power age range in children went back to normal, for there was less of a fear of being killed. Lithia, your body feared you were going to be killed, and it reacted."
"Is everyone okay?" I asked, not exactly wanting to know.
"There was a lot of people hurt. No one died but… the amount of hurt people was high. The police did not charge you, because they figured out what had happened. You would not hurt your friends because your powers figured out who your friends were and who was your foe. However, your body had you walk to Dawn, and you passed out in front of her. Dawn is the one who called me and Ronald. She told us to hurry up and come and get you, before you got hurt again. She was not scared of you; she was scared for you."
That made me happy. But something was still very off.
"So have I been in the hospital for a few days now?"
"No, your powers had drained your body, so much that you couldn't heal yourself. We got you here as fast as we could. This is the hospital that my job owns. They have been protecting us while you heal. The doctors needed to put you under a healing machine. You have been under there for almost 2 months."
"What?" I said scared.
"We thought we were going to lose you, honey. It scared us both." Auntie Quinn couldn't hold back her tears anymore. I could tell she was scared. I leaned over the bar on the hospital bed and gave her a hug. She kept apologizing to me and saying she never thought any of this would happen. Auntie let go of me but something on her hand caught in my hair.
"What is that." Auntie untangled my hair from what looked like a ring. Auntie hates jewelry. Unless?
"Is that a wedding ring, Auntie?" I said almost screeching. Auntie smiled even though her eyes were red from crying. She nodded because she couldn't talk, she seemed like she was going to cry again.
"Yeah, baby girl."
"Ronald!" I yelled.
"Great to see you up. Remember I told you I was going to make Quinns and your favorite meals that day? Well, I was going to propose to your aunt then, but chaos erupted."
"I'm so happy for you. I leaned over again and gave them both hugs."
"We decided will marry in a year. We want everything to calm down and we want to make sure you are settled where you won't get hurt." My heart dropped. I moved back into the bed, I felt like I was going to cry.
"So, are you giving me to another relative?" I said, whining cause I didn't want to cry.
"What." They both said shocked.
"Why would you ask that?" Ronald asked.
"Of course not, why would you think that?" Auntie was the one who said this.
"Because Ronald's sister always said when you get married and start a family you would send me to another relative."
"Crystal, I swear that woman will find every possible way to piss me off. Lithia, I would never make Quinn give you to some other relative. You are like a daughter to me, and if Quinn and I have kids you'll be like a big sister to them. I have never even thought of sending you away." I looked at Auntie Quinn and she reassured me he was telling the truth. Auntie put her hand on my left hand.
"You are my family, and I would never let you go." I smiled. I was so happy. Then all of a sudden, blue and black energy swirled around the cut on my arm.
"You're healing yourself, Lithia." I wasn't doing anything; I was just, really happy.
That energy stayed for about a minute, then it vanished. My arm didn't hurt anymore, but there was a mark there.
"Your skin gave you a scar. Sometimes magic wants to make you learn a lesson even though you weren't the one in the wrong. This one gave you a scar for everyone to remember that day."
I looked down and it looked like an Infinity sign with a sword through it.